Careful to spread his judgment far and wide, Brad DeLong posted (another) criticism of the press, this time directed not at economic reporters but at those covering global news. The post concerns a story from WSJ reporter Jonathan Weisman, who covered a meeting between President Obama and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. The WSJ report suggests that "tongues began wagging" when Obama remarked on Napolitano's "integrity"—and alleged a dig at embattled Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. "Why oh why can't we have a better press corps?" DeLong lamented. No economic news on his blog, as of 3 p.m. today.

Paul Krugman explains that speculators are responsible for the rise in oil prices, pointing to growing stockpiles of the resource. Investors are hoarding oil in the hopes that future demand will push prices higher, writes Krugman. But that's an ill-founded expectation, says he, given the dearth of evidence that the recession is over.

In case you hadn't tired of depressing housing market news, Barry Ritholtz was ready for you today. His forecast? Housing prices aren't going to elevate any time soon; in fact, they might be even lower in the next two years. Ritholtz relayed this frightening—and, sadly, seemingly quite accurate—report from massive mortgage insurer PMI Group. The afflicted regions include 30 major metropolitan markets in the north, south, west, and east—basically, everywhere. Ritholtz also included some scary graphs illustrating changes in the Case-Shiller index.

Reports that overpriced California wines are getting cheaper giddied Felix Salmon. Think it's weird for an economic commentator to get excited about deflation? Guess again: More of the glorified grape juice is being sold, thanks to the lower prices. That indicates a healthier market and vindicates the basic economic tenet that cheaper goods correlate with higher volume trading, says Salmon.