Wednesday, January 14, 2009
[1]
On Wednesday, the Commerce Department releases retail sales figures for December 2008. From individual-store data, we already know the situation was pretty dire. (Even Wal-Mart was up less than expected.) Better to watch the release of the Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book,” which tracks economic conditions in regions across the country, or the business inventories data for December.
[2]
Is a group of bank robbers a criminal enterprise? If you've been robbed, or if you're looking to score some TARP billions, you may not care about the details. But it does matter at trial. Edmund Boyle was sentenced to more than 12 years in the slammer under the anti-racketeering law known as the RICO Act for a string of bank robberies, and he thinks his merry crew didn't have a “formal, ascertainable structure.” It's a big question of law, so to the Supreme Court it goes. Oral arguments in Boyle v. United States take place Wednesday.
[3]
Nice wheels, but how will we power them? After a series of environmental about-faces at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this week, big auto companies need some help getting their new inventions on the road. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm thinks she can help with a bill offering incentives for battery production in her state. She signs it into law in a ceremony at the auto show on Wednesday.
[4]
A prime minister, a president, and a chancellor walk into a … OK, it's an official residence, but who's keeping track? The
[5]
Howie Mandel returns to work Wednesday after being hospitalized Monday night with an irregular heartbeat. With his honorable sacrifice, Deal or No Deal’s Canadian host is teaching
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