How the Mighty Fall: Client 9
One of last week's biggest national developments was the quick and precipitous downfall of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, a former state attorney general known for his hard-line crusade against corruption among financial power brokers. In a matter of a week, he went from the "Sheriff of Wall Street" to a disgraced john known as "Client 9. As a result of his alleged involvement with a high-priced prostitution ring, Spitzer officially leaves office today. His legal problems, however, may only be starting.

Chrysler to Close Completely for 2 Weeks
To create better alignment and efficiency — to accelerate recovery and transformation — Chrysler plans to shut down all operations for two weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal. In an e-mail sent to them last week, the automaker's employees worldwide were told they are required to take a two-week vacation in July. North American plants have traditionally shut down for a week or two in the summer as equipment is updated for new vehicle models, but this will be the first time that all employees — hourly and salaried — will be affected.

China To Boost Oil Reserves/Consumption
China plans to build its strategic petroleum reserves to "at least 100 million barrels by 2010," MarketWatch is reporting. The financial news service goes on to note that "it's unclear how much oil has been stocked in its existing bases," but if China buys 100 million barrels in two years, then the daily purchase would be about 140,000 barrels, amounting to 2 percent of current consumption.

China Plans to Block Monopolistic Acquisition
A deputy to the National People's Congress is calling for "an economic security law to prevent ill-disposed, monopolistic merging and acquisition by transnational corporations from threatening the Chinese economy," reports Chinese news agency Xinhua. "It's high time to heed this issue concerning China's sovereignty, future and economic security," said Zhou Xiaoguang, president of Neoglory (China) Holding Group. In the manufacturing sector, for example, nearly all the leading players are foreign-funded companies," said Zhou. "Chinese players are increasingly losing their competitive edge."

Oil and Gold Prices Rise
Oil prices soared above $110 a barrel last Wednesday (March 12) as investors looked to commodities as a safe haven against the U.S. dollar's slide, says CNN.com. Also, gold prices rose to $1,000 for the first time ever as the dollar plunged amid fears about the U.S. economy's health.

Unemployment Levels Off for a Week
For the week ending March 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 353,000, unchanged from the previous week, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor. But the four-week moving average was 358,500, a decrease of 1,250 (about one-third of one percent) from the previous week's revised average of 359,750.

Fed Tries to Boost Liquidity with $200 Billion
Last Tuesday, the Federal Reserve announced an expansion of its securities lending program. Under this new Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF), the Fed will lend up to $200 billion of Treasury securities to primary dealers secured for a term of 28 days by a pledge of other securities. The TSLF is intended to promote liquidity in the financing markets.

Just How Low Can We Go?
The rapidly falling dollar marked a milestone in Japan on Thursday as it fell below 100 yen for the first time in 12 years, threatening Japan's exporters and increasing the likelihood that the world's No. 2 economy would slow down significantly, according to The Wall St. Journal. On Friday, the dollar rose to slightly over 100 yen. The dollar also sank to all-time lows of $1.5657 per euro and flirted with parity against the Swiss franc, sinking to 0.9996 francs. Against the British pound, the U.S. currency fell to $2.0344.

Consumers Cut Spending in February
Monthly retail sales suffered a surprising 0.6 percent drop last month as American households continued to curtail their spending amid higher energy and food prices and a weakening jobs market, CNN.com reports.

Treasury Chief Urges Reforms
"Mortgage brokers will be held to strong national licensing and enforcement standards. There will be stricter safeguards against fraud, and full and clear disclosure to borrowers about home loan terms, including long-term affordability," said an announcement from the U.S. Treasury Department. Treasury Secretary Paulson added, "Regulators have a role to play in every change. They will issue new rules and seek regulatory authorities as needed, evaluate progress, provide guidance and enforce laws — to ensure that implementation follows recommendation."

Most Economists Say We're in a Recession
Thirty-six of 51 economists who responded to a survey conducted March 7-11 by The Wall Street Journal said that the economy is in recession. That is more than 70 percent of the economists — so-called experts on the economy — saying we're in a recession. "The economists, on average, forecast meager economic growth — just 0.1 percent at an annual rate in the current quarter, and 0.4 percent in the second." Our president still says we're OK.

Academics Foil Chip Pirates
Thanks to the efforts of an assistant professor at Rice University and others at UCLA and the University of Michigan, new chips with "a unique digital identification" will prevent chip piracy. "Pirated microchips — chips stolen from legitimate factories or made from stolen blueprints — account for billions of dollars in annual losses to chipmakers," reports Rice University (via EurekaAlert).

More Reliable & Durable MEMS on Horizon
"The National Nuclear Security Administration will award $17 million over five years to research making microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) more reliable and durable," according to Photonics.com. Much of the research will take place at Purdue, and 35 researchers there will collaborate with others at the University of Illinois and the University of New Mexico.