Most Asian markets fall on Bhutto death
BANGKOK, Thailand – Most Asian markets fell Friday amid anxiety over the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and lingering worries about the outlook for the U.S. economy.

U.S. durable goods weaker than expected in November
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Weak durable goods orders in November fueled concern on Thursday over the resilience of the U.S. economy to the country’s steep housing slump.

Trouble With Trade (by Paul Krugman)
For the world economy as a whole — and especially for poorer nations — growing trade between high-wage and low-wage countries is a very good thing. Above all, it offers backward economies their best hope of moving up the income ladder. But for American workers the story is much less positive. In fact, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that growing U.S. trade with third world countries reduces the real wages of many and perhaps most workers in this country. And that reality makes the politics of trade very difficult.

Citi, Merrill and JPMorgan to write down even more in Q4 (by Chris in Paris at AMERICAblog)
Bad debt from the subprime crash continues to be a moving target. Despite teams of expensive experts, this is like the Keystone Cops comes to Wall Street. It’s hard to keep up with the downwardly revised numbers, but not to worry, these people are “experts” and know what they are doing.
Just because they change their write downs more often than they change their underwear, don’t worry. Bush says the economy is jut fine and Wall Street keeps trying to tell us the same. It’s just those doggone facts that keep getting in the way.