US stocks head for higher open
NEW YORK – U.S. stocks headed toward a moderately higher open Wednesday as investors prepared for a flurry of economic figures on employment, factory orders and the state of the service sector.

U.S. productivity revised up but labor costs mount
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. productivity grew at a slightly faster-than-expected revised pace in the fourth quarter, government data showed on Wednesday, but an increase in hourly compensation pushed unit labor costs higher.

Oil prices to hit $120 barrel by September. (Think Progress)
Peter Barker-Homek, CEO of Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., predicts that crude oil prices may hit $120 a barrel within the next six months due to the “softness of the dollar and the occasional interruptions that you have because of politics.” Last October, Barker-Homek also predicted that oil prices would “rise to $100 from $80 before the end of the first quarter.”

OPEC set to snub Bush over oil output
VIENNA (AFP) – OPEC is Wednesday set to leave oil output unchanged despite fresh calls by US President George W. Bush for an increase in supply to help bring down soaring energy prices.

Rapid deterioration
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Housing is in its “deepest, most rapid downswing since the Great Depression,” the chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders said Tuesday, and the downward momentum on housing prices appears to be accelerating. The NAHB’s latest forecast calls for new-home sales to drop 22% this year, bringing sales 55% under the peak reached in late 2005. Housing starts are predicted to tumble 31% in 2008, putting starts 60% off their high of three years ago.

Fed chief: Mortgage crisis to continue
WASHINGTON – Battling a dangerous wave of home foreclosures, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called Tuesday for additional relief and urged lenders to help distressed owners by lowering the amount of their loans.
They should just declare a bunch of losses, Chairman Bernanke?  Somehow, I don’t see that happening.

Foreclosure-proof Homeowners (The Big Picture)
Jingle Mail? Forget that! Its so 2007. For 2008, let’s try a little reverse financial engineering: Squatting in $3 million dollar waterfront mansion in Florida and paying nothing.  At least, that’s a new and growing problem we learn of via MW in South Florida. He writes: “… There is currently an 8-10 month wait to get a court date to have a foreclosure filing heard in Dade and Broward counties… Banks do not want to spend the $50,000 required to take a home through a foreclosure and clear the title — only to put the house back on the market for a deeper loss afterwards. Most likely, they have not revealed these owner occupied defaults to their shareholders, thanks to the sheer numbers of non-performing loans on their balance sheets, and the daunting task of foreclosing on all of them.”
But, but, but, only poor people are deadbeats.  I know, because Rush Limbaugh told me so.

Unlike Consumers, Companies Are Piling Up Cash
At least someone knows how to fill a piggy bank. Unlike most American consumers, whose failure to save has exasperated economists for years, the typical American corporation has increased its savings so sharply that it probably has enough cash on hand to completely pay off its debts.