1. It’s official – NBER says we are in a recession – Business Cycle Dating Committee, National Bureau of Economic Research – Determination of the December 2007 Peak in Economic Activity – statement at NBER   -   thanks Ira Artman

2  Officially a Recession, and Why Did It Take So Long to Determine? -  Bill Conerly -  Bill wonders how long the recession will last and has a prediction. – Businomics Blog 

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Is the Fair-value Fix Stalled? – Sarah Johnson  – Standard-setters are seeking input on how to tweak the rules in response to the credit crisis. But they don’t appear to be getting any quick answers. – CFO.com

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Co-Ops? – U.S. Rethinks Roles of Fannie, Freddie – By JAMES R. HAGERTY – Wall Street Journal 

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The NBER Digest — November 2008 - includes -  (1) Climate Change and Economic Growth over The Last Half Century;  (2) The Causes of Rising Income Inequality;   (3) Gasoline Prices Affect Fuel Economy 

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In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we review the Q3 2008 results for the Bank Stress Index and then relate an interesting story about a possible moratorium on CDS payments by three of the largest EU banks. – by Chris Whalen
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Are HELOCs doomed? -  Ilyce Glink – If credit dries up, more will have trouble paying living expenses – Inman News

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Convertibles Collapse Offers Investment Lessons for All Investors -  Lesson 1: When Hedge Funds Become the Market, It’s Time to Get Out;  Lesson 2: You Can’t Model Everything – And What You Can’t Model Can Kill You – Aspiration Capital

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Bailouts are Unfair to Those Who are not Bailed Out – David Merkel – a “how to” manual for receiving bailouts (BC) – The Aleph Blog

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Yields ‘Next to Nothing’ Lure Funds to Riskier Assets -  Dakin Campbell – In the best year for Treasuries since 2002, fund managers who only buy government bonds are seeking permission to invest in corporate debt they considered toxic just a month ago. – Bloomberg

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Pimco’s El-Erian: US steps key to stabilize mortgages -Last week’s U.S. policy steps, especially the Federal Reserve’s initiative to buy hundreds of billions of dollars of housing-related securities are a key step to begin stabilizing the battered U.S. mortgage market, said a top Pimco executive on Monday.  – CNBC – Reuters

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Mankiw Promulgates Confusion on the Debt at the NYT – by Dean Baker – Greg Mankiw must know better than he indicates in his analysis of the debt in today’s NYT. He complains that efforts to use large-scale stimulus to boost the economy may put excessive burdens on our children. – The American rospect

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Leverage And Pain – A. Gary Shilling -  Consumers are replacing a 25-year borrowing and spending binge with a saving spree. – Forbes
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How big? How low? How now brown cow? – David Kotok, Chairman & Chief Investment Officer – Cumberland Advisors – has Cumberland’s take on several important items