Must read: Excellent presentation goes quickly – Matt Simmons: Peak Oil Update – The world probably hit peak oil around 2005. We are running out of oil. – This has huge implications for the energy industry and the future of humanity. Most people haven’t realized the extent of the growing energy problem. Unfortunately, it is human nature to ignore a problem until it becomes a crisis. – has bottom line and what to do – planBeconomics

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Director of trader film makes a documentary for hard times – Greg Burns - “Floored” is more about struggling to make a living than derring-do in the pits – It started three years ago as a film project aimed at capturing the thrill of Chicago’s open-outcry trading floors before they disappeared.  Now, finally, it’s almost complete.  But the documentary movie “Floored” conveys a message different than what filmmaker James Allen Smith intended at the outset: The music is more somber, the lighting darker and the stories less about derring-do in the pits than struggling to make a living. Instead of focusing on high rollers in the casino of global finance, Smith, 36, aims his camera at the everyman thrown off track by the transition to electronic trading. – Chicago Tribune

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US Consumers Choosing Not to Spend – US consumers have responded to the global economic crisis by curtailing their expenditures, paying down debt, and saving more—all logical responses to a recession. Yet most consumers have acted by choice, not necessity, according to McKinsey. Spending, saving, and debt averages are not at abnormal levels today but rather returning to long-term trends. – Research Recap

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TALF blunts steep decline in ABS issuance in Q2 – By Nancy Leinfuss  – U.S. asset-backed securities (ABS) issuance fell 30 percent in the second quarter but avoided a steeper decline due to an emergency loan program from the Federal Reserve to unclog consumer lending -  Reuters
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PRESS RELEASE – Hyperinflation Nation Surpasses 25,000 Views in 36 Hours – MarketWatch  watch videos at  http://inflation.us/videos.html
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There’s No News Like Bad News  – Thomas F. Cooley  – More reflections on the beleaguered middle-class. – Forbes