1.The power of the three big US rating agencies, Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s, remains unbroken. By awarding high ratings to junk securities, they fueled financial market excesses. Now they are taking countermeasures by brutally downgrading securities. In doing so, they are making the crisis even worse.The Power of Rating Agencies

2. The U.S. government’s long-awaited “stress-test” results have found that 10 of the 19 largest U.S. banks need a total of about US$75 billion in new capital to withstand losses if the recession worsened.Stress tests find banks need US$75B more

3. Society at a Glance reveals evolving social trends in OECD countries -The French spend more time sleeping than anyone else in OECD countries. They also devote more time to eating than anyone else and nearly double that of Americans, Canadians or Mexicans. The Japanese sleep nearly an hour less every night than the French and also spend longer at work and commuting than they do indulging in leisure activities.

4.GRAEME Wood started hotel site Wotif.com just as the dotcom bubble burst, but that didn’t stop it becoming a success story. Making money while you sleep

5.US policymakers have already braced themselves for a bout of deflation, and many corporations are quaking at the prospect of price declines. Some are wondering, though, how bad can it really get? – FEAR FACTOR

1.As I write this, the Federal Reserve has announced a huge new program to buy various kinds of debt designed to lower interest rates for home mortgages and other loans (such as securitized consumer loans). This action is another major step in the new era of the proactive Fed that puts large amounts of “Fed-created” money into the economy. The Fed money is intended to restart the seriously sick real economy by providing credit not available from the private sector.Will the Fed’s Medicine Work?

2.Despite America’s move to the left under Obama, it’s still assumed that Europe and America are fundamentally different—in their economies, societies and values. But this is a myth.A narrower atlantic

3.Moody’s discusses some of the characteristics of the world’s largest bank.The rise and rise of ICBC

4.Luxury carmaker Porsche agrees to merge with larger German manufacturer Volkswagen in a new car group. Carmakers Porsche and VW to merge 

5.Joseph Schumpeter famously argued that the essence of capitalism was creative destruction, by which new economic structures are born from the rubble of older ones. The government stress tests on the 19 largest US banks, the results of which are due be announced on Thursday, could have facilitated this process. The opportunity looks likely to be missed. -By Matthew Richardson and Nouriel Roubini Insolvent banks should feel market discipline