Unfortunately, the private equity firm that owns the company (it's passed through at least four owners in the past 18 years) didn't give employees the federally required 60-day notice, citing "unforeseeable business circumstances." If they couldn't secure money to pay salaries, that may very well be the case.

If you've got $20 in your household goods budget and can't live with the idea of a circus animal-less world, you can make your own with this kid-friendly cookie cutter set. Or just buy some vanilla wafers and pretend you're eating single-celled organisms, you big baby.

"Mother's Cookies abruptly shut down" [SFGate] (Thanks to Tom!)

At least one member of Congress was pleased at the news:

"I am somewhat relieved to hear that AIG has canceled their Ritz-Carlton conference, which was nothing less than a slap in the face of the American people," said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD). "I cannot fathom how in the same day—the very same day—that AIG asked the government for another $37.8 billion loan, the company would even consider moving forward with plans to host another large conference at another luxury resort."

AIG's spokesperson said that the company will have to pay some cancellation fees, but admitted that the era of fancy conferences and $23,000 spa bills seemed to be over.

"We'll certainly lose some money in cancellation fees, but it's just beyond the point of trying to conduct these meetings given the uncertainty that's taking place," said Ashooh.

Outrage Leads AIG To Cancel Second Luxury Retreat [ABCNews](Thanks, WiglyWorm!)

Note: if you can't view the GOOD site, click here for the full graphic.

"Gas Prices" is issue #4 in the free "GOOD Sheets" series from GOOD and Starbucks. Each issue focuses on one topic, and unfolds from a square about the size of a CD case into a large graphic that explores the topic in stats, pics, and captions.

This week's topic is the price of gas, while last week's was immigration. Tomorrow a new one hits the stores on "The State of America's Schools."

"Getting Gas" [GOOD]

You got other European countries mad at Ireland for guaranteeing deposits, fearing that money from their country would rush in. European stocks are at 20-year lows. Trading in Russia and Brazil was halted to stop steep stock selloffs. Australia drastically cut interest rates and shoveled $480 billion into its money markets, and Japan added $1 trillion to theirs. Iceland could be the first to fall, with the government stepping in Monday to assume sweeping powers. Bet you're feeling smart now you didn't fall for that 15.5% return on snow wolves scheme they were running.

That bailout plan we fretted so dearly about, "looks like a pebble tossed into a churning sea," says the New York Times.

(Illustration: Getty)

The deep discounts backfired, says the WSJ:

When they report September sales this week, many retail chains are expected to show big drops in sales at stores open at least year, a key measure of retail performance, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Shoppers, it seems, have become jaded:

Some consumers are becoming hardened to retail claims of "last chance" and "final sale." Katie Ertel, 30, a La Jolla, Calif., counselor, said she's begun to tune out. "Every week it's the same 'last minute sale.' Eventually it's like 'Ha, ha. You are not getting me this time,'" said Ms. Ertel.

Big Discounts Fail to Lure Shoppers [WSJ]

In our latest episode, Cramer tearfully informs Ann Curry that the time has come for some of you who are dabbling in the stock market to make a hasty retreat. If you're going to need access to your money in less than 5 years... sell! No matter what.

What Jim is trying to say, through the tears, is that if you're planning on needing your money within 5 years — you shouldn't be investing in individual stocks.

“I don’t care where stocks have been, I care where they’re going, and I don’t want people to get hurt in the market,” Cramer told Curry. “I’m worried about unemployment, I’m worried about purchases that you may need. I can’t have you at risk in the stock market.”

Jim Cramer Begs America To Abandon Hope [Gawker]

From the NYT:

In response to the falling value of their homes and high gasoline prices, Americans have become more frugal all year. But in recent weeks, as the financial crisis reverberated from Wall Street to Washington, consumers appear to have cut back sharply. Even with the government beginning a giant bailout of the financial system, their confidence may have been too shaken for them to resume their free-spending ways any time soon.

Recent figures from companies, and interviews across the country, show that automobile sales are plummeting, airline traffic is dropping, restaurant chains are struggling to fill tables, customers are sparse in stores.

When the final tally is in, consumer spending for the quarter just ended will almost certainly shrink, the first quarterly decline in nearly two decades.

The Times says that when the government releases the numbers this month, they are expected to show that consumer spending shrank by 3%, which would be the steepest decline since 1981 and the only decline since 1990.

Consumers are apparently buying more groceries, enjoying fewer meals out, and spending less on clothes, school supplies, and air travel. Nintendo Wiis, however, are still flying off shelves.

“My view is that when consumers get concerned about their nest egg, or their country, they need entertainment,” said Bo Andersen, president and chief executive of the Entertainment Merchants Association, which represents distributors and retailers of home entertainment products.

Full of Doubts, U.S. Shoppers Cut Spending [NYT]
(Photo: robinryan )

``There is a point at which the FDIC will take Wachovia over if they are concerned about the stability of the bank,'' said Christopher Whalen, managing director of Institutional Risk Analytics, an independent research firm in Torrance, California. ``But as long as Citi and Wells will extend support to Wachovia, they have time.''

To end a legal skirmish, Citigroup may agree to take Wachovia's branches in the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, while Wells Fargo would get the Southeast and California branches, as well as Wachovia's asset-management and brokerage units, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

Bank officials and FDIC spokesman David Barr declined to comment. Cable network CNBC reported that Citigroup was bidding for all of Wachovia. Citigroup spokeswoman Shannon Bell didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

A ruling over the weekend that said Citibank had the exclusive right to negotiate a takeover with Wachovia until Oct. 10 was overturned yesterday.

Wachovia is in trouble after acquiring a lender that was heavily invested in "pay-option" mortgages, a type of risky loan often given to people with good credit, but who are not required to provide documentation of their finances. "Pay-option" loans can actually grow in size because borrowers are allowed to pay less than the accruing interest.

Citigroup, Wells Fight May End by Splitting Wachovia (Update4)[Bloomberg]
(Photo: So Cal Metro )

Hey, we thought it was just us! Turns out the Emperor was naked.

Thankfully, Marketplace has written a short one act play that explains everything. Here's a taste...

SELLER: [sound of door opening] All right. So glad to hear the Union of Mothers and Nurses Pension Fund is keen to invest with us, Mr. Moron.

BUYER: Actually, That's Mah-RONE.

SELLER: Oh, do pardon me.

BUYER: Happens all the time. Now, we really took a hit when Lead Paint Toyco went under, so we'd like some big, quick returns here.

SELLER: Then have I got the product for you. It's called a reverse sub-micro-standard mortgage shadow security and — do you hold a degree in rocket science?

BUYER: Nope.

SELLER: Hmm. Well then, simply put, what we do is take semi-insured debts that've been sold to us from inelastic bubble markets, vertically resell, then unbundle the revenues according to Moody's astro-logarithm.

BUYER: Astro ...

SELLER: Astro-logarithm, which gives a monetized valuation that has itself been subdivided into A-3 and G-minus pumpkin patch. You following?

BUYER: Not at all!

SELLER: Great; me neither, really! This thing was invented by some eggheads we keep in a cave.

BUYER: Please, continue.

SELLER: Right. So, I think the Q-grades are dumped and leveraged upwards across 25 underplummeries? Our unicorn gives it a kick, and presto: you've got 300 percent annual growth.

BUYER: Now, you just said "unicorn." There is such a thing?

SELLER: Uhhh. Kind of? Honestly, I don't know. Don't care!

BUYER: Well, you also said "300 percent." So, I'm sold!

Credit Crisis Confusion: the one-act play [Marketplace] (Thanks, John!)

NEWMAN: (peering at bottle label) What is this 'MI, ten cents'?
KRAMER: That's Michigan. In Michigan you get ten cents.
NEWMAN: Ten cents!?
KRAMER: Yeah.
NEWMAN: Wait a minute. You mean you get five cents here, and ten cents there. You could round up bottles here and run 'em out to Michigan for the difference.

KRAMER: No, it doesn't work.

NEWMAN: What d'you mean it doesn't work? You get enough bottles together...

KRAMER: Yeah, you overload your inventory and you blow your margins on gasoline. Trust me, it doesn't work.

S 3055 [NYT] (PDF)
Text version [Open Congress]
(Photo: Getty)

"I've been doing this for 25 years in some form or another, and I have never seen consolidation like this going on," said Peter Welch, association president.

The National Automobile Dealers Association says that they expect 600 dealerships to close this year, and domestic dealerships are going to be the hardest hit. There are just too many dealerships and not enough market share for domestic cars:

There were just too many GM dealers chasing dwindling market share, he said. GM commanded 40 percent of the market in the 1980s, selling cars through 7,000 dealerships. But while GM's slice of the market tumbled by 40 percent or more, the number of dealers has declined by 1 or 2 percent, Mattia said.

"The dealers will have to suck it up and go away," said Mattia, who now leads Auto Engage, a consulting firm for dealers and manufacturers. "It wouldn't surprise me if we didn't have a nationwide loss of 10 percent of the dealers."

Economy forcing more car dealers to close [SFGate] (Thanks, Big Keytee!)
(Photo: amanjo )

It's just too bad that it doesn't go all the way back to the Panic of 1893. That's my favorite panic. In fact, it doesn't even go back to 1929. Still, it's interesting.

Breif History of Recessions [HBR via BuzzFeed]

Here's a quick summary of the article, which can be found here:

1. A much less leveraged economy — Cash will be the thing to have.

2. More modest rewards — Less risk-taking means slower growth, slower appreciation of property value, etc.

3. A feast for bottom fishers — If you've got patience and cash, there will be a feast for you amongst the wreckage.

4. Fewer financial firms — Big banks are swallowing the smaller ones.

5. More government oversight of financial markets. — They're gonna be watching.

6. But a revival of private financial firms — Kiplinger's doesn't think that investment banks are gone for good.

7. Simpler forms of securitizing debt — Nor do they think that the secondary mortgage market is gone for good. They say it will be back, but it won't be as 'exotic'

8. Greater scrutiny of executive compensation — Shareholders are annoyed. Very annoyed.

9. Higher taxes and/or a bigger federal deficit — Someone has to pay to run the bilge pump.

10. Higher long-term interest rates — You saw that one coming, didn't you?

Hey, it turns out that the new post-apocalyptic economy is pretty much just the old traditional economy — but with a debt hangover.

10 Things That Will Change [Kiplinger's]
(Photo: Joy of the Mundane )

From the WSJ:

But lower-priced "value" products can also have wide margins because they're cheaper to make. "Food companies will be careful to shift consumers to products that are still high margin," says Robert Moskow, an analyst with Credit Suisse. "Powdered Kool-Aid beverages are one of the most profitable food products in history."

Also Monday, the milk industry will begin running ads touting milk as a bargain. Financial guru Suze Orman will don the familiar milk mustache in a print ad that reads: "Even at today's prices, a glass of milk only costs about a quarter...." The ad is a big departure from prior "Got Milk" campaigns that focused on the nutritional value of milk.

The milk industry plans to spend just under $1 million on the Suze Orman ads.

The WSJ says the new campaigns indicative of a food industry that's afraid of consumers. Shoppers have been pinched by a 7.5% jump in food prices in the first 8 months of 2008, and have started buying generics. Oh, no!

If you're a member of the PTA, you can expect ConAgra to start giving you the hard sell on their cheap Banquet frozen dinners — they've hired "hundreds of mothers to provide money-saving tips and free product samples at PTA meetings and church groups across the country. The moms will be paid in Banquet product coupons, the company said."

Campbell will begin calling their soups, "the original dollar menu," stressing that you just have to add water, and Kool-Aid's new claims the product provides "more smiles per gallon" compared to soft drinks.

Food Marketers Cook Up 'Value' Campaigns [WSJ]
(Photo: What Rhymes With Nicole )

It's hard to think of an object that isn't made of wood or packaged or encounters wood at some point in its journey through the economy. Any number of household items that you can buy at Walmart, like a toilet seat for instance, may very well be made from Russian wood.

"Hot Seats" [NewYorker.com]

Republican officials said Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had agreed to demands from lawmakers in both parties to limit the pay of executives whose companies benefit from the bailout. The enormous pay packages of some Wall Street executives, coupled with the realization among nonwealthy Americans that the crisis could affect their financial foundations, have created an incendiary issue on Capitol Hill.

That's a good term! It's inclusive and condescending at the same time. "Nonwealthy Americans." I'm a "Nonwealthy American," how about you?

Paulson Said to Give Way on C.E.O. Pay; Bush to Speak [NYT]
(Photo: spinadelic )

For $100 Billion you can Universal Health Care for all people in the U.S. without it.

For $35 Billion you can get universal preschool. Half-days for 3-year-olds and full days for 4-year-olds.

For $10 Billion you can carry out all the security recommendations issued by the 9/11 commission.

All these costs are annual. We're not saying this is how we should spend the money, but it does give you an idea of what a large amount we're talking about.

Putting the annual cost of war into perspective [NYT]
(Photo: donbuciak )

Target has 25% of its stores in areas that have been slammed by the subprime meltdown, and the percentage of its customers who are not paying their credit card bills on time is um, kinda high...

"Target has 25 percent of its stores in states that have experienced excessive mortgage delinquencies compared to the national average," PiperJaffray analyst Jeffrey P. Klinefelter wrote in a client note.

G.E. which runs the private label credit cards for Walmart, IKEA and Lowe's wants to sell the (still profitable) division, but isn't having much luck as delinquencies rise and the pace of consumer spending slips, according to the New York Times.

Meanwhile, another report suggested that consumers will see lots more store closings in regional malls due to crappy sales and a weak back-to-school season.

Target declines as analyst downgrades it to 'Hold' [Forbes]

Fitch: Regional malls may see more store closings [BusinessWeek]
(Photo: CyberCJH )

10. Food Preservation. Learn to preserve fruits and vegetables for the long winter. Make beef jerky! It's healthy and fun.

9. Risk Management. Wikipedia says, "Financial risk management is the practice of creating economic value in a firm by using financial instruments to manage exposure to risk, particularly Credit risk and market risk." Apparently, there is a need for people to learn how to do this.

8. Learn A Second Language. It's a global economy, boys and girls. Time to learn to communicate!

7. Cooking. The days of getting take out every single night are over. You must learn to cook, and by cook, we mean "Prepare nutritious meals at a reasonable price." You will probably not need to own any saffron.

6. Dumpster Diving. There are sure to be some good "deals" on office furniture to be had pretty soon...

5. Budgeting. Creating and using a simple budget is easy! Even you can do it.

4. Cooperation. For example, you could find other people in your neighborhood and car pool with them. To begin, locate another human who lives near you. Say, "Hello!"

3. General Repair and Maintenance Skills. Learn how to fix things! Change your own oil! You can do it! Hardware stores often rent tools, and some cities have "tool libraries" where you can check out what you need and then return it.

2. Gardening. Growing herbs on your windowsill is easier than you might think. Start small and concentrate on inexpensive plants that are hard to kill.

1. Self-Control. Benjamin Franklin said:

When I was a child of seven years old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my pocket with coppers. I went directly to a shop where they sold toys for children; and, being charmed with the sound of a whistle, that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily offered and gave all my money for one.

I then came home, and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family. My brothers, and sisters, and cousins, understanding the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times as much for it as it was worth; put me in mind what good things I might have bought with the rest of the money; and laughed at me so much for my folly, that I cried with vexation; and the reflection gave me more chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure.

This however was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing on my mind; so that often, when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary thing, I said to myself, Don’t give too much for the whistle; and I saved my money.

(Photo: Maulleigh )

The company has 51-percent of its 2008 fuel hedged at $111. Per-barrel prices closed at under $98 yesterday. Looking forward to 2009, the airline's fuel hedges are based on per-barrel prices of $118.

Hedging is a big roll of the dice, and no one has played it better than Southwest Airlines. It has consistently hedged more fuel than its competitors. As of this summer, Southwest has 70-percent of its 2008 fuel hedged at $51 a barrel. Compare that with American Airlines, which has 34-percent hedged hedged at $82 a barrel.

Industry analysts estimate that since 1998 Southwest has paid $3.5 billion less for fuel than its competitors. That's equal to 83-percent of its profits over the last nine years. It's a big part of the reason the airline continues reporting profits while the rest of the industry bleeds.

They're going to need to sell a lot of snack boxes to make up for that...

Airlines Hurt By Dropping Oil Prices. Huh?!! [Wired]
(Photo: FlyGuy92586 )

From the NYT:

“We have acted on a case-by-case basis in recent weeks, addressing problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, working with market participants to prepare for the failure of Lehman Brothers, and lending to A.I.G. so it can sell some of its assets in an orderly manner,” Mr. Paulson said.

“Despite these steps, more is needed,” he said. “We must now take further, decisive action to fundamentally and comprehensively address the root cause of our financial system’s stresses.”

President Bush admitted that taxpayer money was funding these "decisive actions," but did add that he expected the money to be paid back:
“These measures will require us to put a significant amount of taxpayer dollars on the line,” Bush said in a statement, "But we expect that this money will eventually be paid back."

Stocks Surge as U.S. Acts to Shore Up Money Funds and Limits Short Selling [NYT]

Guess the glory days of free refills are slipping through our fingers...

Stocks Post Huge Late-Day Surge [CBS]

Without further ado...

America's Most Stressful Cities:

10. Philadelphia, PA

9. Providence, R.I.

8. Salt Lake City, Utah

7. Cleveland, Ohio

6. San Diego, Calif.

5. San Francisco, Calif.

4. Los Angeles, Calif.

3. Detroit, Mich.

2. New York, N.Y.

1. Chicago, Ill.

The magazine considered unemployment rate, expensive gas, high population density and relatively poor air quality as its criteria for what made one city more stressful than another.

Chicago has a 7.3% unemployment rate, the eighth most polluted air in our ranking and in city where everybody drives to get around, a gallon of gas costs a nickel under $4 dollars.

Omitted from the calculations:

America's Most Stressful Cities [Forbes]
(Photos: Meghann Marco & Meghann Marco)

Hmm.

We wonder why.

The FDIC is responding to the renewed interest in their services with some PSAs featuring everyone's favorite personal finance guru and striped shirt aficionado, Suze Orman.

They've also launched a friendly-looking website that will help you, the supposedly insured, make sure your money is protected. You can check it out here.

Oh, and he's another topic that Google's New York users have found oddly compelling in the past month.

These types of accounts are generally FDIC insured:

Checking, savings, trust, certificates of deposit (CDs), IRA retirement accounts, and money market deposit accounts.

A money market deposit account earns interest at a rate set by the bank and usually limits the customer to a certain number of transactions within a stated time period. Do not confuse a money market mutual fund with an FDIC-insured money market deposit account, which earns interest in an amount determined by, and paid by, the financial institution where your funds are deposited.

These investments are not FDIC insured:

Mutual funds, annuities, life insurance policies, stocks and bonds.

What type of insurance covers my investments?

Your investments (mutual funds, stocks, etc.) are not insured against market risk — their value may go up or down depending on the market. You are, however, likely insured against the failure of your broker, or a bank's brokerage subsidiary, by the Securities Investors Protection Corporation. This institution will replace securities that you own that go missing in accounts held by its members up to $500,000, including up to $100,000 in cash, if a member brokerage or bank brokerage subsidiary fails.

If you'd like more information, check out the FDIC's website.

Insured or Not Insured? [FDIC]

From Reuters:

"This a staggeringly bad number," said pollster John Zogby, referring to the number of people who said they would spend the same amount on gifts this year. He noted that with inflation, even flat sales means retailers won't be making as much.

"You're still going to have people standing in line at three in the morning at Wal-Mart, but the lines may be thinner this year" on Black Friday, he said, referring to the day after Thanksgiving in late November that kicks off the holiday sales season with a barrage of promotions.

Oh well. You'd have shot your eye out anyway.

Shoppers to cut back holiday gifts [Reuters]

10. United Airlines
Assets: $25.2 billion
Date Filed: Dec. 9, 2002

9. Pacific Gas and Electric
Assets: $29.8 billion
Date Filed: April 6, 2001

8. Global Crossing
Assets: $30.2 billion
Date Filed: Jan. 28, 2002

7. Refco
Assets: $33.3 billion
Date Filed: Oct. 17, 2005

6. Financial Corp. of America
Assets: $33.9 billion
Date Filed: Sept. 9, 1988

5. Texaco
Assets: $35.9 billion
Date Filed: April 12, 1987

4. Conseco
Assets: $61.4 billion
Date Filed: Dec. 18, 2002

3. Enron
Assets: $63.4 billion
Date Filed: Dec. 2, 2001

2. Worldcom
Assets: $103.9 billion
Date Filed: July 21, 2002

1. Lehman Brothers
Pre-Bankruptcy Assets: $639 billion
Date Filed: Sept. 15, 2008

Biggest Chapter 11 Cases [CNBC]
(Photo: epak )

From the NYT:

The announcement was made by the Primary Fund, which had almost $65 billion in assets at the end of May. It is part of the Reserve Fund, a group whose founder helped invent the money market fund more than 30 years ago.

The fund said that because the value of some investments had fallen, customers now have only 97 cents for each dollar they had invested.

This is only the second time in history that a money market fund has “broken the buck” — that is, reported a share’s value was less than a dollar.

How could this happen? The NYT says that in this year alone banks have poured billions of dollars into shoring up money market funds that were caught holding questionable mortgage backed securities — leading millions of investors to pull their money out of other investments and place it into money market funds.

The trouble came when The Primary Fund realized that its stake in now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers was essentially worthless, causing the fund's value to drop to 97 cents per share. For now, the fund will rely its right to delay redemption for seven days:

But, as prospectuses and regulators make clear, money funds are not legally required to keep their share prices at or above a dollar, or to redeem investors’ shares immediately. Like all regulated mutual funds, their share prices are determined solely by dividing total portfolio assets by the number of shares outstanding, and they have seven days to meet redemption demands.

Those facts would probably surprise most money fund investors, who have come to think of money funds as being “just like cash, just like a checking account,” a fund industry lawyer, Jay Baris, said.

The Investment Company Institute tried to reassure investors in a statement Tuesday. Here it is:

"Today, Reserve Management Corporation announced that one of its money market mutual funds is unable to maintain a $1.00 net asset value (NAV), an event triggered by unprecedented market conditions that have affected a wide range of financial firms. This type of event—known as "breaking the buck"—is extremely rare.

"Money market mutual funds have been a successful financial product for millions of investors. Although money market funds are not guaranteed, investors have benefited from the security, liquidity, and diversification that these funds provide under stringent and effective regulation. Today, money market funds hold $3.5 trillion in assets for a wide range of individual and institutional investors.

"ICI is working closely with its members and with regulators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve, to maintain open communications about market conditions and their impact on funds.

"The fundamental structure of money market funds remains sound. These funds are subject to strict regulation governing credit quality, liquidity, diversification, and transparency. Rule 2a-7, administered by the SEC, strictly limits the types of securities in which money market funds can invest. Securities held by money market funds must be judged highly credit-worthy by both objective and subjective tests, and Rule 2a-7 imposes strict requirements for diversification of assets. The provisions of Rule 2a-7 have operated to help money market funds maintain a stable NAV of $1.00 per share. While not obligated to do so, fund sponsors have voluntarily lent support to their money market funds with credit lines or cash infusions in a number of recent instances.

"In the only previous instance of a money market fund breaking the buck, Community Bancshares, a small institutional money market fund, paid investors 96 percent of their principal."

Money Market Fund Says Customers Could Lose Money [NYT]
ICI Statement on Money Market Mutual Funds [ICI]
(Photo: atbartlett )

Each spot features precocious little urchins discussing topics like "risk management" (ha!) and their parent's perceived personal finance failures until eventually the name of AIG is invoked as a salve to soothe their worried minds. Each commercial ends with AIG's tagline "The strength to be there." We saw these running as recently as Sunday, two days before you, the taxpayer, bailed the company out with 85 billion of your dollars.

Enjoy.

Fed to Loan A.I.G. $85 Billion in Rescue [NYT] (Photo: Getty)

"Alan Greenspan told everyone to take a teaser rate and then raised the rate 17 times?" Cramer yelled back in August, pleading with Bernanke to focus on the issue. "Open the darn Fed window. He has NO IDEA how bad it is out there. HE HAS NO IDEA."

Here's his initial meltdown:

And here's Jimmy's elegy to the economy:

[via Gawker]

Starting tomorrow, all tickets purchased for flights after Nov. 10 will be subject to the new fee. Members of the military traveling on orders, "Premier" frequent fliers, and first or business class customers will be exempt from the charge. Reuters says that United expects to increase its revenue from "merchandising efforts" (including baggage fees) by $700 million in 2009.

Meanwhile, airline stocks "mostly rose" as oil prices fell below $96 a barrel, after reaching as high as $147 over the summer, said the AP.

Airline shares rise on falling oil, upgrades [Forbes]
United Airlines doubles second-bag fee to $50 [Yahoo!] (Thanks, Liz!)
(Photo: Zonaphoto )

The U.S. House of Representatives is considering loaning at least $25 billion to GM, Ford, and Chrysler, possibly as part of a second economic stimulus package. If so, they'll have to move fast. Congress will go on break at the end of this month and may not reconvene for the rest of the year.

"House leadership weighs loans for automakers" [Reuters]
(Photo: Getty)

What do they even sell in there, gumballs?