Greece turns to military to restore fuel supplies (AP)

AP - Greece said Friday it will use military trucks, navy vessels and commandeered fuel tankers to restore gasoline supplies cut by a strike that has hurt the country's industry and vital tourism trade at the height of vacation season.

Iran trade sanctions hit Dubai port

Stocks fall modestly as economic growth slows

Wall Street edges lower as investors mull slow recovery (Reuters)

Reuters - Stocks fell on Friday, rebounding for a second day in a row from more substantial losses, as concerns about slower economic growth held trading to a tight range.

Wall Street edges lower as investors mull slow recovery (Reuters)

Reuters - Stocks fell on Friday, rebounding for a second day in a row from more substantial losses, as concerns about slower economic growth held trading to a tight range.

Wall Street edges lower as investors mull slow recovery

Fishermen vs. BP: The case to watch

The future of social media

Facebook app maker vanishes

Europe’s leaders choose holidays on home soil

Cuomo widens insurer probe with 6 more subpoenas (Reuters)

Reuters - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed six more insurers as the state widens a probe into whether life insurance companies have defrauded families of deceased members of the military.

Cuomo widens insurer probe with 6 more subpoenas

Anonymous Former Goldman Employee Will Pay For His Sins

Here’s one: in an online survey of current and former employees, Goldman Sachs beat out a whole slew of financial services firms to be named– wait for it– the second best place to work. Now, I know a lot of other banks and institutions would be sending out congratulatory emails about how great an achievement this is and so on and so forth right about now. That’s because these banks and institutions are losers, just as second place is (the number one loser, in fact). Reuters is trying to make a big deal of the whole thing, offering Goldman a pat on the back, going on about how this is great news in a time that Goldman could really use it, which is of course just making things worse. Why not draw attention to the fact that GS is the best place to work after freaking Susquehanna International Group, Reuters? You know what Goldman could really use, Reuters? You stuffing it. This is not great news. Goldman finishes second to no one and it certainly doesn’t finish second to companies headquartered in Lower Merion Township. Today, though, the bank did.

[Breathe]

Rather than do what all of you think it’s going to do, which is just FLIP OUT, Goldman is going to use this as a teachable moment. What can we learn from the failure and apply the lessons toward future online surveys that will potentially embarrass the bank? Well, it seems there are a couple things in particular that can be gleaned, and here’s what they are: 1) making sure the threats suggested in exit interviews as to what could be visited upon outgoing employees should they fuck with the brand upon being released into the wild are taken seriously and 2) tagging said outgoing employees with GPS ankle monitoring bracelets that can never be removed and wiring their nipples with clamps through which an electric shock is sent if they so much as entertain the thought of violating lesson number 1.

And a word of advice to this guy. Run:

Goldman got top marks from its employees in seven of eight categories — career opportunities, communication, employee morale, recognition and feedback, senior leadership, and fairness and respect, according to the survey. The only area where it lagged behind its closest rivals was work/life balance, where it came in behind Bank of America Corp’s Merrill Lynch and Citigroup Inc and tied with JPMorgan Chase & Co .

One anonymous reviewer, identified as a past employee, called Goldman a “great place,” noting that the brand name and compensation are its greatest assets. But the reviewer also stressed the long hours.

“They overwork you,” said the reviewer. “Upward mobility is pretty unavailable. People envy you for working there and it’s pretty bad. You can’t move around.”

Stocks slide toward the close

Stocks Slide on Growth Concerns (Market Update)

Rocco Forte hires ex-M&B finance director Karim Naffah

Metals Stocks: Gold climbs for the day, but loses 5% on month

Chrysler profitable, no rush to IPO: CEO

Chrysler profitable, no rush to IPO: CEO (Reuters)

Reuters - Chrysler, the No. 3 U.S. automaker, would be profitable on a net basis if it were not for the interest costs of loans remaining from its bailout, the automaker's chief executive said on Friday.

BP readies static kill; shares up 33% in July

PIMCO’s Bill Gross Confirms Slower Growth Ahead, For Years

Stocks fall modestly as economic growth slows (AP)

AP - News that economic growth slowed during the spring gave the stock market a fitting end to a choppy July — yet another back-and-forth day.

Investors drop risk after US GDP data

John Dvorak's Second Opinion: The e-reader battle is just beginning

Summary Box: Merck's 2Q result a bit disappointing (AP)

Worst job on Earth: BP calling all applicants

SEC's Wyly brothers charges may depress donations

Reasons Behind the Market's Recent Revival (Ahead of the Curve)

Moratorium on drilling to hit Chevron output

Li Ka-Shing, Asia's richest man, buys EDF's UK power grids for £5.8bn

BP boss scaling back oil effort

Currencies: Dollar pares gains after U.S. data

Spin wars: White House vs. business

Microsoft tablet coming 'soon'

Analysts expect rebound in July car sales

China closer to becoming second-largest economy

Market Snapshot: U.S. stocks head down convincingly after data

KiwiRail in new home

A Large Water Dividend Gets Larger (AWK)

Shire among the laggards as FTSE 100 slips

Picking up Penguins for 75 years

In Detroit, Obama hails auto-industry growth

Airline Stocks: After a solid July, airlines stocks face headwinds

Arch Coal 2Q profit surges on global sales (AP)

'Maybe I'll be in Rocky 7'

Facebook 'postpones' float until 2012 to allow growth

Glimcher offering raises $96M after costs (AP)

Immigrant worker limit criticised

Goldman employees still enamored with firm and CEO (Reuters)

Goldman employees still enamored with firm and CEO

Coffee drinkers embrace fair factor

Investors shake up $191m trust

Telecom gets $75m for AAPT consumer sale

Airlines living on the edge: CEO

Brian Gaynor : Population, the debate we need to have

Rise in unemployment puts brakes on Japan's economy

Expensive tastes help boost airfreight volumes to China

No Budget? No Problem, Say California Bond Investors

by Sarah McBride

Rich Pedroncelli/AP

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger responds to a question about his revised state spending plan

Logic tells you that a state with as big a budget mess as California should be paying the price in higher interest rates when it comes to the bonds its issues. But in this case, logic is wrong. As Tom Petruno writes in the Los Angeles Times, the annualized tax-free yield on California's five-year general-obligation bonds has fallen to 2.1 percent from 3 percent in mid April. That compares with 4 percent in mid 2009. And it's despite California's budget impasse.

California bonds are simply benefitting from investors' disgust with the lackluster stock market, fears about the overall economy, and desire to have some kind of return for their cash.

 

A widespread belief taxes will rise next year makes tax-free bonds look even better. Budget-tightening by states and municipalities around the city mean fewer bonds are being issued, so supply and demand comes into play too.
Even if California starts paying bills with IOUs again, as the state controller is threatening, bond investors can breath easy. Part of the reason is to make sure the state has hoarded enough money to pay its bondholders. Take that, furloughed California workers.

Hope antidote to morally bleak world

Taste for new houses back on the rise

Bradford & Bingley back in the black with £896m profit

Leaks highlight Pakistan’s Afghan quest

Merck pares 2010 forecast, despite beat in quarter

Imports slow second-quarter growth

Stage set for Fed bond ‘strippers’ to perform

BP cuts back oil spill clean-up as it prepares to 'kill' leak

Chevron earnings triple

Disney to sell Miramax for more than $660 million

Dick Bové Washes His Hands Of The Securities And Exchange Commission

They want to act like children? Fine. That’s their prerogative. He’s done.

“If the goal of the SEC is every two or three weeks to come out and say that there’s another financial company that’s done something wrong,” the agency will drive home the belief “that the financial system in the United States is rotten, that it’s run by crooks who create fraudulent products,” said Dick Bove, analyst at Rochdale Securities. As investors wait for more regulatory shoes to drop, “the markets will continue to act in the volatile fashion that they are right now,” he said.

Citigroup to pay $75 mn to settle SEC charges [Business Standard]

Broadband bundles made clear

Best broadband deals for tv sport and film

This Week’s Links

Writing on the Wal is one of those neat corporate critique blogs (guess who it’s targeting) that I’m surprised I haven’t come across before.

Cultural Offering has a neat graphic called the skill luck continuum. Blogging’s on the far left. I swear.

Kommein has a great list of how and where to recycle your old gadgets, laptops and toys.

Financial News Express takes a well-thought-out look at how bad the oil spill isn’t.

Add don’t be pregnant to the long list of things (self-employment, owning a condo, not having a pile of money saved) that will stop you from getting a mortgage. (Minyanville)

Bonus link: Becker-Posner on the abuse of presidential power.

2010 Becomes The Year of the Conglomerates (GE, MMM, HON, UTX, BRK-A, SPY, DIA)

Not spending like drunken sailors - The Buzz

FTSE ends lower on US growth data (AFP)

AFP - Leading shares in London slipped lower on Friday after weaker-than-expected US growth figures stirred concern about the strength of the economic recovery, dealers said.

States are broke. You're on the hook.

Hedge Fund Girls Suing Former Boss, His Wife, For Suing Them, For Hanging On To Topless Pics Of Said Wife

Remember Cristina Culicea and Danille Pecile? Probably not but to recap: last July, the former Titan Capital Group assistants sued their boss, Russell Abrams who asked Danielle to print out some photos he took of his wife, Sandra, on their honeymoon. In the pictures, Sandra is posing on yacht, with her rack on full display, which apparently made Danielle uncomfortable, as did the smirk Abrams gave his underling as she handed pics over, and when he asked “You liked them, didn’t you?” She, in fact, did not.

The girls decided to leave the firm soon after the incident, feeling that they’d been sexually harassed on account of having to look at the boss’s wife naked (Culicea was not part of TitYacht-gate, but was asked to print other classy shots from the trip, of the newlyweds taking a bath). After they resigned, Russel’s brother Marc, who is a Vice-President at the Titan, left a few psycho emails and voicemails for Danielle who, oh, btw, he used to date, calling her “a dirty pig thief,” a “rotten bitch,” and a “whore.” That detail is not part of the suit, but was just something Danielle wanted to get out there.

So the ladies asked for $2.5 million, saying they were sexually harassed and deeply disturbed by the topless shots, which for some reason they decided to hold on to. Not for their personal files, but insurance, to make sure they got their money. Some might call this blackmail, extortion, what have you, but their lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, not into such labels, totally backed them up on it, telling the Post that the pics would not be returned until the case was settled with a check for a couple mill and a half, opening the door for a countersuit by Sandra Abrams, who claimed the girls’ demand was “nothing short of blackmail,” which, yeah, it kind of was! Sandra demanded the pics back, and $1 million for emotional distress.

In the year-long interim, we figured this whole thing had been settled but surprise! It hasn’t. Instead, the girls filed a counter suit to the counter suit yesterday, again claiming sexual harassment, though not commenting on the photos (which may or may not still be held for ransom) and requesting unspecified monetary damages.

Mutual Fund Buzz for July 30: Investors Still Favor Bond Funds (U.S. News & World Report)

Fraud charges over £115m inquiry

Lunch with the FT: Alan Greenspan

Anglo American reinstates dividend as earnings double

Let's fund every entrepreneur

Chevron's quarterly profits soar

Cokeheads Et Al Unwittingly Saving Euro Zone, According New Report By Citi

If she has to, she has to.

So give it up for them says the bank’s chief economist.

Gangsters, drug dealers and money launderers appear to be playing their part in helping shore up the financial stability of the euro zone. That’s thanks to their demand, according to European authorities, for high-denomination euro bank notes, in particular the €200 and €500 bills. The European Central Bank issues these notes for a hefty profit that is welcome at a time when its response to the financial crisis has called its financial strength into question. The high-value bills are increasingly “making the euro the currency of choice for underground and black economies, and for all those who value anonymity in their financial transactions and investments,” wrote Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citigroup, in a recent research report. The business of issuing euro notes, produced at almost zero cost, is “wildly profitable” for the ECB, Mr. Buiter wrote. [WSJ]

Kerner Sees Facebook Putting Off IPO as It Seeks Growth: Audio

Tribune proposes severance package for top executives

Fugitive Nadir will stand trial

Brookfield Homes in merger talks with Carma

ALL BUSINESS: A bright spot in a tough economy

Motorists can expect fairly steady pump prices

No end for Greek fuel protest, tourism slammed

Aon quarterly profit rides high on acquisitions

US growth slows in second quarter

American Axle turns to 2Q profit

Congress OKs bill to make commuter airline safer

Stocks regain ground after mixed economic reports

Chrysler to add 900 jobs to midsize-car plant

Airbus firm EADS lifts output aim

Incoming BP CEO: Time for 'scaleback' in cleanup

TD Bank Opens New Green Call Center in Auburn, Maine

Charterhouse Group to Sell NewPath Networks to Crown Castle in a $115 Million Transaction

The Economy: It's Worse Than We Thought

by Sarah McBride

Paul Sakuma/AP

This unemployed guy could have told you the economy was no great shakes.

The nation's economy grew at a modest 2.4 percent rate last quarter, according to the Commerce Department, which also revised down estimates going back three years.

That means the recession was worse than previously believed. The government revised down its estimates for seven quarters dating back to the first quarter of 2007.

But the Commerce Department said the first quarter of this year showed more growth than previously reported, 3.7 percent compared to 2.7 percent. The second-quarter data showed businesses are investing more in equipment and buildings, while consumers are keeping their spending in check. Consumers are also saving more than previously reported.

Does a Double Dip Recession Lie Ahead? (Early Bird)

Bonus Watch: JPMorgan

People are reportedly prettay prettay pleased at the House of Dimon this morning.

Communicated this morning: first year IB analyst top bucket $65K, second bucket $60K (first year base is $70K). JPM told analysts they “want to pay at the top of the market.” People are generally happy with the numbers.

Gartman on Markets, Choudhry on Eurozone, U.S. GDP: First Word

US economic growth slows to 2.4%

TeleNav, When IPOs Die (TNAV)

Royal Mail pension plan in doubt

Alison Weir Discusses Her Book `Captive Queen': Lewis Lapham

The Silly Notion of Deflation

Jan Van Eck Sees Declining Debt in Emerging Markets: Audio

Subdued US growth weighs on world markets (AP)

AP - European and U.S. stock markets dropped sharply Friday after figures showed the U.S. economy slowed faster than expected in the second quarter, further eroding confidence in the recovery in the world's largest economy.

Economy slows sharply in second quarter

Economy slows sharply in second quarter

China overtakes Japan as No.2 economy: FX chief

The Ghosts of GDP

Opening Bell: 07.30.10

From Tiananmen Square to Possible Buffett Successor (WSJ)
Twenty-one years ago, Li Lu was a student leader of the Tiananmen Square protests. Now a hedge-fund manager, he is in line to become a successor to Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway. Mr. Li, 44 years old, has emerged as a leading candidate to run a chunk of Berkshire’s $100 billion portfolio, stemming from a close friendship with Charlie Munger, Berkshire’s 86-year-old vice chairman. In an interview, Mr. Munger revealed that Mr. Li was likely to become one of the top Berkshire investment officials. “In my mind, it’s a foregone conclusion,” Mr. Munger said.

For Goldman Sachs, Remaking a Hub in Battery Park City (CityRoom)
On Wednesday night, members of a committee of Manhattan’s Community Board 1 heard about Goldman Sachs’s plans to upgrade a hotel next to its headquarters and to bring in Danny Meyer to open a Shake Shack, a Blue Smoke barbecue joint and a fancier restaurant in the complex, a block from the World Trade Center site.

Wyly Brothers Face SEC Fraud Charge (WSJ)
Billionaire brothers Sam Wyly and Charles Wyly hid $550 million in trading profits by using an “elaborate sham system” of offshore entities, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Thursday. The civil suit, following a six-year probe, targets a pair of entrepreneurs in their mid-70s who amassed a fortune over more than four decades through ventures including Michaels arts and crafts stores.

Obama Making Sales Pitch for Auto Bailouts to Skeptical Voters (Bloomberg)
“We are going to get all the money back that we invested in those car companies,” Obama said on ABC’s “The View” program. The industry’s resurgence “tells a good story” about the U.S. economic recovery, he said.

Marc Faber Questions if Dow Could Hit 1,000 (CNBC)
Never say never?

Americans Buy IPads While Broke in New Abnormal Economy (Bloomberg)
In March, Ralph Ronzio went to a warehouse in a seedy part of Orange County, California, and watched a man auction off his condo for half what he’d paid for it. Ronzio had bought the place for $329,000 in 2005, when he moved to Southern California from Rhode Island to take a job at a data-storage company. It was the first place he’d ever owned. “It was totally my bachelor pad,” he says. “Not much inside other than the usual leather couch and the big screen TV. My fiancée made me sell the couch.” That wasn’t the only thing that changed when Ronzio got engaged. His fiancée had two young children, and there wasn’t enough room in the condo for all four of them. So last year, Ronzio bought a house nine miles away and they all moved in. He figured he could rent the condo and cover his costs. But the more he thought about the money he was losing, the more it stressed him out. Finally, Ronzio enlisted the help of a firm called You Walk Away and did exactly that from the remaining $319,000 on his condo mortgage. When the bank foreclosed, he says he felt a sense of relief. He also had more cash. He and his fiancée took the kids to Disneyland. Ronzio, 31, gave himself a treat as well. “I bought myself an iPad,” he says.

Nomura Said to Hire 40 Students as Global Bankers at Triple Pay (Bloomberg)
The college recruits, chosen from 650 candidates, will take up positions in investment banking, trading and other departments starting next April, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information isn’t public. They’ll be guaranteed a 6.5 million yen ($75,000) salary before bonuses, compared with 2.4 million yen for regular hires.

Hank Paulson: Housing policy must be set on sustainable basis (WaPo)
The best way to address the systemic risk posed by Fannie and Freddie is to shrink them by eliminating their investment portfolios — and their huge debt loads that put the financial sector at risk and necessitated a costly public rescue.

This Week’s Weird Jobs

Image: Sebastyne/Flickr

If you’re snarky, aggressive, or just plain annoying, you might find hiring gold in this week’s weird jobs:

1. SC: Bachelorette Party Entertainment

Would like to arrange a stripper (not naked) for our girlfriend gettin married…

Please let me know if you or someone you know does this kind of thing….

Note to poster: There’s no reason for an ad here. Just order a few rounds of whiskey for the hottest, dumbest guys in the bar and there you go.

2. SC: Chemist Wanted, ASAP!

Startup Bio Diesel firm is looking for a chemist to join its Executive Team.

The successful candidate may be offered a percentage of the firm

This job would be especially cool if you could be called The Fuelmeister.

3. IL: Catfight Models Wanted

Erotic Fully Clothed Female Fantasy Wrestling/Catfights based on customer requests. Earn $200 -$300 per nite Fri and Sat

If you can count you should be able to realize this huge potential market. Models that come to mind include La Kisha, Betty Page, the la Belle twins, etc

Big in China, India and the Middle East, you say? What a enormous surprise!

4. DC: Spunky LOUD Hostess needed for fitness club

Looking for RACHEL RAY type of personality – fun, enthusiastic, high-energy, extremely talkative and quick with conversational comebacks!

- Remember: you MUST have a LOUD and HAPPY voice, some experience with sales and able to multi-task. If this does not suit you, do not answer this.

Here at the fitness club, we are all LOUD and ANNOYING. Do join us!

5. DC: Pet Taxi Drivers and Dog Bather – Unique Hours

Caring for animals is one of the most therapeutic experiences. Pair that with a paycheck and you have a dream of a part time position! In fact, many of our employees would say you’d be hard pressed to find a more enjoyable “job.”

The ideal candidate for the dog bather position would be available M-F from 3-5pm. This person should be comfortable handling dogs of all sizes and breeds. Pay for both positions will be between $9.25-10/hr.

Note that if you own a Pinto and need to transport multiple dogs, roof racks are not an option.

Happy Friday!

Top Day Trader Alerts (ALU, CSTR, GERN, GOOG, BIDU, OREX, PWER, TNAV, WYNN)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CATM, CLNE, ENOC, GFI, HAL, HUM, FSLR, WFR, MYL, POT, SINA, RNWK, WDC)

10 Things Dermatologists Won't Say (10 Things)

Weddings By the Hour

by Sarah McBride

Colin Purrington/flickr

Look at a wedding by the hourly cost instead of the total tab, suggests the WSJ's Brett Arends, and get ready for even bigger sticker shock.

Measured that way, Chelsea Clinton's upcoming nuptials cost $270,000 an hour, assuming a $3 million overall tab and a celebration that lasts 11 hours. At $2 million, that's still $180,000 an hour. "How much fun can anyone have in an hour? Even if you're, say, doing the tango with Oprah Winfrey?" asks Arends.

 

Even for mere mortals who spend the average price of $17,500 for a wedding, that's still $1,500 an hour if it lasts 11 hours. If it lasts just six, that's $3,000 an hour.

Arends suggests buying stock in theknot.com— which unlike many wedding throwers has lots of cash and no debt.

Today’s Best Market Rumors 7/30/2010

The Twitter-24/7 Wall St. Market Watch (7/30/2010): Facebook IPO, Disney Dumps Miramax

European stocks falter before US output data (AFP)

AFP - Europe's main stock markets fell on Friday as investors looked ahead to key economic growth figures from the United States, after dissecting news of a major takeover, company earnings and eurozone data.

An Unnecessary Headline?

Image: FAIL blog

The Mortgage Mess's Dirty Details (By the Numbers)

Mining losses erode London's July rally

How Will Retailers Fare This Quarter? (Broker Talk)

Investors drop risk ahead of US GDP data

Beauty and the Buck: A Financial Tale (Money and Your Mind)

The Week in Business Tweets: Swift Moves (Twitter Beat)

Using Forensic Research to Identify Trends

Plan Early for Failing Financial Health

SEC charges billionaire Dallas brothers with insider trading

SEC charges billionaire Dallas brothers with insider trading

Is gold dealer using fear to steer buyers into more expensive purchases?

Slashing lease prices could be a risky move for Toyota

Disney agrees to sell Miramax Films to investor group led by Ron Tutor

Toyota recalls Avalon sedans, Lexus LX 470 SUVs

Fixed mortgage rates keep falling

'Inception' is expected to hold off three newcomers

Is gold dealer using fear to steer buyers into more expensive purchases?

Disney agrees to sell Miramax Films to investor group led by Ron Tutor

PUC moves to loosen rules on shut-offs

Santa Monica Place set to reopen as upscale outdoor shopping venue

Charles River calls off $1.6bn WuXi tie-up

SEC accuses Dallas investors of insider trading (AP)

Citigroup to pay $75 million to settle SEC charges (Reuters)

Reuters - Citigroup Inc will pay $75 million to settle charges that it failed to disclose subprime exposure to investors in 2007, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

Citigroup paying $75M to settle civil charges (AP)

AP - Banking titan Citigroup Inc. is paying $75 million to settle civil charges that it misled investors about its potential losses from subprime mortgages as the housing bust hit in 2007.

SEC charges Wyly brothers with $550 million fraud (Reuters)

Write-Offs: 07.29.10

$$$ NY Fed: Toxic Assets from AIG, Bear Gaining Value [CNBC]

$$$ Lawmakers Call On Six Firms to Claw Back Bonuses [Dealbook]

$$$ SEC charges Wyly brothers with $550 million fraud [Reuters]

$$$ ‘Long Island Lolita‘ Amy Fisher Starts Porn Company [CNBC]

$$$ “This just happened: WFC first year analysts ice BOA associates at local bar.”

Citi Futures’ Evans Discusses Energy Markets: Taking Stock

Miller Tabak’s Roth Provides Technical Analysis: Taking Stock

Auerbach’s Grayson on `Frontier Market’ Investing: Taking Stock

FBR’s Miller Discusses Flagstar, BankAtlantic: Taking Stock

Caption Contest Thursday

Chris Bosh, on the floor of the NYSE, daring to dream. [NYP]

Fed Watcher Quote Of The Day

Texas Rangers, Visteon: Bloomberg Law Bankruptcy Review

New non-alcoholic downers to get you off the caffeine buzz

#%*#!!! Swearing in the workplace

Re-building Rwanda, one strong woman at a time

Unconventional marketing strategies for the X Games crowd

Paper shows that credit card users win at the register, not cash users

More people moving out and renting

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the new kid on the block

Citigroup Pays $75 Million To Settle Subprime Case

Glenn Beck’s Goldline Scheme

Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture has an entertaining/disturbing infographic about Glenn Beck’s relationship with precious metal investment company Goldline International, and how he manipulates customers. In effect, by buying a numismatic coin through Goldline, customers would instantly lose 42% of their investment, thanks to an insane markup.

Infographic by The Big Picture

Source: Business Pundit | 29 Jul 2010 | 11:59 am

SB1070 Takes Effect Today. What’s Next?

SB1070, Arizona’s controversial immigration law, takes effect today. Although District Court Judge Susan Bolton nixed major portions of the law, including the police mandate to check peoples’ papers, Arizona–and the country–are still reacting. Here’s a media roundup of what’s happening:

Reuters has a helpful Factbox on what provisions of the law were blocked, and which will continue.

Arizona tourism faces a negative impact. At least 40 groups have canceled meetings or conventions in Arizona since Gov. Jan Brewer signed a new immigration bill, said Kristen Jarnagin, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association. (CNN)

The bill is helping some Republicans solidify their anti-immigration platform; Democrats, meanwhile, are galvanizing their Latino bases. (CBS)

This may go all the way up to the Supreme Court. (Wall St. Journal)

Mexico is preparing for an influx of fearful Arizona immigrants; others are going to other US states just to be on the safe side. (CS Monitor)

It’s worth watching to see how this actually plays out, or if it just ends up as another loud, but ultimately impotent political battle.

Chelsea Clinton Wedding Costs Up to $5 mil of…Taxpayer Money?

Image: Kyle Cassidy

The Chelsea Clinton-Marc Mezvinsky wedding planned for this Saturday will cost up to an estimated $5 million. The NY Daily News has the breakdown:

Tents (with glass walls and climate control): $600,000

Wedding dress $25,000

If Bill is paying for the wedding, as is customary, does that mean that the wedding is essentially funded by the taxpayer money he collected during his career in public service?