Here are today’s top headlines from the Marketplace Morning Report and from around the web.
The thing that is driving the market plummet this morning is the Fed, and its action yesterday to shift its investment portfolio toward long-term bonds in a move called “Operation Twist.”
Gold — which usually goes up when investors get scared — is down 3.5 percent. It seems investors are instead fleeing to the safety of government bonds; the interest rate on 10 year U.S. bonds has fallen to an all time low of 1.77 percent.
Fewer Americans filed for first time weekly jobless claims last week. The Labor Department said applications shrank by 9,000.
Carmax just reported, and used car sales rose between 4 and 5 percent.
We may think we’re okay with change — but really, who are we kidding? When it comes to the Internet, we like things to look the same. The biggest sites — Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Wikipedia — look about the same today as they did when they started. But Facebook wants to stay fresh. It unveiled some alterations to its homepage yesterday, adding a ticker of updates and making some photos bigger. Doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but it’s got Facebook users livid. “I signed up for Google+ today,” said one. Ridiculous, said another. And TV host Joy Behar tweeted: “I’ve wasted so much valuable time trying to figure out the #NewFacebook, I’ve barely had time to play solitaire on my iPad.”
A late-night hot spot in Manhattan’s East Village, has hired a bouncer to work the overnight shift — at the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) to keep barhopping diners who enjoyed too many cocktails under control. You know it’s a tough job at a bar — imagine rowdy drunks who are hungry. I just hope the guy’s paid with more than just flapjacks.
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