A refresher on a simple Econ. 101 lesson from college that many of us have forgotten.

Below.

When economic news hits Daily Kos, we invariably get a flurry of household financial advice from both professionals and amateurs who post here.

"Buy gold!"

"Buy Swiss Francs!"

"Buy rice, flour, oil, powdered milk and dried eggs!"

I have some even better advice for you:

Bloomberg sez:

MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Group Inc. lost their AAA credit ratings. The biggest hospital in Sarasota, Florida, is paying the price.

David Verinder, chief financial officer of the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, received daily e-mail messages last month informing him that interest costs on an $83 million bond issue were rising to 1.45 percent, to 1.75 percent, to 3.25 percent, to 5.9 percent, and finally to 9 percent by June 24, a more than fivefold increase.

In March, the Sarasota health network had tried to escape high rates by converting the bonds from auction-rate securities. The February collapse of the $330 billion market where rates are determined through periodic bidding drove interest costs as high as 11 percent.

Warning on oil prices from OPEC president.

The baby boomer generation did not save enough money to retire.

Great diary at the top of the Recommended list.

UPDATE: This diary was originally titled "Amtrak has Only 632 Usable Train Cars Left."  This info comes from the New York Times article cited below.  However, I'm starting to wonder ...  Does this number work out right?  Anybody aware of a differing statistic?

Wikipedia says that Amtrak has 720 coach cars, 168 sleeping cars and 126 first/business class cars.  No info on how many of these are in service -- presumably, many of these are the "dozens" that Amtrak does not keep active.  This is a larger number than was reported in the Times.

Oh, jeez.

More signs that the Bush Economy is still booming!

You are a liar.

Ever been to Padova?

Guys, I'm just going to come out and say it.

Some more commentary  from CNN contributor Ruben Navarette ...

It's not about you.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, Democrat (of course) of Washington was just on CNN talking about news that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating trading practices for crude oil in unregulated and under-regulated markets.

And we just keep sinking.

But first, I wanted to clear up some confusion regarding what she actually said the other day regarding Bobby Kennedy and the context in which she said it.

Please, everyone ...

Join me and this CNN/Money columnist in fighting against W. Virginia teacher pensions.