There had been disturbing news and reports emanating from the Niger Delta oil basin of Nigeria in recent times. On Monday March 15, 2010, a car bomb explosion was reported around Warri while two state governors and other dignitaries were visiting the area. From the photograph in one of the National Dailies, this was not Xmas firecracker explosion!

John Tantillo was among those who thought that Obama should give back the Nobel Peace Prize--but he now says he may have even done one better with his acceptance speech.

The Big Banks, meanwhile, are still not moving in a direction that makes good marketing sense.

No one data set provides the silver bullet in predicting the direction of the stock market. On the other hand, the stock market's direction does impact consumer confidence. The market does matter and the decline so far this year is over 25%.

For investors: All investment income would be treated equally (at flat tax rates), except municipal bond interest would continue to be tax free--- but at all jurisdictional levels. All public corporations reporting profits would be required to disburse at least 25% of their profits to shareholders.