February 25, 2009

The face of the Sun is without blemish:
http://mdisas.nascom.nasa.gov/gif_he...t_igram_fd.gif

Please visit:
http://blog.nj.com/southjersey_impac...SolarCycle.jpg

The right panel shows the face of the Sun as it looked on a good day during
the late Modern Warm Period. Sunspots are the apparent size of craters on
the moon. The left panel shows a spotless Sun as seen today.

Please write to Al Gore so that Al knows that the Sun is not living up to
his religious expectations. Al Gore is a divinity school dropout. George
Carlin had a better grasp of the true nature of God's creation, than does Al
Gore.

Please visit:
http://www.co-intelligence.org/newsl...es/sun-etc.jpg
which shows the relative sizes of the Sun and planets. Compared to the Sun,
Jupiter is the size of a pea, earth is the size of a grain of sand.

Business News Bulletin
Stocks Retreat After Obama Speech
Evelyn Rusli, 02.25.09, 11:30 AM EST

This is a transcript of the Market Update: Midday video report.

Stocks retreated on Wednesday, with the Street looking for direction from
Washington. President Obama's Tuesday night speech failed to move the needle
on Wall Street; meanwhile, investors are watching Fed Chairman Ben
Bernanke's meeting with the House Financial Services Committee.

Regulators are expected to begin stress tests of the nation's major banks to
determine how much capital, if any, they need.

The housing sector digested yet another disappointing report. Existing-home
sales fell 5.3% to 4.49 million, coming in below economists' expectations.

American International Group (nyse: AIG - news - people ) may have lost a
suitor for its $20 billion Asian life-insurance unit. According to reports,
U.K. firm Prudential is unlikely to make a bid by Friday's deadline, leaving
Manulife and Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings in the
running.

Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ) is also said to be mulling a sale of a
key Asian asset, its Japanese bank, Nikko Citigroup. The firm has already
put the Nikko Cordial brokerage unit up for sale, but now reports suggest it
may bundle both units to raise even more cash.

On the earnings docket, it appears the cash-strapped consumer may be
avoiding pricier meals for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Jam-maker
J.M. Smucker (nyse: SJM - news - people ) said profits were up 84% in its
third quarter. Even so, the Ohio-based company lowered its 2009 guidance
because of higher costs and lower demand for peanut butter following a
product recall.

Bond insurer Ambac Financial Group (nyse: ABK - news - people ) recorded a
$2.3 billion fourth-quarter loss Wednesday, after setting aside more than $1
billion for mortgage losses.