AUGUST 8, 2008 (Friday): Pricey Party in Beijing; Mortgage Losses at Fannie

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Beijing Olympics Kick Off

Throwing around cash like an American mortgage lender, China stages one of the most expensive parties in history. By some estimates, the four-hour opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics costs at least $100 million. It s a high-tech blowout with 15,000 performers, umbrellas carried by smiling multicultural children, laser light shows and fireworks. For the opening s finale, Olympic gymnast Li Ning appears to run through air around the top of the so-called Bird s Nest stadium. (For more on this news, click here http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/sports/olympics/09china.html and here http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93410618.)

Fannie Mae Reports $2.3 Billion Loss

The bad-mortgage, bad-news drumbeat continues. Fannie Mae says it racked up a second-quarter loss that was more than triple what Wall Street expected. Losses total $2.3 billion, or $2.54 a share, for the quarter that ended June 30. That marks four straight quarters in the red. In the year-ago quarter, Fannie turned a profit of $1.95 billion, or $1.86 a share. High risk loans were responsible for more than half of Fannie s credit losses in the latest quarter. (For more on this news, click here http://www.usatoday.com/money/topstories/2008-08-08-2370007772_x.htm .)

Edwards Admits Infidelity

Even some Americans fed up with the presidential campaign are riveted by this story: Former U.S. senator and Democratic White House hopeful John Edwards admits to cheating on his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth. In an interview with ABC News, Edwards says he had an affair with 42-year-old Rielle Hunter, a documentary maker who worked on his campaign. Still, Edwards says he is not the father of Hunter s baby and releases this statement. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare and will now work with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help." (For more on this news, click here http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/08/edwards.affair/index.html.)