Oil prices are back in the spot light as the crisis in Libya worsens. Oil shot up $87 a barrel with investors concerned that OPEC production could be affected. Libya exports about 1.0 million barrels a day of crude, if the current situation get worse, oil exports are likely to freeze and the current $87 a barrel could break $100 immediately.

As unrest takes over the middle east it looks appealing to buy oil stocks for the short term!

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Mashable.com has created an infographic based on a survey conducted on 400 Facebook and Myspace users. Kinda of interesting, check it out! See where you fit in.
“Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and lovers from coast to coast are getting ready. Here’s an infographic built using data from 400 Facebook and MySpace users that might give you insight into love in America, circa 2011.
Buried in the data are some interesting anomalies, too. For instance, notice that 16% of the single people have their current relationship status on Facebook as “dating,” “engaged” or “married.” On the other hand, 0% of the married respondents called themselves “single.” Good move, fellow married people — you know what’s good for you.”
Source: Mashable

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The FDIC seized 4 more banks, raising the totaled number of failed U.S banks in 2011 to 11. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair has said in the current banking crisis that failures would peak in 2010.

According to the FDIC bank failures from 2009 to 2013 is expected to cost $100 billion. Small(regional) banks are failing due to the loan losses from the credit boom. Many losses are result of the collapsed commercial real estate projects.

Brief Rundown;

Bank                                                                                     Assets                                   Deposits

First Community Bank (New Mexico)                       $2.31 billion                       $1.94 billion
FirsTier Bank (Colorado)                                             $781.5 million                    $722.8 million
Evergreen State Bank (Wisconsin)                             $246.5 million                   $195.2 million
First State Bank (Oklahoma)                                        $43.5 million                    $40.3 million

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The Department of Labor reports unemployment (initial claims) statistics as follows.

“In the week ending Jan. 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 454,000, an increase of 51,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 403,000. The 4-week moving average was 428,750, an increase of 15,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 413,000.”

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The Department of Labor reports unemployment (initial claims) statistics as follows.

“In the week ending Jan. 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 404,000, a decrease of 37,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 441,000. The 4-week moving average was 411,750, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 415,750.”

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Citigroup reported 4th quarter profits, with an income of $1.3 billion. However, their earnings were below analyst expectations, sending the stock down 6.34% to $4.80 a share. Compared to last years 4th quarter loss of $7.6 billion, Citi has made an amazing turnaround, with revenue for this quarter at $18.4 billion vs $5.4 billion a year ago. For the year, out of $86.6 billion in revenue Citi earned $10.6 billion. This is Citi’s first year of full profits since the financial crisis of 2007. Expectations are high for Citi to continue strong growth.

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It has been a misconception that China is the largest holder of U.S. debt. According to the U.S. Treasury Department that’s not true. The biggest holders of US debt are American individuals, institutions, and Social Security that account for almost 67%. China only holds 7.5%.

At the end of the fiscal year (Sept. 2010) the U.S. debt was $13.562 trillion. And to date it has exceeded $14 trillion.

Below is a chart showing the distribution of U.S. debt holdings.

Sources:
U.S. Treasury Department:
Monthly Statement of the Public Debt of the United States
Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities.

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The Department of Labor reports unemployment (initial claims) statistics as follows.

“In the week ending Jan. 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 445,000, an increase of 35,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 410,000. The 4-week moving average was 416,500, an increase of 5,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 411,000.”

These figures are still high and continued job losses may still be on the horizon.

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These states might not have the highest unemployment, however, they do have the highest year over year increases. Overall, the job market is stagnant, and many predict it to remain weak for this year.
Here are your top 5:
 
Nevada

Unemployment rate : 14.3%
Year over year increase: 1.4%

 
Colorado 

Unemployment rate : 8.6%
Year over year increase: 1.2%

 
Utah
Unemployment rate : 7.5%

Year over year increase: 0.9%

 
Louisiana

Unemployment rate : 8.2%
Year over year increase: 0.9%

 
Montana

Unemployment rate : 7.2%
Year over year increase: 0.6%
Source: 5 worst states for rising unemployment cnn money

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Check out this info chart comparing the best and worst cities performance’s during the recovery since the recession.

Source: www.visualeconomics.com

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