The New York bodega fights for its life - Los Angeles Times
For years, Pimentel’s sons have tried to convince him to upgrade — add fresh-squeezed juices, fruit shakes and organic brands to appeal to newer residents who have more money. “We tell him every week, ‘You have to raise prices,’ ” Vicente says. “He

Chaos and charm: how London’s new mayor is shaping up in the job - Guardian Unlimited
When a victorious Boris Johnson stepped up to the podium on Might 3 London didn’t know what to expect from its new mayor. The man best known as the gaffe-prone host of television’s Have I Got News for You had defeated Ken Livingstone, one of the most

Old money lifestyle, sold on the internet - ONE News
An eccentric British millionaire has put his entire life up for sale on the World wide web - including his title of Lord of the Manor of Warleigh - in the hope of converting his assets into cash. David Piper, a hotelier who made headlines six years ago

Second Life Company States It’s Ready to Take On Google (Update2) - Bloomberg
Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — Linden Research Inc. , the developer of the Second Life virtual world, will make the service easier to use and court more business customers as it gears up to compete against Google Inc. , Chief Executive Officer Mark Kingdon

Barclays to sell life arm to Swiss Re for £753m - Daily Telegraph
Swiss Re has agreed to pay £753m for Barclays’ life assurance arm as it pushes for growth despite posting a substantial decline in profit on the back of fresh writedowns. The reinsurance giant will pay cash for Barclays Life in a deal earmarked to

Dorm Life With Less Decorations - Washington Post
Among the many daunting challenges facing Shira Rosenthal as she enters her freshman year at the University of Maryland is this conundrum: Which trash can to buy? There is one from Pottery Barn spinoff PBteen that costs $29 and is painted in pastel

John McCain’s campaign reviewing donations brought in by prominent - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Man held in Fla. on charge of threatening Obama McCain states Obama wants to forfeit war in Iraq Obama rejects speak of trouble from Clinton backers Island life in multiracial Hawaii shaped Obama This day on the presidential campaign trail WASHINGTON

Appeals court orders end to lawsuit over money filed by Tim Burton’s - Grand Forks Herald
A long-running lawsuit filed by Tim Burton’s ex-girlfriend over his assets should be dismissed, an appeals court has ruled. The California Court of Appeals issued a ruling on Wednesday ordering a lower court judge to grant a motion by Burton’s

Is life insurance worth it? - News.com.au
Life insurance premium costs rise as you age The level of cover you need depends on your circumstances and age More insurance news in our Money section DEATH catches everyone eventually and the cost of life insurance for those aged in their 50s and

In Timothy Szazynski’s life, sports always meant opportunity - St. Petersburg Times
1940 s : Timothy Szazynski is a working-class kid growing up around the Pennsylvania steel mills where his father works. His mom stays home. In a world of little money and tiny education, opportunity comes from one place — sports. He shows off

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Researchers in the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University have used a straightforward, water based extraction method to make pure, ultra-transparent silk films. These films can be patterned with photonic devices, like diffraction gratings and infused with proteins and enzymes allowing biochemically active, cheap, printable optics to be fabricated. Applications to implantable optical sensors are almost limitless. (Disclaimer: I’m part of this research group.)

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Naznarreb writes “CERN announced today that the first attempt to circulate a beam through the Large Hadron Collider will be on September 10th, 2008. You can read the press release here. They also announced the event will be webcast live. According to the release, they’re just planning run a few tests laps, not smash any particles, so the world won’t be ending quite yet.” And despite that September 10th date, according to the BBC, “On 9 August, protons will be piped through LHC magnets for the first time.”

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TnGoastiiaiu submitted a space.com story that expands on coverage we’ve had earlier about improvements being made to the ISS to increase crew capacity. He writes “ISS gets new recycling gear that transforms human waste to drinking water. Some of the water will be used to get Oxygene, too. This way it will soon be possible to host more crew members. ” Also, someone needs to smack the webmaster over there for putting a background texture behind the text. It’s pretty unreadable along the left hand side of the screen.

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Filed under: Forecasts, Wachovia Corp (WB), Washington Mutual (WM), Housing

Oh, happy day. Mortgages issued in the first half of 2007 are going bad at a rate much faster than those issued in 2006. According to The Wall Street Journal, data from the “Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. shows that 0.91% of prime mortgages from 2007 were seriously delinquent after 12 months, meaning they were in foreclosure or at least 90 days past due. The equivalent figure for 2006 prime mortgages was just 0.33% after 12 months.”

The news means that earnings could get worse at huge banks that have mortgage loans at the center of their businesses. Wachovia (NYSE: WB) and Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) come to mind. That should be especially interesting for investors in the two companies. Over the last month, both stocks have recovered. Washington Mutual is up about 2% and Wachovia has risen a remarkable 30%.

Wall Street had hoped that bank stocks, especially those with businesses focused on the mortgage markets, would improve as subprime loans worked their way through the system. That might have worked if prime mortgages weren’t going bad at an increasing rate these days and loans from 2007 didn’t appear to present more risk than those from earlier periods.

All of that is to say that a stock like Wachovia, which fell as low as $7.80 and then recovered to $18.41, is not out of the woods. As a matter of fact, it might be heading back in.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Management, Amer Intl Group (AIG), Housing

AIG (NYSE: AIG) might have a new CEO, but his track record is no better than that of the man he replaced. The firm said its second-quarter net loss was $5.36 billion, or $2.06 a share. AIG blamed the housing and credit markets, but, of course, the real trouble rests with its risk management. According to Reuters, “AIG stated it recorded $5.56 billion in second quarter unrealized market valuation losses on credit default swaps, the same area that led to losses in the prior two quarters.”

While the company’s insurance and investing units are still profitable, AIG might have to post similar losses in the next two quarters if the US credit and housing markets get worse. It has already moved ahead with its plan to raise $20 billion. It might have to add substantially to that to offset huge deficits .

With AIG’s stock at about $25 and a market cap of $72 billion, another capital injection cold drive shares down to $20.

In other words, AIG’s shares may be down over 50% this year, but that does not make them a good investment. The stock could actually still be one of the most risky among large-cap firms. AIG joins many other financial companies in finding that replacing CEOs does them no good.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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FleaPlus writes “Private orbital spaceflight company SpaceX recently announced that last weekend’s Falcon 1 rocket launch failure was caused by a collision between the first and second stage of their rocket. This was due to a timing problem, when their brand-new engine design produced residual thrust for 1.5 seconds longer than expected; they’re currently working to repair the problem and launch again, perhaps as early as next month. In a current interview with Wired, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk remarked on their efforts: “Optimism, pessimism, f-ck that; we’re going to make it happen. As God is my bloody witness, I’m hell-bent on making it work.””

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