Good day, Bad day

GOOD DAY FOR: Shorting Circuit, after electronics retailer Circuit City filed for bankruptcy. The chain said last week it would close 155 stores, or a fifth of its locations. Circuit City, along with being hit by the credit crunch, has also been losing market share to larger competitors Best Buy and Walmart. Its stock closed at 25 cents a share last week. (Bloomberg)

BAD DAY FOR: Risky business, after the U.S. government increased the amount of its bailout of insurer AIG to $150 billion, from $85 billion. The new deal reduces the loan portion to $60 billion and adds the purchase of $40 billion of preferred shares and $52.5 billion of mortgage-backed securities. AIG also reported a record $24.5 billion quarterly loss. “AIG keeps getting hit square between the eyes by the housing-finance meltdown,” said Morningstar analyst Bill Bergman. “Risk controls at the company were clearly inadequate.” (Bloomberg)

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up