It’s official: Moue is no more. Blame it on the economy, folks. Thank you to the wonderful staff, our loyal readers, and the stray people who ended up disappointed when a search for “amputee porn” brought them here.

Good night and good luck.

Bob Harmon, my grandfather, was a newspaper man. He was hired in 1954 to serve as a sportswriter for The Advertiser-Tribune, a small newspaper serving Tiffin, Ohio. In 1976, he moved on to other projects- he coached baseball, worked as a salesman and, later in life, discovered a remarkable talent for painting- but the journalism experience stuck with him. Twenty years later, he returned to The Advertiser to write a lifestyle column that would make him a local celebrity. These columns always ended with his trademark phrase: “At least, that’s the view from here”.

Zach Carter has an article up at The American Prospect detailing how the ratings agencies stand to benefit from the Term Asset-Backed Securities Lending Facility (TALF). TALF is the Fed program announced last winter (but just getting into action) that puts forth $1 trillion in non-recourse loans to holders of AAA rated asset backed securities (the “assets” here being a wide variety of new loans). The problem Carter highlights comes with that “AAA rated” part.

This is a chart of the CDS spread from yesterday, courtesy of Baseline Scenario, and it paints a less rosy picture of Citgroup than the company’s memo (and Wall Street’s reaction). Credit default swaps (CDS) are essentially insurance policies issued against bonds (or bond-like investments) that allow the investor to put most of the risk in the hands of others for a fee. They have serious drawbacks (see: AIG, near collapse of) but have historically served as indicators as which direction things are heading.There are those who think that the market is so broken at this point that CDS spreads don’t offer reliable readings but there are others who think they’re still worth a glance.

The art from Loser Pet Shop allows you to root for the underdog. Well, there’s not actually a dog but there is a seasick goldfish, night blind owl and frog that fears the undead. All the prints are 8″ x 10″ and cost $20.00, though the cat and frog are also available in a 5″ x 7″ size for $12.00.