Weekend Reading

Good Sunday, and welcome to Weekend Reading. As always, here are some articles and papers worth reading. First, however, a look back at the week that just finished, and a look forward to the week ahead.

The major U.S. indices fell again last. The Dow lost 1.4%, while the S&P 500 fell 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.6%. Worries about the subprime mortgage crisis seem to have been the largest catalyst for last week's declines. While the troubles in the subprime market aren't new, what is new is the amount of attention investors and the media are giving the sector. It was nearly impossible last week to turn on a television or visit a Web site without being regaled with tales about the subprime meltdown, and about how it was likely to spread. That sort of thing makes investors, well, nervous.

Looking forward to next week, the jitters probably will continue, but it's hard not to wonder if there won't be some more bottom-fishing in subprime stocks. While it's true that things are crummy, nonperforming loans are being cut off, some of the weakest companies have already dropped into insolvency and there is an opportunity now for some consolidation. Mind you, just because things in subprime are not as bad as some think doesn't mean that investors won't have other things to fret about in the coming week, like a Fed meeting and oodles of housing data. ...