Richard Drew
THANKS, WE HADN'T THOUGHT OF THAT
"Plug the damn hole."
- U.S. President Barack Obama expresses his impatience with efforts to contain BP's crippled offshore well, which is still gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico more than a month after the disaster began.
BRINGING DOWN THE RED TAPE
"Today we have 13 regulators, 13 sets of rules and 13 sets of fees. We need to lower barriers, not multiply them."
- Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty unveils long-awaited plans for a single national securities regulator, designed to replace existing provincial and territorial regulatory bodies.
GIVING SELFISH MARKETS A DRESSING-DOWN
"The financial market is only concerned with itself, instead of fulfilling its purpose and financing sensible, sustainable economic growth. We have to change that."
- German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble defends his unilateral ban on naked short-selling of certain securities.
FACEBOOK'S ABOUT-FACE
"The big takeaway is, don't mess with the privacy stuff for a long time."
- Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, bowing to a storm of public pressure, announces changes to make it easier for the social-networking giant's nearly 500 million users to protect the Internet privacy of personal information contained on their Facebook accounts.
YOU KNOW WHAT MAKES ME FEEL BETTER? SHOPPING
"Times like this make it clear that the equity risk premium is no free lunch and volatility is gut-wrenching even for the most long-term of investors. We believe the best way to feel better during a correction is to buy some shares."
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch chief U.S. equity strategist David Bianco suggests investors stop worrying about the falling stock market and start taking advantage of the bargains it is creating.