According to a report released today by the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), there have now been 1.046 million personal bankruptcies since the start of the year. This is the highest since the first nine months of 2005 when people were rushing to file before the draconian new bankruptcy act of 2005 took effect (still better than the Victorian days of debtor prisons, but not much).   The institute expects to see the total for the year top 1.4 million. I think they are being conservative, especially given the rise in the unemployed, particularly the long-term unemployed. In September, there were 124,709 consumer bankruptcies, up 41% from a year ago. The graph below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) shows the history of bankruptcy filings since 1996 by quarter. The third quarter numbers come from the monthly ABI numbers; the quarterly numbers are from the administrative office of the U.S. courts.   If ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 27, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: United Heathcare Group (UNH), Aetna (AET), Wet Seal Inc. (WTSLA), VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) and Syniverse Holdings Inc. (SVR).

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Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

CBO Overstates Healthcare Costs

Some of the more outrageous types of misconduct by the likes of United Heathcare Group (UNH) and Aetna (AET) might be curbed, such as the cancelling of policies as soon as someone gets sick and puts in a substantial

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