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 ...

By Jennifer Yousfi Managing Editor Oil futures fell yesterday (Thursday) on news that China plans to sharply reduce fuel subsidies starting today, which is expected to have an effect on demand. “The announcement of the Chinese fuel price increase sent the market sharply lower,” Michael Fitzpatrick, vice president for energy risk management at MF Global Ltd. (MF) in New York, told Bloomberg News. “This should have a big impact on demand.” Crude oil for July delivery fell $4.75, a decline of 3.5%, to settle at $131.93 a barrel at 2:50 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest drop since March 31, according to Bloomberg data. China, the world’s second largest oil consuming nation, has been subsidizing refined oil products to the tune of $25 billion a year, but now is bowing to the high cost of oil that recently ...