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The Public Private Investment Program announced by Treasury Secretary Geithner finally gets underway in October 2009. Black Rock, a group led by the Wellington Company and a group led by Alliance Bernstein are private participants in the effort to get private participation to rid banks of bad loan assets. Five of nine money management firms selected by Treasury to buy toxic mortgage related securities have raised the minimum of $500 million from investors each, to qualify for matching government loans. In total the program will allow money management firms to buy up $12 billion in bad assets. THe IMF estimated last week that financial institutions around the world have still on their books $2.8 trillion in troubled mortgages and securities. Only half of that amount has been booked in losses, which leaves $1.4 trillion still to be resolved. $12 billion is less than 1% of this, which begs the question how will this make a difference? Treasury only hopes that this will restart trading in bad assets and help establish market prices for these assets. If unemployment worsens and the economy sees a sudden relapse in the near future this $1.4 trillion in bad assets will continue to create serious problems for financial instituions and the international financial system....

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Efforts to ramp up the actions on stopping illegal migration in the EU after the US president describes the shaky situation in Europe. EU ministers agree on centralized list of safe states to return migrants- Bangladesh, India, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. EU plans to downgrade trade ties with countries that do not cooperate. The idea of return hubs outside the EU are proposed by Denmark. Denmark is now working with UK to help the UK develop a Denmark style policy that cuts down illegal migration after the unrest in Britain over asylum hotels. Failure to act quickly and have a comprehensive approach that works to reduce illegal migrants across borders can lead to governments such as the UK being voted out for other parties with strong anti-immigration stance as the mood shifts in Europe.

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Japan's LDP party of prime minister Abe wins a majority in the elections for the upper house of parliament. Only about 32% of the voters cast their vote, compared to 40% in the previous upper house election. The LDP lacks the two thirds majority required to revise the Japanese constitution. It now controls both houses of parliament, making it possible for prime minister Abe to implement his economic policies.

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Uniqlo plans to open 20-30 new stores a year in shopping malls in the U.S. for the next 8 years. Uniqlo's strategy is to go for larger size stores and get more visibility to stand out because the name is not well known to shoppers in the U.S. The Japanese retailer markets to price conscious customers who want basics in clothing.

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Milk sales have increased by 7% during the coronavirus period in grocery stores in the U.S., reversing 10 years of decline. Yet dairy farmers expect to struggle as sales to restaurants and hotels that use about a third of dairy products were lost during the pandemic..

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Adele's target audience is women 18-44 years who watch shows like "Family Guy." The CD "25" set records selling 3.2 million copies in the first week in the U.S., and 800,000 in the UK, according to Nielsen. This follows a similiar record for the CD "21," which sold 30 million copies. Another hit song is "Hello." Target has provided promotion for the CD but the promotion is not on streaming sites or on social media, a different approach to marketing the music. Radio is seen primarily as promotional media. Adele's fans are buying the music CD's instead of streaming it, out of consideration for the effort put out by Adele in her songs.