New Jersey Appraisal Blog

By Audrey Barker and Galen Meyer

Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The following list comprises the most-read Bloomberg News reports from the past week.

*T STORIES:

1. Weill's Profit Machine Breaks Down on Citi Writedowns (11/5) 2. Citigroup's Stuckey to Run Subprime Unit After Losses (11/6) 3. Banks Face $100 Billion of Writedowns on Level 3 Rule (11/7) 4. Supermodel Bundchen Joins Hedge Funds Dumping Dollars (11/5) 5. Where Have All the Hedge Funds Gone? To Renaissance (11/5) 6. Goldman Pay Tops Bear Stearns's Slumping Market Value (11/7) 7. Morgan Stanley Marks Down $3.7 Billion, Cuts Outlook (11/8) 8. Gore Nightmare Wins as Europe Pays to Ship U.S. Coal (11/5) 9. Bernanke Says Fed Sees Slower Growth, Inflation Risk (11/8) 10. Dollar Slumps to Record on China's Reserves Plan (11/7)

COLUMNS:

1. O'Neal's Agony, or, in the Bunker With Stan (11/6) 2. Next on Wall Street: `Honey, I Shrunk the Bonus' (11/8) 3. Time to Think the Unthinkable About Bond Insurers (11/6) 4. Citigroup's Subprime Explanation Defies Belief (11/6) 5. Time for Employers to Cut Cord to 401(k) Plan (11/5)

MULTIMEDIA:

1. Bernanke Says Fed Sees Slower Growth, Inflation Risk (11/8) 2. Rubin Says New Citigroup CEO Needs to `Drive a Vision'(11/5) 3. Wittner, Rogers, Comment on $100 Oil, $1000 Gold (11/6) 4. Trichet Says ECB `Ready' to Counter Risks (Statement)(11/8) 5. Jim Rogers Sees `Worst Credit Bubble' in U.S. History (11/5)

**Lists are based on daily statistics through Friday. *T

Weill's Profit Machine Breaks Down on Citi Writedowns

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., the profit engine built by Sanford ``Sandy'' Weill, has seized up.

Citigroup's Stuckey to Run Subprime Unit After Losses

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. named Richard Stuckey to manage most of its $43 billion of subprime mortgage assets, choosing the same executive who helped unwind Long-Term Capital Management LP's bad bets nine years ago.

Banks Face $100 Billion of Writedowns on Level 3 Rule

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. banks and brokers face as much as $100 billion of writedowns because of Level 3 accounting rules, in addition to the losses caused by the subprime credit slump, according to Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.

Supermodel Bundchen Joins Hedge Funds Dumping Dollars

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Gisele Bundchen wants to remain the world's richest model and is insisting that she be paid in almost any currency but the U.S. dollar.

Where Have All the Hedge Funds Gone? To Renaissance

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The hedge-fund industry is grappling with its first shakeout in a decade as investors increasingly recoil from startups considered susceptible to the toxic shocks of this year's credit markets.

Goldman Pay Tops Bear Stearns's Slumping Market Value

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- When Goldman Sachs Group Inc. employees cash their year-end checks, they'll have enough money to buy Bear Stearns Cos.

Morgan Stanley Marks Down $3.7 Billion, Cuts Outlook

Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley joined Merrill Lynch & Co. and Citigroup Inc. in booking losses on subprime mortgage- related assets and said the outlook for credit markets is bleaker than in September. The stock rose after analysts said the loss is ``manageable.''

Gore Nightmare Wins as Europe Pays to Ship U.S. Coal

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Now that the price of coal is at a historic low relative to oil, there's no stopping consumers and producers alike from embracing Al Gore's nightmare.

Bernanke Says Fed Sees Slower Growth, Inflation Risk

Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the U.S. economy is likely to ``slow noticeably'' this quarter while high commodity prices and a weaker dollar may stoke inflation ``for a time.''

Dollar Slumps to Record on China's Plans to Diversify Reserves

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell to a record low versus the euro and the weakest since 1981 against the pound after Chinese officials signaled plans to diversify the nation's $1.43 trillion of foreign exchange reserves.

COLUMNS:

O'Neal's Agony, or, in the Bunker With Stan: Michael Lewis

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- When a big Wall Street firm loses a huge pile of money, it's often hard to figure out exactly what happened.

Next on Wall Street: `Honey, I Shrunk the Bonus': Mark Gilbert

Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Coming soon to Wall Street cinemas: ``Honey, I Shrunk the Bonus,'' plus special matinee screenings of the Tom Wolfe classic ``Bonfire of the Vanities.''

Time to Think the Unthinkable About Bond Insurers: Joe Mysak

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Let's think about life after bond insurance.

Citigroup's Subprime Explanation Defies Belief: Jonathan Weil

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. says it isn't sure how much its subprime-related assets have fallen in value this quarter. Maybe it's $8 billion. Maybe it's $11 billion. On one point, though, Citigroup isn't budging: It says none of these declines began until after last quarter ended.

Time for Employers to Cut Cord to 401(k) Plan: John F. Wasik

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- It's time for employers to spin off their 401(k) plans.

MULTIMEDIA:

Bernanke Says Fed Sees Slower Growth, Inflation Risk

Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke testifies before the Joint Economic Committee in Washington about the outlook for the U.S. economy, inflation expectations and efforts to help distressed subprime-mortgage borrowers.

Rubin Says New Citigroup CEO Needs to 'Drive a Vision'

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Robert Rubin, chairman of Citigroup Inc., Win Bischoff, acting chief executive officer, and Gary Crittenden, chief financial officer, speak on a teleconference about the New York-based firm's losses associated with subprime mortgages and related securities and the departure of Charles ``Chuck'' Prince.

Wittner, Rogers, Gartman Comment on $100 Oil, $1000 Gold

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil and gold prices have surged to records over the past few weeks and many analysts predict oil will rise to $100 and gold $1000.

Trichet Says ECB `Ready' to Counter Risks

Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet speaks at a news conference in Frankfurt about the bank's decision today to leave the key lending rate unchanged at 4 percent, conditions in the credit market and the outlook for inflation. Trichet said the bank is still concerned that inflation will accelerate even amid signs that economic growth may slow.

Jim Rogers Sees `Worst Credit Bubble' in U.S. History

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Jim Rogers, chairman of Beeland Interests Inc., talks with Bloomberg's Kathleen Hays from New York about the outlook for the credit markets, the impact of Federal Reserve monetary policy on the U.S. dollar and gold prices, and his investment strategy. Rogers co-founded the Quantum Hedge Fund with George Soros in the 1970s.

To contact the reporter on this story: Audrey Barker in New York at Abarker3@bloomberg.net ; Vyola Willson in New York at Vwillson1@bloomberg.net