Given that the nation's overall unemployment rate rose to its highest level in decades in October, it's perhaps not surprising that a majority of states reported higher numbers of joblessness last month compared to September, according to fresh data released Friday from the U.S. Department of Labor. In 13 states the rate topped the national average of 10.2%, leaving many to wonder when the economic recovery that is reportedly underway will finally result in more jobs.

Overall joblessness rose in 29 states and the District of Columbia last month, while the rate fell in 13 states, according to the survey. In September, 23 states and Washington D.C. reported that their unemployment rates increased, and 14 states had jobless rates above the national average.

With regulators having seized 123 banks so far this year, one might think the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would be looking everywhere to find potential buyers for failed financial institutions' deposits and assets. But there's one place to which they're apparently not quite ready to turn: China.

When San Francisco-based United Commercial Bank failed on Nov. 9, the Fed was weighing an application by Chinese bank Minsheng to step in and take it over. But while it considered whether Chinese regulators were prepared to oversee a bank with operations on both sides of the Pacific, time ran out and UCB was shut down.

My friend has a Tesla Roadster. For those who are unfamiliar with Tesla Motors, the Roadster is the Ferrari of the electric-vehicle world, a high-performance two-seater with more sex appeal than Mae West. How ironic, then, that my friend pines for her old Honda Insight, a dinky little hybrid that has been a commercial failure but remains a cult favorite among the green car set. Why would any sane, hedonistic California resident wish their Ferrari were a Chevy Chevette?

Because the Insight had a wonderful feature that told her how efficiently she was driving. That feature was a light on her dash that glowed green when she was driving smoothly, braking gradually, and accelerating at a moderate piece. It glowed red when she drove like a bat out of hell, braked hard, and turned sharply. While driving her clunky little Insight, her focus was on how to make that light stay green.

Several years ago, when I was doing research for hedge funds, I spent a month talking to Autodesk (ADSK) resellers. Autodesk's AutoCAD software suite is the standard tool used by designers and architects in the construction trade, and it dominates its market much like Adobe's Creative Suite dominates the print, graphic and interactive design fields. Its resellers are the hundreds of consulting organizations and systems integrators that sell Autodesk licenses to customers in the construction business. Like many big software companies, Autodesk relies on a huge reseller channel for the majority of its sales volume.

What my favorite resellers all told me was that they like to play construction-related stocks based on what they see happening at Autodesk, which serves all segments of the construction trade including building, civil engineering, office building design, and factory design.

The combined mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates hit 14.41% on a non-seasonally adjusted basis -- the highest ever on record, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Delinquency Survey released Thursday.

The MBA reported that in the third quarter of 2009, loans 90 days or more past due, loans in foreclosure and foreclosures started all set new records. Only the percentage of loans 30 days past due is still below the record set in the second quarter of 1985.

On the same day the Obama Administration floated a trial balloon to test the waters for extending TARP, the Congressional Oversight Panel heard from experts about TARP's effectiveness. While some of the experts did find aspects of TARP effective, they all testified to significant problems with TARP and the way it was implemented.

Chairwoman Elizabeth Warren set the tone for the hearing, saying that while the Troubled Assets Relief Program had succeeded in preventing a "catastrophic collapse of the financial sector," it was not "designed really to rescue large banks. The broader long-term goals were aimed at strengthening the overall economy and dealing with the alarming number of mortgage foreclosures." How successful was TARP in meeting these larger goals? Not very.

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank's (D-Mass.) House Financial Services Committee has voted in favor of a proposal to have the Government Accountability Office audit the Federal Reserve, according to the Associated Press. But in my view, auditing the Fed is a thinly veiled first step toward wiping out the Fed, or at least diminishing it through political meddling. And since going back to a world without a properly functioning U.S. central bank is not a realistic option, Fed critics need to think carefully about how we can best regulate the financial markets before they start interfering with one of our most important regulatory institutions.

Before getting into why we shouldn't audit the Fed, a brief word on Rep. Frank. Last year, I appeared on a Boston-area TV program right after Frank. As I was sitting in the green room waiting to go on to the set, I was told I had to evacuate immediately. The reason? Frank wanted the green room for himself -- alone. When Frank slowly made his way onto the set, where I was sitting, he completely ignored me and made it clear he did not want to interact with anyone but the fellow interviewing him. Frank ended up taking up all but five minutes of my allotted time. To be fair, he had many interesting things to say.

U.S. stocks are set for yet another lower open Friday morning after two consecutive days of declines. The technology sector will remain in the spotlight after Dell's (DELL) worse-than-expected earnings reported late Thursday. As a whole, investors may be moving toward safer securities in the absence of confidence in the strength of the economic recovery.

Meanwhile, overseas, Asian markets finished lower and European shares erased their earlier gains after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB will gradually withdraw emergency cash. Banks and energy stocks slipped.

More here: Before the bell: Futures lower on Dell's earnings, ECB move

It seems airlines will stoop to anything in their pursuit of saving or making money. Long gone are the days of free food on bargain flights. Be prepared to pay to check even one bag. As if those skinflint ideas weren't enough, AirTran Airways (AAI) is placing ads on the backs of tray tables where travelers can't help but see them during takeoff and landing, as yet another way to haul in more revenue.

As annoying, however, is that the discount carrier is actually "pleased to be able to offer exclusive deals and other promotions to our customers through this unique medium," said Tad Hutcheson, AirTran vice president of marketing and sales, in announcing the program Wednesday. The ads will appear in all 138 of the company's Boeing (BA) jets.

As New York City copes with the knowledge that it will soon host the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, mastermind of the September 11 terror attacks, there is growing concern about the security of the city and its inhabitants.

The towering prison where Mohammed will be held and the courtroom where he will be tried are a short walk from the site of the Twin Towers and not far from Wall Street. It doesn't take Nostradamus to see how the combination of a prominent location, a showy trial and a bustling city could have terrorists licking their lips.

Shoppers are looking for more casual pajamas, antibacterial toiletries and moderately priced underwear, executives at Limited Brands (LTD) say. The parent company of the Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works chains posted better than expected results in the third quarter and upgraded its forecast for the rest of the year, thanks to cost-cutting and improved sales of some products.

Limited Brands' net income was $6.1 million, after factoring out some gains from tax adjustments, compared to $4.2 million the same time last year. That translates into a gain of two cents per share; analysts had forecast a one-cent loss.

It's rarely much fun to watch government officials testify before Congress. But Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) managed to add a charge to a hearing held Thursday morning by the Joint Economic Committee when he told Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that bailouts and rising unemployment had eroded lawmakers' and taxpayers' confidence in him. He then asked him to resign.

"Mr. Secretary, you are the point person on the economy, and the buck, in effect, stops with you," Brady said. "For the sake of our jobs, will you step down from your post?"

The ongoing battle for internet bookselling heated up on Thursday. Walmart (WMT) CEO Raul Vasquez is trash-talking Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos (pictured), according to the New York Post: "If there's going to be a Walmart on the Web," Vasquez said, "it's going to be Walmart.com."

Oooh -- it's on.

The comment is the latest salvo in this fall's highly publicized pricing war between the titans. In October, Walmart.com dropped the price of 10 bestselling books to $10. Amazon followed suit; Walmart countered with $9, and Amazon followed. Walmart downed the ante to $8.99, and Amazon backed off -- only to see Target.com match Walmart.com, which ducked down to $8.98. Vasquez sums up his company's pricing strategy: "If they react and match our prices, we're going to continue to lower our prices."

The AAA projects that 38.4 million people will travel more than 50 miles from home over the Thanksgiving holiday next week. That is not up much from last year -- only 1.4%. But at least it is up. With a slow economy, high unemployment and oil at $80 a barrel, it would not have been shocking for the group to forecast a drop.

Broken down by mode of transportation, the AAA projects: "The number of travelers by automobile is expected to be 33.2 million in 2009 compared to 32.5 million last year; an increase of 2.1%. The number of travelers by air is expected be 2.3 million compared to 2.5 million in 2008; a decline of 6.7%." The drop in air travel is probably an indication that people are still watching what they spend carefully. The decline is despite the fact that the AAA expects the cost of airline tickets and hotel rooms to drop.

Morgan Stanley (MS) CEO John Mack just loves regulators -- can't get enough of them.

Speaking Wednesday at a conference sponsored by Bloomberg News and Vanity Fair, Mack seemed to wish more regulators were camped out in his New York-based firm, watching its every move. He'd better hope that the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce don't get wind of his heresy. And the anti-regulation crowd at the libertarian Cato Institute is probably none too happy with him, either.