merill lynch

As investments, municipal bonds have been traditionally seen as safe, stodgy and boring. None of those terms describe Jim Lebenthal, one of "munis" biggest fans. Now 81, Lebenthal gave up a promising career as a Hollywood correspondent to join the family business of investing in muni bonds.

Here's an oldie but a goodie: Dow 10,000. We last saw that level (on the way up, that is) six years ago, and we first crossed Dow 10,000 a full 10 years ago. (The latter fact is no doubt deeply depressing to buy-and-hold investors, but at least it has a nice symmetry to it.) So here we are...

Just after 11.35 AM today, Citigroup (C) traded below $1. Its market cap is now only $5.3 billion. In June 2007, the stock was close to $54. Citi became the latest of the iconic American financial companies to become a penny stock. AIG (AIG), Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE), and MBIA (MBI) have...