What’s Wrong With Subprime-Relief Proposals

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Proposals to aid borrowers affected by the subprime crisis are based on a flawed presumption: that consumers would have behaved differently if they had a deeper understanding of their mortgages. Economist and Nobel laureate Gary Becker says that in the atmosphere of low interest rates that has pervaded the economy in recent years, it is unlikely that more information would have stopped either borrowers or lenders from signing on to risky loans. Richard Posner. recent proposals to prevent consumers from obtaining mortgages unless they meet minimum income or asset standards smack of paternalism by denying “the rights of both borrowers and lenders to make their own decisions.” Mr. Becker is suspicious of the prospect of federal intervention in the housing market, saying the best role for government is to use monetary and tax policy to sustain economic growth. In the long run, he says, a recession would do less harm to society than restrictions on lending practices

Ohio Begs Lawyers: Help With Foreclosure Crisis

Does the Chief Justice’s call to action resonate with you? Is the mortgage crisis, as Ohio’s state treasurer says, the defining issue of our time?

clipped from blogs.wsj.com How bad is the housing crisis in Ohio? So bad that the state’s chief justice is begging lawyers for help, and the state treasurer urges, “To anyone who wants to make a difference in the world, this is a defining issue of our time.” Foreclosures have spiked in the Buckeye State, clogging the court system. And yesterday, Chief Justice Thomas Moyer urged lawyers to offer pro bono services to distressed homeowners, according to this NLJ story. “This is more than a legal issue; this is a social issue,” Moyer said, according to a news release. “People’s lives are being seriously affected and the legal community must respond with action.” Ohio has among the highest foreclosure rates in the country. In 2007, foreclosure filings are up nearly 68% from last year, according to RealtyTrac. But does the Chief Justice’s call to action resonate with you? Is the mortgage crisis, as Ohio’s state treasurer says, the defining issue of our time?

Medicare May Help Snoring Seniors Rest Easier

clipped from blogs.wsj.com The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has in mind to extend coverage of continuous positive airway pressure devices (that’s the mask plus a pump that pushes air into the lungs) to more people suffering from sleep apnea. The expansion would make coverage available to Medicare recipients who’ve tested positive for sleep apnea in home tests. The existing policy applies only to people whose disorder was diagnosed in sleep labs. Sleep apnea is a common problem characterized by frequent, brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. Some people think it’s just harmless snoring, but sleep apnea can raise blood pressure and the risk of cardiovascular disease. Some 12 million people in this country suffer from sleep apnea, according to the American Sleep Apnea Association. Because home testing will now be an option, scores of patients who may have otherwise gone undiagnosed will be able to seek the best treatment,

Epix Soars 50% On Alzheimer's Data

clipped from blogs.forbes.com EPIX Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: EPIX - News), today announced compelling top-line results from a Phase 2a two-week clinical trial of its novel 5-HT4 agonist, PRX-03140, in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The results show that patients receiving 150 mg of PRX-03140 orally once daily as monotherapy achieved a mean 5.7 point improvement on the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog) versus a 0.2 point worsening in patients on placebo (p= 0.005). Patients on a 50 mg dose of PRX-03140 showed a 1.1 point improvement on the ADAS-cog. After reviewing these data, Serge Gauthier, M.D., Director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit at McGill University, stated, “There is such an urgent and undeniable need for additional safe and effective treatments for Alzheimer’s patients. Findings like these data are not only encouraging and compelling – they appear to represent a step forward in our ability to understand and combat the effects of Alzheimer’s.

Start-Up Sells Solar Panels at Lower-Than-Usual Cost

Write this name down and keep in mind when the IPO rolls around.

clipped from www.nytimes.com

Nanosolar, a heavily financed Silicon Valley start-up whose backers include Google’s co-founders, plans to announce Tuesday that it has begun selling its innovative solar panels, which are made using a technique that is being held out as the future of solar power manufacturing.

The company, which has raised $150 million and built a 200,000-square-foot factory here, is developing a new manufacturing process that “prints” photovoltaic material on aluminum backing, a process the company says will reduce the manufacturing cost of the basic photovoltaic module by more than 80 percent.

Nanosolar, which recently hired a top manufacturing executive from I.B.M., said that it had orders for its first 18 months of manufacturing capacity. The photovoltaic panels will be made in Silicon Valley and in a second plant in Germany.

Nanosolar has focused on lowering the manufacturing cost

Nanosolar

claims to be the first solar panel manufacturer to be able to

sell solar panels for less than $1 a watt