- Score one for Volcker. The fact that Obama named his bank-regulation plan the “Volcker Rule” is a major victory for the former Fed chairman, former IMF chief economist Simon Johnson says.
- Yves Smith says plans to limit prop trading “sounds well and good,” but she’s also skeptical. “Given how derivatives reform was gutted and health care reform was botched, what do you think the odds are that something with teeth will be voted in?”
- Seems a bit odd NY Times will wait a year before implementing its metered pay system, but MediaMemo blogger Peter Kafka reminds that building pay walls involves some work.
- Of course just because NYT models its pay wall after the FT’s doesn’t mean it’s going to be successful. FT’s coverage is more unique and specialized than New York Times and folks subscribing to business-oriented sites are more likely to expense their bills, Newsosaur blogger Alan Mutter says.
- Check out one of the latest additions to the blogosphere and twitterati. You may have heard of him.
- Goldman Sachs’s (GS) compensation ratio for 2009 dropped to an all-time low of 36% of revenue. That compares to 62% for Morgan Stanley (MS). But Reuters blogger Felix Salmon wonders if Goldman’s lower comp is sustainable or just a on-off.
- Two ways to view today’s unexpected rise in jobless claims: economy’s prepped for a fresh round of trouble or the recovery will take longer than expected and “deliver subpar performance for an unusually long time,” James Picerno writes at The Capital Spectator.
- Amazon (AMZN) wants to have an app for that, too. It plans to open the Kindle up for developers to make “active content,” That likely means apps, although Digital Daily blogger John Paczkowski notes Amazon refrained from using that word in its press release.
- Regional banks traded higher while the banking giants plummeted. “Wall Street clearly sees the smaller players as winners if Obama succeeds in reining in the titans,” Tom Petruno writes at LA Times’ Money & Co. blog.
- Apple (AAPL) sees new money in old media. CEO Steve Jobs is betting the tabled can reshape textbooks, newspapers and TV much the way his iPod revamped the music industry.
