The Fed will end its quantitative easing purchases of government debt as scheduled.

Italy urged the European Union to resume efforts to set up a financial transaction tax to raise money.

For the stock market conniptions of the past two weeks, lower oil prices were a sideline in the panicky and bizarre sell-offs.

It is always good to read a guide to the perplexed about buying foreign shares. In general, American Depositary Receipts or ADRs exist to make it easier for individual investors (not necessarily Americans) to buy foreign stocks.

The Jewish new year got off to a rotten start, hit by the “bend it like Apple” risk of another bad launch. It was also hurt by some BASH: the arrest of Vladimir Yevtushenko who runs Bashneft and other firms in Russia and the rise of the BASH “shellshock” virus which hits Apple computers.

Scotland turned out to be canny and not so brave. The same can be said for Alibaba, which came out at the top of its estimated range, but not a penny higher and promptly rose ~40% on its 1st day in public trading.