- Tribune Company execs demand bonuses despite ruining company. Can’t help thinking I have heard this story somewhere before.

- Communists: they’re just like us! Class warfare in China? It turns out that when the majority of wealth is held by a scant few, it proves to be the result of human nature rather than of any particular economic system. Also, bonus, the proletariat are being crushed under the weight of increasing healthcare and education costs.

- Prince Alwaleed wants the US to sell its stake in Citi as soon as this year, because he desperately needs to be the #1 shareholder again, among other reasons, but really because he desperately needs to be the #1 shareholder again.

- HSBC’s CEO is a great big Negative Nancy, predicting a second recession. Two more recessions and I am going to make bank because I copyrighted the word “threecession” a few months ago.

- Timmay is almost ready to start PPImPing. It has not been easy.

- Bank of America is going to pick an emergency backup CEO this week, in case Ken Lewis should meet with an unfortunate accident before the end of the year. Not that they’re expecting anything to happen to him, of course. And that really IS a pool cleaner’s panel van parked across the street from his house.

- It’s probably a good idea to cheer for CIT’s continued existence, and not just to rob Goldman of the billion dollars it would receive in the event of bk. We (taxpayers, so hopefully all of you as well, but maybe not) on the other hand, would lose $2.3b. I do not have two billion bucks to spare.

- In a NYT story on the PE wrecking of mattress maker Simmons lies a comment whose author spent entirely too much time writing for it to go ignored.