Bailout recipients talk stock options
By John MacIntyre
Of the top 20 financial industry recipients of bailout aid, number that have revealed the details of stock options pocketed in early 2009, according to a report from the Institute for Policy Studies: 10
Based on rising stock prices, combined increase in the estimated value of the stock options enjoyed by the top five executives at each of these banks, according to America's Bailout Barons, the 16th in a series of annual Executive Excess reports: $90 million
Since Jan. 1, 2008, estimated number of employees laid off by the top 20 financial industry recipients of bailout aid: 160,000
OUT FOR A SPIN
Estimated number of times more than the value of the car that its parts can be stripped at a chop shop and sold for on the used car market, according to Hot Wheels 2009, the National Insurance Crime Bureau's companion study to its Hot Spots auto theft report: 2
Ranks of the 1994 Honda Accord, 1995 Honda Civic, 1989 Toyota Camry and the 1997 Ford F-150 pickup on the list of the most stolen vehicles in 2008: 1, 2, 3, 4
BLACK GOLD
Year that the U.S. petroleum industry got its start when Uncle Billy Smith saw a dark film floating on the water of a shaft he was digging near Titusville, Pa., according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1859
Today, number of oil wells in the U.S.: 500,000
Estimated number of barrels of crude oil produced each year in the U.S.: 2 billion
To meet our daily needs, number of barrels of foreign oil imported annually: 4 billion
ECONOMY WOES
Percentage of U.S. adults who said the economy is changing faster than they are able to change their habits, according to a Zogby poll: 44
Percentage who report that their quality of life has declined since the start of the recession: 42
GETTING WIRED
Average amount that parents will spend per child on electronic equipment this year, a leap from the $43.36 average observed in 2005, according to IBISWorld research: $91.69
For each child enrolled in school this year, average cost to the parents for sporting the latest trends in clothes and accessories: $136.60
JOB OUTLOOK
Percentage growth in the number of jobs available to university graduates in the sciences by 2020 as forecast by government leaders, according to Shafeen Charania, author of the blog "synthesis": 80