Wednesday morning links

TOP STORIES
Japan Economy Shrinks 2.4%, Signaling Recession Looms - Bloomberg
Stage two of the gold bull market is just beginning - Telegraph
Investment banking: Mortgage woes catch up with JP Morgan - Guardian
Bank Failures Rise but Critics Say Not Fast Enough - Washington Post
Mechanism for Credit Is Still Stuck - NY Times

MARKETS
Oil rises on mixed dollar - Associated Press
Why Gold crashed. How Gold will roar again - CommodityOnline
Oil's Slim Pickens - NY Post
Sunnier Forecast for Corn and Soybean Harvest - NY Times

ECONOMY
Retail sales drop for first time in 5 months - AP
Consumer confidence down, near record low: report - Reuters
Economy seen slowing more sharply: Philly Fed - AP

HOUSING
Almost Half of 2006 Vintage Now Underwater - HousingWire
Insight into Shadow Inventory - Sacramento Real Estate Stats
Countrywide/BofA Merger Impacts California Defaults - HousingWire
Freddie to Stop Buying Subprime Loans in N.Y. State - Bloomberg

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
Fed's Fisher expects close to zero growth this year - MarketWatch
It's Too Soon to Toast the End of Credit Crisis - Bloomberg
Stimulus, bank failures boost federal deficit - MarketWatch
Budget deficit soars to $102.8 billion in July - AP

INTERNATIONAL
Reaganomics Comes to Japan After Dying in U.S. - Bloomberg
UK inflation exceeds Bank interest rate for first time since 1981 - Telegraph
Spanish inflation at 15-year high - BBC
Trichet May Resist Rate Cut as Inflation Spiral Looms - Bloomberg
Japan's economy shrinks in second quarter - AP
Bank of England slashes UK growth forecasts - Telegraph

INTERESTING
An S.U.V. Traffic Jam - NY Times
Modest millionaires on a budget - MSN Money