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The article offers information related to the argument of American biographer, Richard Westfall on parts of English mathematician, Isaac Newton's watershed work and the Principia.

The article informs that America was the world's largest producer of crude oil, surpassing both Saudi Arabia and Russia, and mentions about sudden and vicious end to the truce between Saudi Arabia and Russia, under which both countries limited production to prop up price with COVID-19 crises. It mentions that the stocks that make up the S.&P. 500 energy sector fell 20 percent, marking the sector's largest drop on record.

The article discusses the financial issues confronting the energy industry in the U.S. as of September 2018, particularly those involved in the fracking of crude oil and gas. Also cited are the claims by such industry experts as hedge fund manager Jim Chanos that fracking has low profitability, as well as the resurgence of fracking in the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.

The author discusses the power and wealth of the U.S. government-sponsored mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac due to the primacy of housing at the center of the American dream.

The author reflects on the trend in the U.S. housing industry wherein mortgage loans are being used for refinancing, not for purchasing homes, highlighting the decision of lawmakers to reject tough underwriting standards for mortgages.

AS we all move forward with our New Year's resolutions, it's a good time to remember the promises our politicians have been making about the American mortgage market. The Obama administration, at a conference last August on the future of housing finance, pledged to have, come January, a plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants that are now wards of the government. Congressional Republicans, in their recent position paper, made an even bolder resolution: to build a mortgage market that ''does not rely on government guarantees'' and ''does not make private investors and creditors wealthy while saddling taxpayers with losses.'' This latter promise is pleasing populist rhetoric. The problem is, it may be neither politically nor practically feasible. Even if we forget about the gigantic near-term problem -- namely, that the federal government is in the housing market mainly because most banks simply won't issue mortgages that can't be guaranteed by Fannie, Freddie or the Federal Housing Administration -- there's the fact that federal involvement in housing has been a constant since the 1930s. A market without government support would almost certainly involve the demise (for most of middle-class America) of that populist favorite, the low-cost 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TODAY, we will have the pleasure of watching outraged members of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations fire questions at a half-dozen executives from Goldman Sachs. The firm first attracted anger for its return to making billions, and paying its employees millions, right after the financial crisis. And since the Securities and Exchange Commission this month charged Goldman with fraud over an investment tied to subprime mortgages, politicians have turned the firm into the arch-villain of the economic collapse. But the transaction at the heart of the S.E.C.'s complaint is a microcosm of the entire credit crisis. That is, there are no good guys here. It's dishonest and ultimately dangerous to pretend that Goldman is the only bad actor. And the worst actor of all is the one leading the charge against Goldman: our government. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ON Monday, in a vote that will go down in history, the House of Representatives said no to a $700 billion plan to bail out the teetering financial system. Members of Congress chalked the rejection up to populist rage over the idea of rescuing Wall Street while helpless homeowners flail, and some representatives who voted no say they'll vote no again when the version of the bailout passed by the Senate on Wednesday comes up in the House. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Comments on the justice system in the U.S. based on the case of Enron Corp. Details of the trial of Martha Stewart; Criticism over the exclusion of Kenneth Lay in the trial; Violations over the securities law; Overview of the case of Enron.