This week’s collection of five financial stories that caught my eye on financial news site Afternoon Rally and other sites around the web.  This week was a tough one as the economy continues to slide and the bailout continues to balloon…

1. When will it end?  The bailout is now up to 850 billion.
2. Walking the walk: MSN Money points out 5 Stocks the Street is Buying with the hopes that watching what people do will lead to better stock picks.
3. Prison Taught Me Everything I Need to Know About Personal Finance:  An ex-con makes a great post on what prison taught him about life.  If all prisoners learned as well as this writer, we’d have no repeat criminals.
4. How to Make 20 Million in One Weekend!  CNN Money outlines the wild Bank of America deals that include bailout money and a rather hefty per-hour rate.
5. Video bonus!  Foreclosures and unemployment are up, beer consumption down.  Ugh!  I’ll try to get a happier one up next week, I promise:

   
   You can see a constantly updated list of the latest news clips on the front page of Afternoon Rally.  Bookmark the site and watch them every day for the latest news.

This week was brutal, but perhaps the inauguration will settle people’s fears and spur some economic growth.

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