So many interesting news items and stories to share with you this Friday, I'm almost unsure of where to begin. Let's jump right into this latest edition of our, "Features of the week".

1. Bear Stearns takes $1.9bn writedown on mortgage assets and reports its first quarterly loss in 84 years as a public firm.

2. Merrill Lynch may get $5bn cash prop from Singapore's Temasek Holdings.

3. Putin, the Kremlin power struggle, and the $40bn fortune. Wow. (Hat tip to 321gold).

4. Can Greed Save Africa?. Great article from BusinessWeek.

5. Bill Gross joins FT's View from the Top to talk about interest rates, US recession, subprime, and investments.

6. Ron Paul talks to Maria Bartiromo in a recent BusinessWeek interview.

7. Comparison: Presidential candidates on monetary policy and USD.

8. The Art of the Deal. How the Nahmad family made billions trading art.

9. Faustian Bargain: Bloomberg special report on the credit crisis.

10. Auschwitz slave recalls concentration camp's horrors.

11. Israel's Karma Kosher conscripts seek refuge in Goa.

12. Rampant global money printing and the case for gold.

13. CPI: Sophisticated economic theory, terrible ethics.

14. Did you catch Financial Sense Newshour's annual Gold Show broadcast?

15. Latest commentary from Dr. Marc Faber: 2008 outlook.

16. Ethanol: Government vs. the Environment.

17. Russia's RTS may surge to 3,000 in 2008, banks forecast.

18. The Oil Drum's take on food price inflation.

Enjoy this week's posts? Bookmark us and tell a few friends! Thanks, and have a great weekend, everyone.