Does the Wendy's mascot look like any redhead you know?

Day 522

They like the product, hate the icon.

Leading indicators

* GM to kill Pontiac, accelerate plant closings and job cuts in Monday morning announcement.

* Magna may end up vying with Fiat for stake in Opel, GM's struggling German automaker.

  

* Bank of Canada still confident of Canadian economic recovery beginning 4Q 09.

* Surprisingly brisk market for unbuilt multimillion-dollar Toronto condos.

Analysis and commentary

* Robert Reich: Rescuing the banks should take a back seat to still more government stimulus spending.

* New York Times: Laid-off Wall Street dads adjusting to new role as Mr. Mom.

* Der Spiegel: Icelandic women, blaming men for nation's economic collapse, ready to take political power.

Note: For the purposes of this blog, the inception of the Great Recession in the U.S., the epicentre of the crisis, is taken as the start date for the global slump. The U.S. has been in recession since December 2007.