Obama's Wall Street problem  —  The giant $2 billion trading loss at JPMorgan Chase highlights a central problem in President Barack Obama's case for a second term: Four years after the financial crisis nearly brought the nation to its knees, very little appears to have changed.

Andrew Sullivan on Barack Obama: The First Gay President  —  The president's bold support shifted the mainstream.  Andrew Sullivan on why it shouldn't be surprising—Obama's life as a biracial man has deep ties to the gay experience.  —  It was the spring of 2007, back when Barack Obama's bid …

The un-McCain campaign  —  Mitt Romney and his top aides are building a strategy, partly by design and partly because of circumstance, around what they consider John McCain's disastrously run campaign in 2008.  —  The strategy: whatever McCain did, do the opposite.

Three to Exit J.P. Morgan  —  Drew, Others to Depart in Wake of Loss, Which Could Total More Than $4 Billion  —  Three high-ranking officers at the center of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s giant trading blunder are expected to leave the firm this week, said people familiar with the situation, and losses on the trade have grown.

Report says 230,000 unemployed losing benefits over weekend  —  More than 230,000 unemployed workers will lose their jobless benefits this weekend as portions of federal programs expire across several states.  —  All told, 409,300 long-term unemployed Americans in 27 states will have lost upward …

Eurodämmerung  —  Some of us have been talking it over, and here's what we think the end game looks like:  —  1. Greek euro exit, very possibly next month.  —  2. Huge withdrawals from Spanish and Italian banks, as depositors try to move their money to Germany.  —  3a.

Brown Tax Increase Gains Urgency as Deficit Rises to $16 Billion  —  California Governor Jerry Brown bet that a nascent financial recovery would lift the world's ninth- largest economy enough to whittle down a $9.2 billion deficit.  Instead, the gap has widened to $16 billion.

John Edwards and the “reality-based” community  —  I have tried to avert my eyes from the John Edwards trial, but this snippet from a report of that event in the Washington Post caught my eye.  It seems that Edwards' own attorney told the trial judge this week: “No one is going to deny that Mr. Edwards lied and lied and lied and lied.”

Ex-Yahoo Chief Told Board He Has Cancer  —  Before resigning as chief executive of Yahoo Inc. over the weekend, Scott Thompson disclosed to the company's board of directors and several colleagues that he has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, according to people familiar with the matter.

GOP: Mitt should shame Obama with Israel trip  —  Mitt Romney should visit Israel soon, Republican lawmakers say, claiming that such a trip would highlight the fact that President Obama has not been there during his first term.  —  Congressional Republicans told The Hill that there would be many benefits …

Obama targets Romney tenure at Bain Capital with new ad, website  —  President Obama is taking dead aim at Mitt Romney's record helming Bain Capital, debuting a new television ad, online video, and website that each depict the private equity firm as predatory and having engaged in “questionable business practices.”