It's not all bad news for Bank of America today. Sure, the financial giant announced a $1 billion loss for the third quarter following heavy losses in its mortgage and credit card divisions. But it made some of it back within hours. Property records filed with the city today indicate the bank sold off its corporate apartment in the Time Warner Center for $7.2 million, and it purchased the place for $6.35 million three years ago. So if you're a Bank of America shareholder and it makes you feel any better, feel free to adjust the loss downward to 999,150,000. [NYT, NYO]

Oracle laid off hundreds of employees this year, and is expected to lay off thousands more. But that won't keep the business software company's CEO from taunting workers about his yacht. Don't you wish you had one, you broke-ass poor?

While most of the world is latching onto Twitter as a lifeline to break through the media clutter in desperate times, an increasing number in Hollywood are seeing it as something else entirely; a threat to everything they hold precious.

Did you know 30 Rock returned last night? Don't worry, no one did, because currently the only person watching NBC is Jay Leno's mom. The ratings sucked, but the show itself was great, especially when taking swings at NBC.

When reporting on things said and done by the incredibly vocal minority of angry white people who make up the Republican base, one should always remember that their "reality" is different from ours. James Carville has proven this, with science!

Project Runway is all about vision and delusion. The vision to make an outfit for a pop star, the delusion she wants to look like Cleveland's worst drag queen. The vision to reward talent, the delusion that it matters.

More evidence emerged this morning that yesterday's Balloon Boy escapade was either a deliberate hoax or the result of galactic idiocy, and local authorities have begun investigating whether it was staged.

It isn't easy being the son of Bernie Madoff, clearly. On Wednesday night, a "stressed-out" Mark Madoff got into an argument with his wife, stormed out of the apartment, hopped on his Vespa scooter, and disappeared into the night. Fearing the worst, Stephanie Madoff called the cops to report him missing. But he turned out to be okay. He returned to the apartment the next morning and explained that he'd spent the night at the Soho Grand. And he proved that despite all the psychological pressure he says he's been under—which us supported by the slovenly look he's been sporting in recent months—he's still a Madoff at the end of the day. He reportedly checked into the hotel under a fake name and paid the bill in cash. [NYP]

The Way We Live Now: Beneath the weight of a solid gold world. We're so wealthy that we are literally throwing money away. At least, those of us who aren't living in our cars. The point is, kill Christmas!

Earlier this week, it was reported that just three floats had been registered for the Greenwich Village Halloween parade, which will undoubtedly make the annual event more a picture of lameness rather than one of guts and gore as it was in years past. Now it turns out that the number of people planning to celebrate the holiday this year is down to just 62 percent. Of those revelers, a measly 33 percent are dressing up, and only 42 percent are planning to carve a pumpkin. What's next, no more pumpkin pie?

Christopher Kimball would like you to subscribe to his magazine and website, and has been trolling various media for attention. The Cook's Illustrated publisher's latest ploy: A cookoff between him and Wikipedia. Talk about a ridiculous match up.

This Sunday, some of the world's most famous chefs are getting together in Manhattan and "honoring the editors,writers and staff of the legendary culinary publication Gourmet Magazine." The only thing missing: Gourmet staffers. Um...you know any?

It's Halloween monster time in Hollywood — but which is more scary, the ones with fangs in Twilight or Wild Things, or the ones with spray on tans like Jon Gosselin, or the ones with really big wallets like Rupert?

Lucinda Rosenfeld, advice columnist for Slate's woman-focused DoubleX, has accomplished something we haven't, yet: She's pissed off her readers so much they started a petition demanding she be fired. Lucinda's crime: Rape. Oh no, wait. Just unpopular advice.

On the occasion of this wonderful op-ed on how Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize is a violation of our nation's founding document, let us examine the recent crimes of the Washington Post opinion section.

Page Six spotted Bob and Harvey Weinstein saying tearful goodbyes to 30 laid-off Weinstein Co. employees at a TriBeCa steakhouse recently. So goes the Weinstein Empire's slow, painful collapse.

For those who didn't get the message at Altamont: Sweat lodge deaths investigated as homicides.

Sienna Miller walking her dog ... Brooke Shields running errands around town ... Lindsay Lohan shopping at Curve on Mercer Street in SoHo and later heading off in an SUV ... Hilary Duff walking to the Gossip Girl set ... Jessica Szohr shopping at The Limited in SoHo ... Matt Damon filming scenes for The Adjustment Bueau in the rain ... Naomi Watts posing for a photo shoot outside the Cooper Square Hotel ... Shia LaBeouf spitting on the sidewalk outside his trailer on the set of Wall Street 2 .. . Michael Urie and America Ferrera shooting scenes for Ugly Betty ... and Jessica Simpson leaving Nobu after having dinner with hair stylist Ken Paves and her mom.

[Socialite Lydia Hearst walks the street in SoHo yesterday in some very green heels. Image via INF]

The rapidly evolving conventional wisdom about the hazy future of New York magazine continues to evolve rapidly! Perhaps Bruce Wasserstein's family would be less likely to sell off the mag if they had, say, an extra $188 million?