Madoff is accused of running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme through his investment company. He is free on bail.

Gene Bloch
Managing Editor
CNN New York

Will Bernie Madoff be allowed to remain free on bail in his $7 million apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side??

Today the federal government will get another crack at putting him behind bars. The alleged Ponzi schemer will make an appearance in federal court today for an appeals hearing on the bail issue. Federal prosecutors are fighting a magistrate judge’s decision Monday for him to remain free on bail. Prosecutors say Madoff violated terms of his home detention by mailing several valuable items, like jewelry, a Cartier watch, and mittens to friends and relatives…items valued at more than $1 million. The defense says Madoff did this innocently, not realizing he was not permitted to send the items, which they described as “gifts.” A revocation of bail would be welcome news to many who believe that it’s an outrage that someone accused of ripping off billions of dollars from individuals, banks, charities, foundations, and thousands of their beneficiaries would be given better treatment than some kid busted for a small amount of pot. We have live cameras outside his apartment and downtown at federal court.

Will the Madoff case go to trial? It’s entirely possible that it will not, as court documents confirm that his attorneys and federal prosecutors are discussing a potential plea agreement.

We’re keeping an eye on fresh signs on the economy. Retail sales in December fell 2.7%, more than twice as bad as expected as holiday stores struggled. That’s the sixth straight month of decline for retail, the longest stretch of declining sales in at least 4 decades. At 2 p.m. we’ll get the Fed’s Beige Book regional assessment of how well (or poorly these days) conditions are around the country. And at 1030a we’ll get the weekly numbers from the Energy Department on how much oil and gas is being stockpiled.

On the gasoline front AAA reports the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline increased to $1.792 a gallon, up 2-tenths of a cent from the previous day’s price of $1.790.

In The Energy Fix today we take another look at ethanol. When corn prices hit record highs this summer, critics pointed a finger at ethanol, and argued food shouldn’t be used for fuel.

Now a new way of making ethanol could silence those critics. This week, the country’s top ethanol producer opened the first plant in the United States that uses corncobs to make the biofuel. The company’s CEO says 5 billion gallons a year could eventually be made that way and 85 billion gallons from other plant waste products. This comes at a time when the ethanol industry is struggling. A major producer filed for bankruptcy at the end of last year, and other companies have shut down plants.