There's nothing that helps us explain why this event took place.

BBC: Maureen and Mark Tyler

It probably also helps explain why US retail investor confidence today stands at a record low.

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All this helps to explain why the US administration has been taking a close personal interest in the eurozone's troubles - and why the US has been making it clear that it would prefer there weren't a "credit event" that could be described as a Greek default.

BBC: Eurozone woes are US woes

Shale gas also helps to explain the sharp drop in US oil imports forecast by the EIA in the next two years.

BBC: US oil production 'to jump by a quarter by 2014'

This likely helps explain the low approval ratings for the US government.

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That helps explain why Motorola's venerable RAZR series remains staggeringly high on Nielsen's latest US phone usage report -- third place, to be exact, at 2.3 percent of all subscribers behind the iPhone 3G at 4 percent and RIM's BlackBerry Curve line at 3.7 percent.

ENGADGET: Nielsen stats: a lot of iPhones out there, but also a lot of everything else