Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- US household net worth rose to an all-time record in the fourth quarter and consumer borrowing rose by the slowest pace in eight years, Federal Reserve figures showed today. The $1.4 trillion increase in household net worth last quarter followed an $839 billion gain in the third quarter and reflected a pickup in stock and mutual-fund values. Net worth related to real estate rose $246 billion for the quarter.
- Greenlight Capital LLC founder David Einhorn resigned form the board of New Century Financial Corp.(NEW), the subprime lender facing a criminal accounting probe and a credit crisis.
- Crude oil fell, pulled lower by natural gas and heating oil, on speculation that US supplies of heating fuels will be adequate to meet demand during the last weeks of winter.
- The coldest February since 1979 caused US retailers’ sales to grow 2.5%, the slowest pace in three months, as consumers delayed purchases of spring merchandise.
- CBS News replaced the executive producer of Katie Couric’s evening newscast after the show failed to rise from last place among the three largest US broadcasting networks.
- Ford Motor(F) shares gained the most in four months after Credit Suisse Group raised its rating and forecast a narrower loss for the second-biggest US automakers.
- The US SEC froze the shares of 35 companies whose stocks trade over the counter as it examines whether promoters used e-mails to mislead investors and inflate stock prices.
- The US economy will strengthen during the year, overcoming hurdles, a survey of economists showed.

Wall Street Journal:
- A new group of drug-coated stents used to prop clogged cardiac arteries open is nearing filing at the FDA.

Reuters:
- BP Plc(BP) restarted Alaska’s Northstar oil field yesterday, almost three weeks after the field closed because of a pipeline leak.
- A key Nigerian oil pipeline ruptured by militant attacks will reopen in three months time.

AP:
- Top Democrats in the US House of Representatives plan to add a rule to a new funding bill to pull the country’s combat troops from Iraq by the fall of 2008.

Chronicle of Higher Education:
- State and local appropriations for public colleges in the 2005-2006 academic year rose faster than tuition rates did.

NY Post:
- The Carlyle Group will invest $100 million to build luxury homes in the Hamptons on NY’s Long Island in a partnership with Farrell Building.

Angola Press:
- Angola will invest $50 billion in its oil industry by 2013, citing Manuel Vicente, the chairman of state-owned Sonangol SA. The investment will help the country achieve daily production of 2 million barrels of oil per day.