Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Mortgage applications in the US increased for a fifth consecutive week, led by a rebound in purchases.
- A storm unleashed tornadoes across the southern US late yesterday, killing at least 48 people, sparking a pipeline explosion in Tennessee and destroying homes and businesses from Alabama to Kentucky.
- US credit markets are trading as if the economy is in a recession because investors’ “fear has overwhelmed greed,” Goldman Sachs(GS) CFO Viniar said.
- Polo Ralph Lauren(RL) said third-quarter profit rose more than analysts estimated and increased its earnings forecast.
- Iran Sex Changes Get Mullahs’ Money as Regime Persecutes Gays.
- Crude oil is falling more than $1 a barrel after the government reported that US inventories surged the most in almost four years as refineries slowed operating rates and imports climbed.
- Copper is rising over 2% as inventories monitored by the LME dropped for a fourth-straight session.
- Plosser Says ‘Aggressive’ Rate Cuts Were Appropriate.
- US derivatives exchanges including CME Group(CME) tumbled in NY trading after the Dept. of Justice said their trade-processing practices may be anti-competitive.

Wall Street Journal:
- Icahn Set to Host Blog on Corporate Abuses.
- The Big Four accounting firms plan to hire roughly the same number – or more – of interns and entry-level employees for 2008 as they did last year.
- Credit Agricole SA’s Calyon unit is leading talks to bail out Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., a NYC-based bond insurer that was downgraded by ratings firms.

Morningstar:
- Goldman(GS) Hungry To Buy Distressed Mortgage Debt.

Forbes:
- After dominating the US wireless spectrum auction for months, from influencing the terms of the auction to bidding, it looks like Google(GOOG) is off the hook.

Washington Times:
- US and Iraqi negotiators will begin meeting later this month and hope to conclude a strategic compact on long-term economic, political and military cooperation by midsummer, Iraq’s US ambassador said yesterday. The agreement would not endorse permanent US military bases in his country or “tie the hands” of future US or Iraqi leaders. “We also believe that any future American president would see the benefits to the US national interest of keeping an alliance with Iraq,” said Iraq’s US ambassador.

Dagens Industri:
- Ericsson AB sees no decline in demand from operators who want the Swedish company to manage their networks, citing Jan Frykhammar, head of Ericsson’s global services division.

Ethiopian News Agency:
- MIDROC Gold Mine Ltd. will almost double production over the next decade, citing CEO Arega Yirdaw. The company plans to increase output to as much as 6.52 metric tons a year, from 3.5 tons currently and expects to produce more than 70 tons of gold over the next 13 years.