Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Richard Fuld, chief executive officer of Lehman Brothers(LEH), told shareholders “the worst is behind us” in the credit-market contraction. The comments echo those of Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs(GS), who told shareholders at the firm’s annual meeting last week that “we’re closer to the end than the beginning” of the crisis.
- Price declines for debt such as top-rated collateralized loan obligations may slow this year because of declining asset sales by structured investment vehicles, Barclays Capital analysts said. SIVs, the funds shut out of short-term debt markets last year, will likely sell about $32 billion of assets the rest of this year, down from $100 billion over the past 10 months, to repay about $60 billion of senior debt that’s due by November, analysts led by Jeff Meli and Madhur Duggar in NY wrote.
- Kevin Gould, head of data products and analytics at Markit Group Ltd. in NY, told Bloomberg that banks shouldn’t rely on its subprime ABX or commercial real estate CMBX indices to value assets. “We don’t think it’s particularly relevant to use the index to value assets. It’s a very useful tool for understanding the direction the market is moving in, but it is not necessarily a tool that one should use to value the cash asset itself,” he said.
- Emerging-market bonds gained, sending yields over US Treasuries to the lowest since February, after a measure of manufacturing in NY state unexpectedly showed growth in April.
- The risk of US companies defaulting fell, according to traders of credit-default swaps. Contracts on the Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index of 125 companies in the US and Canada dropped 2.5 basis points to 128.5.
- Crude oil and gasoline rose to records as investors purchased commodities because their returns have outpaced stocks, bonds and other financial instruments.
- Boeing(BA) may benefit from the merger between Delta(DAL) and Northwest Air(NWA) as the carriers band together for new cash from growth overseas to replace their aging fleets.
- John McCain prescribed cutting taxes and reduced government spending to boost the US economy and ensure future growth.
- Confidence among US homebuilders was unchanged in April. A measure of single-family sales prospects for the next six months improved to 30, the highest since August.
- Merrill Options Trading Shows Record Bearish Wagers.

Wall Street Journal:
- The US healthcare industry may help replace the declining business of manufacturing as a main source of employment.

NY Times:
- US States Intensify Effort to Control Gun Sales.

Bergen Record:
- Foreclosures in New Jersey fell 6% in March compared with the same period a year ago.

USA Today:
- More US states are turning to high-tech means to curb the number of repeat drunken-driving offenders through the use of alcohol-sensing ignition locks, citing government officials.

Financial Week:
- Subprime players may get big break. A provision in the second housing stimulus plan currently being debated in Congress would allow companies to use losses from this year and next to net higher tax refunds.

Reuters:
- Regional banks top views despite credit losses.

The Hindu Business Line:
- India-focused hedge funds lose over 25% in 2008 so far.

Haaretz.com:
- Former US President Jimmy Carter on Tuesday warmly embraced a leading Hamas figure in the West Bank and laid a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat, further antagonizing Israel as he pushed forward with his latest Mideast peace mission.