Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Kuwait’s $250 billion sovereign wealth fund may boost its stakes in Citigroup Inc.(C) and Merrill Lynch(MER) as it pursues investments in US and European companies battered by subprime-mortgage related losses.
- Commodities fell the most in five weeks as a rally by the US dollar eroded demand for energy, metals, crops and livestock as alternative investments.
- The US dollar rose to the highest in five weeks against the euro on speculation the Fed will stop reducing borrowing costs.
- The cost of protecting European corporate bonds from default fell, according to traders of credit-default swaps. Contracts on the Markit iTraxx Crossover Index of 50 companies with mostly high-risk, high-yield credit ratings dropped 18 basis points to 418 today, according to JPMorgan. The CDX North America Investment Grade Index fell 3 basis points to 92.
- Drake Management LLC, the money-management firm started by former BlackRock Inc. executives, is shutting down its largest hedge fund after losses prompted client withdrawals, according to a letter to investors.
- Top-rated securities backed by subprime or home-equity loans last month returned more than US Treasuries for the first time since December, as Fed efforts to calm credit markets helped entice buyers back.
- ICAP Plans Rival Index to Libor for US Bank Rates.
- Money in funds tracking the two most popular commodity indexes jumped 48% so far this year to $250 billion, showing investors have influenced record energy, food and metals prices, according to Sanford C. Bernstein. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest US pension fund, said in February it may increase its commodity investments 16-fold as it seeks to benefit from gains in gold, copper, wheat and oil. Oil this week climbed to $119.93/bbl., a record, while wheat and corn jumped to all-time highs in 2008, partly as pension and hedge funds switched away from a slumping dollar and tumbling stock markets. Countries including Haiti and Egypt have been hit by social unrest because of rising food prices that the World Food Programme said may result in a “silent famine” for the poorest in Asia.
- Wheat fell to a five-month low as the US dollar rallied against major currencies, eroding the appeal of US commodities to overseas buyers.
- MBIA Inc.(MBI), the world’s largest bond insurer, has enough capital to retail its AAA rating, CEO Jay Brown told shareholders. The stock is surging 11% on the news.
- Billionaire Sam Zell said institutional investors are beginning to return to the market for mortgage-backed securities that finance commercial real estate deals and new construction.
- Clinton Bests Obama Against McCain in Swing States, Poll Says.
- Nvidia(NVDA) Wins More Than Just Gamers at 12 Times Profit.

Wall Street Journal:
- US Thieves Target Metal Sculpture as Prices Soar.
- Shortage of Laborers Plagues India. Skills Gap Drags Down Economy.
- Asian Hedge Funds Lose Assets In 1Q From Poor Performance.

Detroit Free Press:
- More than two months into the UAW’s strike at American Axle, it appears that the two sides have pulled together a potential framework for a settlement, which likely will include buyouts, buy-downs in exchange for lower wages and the closure of at least two plants.

MarketWatch:
- Chip sales rose 3.8% in the first quarter, boosted by strong consumer demand worldwide, the Semiconductor Industry Association said.

MoneyNews.com:
- Mike Milken: Subprime Mess Overblown. Miken says comparisons of the high-yield, high-risk corporate bonds that he once touted at Drexel Burnham Lambert with the mortgage-backed securities behind the subprime meltdown are simply not fair. Investors who follow that train of though are merely “people who don’t understand markets very well,” Milken says. As for the markets, they have already seen the worst and the economy is on the rebound, the one-time trader predicts.

AP:
- The head of al-Qaeda in Somalia, Aden Hashi Ayro, was killed in an air strike. Somali government officials say Ayro trained in Afghanistan before al-Qaeda’s Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US.

Financial Times:
- One of Silicon Valley’s leading venture capital firms has more than tripled the amount of money it has set aside for invest in clean technology companies.
- Triple-A prices are out of sync. Why have the prices of triple-A mortgage-linked securities slumped so dramatically this year? Yes, the price of triple-A securities looks nuts from a fundamental credit pint of view; but this reflects the fact that the leverage which has underpinned the structured credit world in recent years has been mad too.

Haaretz.com:
- Israeli Transportation Minister and former defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Wednesday that Iran could have nuclear bomb technology as early as this year.

Asharq al-Awsat:
- The number of Saudi public projects under execution has fallen to 950 this year valued at 22 billion riyals($5.9 billion), from 3,600 projects, worth 92 billion riyals, last year.