Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• German Banks Top French With $23 Billion in Greek Debt, BIS Report Says. German lenders were the biggest foreign owners of Greek government bonds with $22.7 billion in holdings last year, making them a likely negotiation partner in burden-sharing deals for the country, data from the Bank for International Settlements showed. French banks, which led the group of Greek creditors with overall claims amounting to $56.7 billion, trailed their German peers on sovereign debt with $15 billion, according to the June report from the Basel, Switzerland-based BIS. The overall figure for French banks was inflated by $39.6 billion in lending to companies and households, mainly because of Credit Agricole SA (ACA)’s Greek unit, Emporiki Bank SA. (TEMP) German lenders have no major units in the country. At the end of 2010, Greek government bonds held by banks in countries reporting to the BIS totaled $54.2 billion, of which 96 percent was owned by European lenders. Germany and France, which accounted for 69 percent, may be asked to weigh in when the European Union goes ahead with plans to win Greece creditors to roll over their debt in a “Vienna-style” program.
• Goldman(GS) Survey Shows EU-Tested Banks May Need to Raise $42 Billion. Banks in the European Union may have to raise 29 billion euros ($42 billion) following this year’s stress tests, according to a survey by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Nine of the 91 lenders examined may fail, London-based analysts Jernej Omahen, Peter Oppenheimer, Christian Mueller- Glissmann and Peter Skoog wrote in a report today, citing the average response in a survey of 113 participants from the financial industry. Spanish, German and Greek banks would need to raise the most new capital, according to the poll. The share of participants saying they expect results of the stress test to be “credible” was smaller than last year.
• Plosser: Stimulus Exit Plan Would Offer Stability. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said a plan to withdraw the central bank’s record monetary stimulus and “normalize” interest-rate policy would help avert confusion in financial markets. “By articulating a systematic plan that gets us to our objective, we improve communication with the public, reduce uncertainty in the marketplace and lend credibility to the commitment that policy makers will follow through,” Plosser said today in Helsinki in the prepared text of a speech. Plosser outlined two plans for reducing the balance sheet. The Fed could quicken the pace of sales while raising the federal funds rate. Or the pace of sales would remain constant and the central bank would use the interest rate to respond to changing economic conditions.
• Peruvian Stocks Fall Most Since 2008, Sol, Bonds Sink as Leftist Humala Claims Win. Peruvian stocks tumbled the most in two years, the currency sank and dollar bonds fell after former army rebel Ollanta Humala claimed victory in the presidential runoff yesterday and sparked concern that his government will seek more control of the economy. Peru’s benchmark Lima General Index of stocks declined the most since October 2008, retreating 8.7 percent to 19,378.78 at 9:31 a.m. New York time, before trading was halted. The cost to protect Peru’s debt from non-payment with credit-default swaps jumped 20 basis points to 168, the highest since April 27, according to data provider CMA in London.
• Apple's(AAPL) Jobs Shows New Mac Software Features. Apple Inc. (AAPL) Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs emerged from medical leave to show off the company’s new Mac OS X Lion software, which includes more touch options and a service called AirDrop that shares files over Wi-Fi. Apple is adding 250 new features to the operating system, executives said today at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. The event marked Jobs’s second public appearance of 2011.
• Goldman Sachs(GS) Criminal Probe May Allow Use of Powerful New York State Law. The criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has at its disposal a 90-year-old New York law that makes it easier for state prosecutors to bring charges than their federal counterparts. District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. subpoenaed Goldman Sachs, the fifth-biggest U.S. bank by assets, for records on its activities leading into the credit crisis, two people familiar with the matter said. Vance may bring charges under the state’s Martin Act, which lawyers call a potent tool for New York prosecutors probing investment frauds, Ponzi schemes and other white-collar crime.

Wall Street Journal:

• Global TV Shipments Off 29% Sequentially In 1Q On Inventory - Report.
• Live Blog: Apple's(AAPL) Unveiling of the iCloud.
  

MarketWatch:

• Banks Pull Europe Stocks Lower. Angus Campbell, head of sales at London Capital Group, said that there had been no firm progress on Greece and that investors are likely to remain wary. “We’re seeing a continuation of the lackluster performance of markets from last week,” Campbell said. “The Friday meeting [on Greece] didn’t really resolve anything, it was the same old things — just a lot of rhetoric.” Adding to the pressure on bank stocks, The Wall Street Journal reported that there is growing support among European finance officials for a plan that would press private-sector creditors into accepting delayed repayments.

CNBC.com:

• Taxpayers Dollars Still Bailing Out Banks. None of America's largest banks raise money on the free market. Every single one of them is propped up by an implicit taxpayer guarantee that is very similar to the backstops provided to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It is a huge subsidy by taxpayers to the banks, enabling them to be far more profitable than they would be otherise.
• Greece Pushes Austerity Plan as Unrest Keeps Growing.
  

Business Insider:

• WEINERGATE II: It's Going to Be VERY Hard for Anthony Weiner to Explain This New Shirtless Photo.
• Welcome to the Mini "Greece" That's Inside Spain.
• Here's What Happens When US Energy Spending Passes 9% of GDP. The energy limit model to economic growth is working beautifully, having come into play prior to the 2008 crisis and now once again forcing another global slowdown.
• How Greek Protesters See The EU In One Simple Photograph. (pic)
• Dick Bove: The Economy is Slowing, SELL Wells Fargo(WFC).
  

Zero Hedge:

• Tim Geithner's Remarks to the International Monetary Conference On Systemic Risk.
• John Taylor of Currency Hedge Fund FX Concepts Says He Is Now Long The USD As Of a Week Ago. (video)
• Fitch Blows at Greek Bailout House of Cards, Says On Closing of Distressed Debt Exchange Will Place Sovereign Rating Into Default.
• Muddy Waters' Carson Block Discusses Sino-Forest, Says Will Keep Short In "Ponzi" Until Stock Hits Zero. (video)
  

NY Post:

• Watchdog Bites. FINRA Won't Let Me Hire More Brokers: Schiff. As The Post recently reported, small brokerage firms like Schiff's are complaining that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) has been hobbling their businesses with over-regulation. Finra is a self-regulatory agency funded by the brokerage industry. Critics charge that Finra is beholden to big brokerage firms and boosts its investigation totals by going after smaller firms that are more likely to settle than fight.
• Japan Says Fukushima's Radiation Twice as Bad as First Reported.
  

New York Times:

• Syria, Claiming 120 Officers Killed, Hints at Retaliation. Syria’s state news agency reported Monday that “armed gangs” had killed 120 police, security personnel and civilians in multiple attacks in a northwestern town, and that residents were “pleading” for the army to intervene. The reports could not be independently verified, but regardless of whether the numbers are inflated, they appear likely to presage an even harsher crackdown on antigovernment protesters.

Digital Trends:

• Sina's(SINA) Weibo Aims to Take Down Twitter With US Version. Sina Weibo’s US debut would represent the first major Chinese social network to launch in the United States. But considering the Chinese government’s stranglehold on free speech in-country, which highly restricts what users can and cannot say on Sina Weibo, it will be interesting to see if the American version takes a different approach to censorship. If not, don’t expect much of a fight.

CNN Money:

• Meredith Whitney: State Finances Are Worse Than Estimated. The outspoken municipal bond bear follows up with more evidence that the fiscal troubles in many states are far greater than we've been told.

Politico:

• Internet Sales Tax Push Gains Currency.

Rasmussen Reports:

• 54% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law, 56% Say Law Will Increase Deficit. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Voters shows that 54% of Likely U.S. Voters at least somewhat favor repeal of the law, while 39% are at least somewhat opposed. This includes 40% who Strongly Favor repeal and 26% who Strongly Oppose it.

Daily Yomiuri Online:

• Worried Residents Near Evacuation Zone Weigh Leaving. Fearing high radiation levels from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, people living just outside the evacuation zone established by the government are considering leaving voluntarily. The cities of Date and Soma, both in Fukushima Prefecture, are preparing to offer public housing units and other facilities to people who live close to the evacuation zone the government established outside the no-entry zone within a 20-kilometer radius from the plant.