Bloomberg:
- The cost to protect against a default by banks including Citigroup Inc.(C) and Bank of America(BAC) fell as accounting regulators approved a rule change that may limit writedowns and boost profits. Credit-default swaps on NY-based Citigroup dropped 55 basis points to 610 basis points as of 11:57 am in NY, according to broker Phoenix Partners Group. Contracts on Bank of America fell 55 basis points to 345 basis points. Credit-default swaps on the Markit CDX North America Investment-Grade Index Series 12, linked to the bonds of 125 companies in the US and Canada, fell 9 basis points to 193 basis points. The Markit iTraxx Financial Index of 25 European banks and insurers declined 16 basis points to 169, JPMorgan prices show.
- The Fed’s commitment to buy $1.25 trillion of bonds backed by US home loans is succeeding where $11.6 trillion of government lending, spending, and guarantees so far have failed. “This has been the most successful effort, at least so far in this crisis, to shore up the economy,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “It’s reasonable to expect refinancings will reduce mortgage payments by about $25 billion, and most of that cash will go into spending.”
Wall Street Journal:
CNBC:
- The S&P 500, which closed yesterday at 811.08 after falling as low as 666 this year, is a “safe zone” for buying stocks, Bob Doll of BlackRock Inc.(BLK) said.
- Schork Oil Outlook: We’re In Bear Country.
NY Times:
NY Post:
Detroit Free Press:
OrlandoSentinel.com:
HedgeFundBlogger:
- The 25 Highest Paid Hedge Fund Managers.
Politico:
GlobeNewswire:
RBC Daily:
- Moscow shopping mall vacancies are now at 10%.
Hong Kong Govt:
CCTV:
- A strong US dollar is in the US’s interest, US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said. “I’ll make it crystal clear that a strong dollar is in America’s interest,” Geithner said. “We’re going to do what’s necessary to make sure that our markets remain the deepest, most liquid, safest markets in the world,” he said.
Haaretz.com: