Funk deepens
DoL: economy shed 651,000 jobs in February. (WSJ) Senate committee demands Fed name the AIG trading partners made whole by bailouts. (WaPo) California court leans toward upholding Proposition 8. (SF
Time to talk
Cuomo issues subpoenas to top-earning Merrill executives. (WSJ) Rove and Miers to testify before House Judiciary Committee on US Attorney firings. (TPM) Venezuela expropriates Cargill rice mills. (WSJ) Treasury releases
Buyer’s market
Former Countrywide execs make big money buying penny mortgages. (NYT) Grassley requests information from Pfizer on payments to Harvard Med School faculty, surveillance of student protesters. (NYT) LaHood favors private
Testing transparency
Obama sent secret letter to Russia; offered to slow missile defense program in return for help with nuclear Iran. (NYT) New York Times editorializes that AIG bailouts fail “basic test
Biggest loss ever
AIG reports historic $61.7 billion loss in 4th quarter, gets $30 billion more in TARP money from Treasury. (Bloomberg) Geithner and Summers present united front on policy questions; enjoy vacations
Stakes is high
Treasury announces it will raise stake in Citigroup to 36%; Pandit will stay. (NYT) Obama and Orszag introduce new budget; Wall Street Journal publishes analysis with headline “Wealthy lose out
Continuity and conflict
Panetta‘s CIA will continue many Bush operations, including drone attacks and renditions. (WSJ) Latest financial fraudsters: Greenwood and Walsh. (NY Daily News) Fidelity chief condemns FDR’s unproductive “make-work” projects, signals
Not the state of the union
In speech to joint session, Obama outlines recovery and says health care reform can’t wait; Jindal widely panned, likened to 30 Rock character. (WSJ, Twitter) Hearst threatens to shutter SF
Advisory troubles
Stanford marketed and invested $2.7 million with hedge fund owned by brother and son of Biden. (WSJ via Reuters) Ross picked to advise Clinton on Iran. (NYT) AIG negotiates for
Citi on the edge
US in talks to expand stake in Citi to 40%; Pandit, under the gun, pens missive to employees. (WSJ) Clinton tells Chinese talk show audience that their government needs to