Thursday morning links

TOP STORIES
• ‘Rambo Fed’ Will Buy Treasuries to Combat Crisis - Bloomberg
• Treasury officials explicitly allowed AIG bonuses - LA Times
• Madoff accountant hit with criminal charges - MarketWatch
• iShares Silver Trust’s golden run - Commodity Online
• Naked Short Sales Hint Fraud in Bringing Down Lehman - Bloomberg
• Shell dumps wind, solar and hydro power in favour of biofuels - Guardian
• Obama Needs AIG’s Liddy, Not Other Way Around - Bloomberg
• The Real AIG Scandal - Slate

MARKETS/INVESTING
• Special: The unholy Fed-Gold nexus - Commodity Online
• Oil trades above $51 as stock rallies boost hopes - AP
• First a rally, then hyperinflation? - MarketWatch
• Dollar weakness may have legs - CNN/Money
• Don't follow the typical retirement-planning advice - MarketWatch
• Rig Count Downturn Moves into Uncharted Territory - Rigzone.com

ECONOMY
• U.S. workers on jobless benefits hit record high - Reuters
• Families that cut a little last year are cutting more now - USA Today
• Obama hears Californians' state of anxiety - LA Times
• More consumers are just a paycheck or two away from ruin - MarketWatch
• Long Beach and Los Angeles port traffic slows in February - LA Times

INTERNATIONAL
• China's factories get desperate as orders drop - AP
• Canadian Inflation Unexpectedly Accelerates - Bloomberg
• Iceland cuts base interest rate to 17 percent - AP
• Your not-so-secret foreign bank account - MarketWatch
• Steeling for 80% export drop - Shanghai Daily
• U.K. Budget Deficit Swells as Recession Pounds Taxes - Bloomberg
• The US dollar, the Norwegian krone and the ‘ugly contest’ - FT Alphaville
• Mexico details U.S. tariffs; food staples off the list - MarketWatch

HOUSING
• Obama housing fix: Banks not ready - CNN/Money
• Fed's move could send mortgage rates well below 5 percent - Mercury News
• Not Just Homeowners, But Renters Are Really Getting Screwed - Alternet
• Fannie Is Handing Out Its Own Sizable Retention Payouts - WSJ

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
• Bernanke Pushes the Button - The Big Picture
• How the Fed Failed to Tell Obama About The Bonuses - Washington Post
• Fed moves to bring down interest rates on mortgages, consumer loans - LA Times
• On the Fed's "Shock and Awe" - Naked Capitalism

INTERESTING
• Wife says $43 million isn't enough in divorce settlement - USA Today
• New Film Gives Us a Painfully Realistic Look at Life in 2055 - Alternet
• Woman allegedly punches, bites her son's principal - AP

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