Wednesday morning links

TOP STORIES
• Feds unveil plan to help 9 million stay in homes - AP
• Ex-Leaders of Countrywide Profit From Bad Loans - NY Times
• As Markets Slump, U.S. Tries to Halt Cycle of Fear - Wash. Post
• Fed Chairman Backs Call for Higher Spending - NY Times
• MGM Mirage delays 10K; warns of default - MarketWatch
• Already Bleak, Auto Sales Take a Fall in February - NY Times
• 'Gold is still vulnerable' - Telegraph
• AIG: The Nexus of Capital, Debt and Insurance - YMOYL

MARKETS/INVESTING
• Oil Gains on Speculation China Will Boost Stimulus - Bloomberg
• Gold flat as investment demand cools - Globe & Mail
• Elliott Wave predicts bear-market rally? - MarketWatch
• 'Investors are embracing gold stocks & ETFs' - Commodity Online
• Obama's words do little to spur Wall Street - LA Times
• Oil producers running out of storage space - MSNBC

ECONOMY
• U.S. private sector cuts 697,000 jobs in February - Reuters
• Bass: Government Creating ‘Inflationary Time Bomb’ - Bloomberg
• How can U.S. break the vicious economic cycle? - SF Gate
• Google CEO Says Economic Situation 'Pretty Dire' - Dow Jones
• STAIRWAY TO RETAIL HEAVEN - Financial Sense

INTERNATIONAL
• China said to mull buying oil with foreign reserves - MarketWatch
• Boom gives way to bust in Ireland's oversold economy - LA Times
• Brown to US: 'Seize the moment' on economic crisis - AFP
• Australia's GDP shrinks for first time in eight years - MarketWatch
• Global policy shortcomings will cost us dear - Financial Times
• The NPC meets, Krugman refers to savings glut - China Financial Markets
• China built enormous stake in US equities just before crash - Telegraph
• Countries Stepping in to Finance Export Trade - NY Times

HOUSING
• Report: Nearly One in Five Owe More Than Homes Are Worth - Time
• As projects grind to a halt, home sites turn to wasteland - LA Times
• Bank-Owned Homes Surge, Communities Stung - Washington Indpendent
• Citi Homeowner Assist Launches for Unemployed Borrowers - Blown Mortgage

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
• Does Tim Geithner have a plan? - Curious Capitalist
• Banks brace for mortgage remodels under Obama plan - USA Today
• Geithner Says U.S. Financial Rescue ‘Might Cost More’ - Bloomberg
• Bernanke defends AIG rescue, says U.S. had no choice - Reuters

INTERESTING
• The Rick Santelli 'Tea Party' Controversy - Alternet
• Madoff agrees to give up property, art, tickets - AP
• Google CEO: Twitter A 'Poor Man's Email System' - CNN/Money

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