Sunday morning links

TOP STORIES
• Obama hopes for leaner, meaner GM and Chrysler - AP
• Lawmakers Blast GM Restructuring - Washington Post
• Rates likely to stay low for some time: Fed's Kohn - Reuters
• Edmund Andrews Explains Decision to Omit Wife's Bankruptcies - The Atlantic
• Gold demand falls in the Middle East and India as it surges elsewhere - TMCNet
• State policies work against good fiscal management - LA Times
• Dollar stops being Russia's basic reserve currency - Pravda
• Two U.S. banks seized, making 36 failures - UPI

MARKETS/INVESTING
• Gold bugs at last have their perfect trinity - Telegraph
• Why Wall Street is deserting Treasuries and the dollar - LA Times
• Gold to touch $1,000 per ounce soon: UBS - Commodity Online
• Early retirement claims increase dramatically - LA Times
• Beware of Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs) Bearing Gold - 24h Gold
• US dollar falls, gold at $950 as green shoots wither - Mineweb

ECONOMY
• Preview: Goods Orders, Home Sales Probably Rose - Bloomberg
• A Quick Recovery? Keep Dreaming - ClusterStock
• U.S. Jobless Rate Likely to Pass Europe’s - NY Times
• One Ohio town's struggle to survive in hard times - AP
• The Spending Trickle - Wash. Post

INTERNATIONAL
• S&P’s warning marks the next stage of this crisis - Telegraph
• Naimi Says He’s ‘Happy’ With OPEC Output Compliance - Bloomberg
• Western world is faced with the crude reality of rising oil prices - Telegraph
• Venezuela Dollar Bonds Sink on Chavez Takeovers - Bloomberg
• India's finance minister Mukherjee vows to protect economy - Reuters
• Consumer spending falls at fastest rate since 1980 - Guardian
• G8 energy leaders press for oil price stability - Reuters
• IMF nudges Canada to step up - Globe & Mail

HOUSING
• Amid Housing Bust, Phoenix Begins a New Frenzy - NY Times
• Deputies show up when residents must leave foreclosed homes - LA Times
• Real estate: Change in mortgage rules lures investors - Florida Today
• Truth about the housing market - News of the World

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
• Fed's Kohn defends response to financial crisis - MarketWatch
• Geithner Adopts Part of Wall Street Derivatives Plan - Bloomberg
• Next Catastrophe: $3.5T In Commercial Real Estate Debt - 24/7 Wall St.
• FDIC board votes for more assessments - UPI

INTERESTING
• Real Soldiers Love Their Robot Brethren - LiveScience
• Farms downsize with miniature cows - LA Times
• It’s Tee Time. Where Is Everybody? NY Times
• Horror story printed on toilet paper in Japan - AP

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