Thursday morning links

TOP STORIES
• Stress Test Finds Strength in Banks - Wash. Post
• How We Tested the Big Banks - Geithner, NY Times
• Fed’s Bank Results ‘Reassuring,’ Show No Insolvency - Bloomberg
• ECB cuts a quarter percent; BoE keeps 0.5 pct rate - AP
• GM posts $6B 1Q loss, spends $10.2B in cash - AP
• House to ask B. of A..'s Lewis to testify on Merrill deal: report - MarketWatch
• Economic Crisis Raises Fears of Extremism in Western Countries - NY Times
• Google: American phenomenon and antitrust target - Reuters

MARKETS/INVESTING
• Oil Trades Near $56 After Rising on U.S. Stockpiles - Bloomberg
• Gold inches up ahead of stress tests, ETF dips - Reuters
• Treasury Yields Rise to Five-Month High - Bloomberg
• The trouble with market timing - CNN/Money
• More States Start Pension Inquiries - NY Times
• Gold: unstable metal - FT

ECONOMY
• Unemployment claims fall more than expected - CNN/Money
• Productivity Rises 0.8%; Labor Costs Up 3.3% - Bloomberg
• Retailer's mixed April sales show a cautious consumer - MarketWatch
• Reeling states hit by April tax shortfalls - CNN/Money
• Glossary of the new economics - Bing

INTERNATIONAL
• World stocks rise ahead of US stress tests results - AP
• Global Crisis ‘Vastly Worse’ Than 1930s, Taleb Says - Bloomberg
• Bank of England surprises on bonds; ECB cuts - MarketWatch
• King’s ‘Heads Up’ Awaited on Phase Two of BOE Plan - Bloomberg
• Australia's jobless rate marks surprise decline in April - MarketWatch
• Power Generation Declines: China's Recovery Lagging - China Stakes
• Gold sales cost Europe’s central banks $40bn - FT
• UN 'stunned' by scale of bail-out - BBC

HOUSING
• SC court halts thousands of home foreclosure sales - AP
• Mozilo May Stand Trial in Florida for Homeowner Abuses - TTAM
• Rich Default on Luxury Homes Like Subprime Victims - Bloomberg
• Another Sign of Foreclosure Trouble in California - WSJ

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
• The Big Banks Enabled Subprime Lenders - BusinessWeek
• Bernanke Favored Rate Cuts Tied to Bubble - Wash. Post
• Credit Risk Tumbles to Lowest Since Lehman Crisis - Bloomberg
• B of A and Bernanke: Unstressed - Bruce Krasting

INTERESTING
• Co-Anchor Is Leaving PBS Program on Business - Times
• Will Ratigan help MSNBC and hurt CNBC? - MarketWatch
• California voters likely to revisit gay marriage - LA Times
• Millionaires don't feel so rich: survey - CNN/Money

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