Thursday morning links

TOP STORIES
• Inside Citi's Stress Test: More like an F than a B+ - Time
• California treasurer asks U.S. to backstop state borrowing - LA Times
• Paulson Told Bankers to Take Taxpayer Aid or Be ‘Exposed’ - Bloomberg
• CalPERS: Public employees receive pensions of $100k+ for life - Examiner
• GM stock touches $1, lowest since Depression - CNN/Money
• Dump these four states from our housing nation - MarketWatch
• Once booming, Bend, Oregon tumbles - BusinessWeek
• The Almighty Renminbi? - Roubini, NY Times
• GM to export China-built cars to US - AP

MARKETS/INVESTING
• Oil falls as demand 'set to drop' - BBC
• Gold sees next demand boom from Central Banks - Commodity Online
• Four ways older Americans can deal with higher inflation rates - MarketWatch
• Commodity ETFs and ground rules for investing - Commodity Online
• Keeping the 401(k) faith - CNN/Money
• A New Normal - El Erian, Pimco

ECONOMY
• Jobless Claims Jump More Than Forecast - Bloomberg
• Producer prices rise 0.3% in April on food prices - MarketWatch
• If Consumers Won't Kick-Start the Economy, What Will? - Time
• No progress on bloated inventories in March - MarketWatch
• In an economic desert, signs of life - MSN Money

INTERNATIONAL
• Sony makes first loss in 14 years - BBC
• Rents Crashing in London to 1991 Prices - Bloomberg
• DJ To Investigate Record April Iron Ore Imports - MarketWatch
• Spain to Drop Home-Buyers Tax Break, Spur Car Sales - Bloomberg
• How China has created a new slave empire in Africa - Mail Online
• Buy-to-let landlords struggle to repay their loans - Times Online
• Moscow warns of future energy wars - Al Jazeera
• Japan 'would avoid dollar bonds' - BBC

HOUSING
• Obama Administration Expands Housing Plan - Time
• Jumbo Mortgages Stalling Housing Recovery - Truth About Mortgage
• Slow Start to U.S. Plan for Modifying Mortgages - LA Times
• California Home Prices to Fall Another 36 Percent - Truth About Mortgage

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
• Fed Views Jump in Yields as Sign of Better Outlook - Bloomberg
• FOIA Disclosure Busts Paulson, Geithner And Bair - Zero Hedge
• Banking crisis may last until 2013, entering a new phase - USA Today
• Will Bernanke's rebound have to wait? - MarketWatch

INTERESTING
• There’s the OUTRAGE: Riverside Man Booby-Traps Foreclosed Home - Mandelman
• ‘Superfood’ Promoted on Oprah’s Site Robs Amazon Poor of Staple - Bloomberg
• Thriving Norway Provides an Economics Lesson - Time
• Paris Hilton transforms her pink Bentley - USA Today

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