Friday morning links

TOP STORIES
• Jobless rate hits 9.4 percent in May; layoffs slow - AP
• Mozilo Saw Countrywide ‘Flying Blind,’ Dumped Stock - Bloomberg
• European banks in spotlight as Baltic crisis hits Sweden - Telegraph
• Detroitosaurus wrecks: The decline and fall of General Motors - Economist
• Southern California property values sink below historic norms - LA Times
• ‘Legacy of Debt’ Gives Fiscal Stimulus Bad Name - Bloomberg
• FDIC eyes Citi top management shake-up - Reuters
• Chrysler Enters Legal Homestretch - Wash. Post

MARKETS/INVESTING
• Oil rises to new high for 2009 as it nears $70 a barrel - USA Today
• Gold Drops in London, Heading for Weekly Decline, on Dollar - Bloomberg
• Higher commodity prices may not be good news - Economist
• Will Gold reach $2,000 an ounce by 2010? - Commodity Online
• Miner Rio Tinto scraps Chinalco deal - AP
• Investors Try Angles On Auction Market - IBD

ECONOMY
• U.S. jobless rate hits 26-year high - Reuters
• Tony Las Vegas development struggles in downturn - AP
• A Race to Keep Up With the Tightwads - Wash. Post
• When demand releases, it may be shop 'til you drop time - USA Today
• Wal-Mart to add 22,000 jobs in U.S. - Reuters

INTERNATIONAL
• Canada's jobless ranks swell - Globe & Mail
• Russia's ailing economy: Red square blues - Economist
• Luckiest Economy Shines in Down-and-Out World - Bloomberg
• Interest rates: credit card rates rise despite low Bank Rate - Telegraph
• China May Buy $50 Billion of IMF Bonds, SAFE Says - Globe & Mail
• Latvia Premier Says Devaluation Speculation Must Stop - Bloomberg
• Committee seeks greater scrutiny for Fed actions - FT
• British politics: Rearranging the deckchairs - Economist

HOUSING
• As interest rates rise, housing market groans - CSM
• Housing Market Struggles, Home Sellers Slash Prices - 24/7 Wall St.
• Observer says right buyers can stabilize housing market - LVRJ
• Global house prices: Bottom fishing - Economist

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
• Central banks' exit strategies: This way out - Economist
• Conversions for 22% of Stress-Test Capital - Bloomberg
• Bank of America Ousts Head of Risk Oversight - NY Times
• Accounting Rule Changes Mask Looming Loan Losses - Bloomberg

INTERESTING
• Drinking to Excess Is Banking’s Hangover Cure - Bloomberg
• Soaring gun sales in Arizona: Planning for the worst - Economist
• Ailing, Banks Still Field Strong Lobby at Capitol - NY Times
• Apple's Jobs ready to return from leave: report - Reuters

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