Friday morning links

TOP STORIES
Toxic Loans May Push 150 Banks to Point of No Return - Bloomberg
Ford revs up production to meet ‘Cash for Clunkers’ demand - CSM
Bank of America ends arbitration of card disputes - Reuters
Blackstone’s Schwarzman Tops Best-Paid Chiefs With $702 Million - Bloomberg
AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: The toxic trio - Economist
RBA May Raise Rate From Emergency Level - Bloomberg
Families feel pinch as state cuts ripple out - SF Gate
Asia: An astonishing rebound - Economist

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MARKETS/INVESTING
Oil rises slightly to near $71 despite weak demand - AP
Gold Gains as Dollar Decline Spurs Demand for Precious Metals - Bloomberg
Recent drop in short interest not necessarily a bad sign - MarketWatch
China Stocks Fall, Capping Worst Weekly Decline Since February - Bloomberg
Gold Sales: central banks want IMF to sell gold first - Commodity Online
Bank Shares May Be Poised to Drop After 74% Surge - Bloomberg

ECONOMY
U.S. consumer prices flat in July - Reuters
Assessing quantitative easing: Muzzled - Economist
JPMorgan Sees V-Shaped Recovery on Robust Growth - Bloomberg
3 big retail chains' earnings reflect a hard slog - LA Times
Buttonwood: Law of easy money - Economist

INTERNATIONAL
UK housing market, the untold story - FT AlphaVille
Rebalancing the world economy: Japan Stuck in neutral - Economist
Keynes rescues France and Germany; Club Med lost - Telegraph
Top Forecaster Says Real to Reach an 11-Year High - Bloomberg
Spain still mired in recession as economy shrinks more than expected - Guardian
Airbus receives £340m government boost to save thousands of jobs - Guardian
Hong Kong recession ends as economy grows 3.3 pct - AP
China Cracking Down on Credit Card Issuers - NY Times

REAL ESTATE
Why the foreclosure crisis isn’t improving - CSM
U.S. Homeowners Cut Asking Prices $27.8 Billion - Bloomberg
More than 15.2 Million Mortgage Holders Underwater - Calculated Risk
Foreclosures delayed in spring move into summer - Chicago Tribune

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
Obama Wants Big Banks To Pay More for Oversight - Wash. Post
Fed Signals No Rush to Curtail Stimulus as Slump Ends - Bloomberg
Fed Assets Increase 1.3% on Purchase of Treasuries - Bloomberg
CIT Must Give Fed Capital, Liquidity, Credit Plans - Bloomberg

INTERESTING
Woodstock: Peace, love and profits - Breaking Views
Galileo, four centuries on: As important as Darwin - Economist
Advertisers deserting Fox News' Glenn Beck - MarketWatch
Fun commercial real estate figures and charts - Reuters

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