Wednesday morning links

TOP STORIES
Bailout watchdog expects much to remain unrefunded - AP
Wells, U.S. Bancorp get big boost from mortgages - Reuters
Ron Paul: We Must Reverse This Destructive Course! - Daily Paul
Hank Paulson Held A Secret Meeting With Goldman Sachs In Moscow - ClusterStock
Bible Teaches That Banks Can’t Serve Two Masters - Baum, Bloomberg
This is the bust in the boomtown that banks built - Wash. Post
Niall Ferguson on Yahoo Tech Ticker - Fund My Mutual Fund
Volcker Fails to Sell a Bank Strategy - NY Times

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MARKETS/INVESTING
Gold steadies at $1,050/oz, earnings eyed - Reuters
Oil falls to around $78 as inventories weigh - Reuters
Lost Decade Is Heading Toward Two-Decade Mark - Pesek, Bloomberg
Rogers: Commodities outperform commodity stocks - Commodity Online
Buffett Says Wall Street Pay Must Have ‘Downside’ - Bloomberg
Investors still struggling to put fear behind them - Reuters
Return of high oil prices threatens real damage - Telegraph

ECONOMY
Like it or not, here comes more stimulus - CNN/Money
Buffett: US Economy Has Improved Enormously - The Money Game
Romer: US economy has 'been through hell' - Reuters
The Great Depression repeats itself - CNN/Money
Pedigree bias in economics - Marginal Revolution

INTERNATIONAL
Is China's rebound for real? - LA Times
China’s ‘Growth on Steroids’ Risks Next Slowdown - Bloomberg
British Banks Warned About Risky Investments - NY Times
China's first 'overseas' bond attracts strong demand - MarketWatch
Brown rebuffs King's suggestion that banks need breaking up - Telegraph
BOE unanimously backs wait-and-see approach - MarketWatch
Huge rise in gold loans in India - Commodity Online

REAL ESTATE
Really? $8,000 homebuyer tax credit on the ropes - O.C. Register
FHA Backs More Than Half of Loans for New Homes - WSJ Developments
Feared flood of foreclosures in California may be averted - LA Times
Investors grab bigger share of auctioned foreclosures - O.C. Register
FHA Flunks Audit on Quality Control - WSJ Developments

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
Another View: Let’s Stop Vilifying the Bankers - NY Times
Bernanke sees problems with faster credit card rules - Reuters
Fed's Plosser reiterates call for explicit 'inflation target' - MarketWatch
Documents raise skepticism on Hill about Bank of America - Wash. Post
Asset-price bubble risk returns amid loose policy - MarketWatch
Rising Debt a Threat to Japanese Economy - NY Times

INTERESTING
A Brief History of the lightbulb - Time
Cheyenne, Wyo., may repeal limit on drivers' use of cellphones - LA Times
Hey Balloon Boy Dad, We Stopped Working Because of You. Pay Up - The Source
A dogged pursuit of bedbugs - LA Times

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