Thursday morning links

TOP STORIES
• GM plans to close 15 plants for 9 weeks - USA Today
• Lewis testified that U.S. urged silence on Merrill deal - Reuters
• U.S. Weighs Revealing Each Bank’s Capital Needs - Bloomberg
• Mortgage Bondholders Form Battle Lines Over Housing Plan - Bloomberg
• Golden State Mortgage Defaults Jump to Record High - DataQuick
• Obama To Push for End ‘Deceptive’ Credit Card Policies - Bloomberg
• Dire straits for state budgets - CNN/Money
• The Reeducation of Tim Geithner - Portfolio.com

MARKETS/INVESTING
• Oil Gains as Weaker Dollar Spurs Inflation Hedging - Bloomberg
• Gold inches up, faces resistance as ETF buys stall - Reuters
• Chinese demand only hope for oil sector in 2009 - Business 24/7
• Akshaya Tritiya & India's mad gold rush - Commodity Online
• An emerging opportunity in U.S. housing - Reuters
• US Natural Gas Prices: "The Fix is Underway" - The Oil Drum

ECONOMY
• New jobless claims rise more than expected to 640K - AP
• US Senators vote for economic crisis probe - AFP
• Those doing the layoffs can feel lingering stress - USA Today
• Feldstein: U.S. Inflation Danger After 2010 - Bloomberg
• Wells CFO: California economy close to bottom - LA Land

INTERNATIONAL
• Global recession worst since Depression, IMF says - AP
• U.K Financial Bailout Reaches 1.4 Trillion Pounds - Bloomberg
• Japan Pays Foreign Workers to Go Home - NY Times
• Russia Cuts Benchmark Rates to Spur Stumbling Economy - Bloomberg
• IMF: Asia could see 'modest recovery' in 2010 - AP
• China Stocks Are ‘Overvalued,’ Says Morgan Stanley - Bloomberg
• Why London bullion market is booming - Commodity Online
• Carney to Give Extra Stimulus Rules Today - Bloomberg

HOUSING
• Mortgage defaults rise but homeowners stay put - LA Times
• Where to Get the Most Rental Income for the Money - BusinessWeek
• Home Prices Gain 0.7% in February From January - Bloomberg
• Housing Prices May Have Stopped Falling - Seeking Alpha

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
• Home Vacancies Give Fed Extra Time - Bloomberg
• Tim Geithner Thumbs His Nose at Congress - Time
• Wall Street’s 1929 Scams Return in Geithner Plan - Bloomberg
• Is the next bubble the Fed balance sheet? - O.C. Register

INTERESTING
• Breakthroughs That Will Change Everything - LiveScience
• Detroit woman's underwire bra deflects bullet - AP
• Darien, CT Home Transformed for “Revolutionary Road” - Zillow Blog

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