Thursday morning links

TOP STORIES
• Core Reforms Held Firm As Much Else Fell Away - Wash. Post
• Overhaul Leaves Rating Agencies Largely Untouched - NY Times
• S&P downgrades banks on regulatory, profit concerns - MarketWatch
• Obama Plan Gets Wary Reception From Banks, Lawmakers - Bloomberg
• Federal regulator is blamed in bank failures - LA Times
• Chrysler set to reopen most plants - CNN/Money
• Eddie Bauer Files for Bankruptcy - NY Times
• State Income-Tax Revenues Sink - WSJ

MARKETS/INVESTING
• Oil rises above $71 amid falling inventories - AP
• Gold dips, hovers below $940/oz; ETF unchanged - Reuters
• Could $30/bbl Oil Happen Before New Year’s Eve? - The Oil Drum
• RBOB Gasoline: From contango to backwardation - Commodity Online
• Best-performing bull bellows bravely - MarketWatch
• Earnings indigestion could stall rally - CNN/Money

ECONOMY
• Unemployment Benefit Rolls Fall; Claims Rise - Bloomberg
• Public Wary of Deficit, Economic Intervention - WSJ
• Health care costs to rise 9% in 2010 - USA Today
• U.S. poised for weak recovery : UCLA forecast - Reuters
• One man against inflation - CNN/Money

INTERNATIONAL
• Emerging Market Stocks Fall for Fifth Day - Bloomberg
• World Bank upgrades China growth estimates - MarketWatch
• In Britain, an Aversion to Rules From Europe - NY Times
• UK public borrowing hits record as tax receipts slump - Telegraph
• U.K. bank chief upbeat about ending financial malaise - MarketWatch
• World Bank Raises China 2009 Growth Forecast to 7.2% - Bloomberg
• Swiss central bank ready to sell more francs - MarketWatch
• US reform 'will secure Chinese investment' - CHINADaily

HOUSING
• Southern California home prices rise slightly in May - LA Times
• Green Street Advisors On CRE "Nothing Is Trading" - Zero Hedge
• Regional home prices end 2-year skid, report shows - Signs on San Diego
• More home sales prices kept secret in Dallas MLS - Dallas MN

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
• Some Lawmakers Question Expanded Reach for the Fed - NY Times
• Fed Gets No Requests for First Round of TALF Loans - Bloomberg
• J.P. Morgan, Goldman, Morgan Stanley, others repay TARP - MarketWatch
• Fed’s Soup Kitchen Becomes Magnet for Lobbyists - Bloomberg

INTERESTING
• Now, an ATM for gold! - Commodity Online
• Sirius XM iPhone App Launches Without Howard Stern - Fortune
• MGM Mirage CEO Doesn’t Plan to Sell Vegas Casinos - Bloomberg
• BAILOUT BONUS AT BOFA - NY Post

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