Wednesday morning links

TOP STORIES
• Fiat to close Chrysler deal, shares rise - Reuters
• As Court Clears Path, Chrysler Is Set to Exit Bankruptcy - NY Times
• 10 big banks given approval to return $68 billion in bailout money - LA Times
• Bank of America’s Chief Says Fed Pushed for Merrill Purchase - Bloomberg
• House panel to subpoena Fed over BofA-Merrill deal - Reuters
• Fontainebleau Las Vegas Files for Chapter 11 - NY Times
• Steep climb ahead for U.S. financial reforms - Reuters
• GM, Amtrak and an Increasingly Fascist America - Ron Paul

MARKETS/INVESTING
• Oil tops $71 after large drop in U.S. crude stocks - Reuters
• Gold rises as surging oil raises inflation worries - MarketWatch
• World Oil Reserves Fell for First Time in 10 Years, BP Says - Bloomberg
• 74% Indians ready to invest in gold at high prices - Commodity Online
• Rising Commodities Mean No Deflation - Seeking Alpha
• Oil in Big Macs - Gregor

ECONOMY
• April trade deficit edges up to $29.2 billion - AP
• For U.S., a Sea of Perilous Red Ink, Years in the Making - NY Times
• Green Shoots or Yellow Weeds? - Roubini, Project Syndicate
• Chart of the day: Household equity - Salmon, Reuters
• Is the U.S. Economy Headed for a “Jobless Recovery?” - Money Morning


INTERNATIONAL
• China Car Sales Jump ‘Beyond Imagination’ - Bloomberg
• Canada's trade balance slips to deficit - Globe & Mail
• Russia May Swap Some U.S. Treasuries for IMF Debt - Bloomberg
• Sweden forced to take emergency loan amid Latvia crisis - Guardian
• Iceland's Banking Crisis: The Meltdown of an Interventionist System - Mises
• Latvia May Get IMF Tranche This Month, President Says - Bloomberg
• U.K. interest rates to stay low despite signs of recovery - Guardian
• A British bounce? - Krugman, NY Times

HOUSING
• Foreclosure is the ‘cure’ - O.C. Register
• Median prices drop below 1989 levels in parts of Southland - LA Times
• Mortgage Applications Fall as Interest Rates Jump - Bloomberg
• ‘Real Housewives’ Coto home in default - O.C. Register

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
• Bernanke Stares Down the Interest-Rate Bears - Baum, Bloomberg
• Market’s Rate Hike Bets at Odds With Likely Fed Path - WSJ Economics
• Can Bernanke's inflationary policy save the US economy? - 24h Gold
• The Fed's Mortgage Muddle - BusinessWeek

INTERESTING
• Dan Marino Spices Up Sale With Some Perks - ZillowBlog
• Pa. man who killed trooper angry about divorce - AP
• College in Need Closes a Door to Needy Students - NY Times
• Debt-collection tactics under scrutiny - CSM

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