Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Bernanke Effort to Accelerate Growth May Be Undermined by Loan Contraction Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s efforts to stoke a U.S. economic recovery may be undermined by the central bank’s other goal of restoring the banking system to health.


• Russia to Resume State Asset Sales as Budget Revenue Slides, Shuvalov Says Russia will resume asset sales as the government struggles with its first budget deficit in a decade, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said.


• Stocks Likely to `Catch Up' With Corporate Bond Rally: Chart of the Day Stocks offer greater value than bonds and are poised to “catch up” with a rally in corporate debt, according to Rod Smyth, chief investment strategist at Riverfront Investment Group LLC.


• Fed Rejects Geithner Request for Public Study of Its Governance, Structure The Federal Reserve Board has rejected a request by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for a public review of the central bank’s structure and governance, three people familiar with the matter said.


• China Can't Get Enough Treasuries as Dollar No Deterrent to Foreign Buyers International investors are increasing purchases of Treasuries on a bet U.S. inflation will remain subdued, even as the dollar falls to the lowest levels of the year and the budget deficit tops $1 trillion.


• Oil Options Hitting Record High as Verleger Predicts 44% Plunge on Supply Oil traders are paying more than ever in the options market to protect against a plunge in crude prices.


• Schapiro's Bid to Speed SEC Probes, Win Esteem Stumbles on Bank of America Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro, overhauling an agency faulted for botching investigations of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, is facing the first major setback of her own making.


• Thain Says He Should Have Picked Ikea's Furniture for Merrill Renovations John Thain, the former chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch & Co. who was accused of overspending on an office renovation as the broker teetered, said he should have bought less-expensive furniture at Ikea.


• Clinton Says Obama May Prevail on Health Care With Some Republican Backing Former U.S. President Bill Clinton predicted that Barack Obama would prevail in his bid to win passage of his health-care initiative and that some Republican senators likely would support the legislation.