TheStreet.com

AES Draws Heavy Upside Option Activity
Traders were buying AES calls in large numbers Thursday, the second time this week that the international power company has seen upside option activity.

Lehman's Not Thanking JPMorgan, Citi
JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup helped played a part in the failure of Lehman Brothers, says a court-ordered report

Google May Stop China Censoring: Report
Google could stop censoring its Web-search results in China within weeks but isn't likely to withdraw from the country entirely, a report says.

GBP/USD: Bull Pressure Targets 1.5195
The British pound closed higher on the back of its hammer formation and now looks to build on that strength with eyes on its March 8 high at 1.5195.

Yellen Seen as Top Pick as Fed's No. 2
Janet Yellen will be nominated by President Obama to serve as vice chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, reports say.

Agrium Ends Pursuit of CF Industries
Agrium said it will stop pursuing an acquisition of CF Industries or the election of its nominees to CF's board.

FDIC Seizes LibertyPointe; 27th Bank in '10
LibertyPointe Bank of New York was shut down by regulators, bringing the number of bank failures in 2010 to 27.

Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street: March 12
Lindsay's ludicrous lawsuit; Dollar General's color war; Burger King's Whopper; GM's Jet Set CEO; and Cisco's Big 'So What?'

'Fast Money' Recap: S&P Jitters
The trading panel discussed the surge in the S&P to a new high.

'Mad Money Lightning Round': Ford's Hot
Cramer says the automaker's sales are exploding and advised buying the common and preferred.

Reuters: Business News

Asia stocks head for 5th straight week of gains
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian stocks edged up on Friday, heading for a fifth straight week of gains, with energy stocks outperforming as oil held above $82 a barrel.

Obama to tap Yellen for Fed vice chair: source
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans to nominate San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen, a respected policy dove, to be vice chairman of the central bank, a source familiar with the process said on Thursday.

Examiner sees accounting gimmicks in Lehman demise
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc used accounting gimmicks and had been insolvent for weeks before it filed for bankruptcy in September 2008, but there was not extensive wrongdoing, a court-appointed examiner has found.

Yara says will not raise Terra offer
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's Yara International said on Friday it would not raise its offer for Terra Industries to match or exceed a rival bid from CF Industries Holdings Inc .

Bank reform talks fail, Dodd to go solo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chances of a broad overhaul of U.S. financial regulation dimmed on Thursday after bipartisan Senate talks collapsed, jeopardizing a top Obama administration priority and boosting bank share prices.

Toyota discounts boost sales
DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Unprecedented discounts after a series of damaging recalls boosted Toyota Motor Corp's U.S. sales in early March, as U.S. regulators weighed new auto safety measures.

U.S. "very close" to job growth: Summers
HOUSTON (Reuters) - White House economic adviser Larry Summers said on Thursday that the United States is "very close" to the point where job growth can begin. (Reporting by Chris Baltimore; editing by Carol Bishopric)

Citigroup sees return to sustained profitability
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Vikram Pandit told investors on Thursday the bank is on track to return to sustained profitability and losses from some of its worst assets should be manageable if the economy does not deteriorate.

Fed seen keeping "extended period" low rate vow
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lingering U.S. labor market weakness and nagging doubts about the solidity of the economic recovery are expected to keep the Federal Reserve committed to holding borrowing costs very low for a long time at a monetary policy meeting next week.

Movie "Avatar" has few fans among mining execs
NEW YORK (Reuters) - It's enough to make a mining executive grit his teeth or his kids to give him the silent treatment.

In Focus: Top Business and Economic Headlines from NASDAQ.com

Twitter tweaks URL shortening to reduce scams
Social-media site Twitter announced this week that it would introduce its own URL-shortening system in a bid to keep users safe. As with any popular internet property, Twitter has attracted its fair share of scammers. By providing legitimate-looking shortened links through shorteners like Bit.ly,...

Apple iPad expected to be more popular than forecast
Apple''s new iPad tablet has made waves in the blogosphere - and it appears that analysts covering Apple stock are taking note of the device, too. One analyst, Yair Reiner of Oppenheimer, expects Apple to ship 10 million iPads by year-end, according to a Fortune magazine blog. Analyst Ben Reitzes...

Housing market recovery potentially threatened by foreclosures
Most reports have it that the housing market is on the road to recovery - but a return to health for residential real estate could be threatened by an overhang of foreclosures. As Freddie Mac data shows, home price declines have been decelerating. Prices fell 9.5 percent between January 2008 and...

Markets react to Cisco announcement
Investors were largely optimistic on Monday that Cisco Systems would introduce a revolutionary new technology on Tuesday morning. The company promised no less than a game-changing product introduction. News reports quoted analysts as saying that Cisco Systems'' new technology would likely boost...

Chinese consumers emerge as a force in the global marketplace
China''s economy expanded sharply last year, even as other nations'' gross domestic products contracted - and Chinese shoppers may become to the 21st century what American consumers were to the 20th. That is, China''s consumers will have more influence as their nation''s economic clout grows in...

Microsoft plans to stay in China: Reuters
Regardless of the ultimate resolution of Google''s tiff with the Chinese government, Reuters reported Monday, Microsoft will maintain a presence in China. Some may argue that Google - arguably the world''s No. 1 internet brand - can afford to be brazen in China; Microsoft, by the same token, would...

Panasonic, Best Buy plan 3D TV push
Panasonic will partner with electronics retailer Best Buy to sell the world''s first 3D television set, a Sunday Nikkei report indicates. 3D technology has recently come back into vogue on America''s big screens; visually lavish films like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland have been popular in 3D...

Facebook sees rapid growth in early 2010
Social-media site Facebook announced that it had 400 million members about a month ago - and the company''s rapid growth seems to show little signs of slowing. Inside Facebook reported last month that new signups spiked around the holidays - suggesting that college students and other young people...

Smartphone users report woes
A significant share of smartphone users has had problems with their devices, a recent survey by device testing company Fanfare reveals. According to Fanfare, 57 percent of smartphone users are dissatisfied with their phones. And a majority - 53 percent - would be likely to cite the smartphone...

Facebook IPO talk heats up: WSJ
As reported Thursday in the Wall Street Journal, talk of an IPO for Facebook is mounting - but little has been confirmed by company principals. "We''re going to go public eventually," company chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a Wednesday interview with the newspaper, refusing to...

Yahoo! Finance: Top Stories

Asia stocks mixed as traders await economic clues (AP)
Asian stock markets were mixed Friday as investors held out for additional clues to the strength of economic recovery. Most markets were little changed, a recent pattern that analysts say reflects uncertainty surrounding the U.S. rebound, China's policies and debt troubles in Europe.

Report: Obama to tap Yellen to be Fed vice chair (AP)
President Barack Obama is planning to nominate Janet Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, to take over as vice chairman of central bank in Washington, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Democrats pare differences over health overhaul (AP)
Top Democrats say they are resolving disputes over President Barack Obama's health overhaul plan, but they face decisions on subsidizing coverage and are still hunting votes to push the vast package through Congress.

Money fund assets fell to $3.090T in latest week (AP)
Total money market mutual fund assets fell by $36.22 billion to $3.090 trillion for the week, the Investment Company Institute said Thursday.

Oil hovers above $82 as month-long rally stalls (AP)
Oil prices hovered above $82 a barrel Friday in Asia as investors mulled whether extending a monthlong rally is justified amid evidence of weak U.S. crude demand.

Haier selling GE appliances in rural China (AP)
Chinese appliance maker Haier says it has joined with General Electric in selling GE appliances to rural areas, the focus of subsidies intended to boost spending by hundreds of millions of farmers.

Slowly, Americans are regaining their lost wealth (AP)
Americans are recovering their shrunken wealth -- gradually. Household net worth rose last quarter, mainly because the healing economy boosted stock portfolios. But the gain was slight.

Citigroup CEO says bank on path to profitability (AP)
Citigroup Inc. says it's heading back toward sustained profitability after two years that saw the bank lose billions of dollars and be bailed out by the government.

Gov't may seek more authority on vehicle safety (AP)
Government vehicle safety regulators may seek greater authority to investigate defects in cars and trucks and are weighing a range of new safety requirements in response to Toyota's recall of more than 8 million vehicles over brake and acceleration problems.

Stocks climb for 3rd day as financial shares rise (AP)
A rally in financial stocks Thursday helped the market extend its grind higher to a third day. The Standard & Poor's 500 index cleared an important hurdle watched by traders when it closed just above its January peak to set a new 17-month high.

Reuters: Hot Stocks

Philippine c.bank says elections won't dictate rate policy
MANILA, March 12 (Reuters) - The Philippine central bank will decide on monetary policy based on the outlook for inflation, and the upcoming national elections in May will not have any bearing on its rate decision, Governor Amando Tetangco said on Friday.

Russia cbank shifts rouble band for 15th time
MOSCOW, March 12 (Reuters) - The Russian central bank moved the rouble's floating trading band for the 15th time since mid-February on Friday, allowing the currency to scale fresh 14-month peaks versus the euro-dollar basket, dealers said.

Google welcome to expand its China market share -Minister
BEIJING, March 12 (Reuters) - Google , the world's largest search engine, is welcome to expand its market share in China, the country's Minister of Industry and Information Technology said on Friday.

BRIEF-Koc Holding 2009 net profit 1.43 bln lira
ISTANBUL, March 12 (Reuters) - Turkish automotive-to-banking conglomerate Koc Holding : * Says 2009 net profit 1.429 billion lira ($936 million), down 29 percent. * Says 2009 consolidated sales 39.45 bln lira, down 21 percent. ($1=1.5275 lira)

BRIEF-Turkish Airlines Jan-Feb passenger number up 25 pct
ANKARA, March 12 (Reuters) - Turkey's flag carrier Turkish Airlines says in a stock exchange filing: * Carried 3.9 million passengers in Jan-Feb period, up 25 percent from the previous year. * Business class passenger number on international flights up 30 percent * International transit passenger numbers up 40 pct * The load factor, an indication of seats sold as a percentage of capacity, up 2.8 points to 69.1 percent. (Reporting by Selcuk Gokoluk)

Japan's Willcom gets backing of state fund
TOKYO, March 12 (Reuters) - A fund backed by the Japanese government said on Friday that it would offer financial support to bankrupt mobile phone service provider Willcom Inc as part of a deal that could shake up the country's telecoms industry.

Thai Airways to sell 1 bln new shares
BANGKOK, March 12 (Reuters) - National carrier Thai Airways International PCL said on Friday its board had approved a plan to sell up to 1 billion new shares in a publice offer, worth roughly $765 million at the current market price.

EURO GOVT-Bunds open flat, Greece, U.S. data eyed
LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bonds opened flat on Friday, with U.S. data and supply from Italy the most significant events on the horizon, while peripheral state Greece will remain in the spotlight.

SAS says agrees 500 mln SEK in savings with unions
STOCKHOLM, March 12 (Reuters) - Scandinavian airline SAS said on Friday it had reached an agreement with unions over an efficiency package aimed at bringing the airline back to profit.

Frigoglass 2009 net profit down 84.4 percent
ATHENS, March 12 (Reuters) - Greek refrigerator maker Frigoglass said on Friday 2009 net profit fell 84.4 percent, hurt by a one-off tax and sliding demand at its crisis-hit Eastern European markets.