U.S.

AIG Was Unprepared for Crisis, Had `No One in Charge,' Ex-Top Lawyer Says American International Group Inc. was unprepared for the financial crisis that forced the insurer to accept a $182.3 billion bailout from the U.S. government, the company’s former general counsel said.

Bernanke Will Get Help Mapping Policy Exit With Obama Fed Board Selections President Barack Obama’s likely nomination of three Federal Reserve governors will help Chairman Ben S. Bernanke plan an exit from record monetary stimulus and strengthen banking supervision and consumer protection.

Record Advance in S&P 500 Index Futures Shows Confidence in U.S. Economy The longest-ever gain in futures linked to the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index shows growing investor confidence in the U.S. economy.

Treasury Two-Year Notes Post Second Weekly Drop as Greece's Crisis Eases Treasury two-year notes dropped for a second consecutive week as European Union officials said they would support Greece after it approved austerity measures.

Valley National Buys Two New York City Banks in Two Days as Lenders Fail Valley National Bancorp, operator of more than 200 branches in New Jersey and New York City, acquired its second failed bank in as many days as U.S. lenders continue to collapse amid losses tied to real estate.

Dick Fuld May Be Haunted by Assurances After Report Finds Hidden Leverage Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s Richard Fuld exuded confidence as he briefed analysts on June 16, 2008, four days after demoting his firm’s finance chief in the wake of a $2.8 billion quarterly loss.

Latin America

Batista's $100 Billion `Richest Man' Dream Advances With OSX Share Offer Eike Batista’s plan to raise $5.6 billion in the biggest initial public offering this year moves him one step closer to fulfilling his ambition of being the world’s richest man.

Chile May Borrow Abroad, Tap Copper Savings for $30 Billion Reconstruction Chilean President Sebastian Pinera plans to tap copper savings funds and may borrow abroad to pay for the estimated $30 billion cost of repairing damage caused by the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the country Feb. 27.

Pimco Says Chile Peso Not `One-Sided Bet' Investors See After Earthquake Chile’s peso will begin weakening late this year as the country’s worst earthquake in 50 years slows economic growth and record-low interest rates sap demand for fixed-income assets, Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Guillermo Osses said.

Argentine Consumer Prices Rose 1.2% in February, Fastest Pace Since 2006 Argentine consumer prices rose in February at the fastest pace in almost four years, led by higher costs for foods and beverages.

OGX Finds Hydrocarbons in Section of OGX-6 Well in Brazil's Campos Basin OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA, the oil company controlled by billionaire Eike Batista, said it discovered hydrocarbons in a section of the OGX-6 well in the BM-C-41 block of Brazil’s Campos basin.

Venezuelan Bonds Rise to Seven-Week High as Debt Sales May Be Scaled Back Venezuela’s benchmark dollar bonds rose to a seven-week high on speculation a rally in crude oil, the country’s biggest export, will prompt the government to pare back debt sales this year.

Exclusive

`Invisible Power' of London Money Exposed as Lord Mayor Fights Politicians When money needs to talk in London, it’s the lord mayor who speaks.

Monsanto May Have Antitrust Edge as Protecting Patents Trumps Competition Monsanto Co., facing antitrust probes into its genetically modified seeds, may benefit from previous court rulings in which intellectual property rights trumped competition concerns, antitrust lawyers say.

BHP, Anglo, Xstrata Bypass Europe on 10,000-Mile Coal Route to China Ports BHP Billiton Plc, Anglo American Plc and Xstrata Plc are shipping coal 10,000 miles to China from their Cerrejon mine in Colombia for the first time this year because of surging demand and rising prices in Asia.

Toyota Sets Goal of Regaining U.S. Market Share Lost to Recalls Within '10 Toyota Motor Corp. set a 2010 goal of regaining most of the U.S. market share lost in the past two months after global recalls of 8 million vehicles damped demand, the No. 2 U.S. sales executive said.

Optimism Makes a Comeback After Year-Long U.S. Stock Surge: Chart of Day Bullishness on U.S. stocks is beginning to emerge after the market’s rally in the past year, according to a gauge derived from data compiled by the American Association of Individual Investors.