Madoff Investor's Art Dealer Got $26.5 Million in Rothko Sale (Bloomberg)

Madoff pal Ezra Merkin sells off art for $310 million to unknown buyer. Fee to mysterious agent (believed to be Kyra Sedgwick's stepfather) dwarfs mysterious buyer's agent fee. Cuomo skims off $191 million, puts it in escrow for Madoff's/Merkin's victims.

Two years of pain and mega bonuses are back (Times U.K.)

Investment-banking is back in a big way, and investment bankers are popular once again. "Guaranteed multi-year bonuses, which have been attacked as the worst kind of banking excess, are back. ... It wasn't meant to be like this. Regulators were meant to change the rules to make sure that such bonuses would never be paid again. We had the Walker report on executive pay, and Barack Obama's strictures on remuneration in America. Funnily enough, they do not seem to have curbed banks' behaviour one bit."

US food groups warn of sugar shortage (Telegraph U.K.)

If you consider Hershey, Mars, and Krispy Kreme "food groups."

MADOFF'S MAN DODGES GUN, DRUG CHARGES (NY Post)

Frank DiPascali's deal "shut the door on other skeletons in his closet, including guns and drugs."

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Tax-Cheat Showdown: Fess Up or Stay Quiet? (WSJ)

"The UBS settlement presents tax evaders with the dilemma of whether to confess to the IRS or stay quiet and risk bigger penalties."

BLOOMY'S 'JOB MARKET' SCHOOL (NY Post)

Consigning kids to a 5,000-student trade school and calling it a "community college."

Health care's senior moment (Baseline Scenario, James Kwak)

Why do seniors oppose "reform"? Is my blinker still on?

False 'Death Panel' Rumor Has Some Familiar Roots (NYT)

The Official New York Times Conspiracy Theory: It is "openly emanating from many of the same pundits and conservative media outlets that were central in defeating President Bill Clinton's health care proposals 16 years ago, including the editorial board of The Washington Times, the American Spectator magazine and Betsy McCaughey, whose 1994 health care critique made her a star of the conservative movement (and ultimately, New York's lieutenant governor)."

China Warms to New Credo: Business First (NYT)

"China appears to be facing the reality that the outside business world can be freewheeling and defiant when its profits are threatened. And so China's authoritarian system may also have to evolve in ways its top leaders may not readily endorse."

Private equity drive to raise renminbi funds (FT)

Blackstone, Goldman Sachs set up investment arms in China. Big boost for Chinese currency, "a further signal that Beijing is determined to improve the standard of corporate management in China." (You mean it's really worse than it is here?)

Is the US/Swiss Agreement the Fall of Tax Havens? (White Collar Crime Prof Blog)

And will it actually lead to prosecution of U.S. citizens? Hmmm.

Can the Federal Reserve Protect Consumers? (Baseline Scenario, Simon Johnson)

"Not really."

Netscape Founder Backs New Browser (NYT)

Browser pioneer Marc Andreessen is heavily backing, with money and people, a start-up called RockMelt, which is building a new browser.

(Number of hits on a routine Google search of "RockMelt": 7,710 so far. Number of hits on a routine Bing search of "RockMelt": 15,200,000. Number of hits on an awkwardly designed "advanced" Bing search of "RockMelt": 122. Verdict: Bing sucks. And it'll suck on whatever new browser Andreessen comes up with.)

Merrill ramps up recruitment programme (FT)

BofA's unit "is offering signing packages greater than those handed out in the bull market of 2006 and 2007."

NASA's Trajectory Unrealistic, Panel Says (WashPost)

NASA doesn't have enough money to get back to the moon.

Blackstone Bonds Find Buyers: Debt Sale Is Unusual for Private-Equity Firms (WSJ)

Scary to outsiders that secretive, non-traded private-equity firms peddle debt. How much of it was placed with pension funds, which regularly get into trouble with their investments? Dunno.

CIT gives New York Fed oversight of restructuring (FT)

Nationalization of ailing, huge small-business lender? Kinda.

Tax officials probe estate of Gianni Agnelli (FT)

Dead hero of Italian industry may have tucked away a billion euros in Swiss bank accounts.

Major Carriers Shun Broadband Stimulus: Funds Would Come With Tighter Rules (WashPost)

Obama wants broadband Internet access for everyone and has offered stimulus funds to the big, rich players. No takers.

Contractor in Arlington fraud scandal arrested (Salon)

Sex abuse, national cemeteries — this story's got everything.

Germany and France lead the climb out of recession --economists' expectations are confounded (Times U.K.)

Warning from a German analyst: ""The question is how lasting it will be. There are lots of problems we haven't solved. In particular, the banking sector is still dependent on the state umbrella." Big embarrassment for Gordon Brown.

'Wriggle-room' for multimillion-pound bonuses (Times U.K.)

"The City regulator's new rules on bonuses have created loopholes that banks could exploit to keep star employees on multimillion-pound packages, lawyers have warned."

China Scales Back Software Filter Plan (NYT)

A kindler, gentler, but still fucking huge, China.

Goodbye, Hedge Fund; Hello, Touch Revolution (NYT)

Moving into San Francisco offices of a collapsed hedge fund, a start-up called Touch Revolution is working on touch-screen technology for all sorts of home, business, and medical devices. A true digital experience. Company designs in Android, builds the things in Malaysia.

Obama Wants Big Banks To Pay More for Oversight (WashPost)

Good luck.