Emerging economies get new role (BBC)

G-20 roundup from Pittsburgh. Click on the above video for Russian TV footage of black-clad cops rousting black-clad protesters, as a robotic-sounding voice emanates from a police loudspeaker: "No matter what your purpose is, you must leave." NYT story here.

Twitter's Value Is Set at $1 Billion (WSJ)

Thanks to all of you who get paid nothing by Twitter despite your being its only product/asset, the company that hasn't yet generated any significant revenue is about to get $100 million in new funding. In August 2008, Twitter had 4.3 million unique visitors; this August it had 54.7 million. Now hooked, users are, like it or not, about to be bombarded by advertisers and marketers. Too bad most of you are either out of work or otherwise can't afford to buy all the shit you'll be told to buy. (See next item.)

The Long Slog: Out of Work, Out of Hope (WSJ)

Typically excellent human-interest WSJ story, this one focuses on jobless Americans. Introducing an array of hard-luck yarns: "Nearly 15 million Americans are jobless, and the number is widely expected to remain high even as the economy slowly begins to recover. Part of the problem many of the unemployed face: the very fact that they have been out of work a long time."

IPO Market Snaps Back as Taste for Risk Returns (WSJ)

Five companies go public — the biggest IPO week in a year and a half. One of them is electric-car battery maker A123 Systems. Two others are REITs.

Boss blames smartphones for stress as company suicide rate comes under scrutiny (The Age, Melbourne)

CFO at France's biggest telecom warns that, as story says, "the barrage of emails from smartphones and personal computers was stressing out employees."

Market's Eyes Are Bigger Than Its Stomach; Chokes On New Supply (StreetInsider.com)

Double bubble trouble.

Yes, Celebs Have Tax Issues Too (ABC News)

No, not a reality show, but a slideshow.

MORE HEADLINES FOLLOW

Why the Dow is Hitting 10,000 Even When Consumers Can't Buy And Business Cries "Socialism" (Robert Reich's Blog)

Little big man economist explains how government intervention is spurring the Dow while spurning the other little guys.

The 7 Habits of Highly Suspicious Hedge Funds (RGE Monitor, Rick Bookstaber)

Derivatives, secrecy, no independent risk reporting and other tools to game the system. Caveat investor.

Obama's Deal With Drug Firms Survives (WashPost)

"... the White House and the drug lobby make an unusual — and unusually powerful — team."

Bailout Costs Shrink to $11.6 Trillion (Big Picture)

And see the chart here.

If Corporations Cannot Vote, Should They Have The Right To Spend Money In Elections? (Wall St. Cheat Sheet, Damien Hoffman)

"... a change in the current law would allow corporations to siphon off money from their wealth-creating machines and directly turn politicians into outsourced independent contractors. If you are pissed about the financial crisis and what Washington allowed to happen, you ain't seen nothing yet."

Rebound in Home Sales Hits a Bump (WSJ)

"Analysts agree" that the decline "seems to be a bump along the way to recovery. But then, analysts agreed back in 2006 that we weren't heading into a recession.

Credit Card Defaults Set a New Record (Seeking Alpha, Zachary Scheidt)

And, another piece notes, this signals a weaker recovery.

New S.E.C. Rule Heightens Risk of Insider Trading (NYT, Floyd Norris)

"The Securities and Exchange Commission spends a lot of time and money trying to discover insider trading in stocks. But when it comes to structured financial products -- the funny securities that were at the heart of the financial crisis -- it has just adopted a proposal that will facilitate such trading."

F.D.A. Reveals It Fell to a Push by Lawmakers (NYT)

Hard to believe, but the agency caved in to pressure from four Democratic congressmen and its former commissioner and overruled its own scientists, who said ReGen's Menaflex knee-patch device was unsafe.

Battle Brews Over Unused TARP Cash (WSJ)

Israel's Ex-PM Goes on Trial on Corruption Charges (ABC News)

Ehud Olmert accused of illegally accepting funds from a U.S. supporter and double-billing Jewish groups for travel.

Britain's role in IMF under threat from US plans (Telegraph U.K.)

Obama Administration's leaked draft plan would "drastically reorganise the IMF to reduce the role of established members such as the UK and France."

Unilever to Buy Sara Lee Soaps (Bloomberg)

Dutch/British giant snaps up U.S. pastry giant's European detergents and soaps. Unilever also owns, among many other properties, SlimFast and Ben & Jerry's (both sides of the obesity market), Vaseline, and Axe deodorant.