Key Feature Of Obama Health Plan May Be Out (WashPost)

"White House may be willing to jettison a controversial government-run insurance plan favored by liberals."

Citigroup May Shift Phibro Trader Hall's Pay to Stock From Cash (Bloomberg)

Regular investors don't think much of Citigroup stock right now (it fell 3.9 percent this morning in early NY trading), and energy trader Andy Hall got $100 million last year, so why should he do this? Traders like Hall don't have to disclose their compensation and don't fall under the aegis of pay czar Ken Feinberg, so the feds may have to send some leg-breakers to Hall's mansion.

Thick Fashion Magazines Are So Last Year (WSJ)

Advertisers not only suddenly frugal but also increasingly turning to the Web. Uh-oh. The Internet virus is spreading from the newspaper industry (which started to waste away before the recession) to the slicks.

A Detailed Look At The Stratified U.S. Consumer (Zero Hedge, Tyler Durden)

Extremely long and extremely interesting analysis of why most of you are fucked.

Wall Street Stimulus Buoys Continental Airlines, Prudential, Goldman Sachs (Bloomberg)

The S&P 500 "has soared 48 percent since it reached a 13-year low on March 9." That says something about the manic-depressive economy. Read the rest of this overview by Michael J. Moore. Goldman's equities revenue was up 59 percent over the first quarter, Wall Street firms have raked in $4.2 billion in underwriting fees because of all the action. The rally bolsters confidence in companies "that cater to wealthy and corporate clients." But, speaking of manic-depression, see this WSJ story: "After Dow's 42% Run, Roadblocks Looming." Lithium may be indicated.

Death of a Rally (Seeking Alpha, Alan Brochstein)

"It's easier to call the economy than stocks, and the economy has been experiencing a dead-cat bounce. I have some charts that I looked at recently, and I think that the likelihood of a normal post-recession bounce is very low."

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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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It was only five months before Madoff's scheme collapsed when he explained his investment strategy to the Merrill guy and the MorseLife Foundation, which helps seniors with housing and health care. And it worked like a charm: The Merrill guy advised MorseLife to keep its money with Bernie. And we know how that turned out.

Not that Merrill itself invested any money with Bernie; it didn't. As the Palm Beach Post's Kathleen Chapman reports, MorseLife claims that Merrill, which advertised itself as the "world's premier provider of wealth management," should have warned MorseLife to withdraw its money.

Instead, the adviser, who was performinhg due diligence, told MorseLife, the suit claims, that "the Madoff Portfolo was a conservative investment as opposed to a hedge fund or other alternative investment."

In a shockingly radical move, President Barack Obama's regulatory overhaul would force Wall Street brokers "to place their client's interests ahead of their own."

The Wall Street Journal says this with a straight face, noting that such a change would "upend" the Street because brokers are now only required to offer "suitable" investments.

Even a veteran investment banker says the plan's interest in regulating brokers' behavior is long overdue. Former Citigroup wealth-management chief Sallie Krawcheck is quoted as calling this a "smart and overdue move" for the big brokerages owned by investment banks.

Stating the obvious that isn't so obvious, the story notes:

Which means that Citigroup's investment adviser wouldn't have stuck me with a Citi subsidiary's own annuity plan if there was a better one out there for me. Which there was. Which means I was an ignorant investor, which embarrasses me. Which means I'm like most investors, which should embarrass you.

For dimwitted investors, this valuable story notes: