U.S.

Dodd to Offer Financial-Rules Bill in Sign Talks With Republicans Failing Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said he will release his version of legislation to overhaul financial rules, signaling that talks on a compromise with Republican Bob Corker have collapsed.

U.S. Stocks Gain as Health Care, Banks Send S&P 500 to Highest Since 2008 U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the highest level since October 2008, as Citigroup Inc. and Zions Bancorporation led a bank rally and investors speculated that health-care reform will be harder to pass.

JPMorgan, Citigroup Helped Cause Lehman Illiquidity, Examiner Report Says JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. helped cause the illiquidity that led to the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holding Inc., the bankrupt bank’s examiner said today in a report filed in Manhattan federal court.

Trade Deficit in U.S. Unexpectedly Shrinks as Oil, Automobile Imports Drop The trade deficit in the U.S. unexpectedly narrowed in January as imports fell for the first time in five months, indicating demand is cooling following the fastest pace of growth in six years.

Company Bond Spreads at the Narrowest This Year Lure GMAC: Credit Markets Corporate bond yields fell to the lowest this year relative to benchmark government securities, luring GMAC Inc. to sell its longest-maturity notes since 2004.

Calpers May Challenge Apple, BlackRock on Method Used to Elect Directors The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the biggest state-run U.S. public pension, may use its financial clout to force Apple Inc., BlackRock Inc. and other companies where it has large holdings to change the way they elect directors.

Latin America

Chavez Outdone by Billionaire Mendoza as Wealth Soars Amid Takeover Threat Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s “21st Century Socialism” is failing to rein in billionaire Lorenzo Mendoza.

Brazil Recovery and Record Retail Surge Boost Chance of Interest Rate Hike Brazil’s fastest economic expansion in two years and a record jump in retail sales may prompt policy makers to start raising interest rates as early as next week.

Argentina's Biggest Agricultural Producer Tejar Weighs U.S. IPO on Demand El Tejar SA, Argentina’s largest agricultural producer, is weighing an initial public offering in New York to tap rising investor demand for farming assets.

Venezuela Bolivar May Sink as Low as 9 Per Dollar This Year, Barclays Says Venezuela’s bolivar may fall as low as 9 per dollar in the “worst scenario” as the government refrains from selling U.S. currency in the unregulated market to preserve foreign reserves, Barclays Plc said.

Exclusive

Chavez Outdone by Billionaire Mendoza as Wealth Soars Amid Takeover Threat Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s “21st Century Socialism” is failing to rein in billionaire Lorenzo Mendoza.

Brown Tries to `Perversely' Benefit From U.K. Relapse Risk Before Election Gordon Brown is trying to turn the threat of a double-dip U.K. recession into an advantage.

Solar Prospectors Chase `Gold Mine' Deals in Chinese, Israeli Subsidies Olivier de Vergnies quit managing family fortunes at Dexia Private Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. in 2008 to run a New York start-up at 100 Wall St. that’s trying to tap riches in solar energy.

Chrysler in Hibernation Means Marchionne May Have to Wait on Fiat Spinoff Fiat SpA, the Italian carmaker that helped Chrysler Group LLC emerge from bankruptcy, may wait to turn around the U.S. business before deciding on a share sale or spinoff for its automotive division.

Red-Coral Rescue Plans Endanger Italian Jewelry Makers of Torre del Greco The people of Torre del Greco, 10 miles south of Naples, have lived off the red corals found in the Mediterranean Sea for more than two millennia. A proposal to list the species as endangered may push the seaside town’s $217 million-a-year coral industry into extinction.

Triple Whammy of Costs, Taxes, Inflation Sinks Stock Returns: Chart of Day U.S. stock investors made far less in the past half century than the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s performance would suggest, according to David Bianco, chief U.S. equity strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.