AIGs $78 billion of bonds surged to 18-month highs since Feb. 26, the last trading day before the insurer disclosed the first of the two divestitures, according to Bloomberg data. The New York-based firms debt is the best performer this month through yesterday on Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. Its subordinated debt jumped as much as 13 cents on the dollar.
The insurer, once the worlds largest, said March 1 it was selling AIA Group Ltd. to Prudential Plc for $35.5 billion. A week later, MetLife - - - - >

The measure also prevents doctors from absorbing a crippling cut in Medicare payments, extends health insurance subsidies for the unemployed and gives cash-starved states help with Medicaid, the federal-state program providing health care to the poor and disabled.
The unemployment insurance alone - to provide weekly unemployment checks averaging above $300 to people whose core 26-week benefit package has run out - will cost $66 billion through December. In some states people are eligible to receive benefits for up to 99 weeks.
The bill, and the test vote Tuesday, demonstrate the difficulty Democrats face as they focus on jobs. It doesnt include - - - - >

Lenders must register with Credit Information Center Corp. or Japan Credit Information Reference Center Corp., a process that can take months to complete, to comply with stricter rules set to take effect by June 18.
“Unless they start making applications urgently now, many wont make it on time,” Kenichi Sugasawara, a manager at the Research and Planning Department of Credit Information Center, said in an interview in Tokyo on March 4. “It will be illegal for companies that arent registered to make new loans after the law - - - - >

The investments from Bruce Berkowitzs Fairholme Capital Management LLC and William Ackmans Pershing Square Capital Management LP would allow unsecured creditors to be paid in full with cash, General Growth said in a statement last night. Their funds are in addition to $2.63 billion pledged by Brookfield.
The cash payment matches a provision of a competing bid by Simon Property Group Inc., which has offered to buy its biggest competitor for more than $10 billion and pay all unsecured creditors. Chicago-based General Growth rejected that bid and - - - - >

So far, people are staying put.
In November, the federal government extended a tax credit of up to $8,000 for people who hadnt owned a home for three years. This credit had helped boost home sales last summer and fall. Seeking to build on that momentum, the government added a new credit of up to $6,500 for current homeowners, hoping it would transform them into house-hunters this winter and spring.
But real estate agents around the country say the credit is doing little to elevate sales. Reasons vary.
The unemployment rate is still near 10 percent and consumer confidence is falling. Home prices - - - - >

The proposal would give General Growth equity holders total consideration of $15 a share, the Chicago-based company said in a statement yesterday. Westfield Group, a Sydney-based owner with stakes in 55 U.S. malls, signed a non-disclosure agreement to receive information from General Growth, a person familiar with the pact said today.
Under the Brookfield proposal, General Growth stockholders would receive one new General Growth share with an initial value of $10, plus one share of a new company, to be called General Growth Opportunities, with an initial - - - - >

Blippy, which is backed by a Twitter co-founder, asks people to share their spending habits. If you register a credit card with the site, every transaction bought on the card would be displayed to your friends on Blippy.
It might sound like ridiculous oversharing, but Blippy is serious. While there already are plenty of Web sites focused on what people are purchasing, the sites founders think it offers a new way to learn about deals and new products. And knowing your spending habits are being transmitted to a flock of friends might make you think twice before spending $500 on a - - - - >

The difference between yields on Fannie Maes current- coupon 30-year securities, which trade closest to face value, and 10-year Treasuries narrowed to as little as 0.66 percentage point yesterday, matching the lowest since 1992, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Investors turned to the securities after the government- supported companies said they would buy about $200 billion of loans out of their mortgage bonds, mostly from higher-coupon debt, whose holders are now suffering losses following the announcement. The shift will leave investors with cash to reinvest as - - - - >

The slump in credit to $2.46 trillion was more than anticipated and followed a revised $4.2 billion drop in October, Federal Reserve figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a decrease of $5 billion. The figures track credit card debt and non-revolving loans, such as those to buy autos.
A labor market thats shed 7.2 million jobs since the recession started in December 2007 is restraining consumer spending that accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. Fed policy - - - - >

A federal tax credit that provided makers of biodiesel $1 for every gallon expired Friday. As a result, some U.S. producers say they will shut down without the government subsidy.
Biodiesels woes come on top of a year of problems for the fledgling biofuel industry - an irony given the push to cut down on greenhouse gases and ease the nations need for foreign oil. A key driver for the alternative fuel - the high cost of oil - disappeared as diesel prices dropped 18 percent since the beginning of the recession. Then in March the European Union placed import-killing tariffs - - - - >