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.

Treasury Yield Curve Near Record Adds to Auction Demand; Most Stocks Drop Treasury 30-year bonds gained as one of the biggest yield premiums over 2-year government securities on record bolstered demand at today’s U.S. auction of $13 billion in bonds.

Goldman Sachs Internal Hedge Fund Head Flamand Said to Leave to Start Firm Pierre-Henri Flamand, the head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s largest internal hedge fund, is retiring from the world’s most profitable securities firm to start a hedge fund, according to three people with knowledge of his plans.

Foreclosures in U.S. Rise at Slowest Pace in Four Years on Modifications U.S. foreclosure filings rose at the slowest pace in four years in February as the government sought to reduce record bank seizures, RealtyTrac Inc. said.

Toyota Sets Goal of Regaining U.S. Market Share Lost to Recalls Within '10 Toyota Motor Corp. set a 2010 goal of regaining most of the U.S. market share lost in the past two months after global recalls of 8 million vehicles damped demand, the No. 2 U.S. sales executive said.

Fed Shoulders AIG Japan Mortgage Losses to Ease Sale of Alico to MetLife The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and American International Group Inc. agreed to shoulder as much as $450 million in losses tied to the insurer’s Japan real estate bets as part of the sale of a division to MetLife Inc.

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.

Morgan Stanley, Repsol, Bid to Supply LNG to Argentina After Fuel Shortage Repsol YPF SA and Morgan Stanley’s commodities unit are among six companies bidding to supply liquefied natural gas to Argentina from May to September.

Ecuador Corporate Tax Cut May Spur $600 Million Investment, Minister Says Ecuador’s proposed corporate tax reform may generate $600 million in new investments this year as companies take advantage of incentives to reinvest profits, said Nathalie Cely, the nation’s production minister.

Vale Plans Its First Sale of Euro-Denominated Bonds Amid Expansion Drive Vale SA, the world’s biggest iron- ore producer, is seeking to sell its first bonds in euros amid plans to expand.

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.