Some of the more interesting and important items for March 11th :

• Watchdog: GMAC bailout could cost taxpayers $6.3B – he Treasury Department sank billions into auto finance giant GMAC Inc. without an exit strategy or proof the company was viable — a decision that could cost taxpayers $6.3 billion, a new watchdog report says.
• Google seeks cities for high-speed hookup – The Goog….
• U.N. climate panel faces major review – Climate Change- msnbc.com – The world's biggest scientific guns are being called in to mop up after a trickle of unsettling errors in the reports written by the U.N. climate panel.<br />
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  The United Nations and the beleaguered Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said Wednesday that a Netherlands-based group of 15 national academies of science will study how the warming panel does its job.
• Best Buy seeks first-mover advantage with 3D TV – Aiming to steal a beat on competitors, Best Buy Co. has tied up with Panasonic Corp. to exclusively sell the Japanese electronics giant's first three-dimensional TV home-entertainment system bundle in the U.S.
• Turkish Bond Scam Diverted Funds to Cryogenics, Porn, SEC Says – Bloomberg.com – An Illinois estate-planning firm raised more than $20 million for Turkish Eurobond investments, then diverted money to a stamp collection, Internet pornography and cryogenically frozen umbilical cords, U.S. regulators said.
• Wider Volcker rule bill unveiled in Senate | Reuters – Legislation that would write into law and widen the proposed "Volcker rule" to limit proprietary trading was unveiled in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday with the support of five Democratic senators.
• Senate approves extension of jobless benefits – MarketWatch – The bill would extend through the end of the year jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, and would also extend through Dec. 31 a 65% subsidy of health-insurance premiums for jobless workers. <br />
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  The bill costs about $140 billion, a number that makes some lawmakers nervous as they try to grapple with the $12.5 trillion national debt.
• Unemployment rises in 30 states in January – Unemployment rose in 30 states in January, the Labor Department said Wednesday, evidence that jobs remain scarce in most regions of the country.<br />
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  The data is somewhat better than December, when 43 states reported higher unemployment rates, but worse than November, when rates fell in most states.
• Massa details ‘salty’ talk, slams Dem leaders – Capitol Hill- msnbc.com – A New York lawmaker who resigned from Congress Monday accused Democratic leaders of using an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint to force him to step down before the House holds a close vote on health care legislation that Massa has opposed.
• Public pension funds are ‘going to Vegas’ to keep up – NYT: States and other government bodies are making riskier investments to get higher returns in an attempt to pay all the benefits promised to retirees
• Retail gasoline prices match 2010 high – Going higher, but we think oil going lower
• Currencies – Trading in forward renminbi surges – Speculation that China will soon allow its currency to rise against the US dollar has triggered a surge of activity in the opaque but influential offshore renminbi forwards market, dealers say.
• Papandreou Warns Crisis May Spread Beyond Greece Without Speculation Curbs – How much are these guys willing to lie? It is your out of control lending!!!!
• Peter Brimelow: Is gold on the move again? Bugs say yes – GOLD!
• Iceland Seeks Swift New Anglo-Dutch Debt Accord – The small guy is dictating the rules…
• Hot Coal Companies in A Cold Winter (PCX) (CNX) (BTU) – Coal Companies that may be hot
• Debt Bomb – The “Enormous” Exposure to PIGS – Extraordinary