Some of the more interesting and important items for March 18th :

• Greece ups stakes in quest for EU help – BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece raised the stakes on Thursday in its quest for EU help to tackle its debt crisis, saying it cannot achieve promised deficit cuts if its borrowing costs remain so high and may have to call in the IMF.
• Website’s instant posts of Wall Street research banned – NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday barred the financial news service Theflyonthewall.com from issuing immediate news about Wall Street analyst research, often before recommendations are shared with clients.
• Democrats Move Toward Vote on Health-Overhaul Bill With New Taxes, Fees – Nice.. tax us and spend. Robin Hood anyone?
• Madoff Was Beaten in Prison – WSJ.com – Bernard Madoff, who is serving a 150-year sentence in North Carolina for running a fraud scheme that cost investors billions of dollars, was physically assaulted by another inmate in December, according to three people familiar with the matter.
• Kraft to cut salt in its North American foods – Yahoo! Finance – The changes at Kraft, the largest U.S. food maker, will affect more than 1,000 products and eliminate more than 10 million pounds of salt over the two-year period, the company said.