U.S.

U.S. Stocks Rise as Consumer Spending Boosts Optimism on Economic Recovery U.S. stocks rose, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to an 18-month high, after consumer spending increased for a fifth month and European confidence in the economic outlook improved.

Consumer Spending Increases for Fifth Straight Month as Recovery Quickens Consumer spending in the U.S. rose in February for a fifth consecutive month, a rebound that will require gains in employment to be sustained.

SEC Studies Lehman to Detect Wall Street Accounting That Masked Leverage The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is questioning Wall Street firms about whether they employed accounting strategies like those Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was accused of using to hide leverage.

Birinyi Raises S&P 500 Forecast to 1,325 for Year on GE, Microsoft Rallies Birinyi Associates Inc. raised its year-end forecast for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to 1,325 because of rallies by General Electric Co., Citigroup Inc. and Microsoft Corp.’s shares.

Goldman Sachs Capitulation on Dollar Leads Turnaround in Outlook for U.S. The strengthening U.S. economy, subdued inflation and rising stock prices are propelling the dollar rally into its fifth month as traders seek refuge from Europe’s fiscal crisis and Japanese deflation.

AIG Increases Concentration of Storm Risk With Sale of Life Insurer Units American International Group Inc., the insurer that stayed profitable through the Sept. 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, may be more exposed to disasters after divesting life insurance units to repay its government bailout.

Latin America

Buenos Aires City Sells $475 Million of Bonds Before Government Exchange Buenos Aires, Argentina’s biggest city, sold $475 million of bonds, tapping international debt markets before the federal government completes a restructuring of defaulted debt.

Pemex May Fail to Attract Companies for New Performance-Based Contracts Petroleos Mexicanos, Latin America’s largest oil producer, may fail to attract companies to participate in new performance-based contracts that aim to stem a five-year slide in output and improve drilling results.

Brazil Retailers Insinuante, Ricardo Eletro to Merge as Competition Grows Brazilian home-appliance retailers Insinuante and Ricardo Eletro will merge into a company with more than 500 home-appliance stores to fend off competition from Cia. Brasileira de Distribuicao Grupo Pao de Acucar SA.

Bovespa Index Rises, Led by Gains in Sabesp, Batista's LLX, Brasil Telecom Brazil’s Bovespa stock index rose, buoyed by a gain in commodity prices as a jump in European confidence signaled the global economic recovery is strengthening.

Ecuador Taps Reserves to Fund Spending, Ex-Finance Minister Robalino Says Ecuador is using central bank reserves to finance spending, said Cesar Robalino, president of the country’s private bank association.

Brazil Growth Plan Seeks Investment of 959 Billion Reais From 2011 to 2014 The second phase of Brazil’s Growth Acceleration Program is aiming for public and private investment of 959 billion reais ($529 billion) between 2011 and 2014, the government said.

Exclusive

Why Two-Meter Billionaire Prokhorov Says He's Only NBA Owner Who Can Dunk Mikhail Prokhorov steps off his Gulfstream V into the swirling snow and subzero temperatures of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, where he’s come to visit his gold mine. Though it’s almost midnight, Prokhorov has no interest in retiring to his hotel room. Instead, he’s whisked away in a police-escorted Mercedes to the local gym, where he puts in two hours running on a treadmill and lifting weights, Bloomberg Markets reports in its May issue.

U.S.-Bound Boxes Pile Up at Asian Ports as Ship Lines Avoid Adding Vessels South Korea’s biggest port, overwhelmed with empty containers a year ago, is now dealing with shipping lines that have more cargo than they can carry.

Cash Remedy Preventing Lehman-Like Run Lacking From Congressional Reforms In 2,615 pages of financial reform legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress, there are no rules to ensure that banks keep enough cash-like assets when credit disappears.

American Shoppers Emerging With Best Buy's Sales Signaling Retail Revival Companies from Saks Inc. to Best Buy Co. are growing more confident that the recent revival of consumer spending is more than just a blip.

Halliburton Hunts for Bacteria Killer to Stave Off Crackdown on Shale Gas Halliburton Co. and Schlumberger Ltd., trying to forestall a regulatory crackdown that would cut natural-gas drilling, are developing ways to eliminate the need for chemicals that may taint water supplies near wells.