U.S.

U.S. Budget Gap Rises to Record $221 Billion on Spending to Revive Economy The U.S. posted its largest budget deficit on record in February as the government boosted spending to help revive the economy.

Citigroup Cuts Yield on $2 Billion TruPS Offering to 8.5%: Credit Markets Citigroup Inc., seeking capital after repaying bailout funds to the Treasury, is selling trust preferred securities as rising investor demand drives borrowing costs to near the lowest in almost five years.

Stocks Gain on Economic Optimism as Citigroup, Financial Companies Rally U.S. stocks rose as a drop in wholesale inventories and improvement in the corporate bond market added to signs the economy is strengthening, overshadowing concern China will raise interest rates.

Senate Said to Weigh Setting Up $50 Billion Fund to Wind Down Failed Firms Senate negotiators are closing in on a deal to create a $50 billion trust fund from fees on large financial firms that may include Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. and be used to wind down failing institutions, said a Senate aide and two people familiar with the talks.

Google Rivals Asked for Statements as FTC Probes Company's AdMob Purchase U.S. regulators are seeking sworn declarations from Google Inc. competitors and advertisers as part of their probe of the Internet company’s bid to buy AdMob Inc., indicating the government may challenge the deal, said people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Hedge-Fund Losses Show Drop in Euro Fails to Benefit All Currency Traders Hedge funds that trade currencies are taking hits from politicians casting them as speculators out to sink the euro and push Greece into insolvency. They are also losing money.

Latin America

America Movil Proposes One-Time Dividend, Larger Stock-Buyback Program America Movil SAB plans to pay a one-time dividend and buy back more of its stock, rewarding investors as the Latin American wireless carrier pursues the region’s largest acquisition this year.

Petrobras, Repsol, BG Find More Oil off Brazil Coast Near Guara Field Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Repsol YPF SA and BG Group Plc found more evidence of oil in the same offshore Brazilian block where the companies’ Guara field holds as much as 2 billion barrels of crude.

Odds of Brazilian Rate Increase Decline If Meirelles Resigns, Volpon Says Brazilian central bank President Henrique Meirelles is unlikely to raise the benchmark interest rate this month if he leaves his post to seek a vice presidential nomination, according to Tony Volpon, a Latin America strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc.

Argentine Senate Set to Oust Central Bank's Marco del Pont Over Transfers Argentina’s Senate tomorrow will reject Mercedes Marco del Pont’s appointment as president of the central bank after she transferred $6.6 billion of reserves to the Treasury, said opposition Senator Gerardo Morales.

Argentina May Limit Fuel Exports, Intervene in Refineries to Ensure Supply Argentina may limit fuel exports and force refineries to step up production to ensure domestic supplies after Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc cut output.

Buy Bullish Petrobras Options Before Share Sale, Goldman Sachs Recommends Investors should buy bullish options on Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s American depositary receipts because its planned share sale strengthens the “long-term” outlook for Brazil’s state-controlled oil producer, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said.

Exclusive

Obama Proving Pessimists Wrong as Rebounding Economy Converges With Stocks The political consensus may be that President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy has been weak. The judgment of money in all its forms has been overwhelmingly positive, and that may be the more lasting appraisal.

Buyout Firms Struggle to Spend $503 Billion of Investor Cash as Deals Wane Buyout funds sitting on half a trillion dollars committed by investors may need more than a decade to put the money to work if mergers and acquisitions continue at the current pace.

Monsanto 7-State Probe Threatens Profit From 93% Hold on U.S. Soybean Crop At least seven U.S. state attorneys general are investigating whether Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed producer, has abused its market power to lock out competitors and raise prices.

AIG's `Money in the Door' Asset Sales Garner $3.2 Billion for Bondholders American International Group Inc. bondholders reaped at least $3.2 billion after the bailed-out company announced deals to sell its two largest non-U.S. life insurance divisions for $51 billion.

Pink Floyd, Queen May Leave EMI as Guy Hands's Buyout Mission `Implodes' Pink Floyd and Queen, bands that have been with EMI Music for about four decades, may head for the door, according to two people familiar with their talks, as concern mounts about the U.K. record label’s finances.

Smartphones Eclipse PCs by 2012 as IPhone, Android Take Off: Chart of Day Demand for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Google Inc.’s Nexus One will help propel smartphone sales past those of personal computers in two years, Gartner Inc. forecasts.