U.S.

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

Unemployment Climbs in 30 States, Eases in Nine as Factories Aid Recovery Unemployment decreased in nine U.S. states in January, led by an improvement in Michigan that demonstrates factories are driving the economic rebound.

El-Erian Says World Economy May Face Disruptive Sovereign Debt Imbalances Mohamed A. El-Erian, whose company runs the world’s biggest mutual fund, said deteriorating public finances around the world may affect the global economy more than is currently realized.

Nomura Said to Hire Puritz of Deutsche Bank as Convertibles Chief for U.S. Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan’s biggest brokerage, hired David Puritz, head of U.S. convertible bond trading at Deutsche Bank AG, to run the business in New York, two people familiar with the situation said.

Fiat May Need to Convince on Chrysler Before Seeking Automotive Unit IPO 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.

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.

Slim Overtakes Gates, Buffett for Top Spot on Forbes's Billionaires List Mexico’s Carlos Slim beat Bill Gates and Warren Buffett for the top spot on Forbes magazine’s annual list of billionaires, becoming the first person from outside the U.S. to lead the rankings in 16 years.

Brazil's Recovery May Mean Rate Pause Ends in March, Vieira da Cunha Says Brazilian policy makers may see today’s government report showing that economic growth surged at the end of last year as all the evidence they need to justify raising interest rates next week for the first time since 2008, a former central bank director said.

Chile Quake Prompts Pulp Aftershock as Prices Rally on Supply Disruptions Chile’s earthquake and a Finnish port strike may propel pulp prices to a record, hastening a tightening of inventories after papermakers cut output.

Hedge Fund-Backed Argentine Soy Producer Tejar Weighs U.S. IPO on Demand Argentina’s El Tejar SA, which produces about 3 million tons of grains and oilseeds in South America, is weighing an initial public offering in New York to tap rising investor demand for agricultural assets.

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.

J&J Pushed Drug's Sale to Elderly After U.S. Warned of False Safety Claims Johnson & Johnson made plans to reach $302 million in geriatric sales for its antipsychotic Risperdal just months after federal regulators said the company falsely claimed the drug was safe and effective with the elderly, according to internal documents.

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.