Top Stories

European Stocks Rise Most in Five Weeks on Economy; BHP, Renault Advance European stocks surged the most in five weeks as data on the region’s services and manufacturing industries and U.S. home sales added to signs the economic recovery is strengthening.

MAN SE's CEO Samuelsson Leaves Immediately; Pachta-Reyhofen Acting Chief MAN SE Chief Executive Officer Hakan Samuelsson will step down with immediate effect, leaving Europe’s third-largest truckmaker after nine years.

Dollar Slump Persisting as Most Accurate Forecasters See No Bottom in 2010 The most accurate dollar forecasters predict the world’s reserve currency will continue sliding even when the Federal Reserve begins to raise interest rates, which policy makers say is an “extended period” away.

Deripaska in Talks With Investors for Building, Financial-Services Units Russian Billionaire Oleg Deripaska, whose United Co. Rusal is seeking to restructure more than $14 billion of debt, is in talks with potential investors in his construction, airport and financial-services businesses.

British Would-Be Borrowers Resist Approved Bank Credit as Loan Demand Dips A year ago, as Britain’s property market began to collapse, housebuilder Persimmon Plc owed 960 million pounds ($1.6 billion). Today, Chief Financial Officer Michael Killoran has slashed that debt by 58 percent.

Lloyds Banking Group Will Issue as Much as $13 Billion of CoCo Securities Lloyds Banking Group Plc, the U.K.’s biggest mortgage lender, will issue about $13 billion of enhanced capital notes, new bonds designed to boost the bank’s ability to absorb losses.

Exclusive

Dollar Confidence Not at Risk Even With Debt `Mountain,' Strauss-Kahn Says International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that confidence in the dollar isn’t under threat and his main challenge for now is fighting the danger of asset bubbles in emerging markets.

Bank of America May Name Stopgap CEO to Allow Board More Time for Search Bank of America Corp.’s board may extend its search for a permanent new chief executive officer into 2010 if directors can’t settle on a candidate in the next three days, according to people familiar with the matter.

Deripaska Is in Talks on Selling Interests in Construction, Airport Units Russian Billionaire Oleg Deripaska, whose United Co. Rusal is seeking to restructure more than $14 billion of debt, is in talks with potential investors in his construction, airport and financial-services businesses.

Zynga May Be Valued at $1 Billion as Game Maker Feeds Off Facebook Craze Zynga Inc., maker of the “Mafia Wars” and “FarmVille” games played on Facebook, may be valued at $1 billion based on the sale price of a smaller rival.

Cuomo Took Campaign Donations From Lawyers With Matters Before His Office New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s campaign fund took tens of thousands of dollars from law firms representing clients his office investigated or accused of wrongdoing, state records show.

Woman Who Sank Galleon Was Beauty-Queen-Turned-Analyst Allegedly With Tips Danielle Chiesi spent a lot of time in hotel ballrooms and bars during the past decade.