U.S.

John Paulson Buys Mortgage Bonds as Hedge Funds Decline for a Fifth Month Money manager John Paulson has started buying beaten-up mortgage bonds as hedge funds stumbled for a fifth straight month.

Stock-Index Futures Drop; General Motors, Ford, Caterpillar Fall in Europe U.S. stock-index futures dropped as investors speculated the economic slump will deepen without a bailout package for carmakers, while a report today may show builders broke ground on the fewest houses since at least 1959.

U.S. Consumer Prices Probably Declined Most in Six Decades on Drop in Fuel The cost of living in the U.S. probably slid in October by the most in almost six decades as fuel costs plummeted and retailers discounted merchandise to entice shell-shocked customers, economists said before a government report today.

Treasuries Advance as Report May Show Consumer Prices Fell Most Since 1949 Ten- and 30-year Treasury bonds rose, while yields indicated inflation expectations are the lowest in at least a decade, before a government report that may show consumer prices fell the most since 1949.

Disclosure Demands for Credit-Default Swaps From Regulators Said to Climb U.S. regulators may require banks and insurers to disclose data about all credit-default swap trades to a central registry to boost transparency in the $47 trillion market, a person with knowledge of the talks said.

Yahoo Investors Want Outside CEO to Turn Around Yahoo After Yang Departs Yahoo! Inc. investors say the search to replace Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang should focus on a turnaround artist from outside the Internet company who can draw Microsoft Corp. back into takeover talks.

Latin America

Ecuador's Viteri, Working Non-Stop, Urges Creditors to Await Debt Report Ecuador's Finance Minister Maria Elsa Viteri urged ``anxious'' bondholders to be patient as a debt auditing commission finishes a report that will help determine whether the country honors its foreign obligations.

Fernandez May Elude Ban on Using Argentine Pension Cash for Debt, Spending When Argentina's Senate votes this week on nationalizing $24 billion in pension funds, it will try to bar the government from using the money to pay off mounting debt or fund ongoing expenses.

Brazilian Unemployment Rate Declines to 7.5% in October From Month Earlier Brazil's unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent in October from September, the national statistics agency said today.

Coffee Prices May Climb 20% by March on Smaller Brazilian Crop, India Says Robusta coffee prices, set for the first annual drop in five years, may climb about 20 percent by March as roasters rebuild stockpiles and output declines in Brazil, the world's second-biggest producer.

Shell, Aramco Delay Oil Project Spending on Slowdown, Says Morgan Stanley The biggest oil companies including Saudi Aramco, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Petroleo Brasileiro SA are accelerating spending cuts and delaying projects as the world enters a recession, said Morgan Stanley & Co.

Repsol Forecasts Latin America Growth Will Slow; Currencies Remain Concern Repsol YPF SA, Spain's largest oil producer, expects ``more moderate'' growth next year in Latin America, where the exchange rate remains the company's main concern.

Exclusive

Obama Embrace of Wall Street Insiders Points to Politic Regulatory Reforms During the height of the financial crisis in late September, some of Barack Obama's campaign advisers pushed him in a conference call to distance himself from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chief executive officer, they warned, was too close to President George W. Bush and Wall Street.

India's New Rural Roads Keep Growth `Kicking Along' During World Recession The 100 kilometers (62 miles) of rural roads India is adding each day may save Asia's third- largest economy from the worst of a global recession.

Indiabulls Is Anything But as Profit Erodes With Hedge Funds Taking Losses Indiabulls Group, the Mumbai-based finance firm funded by billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, is shifting from increasing profitability to ``survival'' after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. froze credit markets.

Bhattacharya Sees Buffett Example in Hindalco Rebound From 75% Stock Slump Hindalco Industries Ltd. Managing Director Debu Bhattacharya said investors should follow Warren Buffett, named America's richest man by Forbes magazine , rather than rebuff stocks, after India's largest aluminum producer lost almost three-quarters of its market value this year.

Malta Absorbs Record Refugee Influx, Becoming EU's Back Door `By Accident' Tesfay Bekurezion Gebredngle paid $1,300 to make the clandestine boat trip from North Africa to Sicily. Instead, the Eritrean refugee was taken to Malta, an island a thousandth of Italy's size.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Squeeze Exchanges With New Trading Platforms Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and investment banks in Europe are using the early success of new trading platforms they have backed to push exchange fees lower.