March 5 (Bloomberg) — Chile’s efforts to recover from its worst earthquake since 1960 leads a review of the week’s top stories on Bloomberg.com. In Europe, EU nations worked on a plan to help Greece resolve a debt crisis. Chile’s capital city Santiago is returning to normal, while residents of towns closer to the Feb. 27 quake’s epicenter wait for help to arrive . Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, returned to full production and analysts said the government would probably tap an $11.3 billion savings fund to stabilize the peso. Click here for more news from Latin America. For the latest on the Greek debt crisis and the European Union’s rescue plans, click here . Bloomberg News executive editor Amanda Bennett writes on the costs of health care at the end of life in an account of her husband’s $618,616 treatment for cancer. Read the stories here and in Bloomberg BusinessWeek . Following is a selection of more top stories from the past week, chosen by senior editors at Bloomberg News. Soros Signals Gold Bubble as Goldman Predicts Record March 1 (Bloomberg) — George Soros is helping drive up gold prices by doubling his bet in a market even he considers a “bubble” as Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Barclays Capital and HSBC Holdings Plc predict more gains before it bursts. Your Taxes Support For-Profits as They Buy Colleges March 4 (Bloomberg) — ITT Educational Services Inc. paid $20.8 million for debt-ridden Daniel Webster College in June. In return, the company obtained an academic credential that may generate a taxpayer-funded bonanza worth as much as $1 billion. JPMorgan Tops Goldman in Investment Banking as Fees Swell 13% March 4 (Bloomberg) — As 2009 began, the world’s banks and brokers were in a deep hole. They had recorded some $1 trillion in credit losses and writedowns of their mortgage holdings in the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, and markets were still reeling. To recapitalize, they issued stock — a lot of it. South African Police Boosted 10% as Zuma Brings ‘Deadly Force’ March 3 (Bloomberg) — Roger Williams, finance director of explosives maker AECI Ltd. in Johannesburg, paid a terrible price for South Africa’s crime rate: His 12-year-old daughter, Emily, was killed in a 2008 crossfire between thieves and security guards. Devastated, he left the country. Citigroup’s Auction-Rate Bonds Freeze $1 Billion in Hawaii Cash March 4 (Bloomberg) — Two years after the auction-rate bond market froze, Hawaii has lost about $250 million in market value on $1 billion in student-loan securities sold by a single Citigroup Inc. broker as a cash substitute that the state has had difficulty unloading. Hong Kong’s Economy Overtaken by Shanghai in 2009 March 5 (Bloomberg) — Shanghai’s economy exceeded the size of Hong Kong’s for the first time in at least three decades after stimulus spending helped China skirt the global crisis and lead the world out of recession. Lily Safra Paid $103.4 Million for Giacometti, Dealers Say Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) — London-based billionaire Lily Safra is the buyer of the Alberto Giacometti sculpture that fetched a record 65 million pounds (then $103.4 million) at an auction in London on Feb. 3, said two dealers with knowledge of the matter who declined to be named. The most-read opinion columns of the past week: 1. Real Men in Maine Have a Wife Who’s a Teacher: Amity Shlaes 2. Sex Addicts Give New Impetus to Job Creation: Caroline Baum 3. Bull Market Is Coming With Tax-Exemption Deathwatch: Joe Mysak 4. A-Rod’s Dodge Makes Jeter’s Blood a Necessity: Scott Soshnick 5. Bankers Blow $20 Billion Faster Than Gamblers: William Pesek Following are the most-read stories on Bloomberg.com from the past week, excluding daily market coverage: 1. Chilean Quake Likely Shifted Earth’s Axis, NASA Scientist Says 2. End-of-Life Warning at $618,616 Makes Me Wonder Was It Worth It 3. Germany Snubs Greek Aid Plea as Protest Snarls Athens Traffic 4. U.S. Economy: Jobless Rate Holds at 9.7% in Face of Snowstorms 5. AIG Sells Asian Life Unit to Prudential Plc for $35.5 Billion 6. Apple Says Children Were Used to Build iPhone, iPod 7. Greece Now, U.K. Next as Scots Ready for Pound Plunge 8. U.S. Said to Tell Hedge Funds to Save Euro Records 9. Buffett Says U.S. Housing Will Recover by Next Year 10. Poll Says Brown On Course to Lead Minority Government # # -0- Mar/05/2010 17:57 GMT
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Chile Earthquake, Greek Debt: Week in Review
