U.S.

Yellen Said to Be Obama Pick for Fed Vice Chairman to Replace Donald Kohn Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen is President Barack Obama’s pick for vice chairman of the central bank in Washington, two people with knowledge of the selection process said.

U.S. Stocks Gain as Health Care, Banks Send S&P 500 to Highest Since 2008 U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the highest level since October 2008, as Citigroup Inc. led a bank rally and investors speculated that health-care reform will be harder to pass.

JPMorgan, Citigroup Helped Cause Lehman Illiquidity, Examiner Report Says JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. helped cause the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. by demanding more collateral and changing guarantee agreements, according to a court-ordered report on the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Pandit Says He `Wouldn't Be `Surprised' If Treasury Weighing Sale of Stake Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit said the U.S. Treasury Department will be free to sell its 27 percent stake in the bank starting next week and that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the government were considering a sale.

Buffett Gets $100,000 Salary for 29th Year, Still Pays for Own Phone Calls Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. who pays the company for postage and personal phone calls, received a $100,000 salary for a 29th straight year as he arranged a $27 billion acquisition.

KKR Leads $235 Million Debt Refinancing, Note Sale for Harden Healthcare KKR & Co., the private-equity firm run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts that’s expanding its investments outside traditional buyouts, led a $235 million refinancing for Harden Healthcare LLC.

Latin America

BHP, Anglo, Xstrata Bypass Europe on 10,000-Mile Coal Route to China Ports BHP Billiton Plc, Anglo American Plc and Xstrata Plc are shipping coal 10,000 miles to China from their Cerrejon mine in Colombia for the first time this year because of surging demand and rising prices in Asia.

Gol Posts $225.5 Million Profit as Travel Demand Rises on Economic Growth Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, Brazil’s second-biggest airline, posted a fourth-quarter profit of 397.8 million reais ($225.5 million) as the economic recovery boosted travel demand.

Chile Inflation Bond Yields Rise to 6-Week High on Earthquake Funding Bets Chile’s inflation-linked bonds fell, pushing yields to their highest level in more than six weeks, on bets the government will boost local bond sales to help finance part of the reconstruction after the country’s worst earthquake in 50 years.

Repsol May Deliver First Liquified Gas to Manzanillo Plant by Late 2011 Repsol YPF may deliver the first shipment of liquefied natural gas to the Manzanillo gasification plant in Mexico next year, said Benjamin Palomo Sanz, head of the Spanish company’s LNG operations.

Bovespa Index Drops as China Inflation Overshadow Brazil Economic Growth The Bovespa stock index fell from a two-month high as metals producers dropped on concern Brazil and China will raise interest rates, overshadowing a rally in retailers and energy companies.

Venezuela Bolivar May Sink as Low as 9 Per Dollar This Year, Barclays Says Venezuela’s bolivar may fall as low as 9 per dollar in the “worst scenario” as the government refrains from selling U.S. currency in the unregulated market to preserve foreign reserves, Barclays Plc said.

Exclusive

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.

Brown Tries to `Perversely' Benefit From U.K. Relapse Risk Before Election Gordon Brown is trying to turn the threat of a double-dip U.K. recession into an advantage.

Solar Prospectors Chase `Gold Mine' Deals in Chinese, Israeli Subsidies Olivier de Vergnies quit managing family fortunes at Dexia Private Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. in 2008 to run a New York start-up at 100 Wall St. that’s trying to tap riches in solar energy.

Chrysler in Hibernation Means Marchionne May Have to Wait on Fiat Spinoff 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.

Red-Coral Rescue Plans Endanger Italian Jewelry Makers of Torre del Greco The people of Torre del Greco, 10 miles south of Naples, have lived off the red corals found in the Mediterranean Sea for more than two millennia. A proposal to list the species as endangered may push the seaside town’s $217 million-a-year coral industry into extinction.

Triple Whammy of Costs, Taxes, Inflation Sinks Stock Returns: Chart of Day U.S. stock investors made far less in the past half century than the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s performance would suggest, according to David Bianco, chief U.S. equity strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.