U.S.

AIG Was Unprepared for Crisis, Had `No One in Charge,' Ex-Top Lawyer Says American International Group Inc. was unprepared for the financial crisis that forced the insurer to accept a $182.3 billion bailout from the U.S. government, the company’s former general counsel said.

Retail Sales Unexpectedly Rose in February as U.S. Consumers Braved Storms Americans braved blizzards and overcame job concerns to propel retail sales in February, pointing to a broadening in growth that will help sustain the expansion.

Most U.S. Stocks Fall on Drop in Consumer Confidence; Citigroup Retreats Most U.S. stocks fell, pulling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down from a 17-month high, as a drop in consumer confidence overshadowed an unexpected increase in retail sales.

Apple's Cook Gets $5 Million Bonus, Stock for Work During Jobs's Absence Apple Inc. awarded Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook a one-time bonus of $5 million and 75,000 restricted shares for filling in while Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs was on medical leave.

Lehman Bankruptcy Report Points Way to Plaintiffs, Not Prison, Lawyers Say A 2,200-page bankruptcy report a year in the making may point the way for plaintiffs looking to sue former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. officials, lawyers said, rather than grand juries probing possible crimes.

FDIC Said to Plan Sale of $3 Billion in AmTrust Bank Loans After Seizure The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is preparing to sell $3 billion of loans from AmTrust Bank, the Cleveland-based lender seized by regulators in December, people involved in the sales said.

Latin America

Batista's $100 Billion `Richest Man' Dream Advances With OSX Share Offer Eike Batista’s plan to raise $5.6 billion in the biggest initial public offering this year moves him one step closer to fulfilling his ambition of being the world’s richest man.

Chile May Tap $11.3 Billion in Savings, Sell Debt to Rebuild, Pinera Says Chile plans to tap its copper savings funds and may borrow abroad to pay for the estimated $30 billion cost of repairing damage caused by the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the country Feb. 27.

Pimco Says Chile Peso Not `One-Sided Bet' Investors See After Earthquake Chile’s peso will begin weakening late this year as the country’s worst earthquake in 50 years slows economic growth and record-low interest rates sap demand for fixed-income assets, Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Guillermo Osses said.

Argentine Consumer Prices Rose 1.2% in February, Fastest Pace Since 2006 Argentine consumer prices rose in February at the fastest pace in almost four years, led by higher costs for foods and beverages.

Lojas Americanas Rises Most on Bovespa as Quarterly Profit Beats Estimates Lojas Americanas SA, Brazil’s biggest discount retailer, rose to the highest price in a month after fourth-quarter profit increased 56 percent, boosted by online sales.

Venezuelan Bonds Rise to Seven-Week High as Debt Sales May Be Scaled Back Venezuela’s benchmark dollar bonds rose to a seven-week high on speculation a rally in crude oil, the country’s biggest export, will prompt the government to pare back debt sales this year.

Exclusive

`Invisible Power' of London Money Exposed as Lord Mayor Fights Politicians When money needs to talk in London, it’s the lord mayor who speaks.

Monsanto May Have Antitrust Edge as Protecting Patents Trumps Competition Monsanto Co., facing antitrust probes into its genetically modified seeds, may benefit from previous court rulings in which intellectual property rights trumped competition concerns, antitrust lawyers say.

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.

Toyota Sets Goal of Regaining U.S. Market Share Lost to Recalls Within '10 Toyota Motor Corp. set a 2010 goal of regaining most of the U.S. market share lost in the past two months after global recalls of 8 million vehicles damped demand, the No. 2 U.S. sales executive said.

Optimism Makes a Comeback After Year-Long U.S. Stock Surge: Chart of Day Bullishness on U.S. stocks is beginning to emerge after the market’s rally in the past year, according to a gauge derived from data compiled by the American Association of Individual Investors.