A.M. MARKET UPDATE

STOCKS FUTURES POINT DOWN
CNN/MONEY: U.S. stocks were poised to fall Wednesday, as investors showed little reaction to the latest on job cuts and awaited comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. At 7:45 a.m. ET, Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were lower. . . . READ MORE

ASIAN MARKETS UP 'MODESTLY'
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Asian stocks rose modestly Wednesday. . . . With returns on bonds at low levels, money has been pouring into Asian stocks in pursuit of bigger investment profits, driving major indexes up 30 percent or more since early March. But some analysts say the big gains in markets are out of step with reality . . . READ MORE

CHINA FIRM BIDS TO BUY HUMMER
REUTERS: General Motors Corp said on Tuesday it reached a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand to a privately held Chinese company . . . READ MORE
DANIEL IKENSON, CATO: GM's restructuring under Chapter 11 includes plans to sell off the Hummer, Saab, and Saturn brands. Well, just one day after GM's bankruptcy filing, a Chinese firm has come forward with a $500 million offer to purchase Hummer. The prospective buyer is Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co Ltd, a manufacturing company in western China, which hopes to become an automaker. . . . READ MORE

TUEDAY: HOME SALES NEWS
PUSHED STOCKS +19.43 PTS.
WASHINGTON TIMES: Wall Street posted small gains Tuesday after a report that pending home sales increased in April for the third straight month as a result of low mortgage rates and an $8,000 federal tax benefit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 8,740.87, up 19.43 points. The broader Standard & Poor's 500-stock Index closed at 944.74, up 1.87 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 1,836.80, up 8.12 points. . . . READ MORE

FED RESERVE OFFICER VOWS
U.S. WON'T MONETIZE DEFICIT
BLOOMBERG: Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said the U.S. has no intent to “monetize” its growing deficit as it seeks to stem the credit crisis. Rising U.S. government spending and forecasts for a record fiscal deficit have fueled investor concerns about inflation . . . . READ MORE

CURRENCY: DOLLAR DOWN
VS. EURO, BRITISH POUND
CNN MONEY: The dollar fell to a new 2009 low against the 16-nation euro Tuesday. The euro ($1.4322 +1.2%) has been steadily climbing against the dollar since mid-March. The U.S. dollar also fell against the British pound ($1.6588 +0.9%) . . READ MORE

ECONOMIC COMMENTARY:

"And don't you just love it when the commentators say that the new owners of GM are 'the taxpayers'? Well, I'm a taxpayer. Does this mean that I get to sell my share of the company? Of course not. This is just socialist talk. You hear it all the time in Latin America, where governments nationalize oil companies. To justify their nationalizations, they say that 'the people' or 'society' or 'the taxpayers' now own the nation's natural resources."
-- Jacob G. Hornberger, President,
Future of Freedom Foundation

"The Japanese experience shows that when the government is an active participant in the market, many firms would rather accept state support than initiate the inevitable financial reckoning. Such a status quo does not provide a sustainable foundation for the economy. Instead, it restricts economic growth and creates a cycle of stagnation. "
-- Anthony Randazzo, Michael Flynn and Adam B. Summers, "Turning Japanese," Reason Magazine

BONDS: TREASURY YIELD FALLS
MARKETWATCH: Yields on 10-year Treasury notes tipped lower Tuesday following reports as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner gave assurances that Chinese leaders have confidence in the U.S. economy . . . READ MORE
WSJ: The U.S. Treasury awarded $35 billion in four-week bills at Tuesday's auction at a high rate of 0.050%. . . . Bid-to-cover ratio, an indication of demand, was 3.34. . . . The Federal Reserve purchased $5.94 billion in bills. . . . READ MORE