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In an analysis of U.S. government debt, journalists from Business Insider has destroyed the myth that the China Financial has the majority of U.S. public debt. U.S. creditors list is presented in ascending.

Top of holders of American debt:

1. Hong Kong. The total value of U.S. government securities - 121.9 billion dollars. The proportion of U.S. public debt - 0.9%.

2. Caribbean banking centers. The total value of U.S. government securities - 148.3 billion dollars. The proportion of U.S. public debt - 1%.

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Nouriel Roubini - Dr. Doom and economist known for his pessimistic predictions. He predicted the global financial crisis. He recently bought an apartment in Manhattan, New York. For apartment paid not less than $ 5.5 million.

Roubini made a $ 2,990,000 mortgage loan to buy the apartment on East First Street, New York. The apartment is a penthouse of 340 square meters built on three levels.

Access to each level is a steel ladder. Each level offers something unique and special. This apartment is described in an ad. The first level is a huge living room (light penetrates through oversized windows), a wood-burning fireplace, heated floors and walls are of brick.

Given the accelerating growth and strengthening currency, China could become the first global economy by 2020, says a report published by economic development trends British bank Standard Chartered.

The world passes through a super-cycle of high and sustainable growth. The changes recorded in the future 20 years will be enormous.

By 2020, China's gross domestic product will reach 24.600 billion, ranking ahead of current leader, with 23.300 billion dollars. This difference will increase further: by 2030 when China's GDP will rise to 73.500 billion dollars compare to 38.200 billion of U.S. These figures mean that China will provide nearly 24% of global GDP, compared to only 9% today, estimate Britain analysts.

China will become the third power in the IMF, according to voting rights, after the U.S. and Japan, a position that will allow the state to assume greater responsibilities in the global economy, said Director General of Financial Institution, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

"IMF plan could influence the attitude of the Chinese. They wanted to be better represented in the IMF, which shows that they care institution," said Strauss-Kahn was quoted by Bloomberg.

IMF Board agreed, after an agreement reached in October, the G20 finance ministers to give more voting power to countries with a dynamic development. However, advanced European countries will give two board seats in the IMF. Decisions will increase the influence of countries such as Brazil or South Korea in the international financial institution policy.

European bank shares slid on Friday on fears they will be hit by far-reaching U.S. plans to limit bank activity in lucrative operations and by the threat that other countries will back similar curbs on the industry.

Some European banks could see a small bite taken out of profits by the proposals, but the main impact is the threat that political and regulatory clouds will continue to hang over the sector for months.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday threatened to fight Wall Street banks with new proposals to limit financial risk taking, sending U.S. bank stocks tumbling.

Since the beginning of the global financial crisis a lot of financial institutions in the United States were forced to file for bankruptcy, others, however, managed to survive. But the crisis had a more devastating impact than it was previously though, striking everything, including banks and insurance companies from around the globe. Several years ago it was rather uncomplicated to state out the best banks. The best bank was the one that had the largest asset under management. Today, however, this assumption often means bad.

In its latest research, Economy Watch and the Economist concluded that it would be better to focus on quality assets, cash flows, as well as management instead of focusing on the completely wrong idea that all assets are created equally, and their value will not fall in value in mass. Their unique research provided a rather interesting list from which it would be possible to identify top 10 banks around the world.

The Obama administration ordered the nation’s 19 biggest banks on Wednesday to undergo stress tests to check whether they could hold up if the economy deteriorated further.But analysts say the administration’s worst projections, which it describes as unlikely, are not much more dire than what many private forecasters already expect.

According to the new Treasury Department guidelines, the banks would have to assume that the economy contracts by 3.3 percent this year and remains almost flat in 2010. They would also have to assume that housing prices fall another 22 percent this year and that unemployment would shoot to 8.9 percent this year and hit 10.3 percent in 2010.

“I don’t think they are harsh enough,” said David Hendler, an analyst at CreditSights, who said the dire projection was itself too optimistic about the growth that would be generated from President Obama’s stimulus program. “That would be a pleasant outcome, but you have to plan for the worst.”

After the withering reception his bank rescue plan received in Washington, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner could be excused for seeing his first trip abroad as a well-timed respite.

Mr. Geithner, whose last job was head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has spent his career studying and carrying out international financial policy. So two days spent in Rome  brainstorming with finance ministers from the Group of 7 nations about fixing the global economy played to his specialty. 

But amid signs that Europe’s worsening slump has created fissures among G-7 leaders about how to deal with the crisis, Mr. Geithner found himself on the defensive in Rome this weekend, though not to the extent he was in Washington.

In a statement, the G-7 ministers promised to cooperate on the global economic crisis and said they had taken steps to inject cash into banks and identify troubled assets. They said the effects of such measures would build over time.

European shares fell early on Thursday, weighed down by financial stocks after Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) posted a big loss and insurer Swiss Re (RUKN.VX) slumped on a large writedown.

By 0810 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares was down 2 percent at 794.82 points. Deutsche Bank lost 6.7 percent after the group posted at 5.7 billion euros pre-tax loss for 2008 and predicted a bleak future for the global economy and its industry.

Swiss Re wrote down 6 billion Swiss francs in toxic assets and posted a 2008 net loss of 1 billion franc net loss, sending its shares down 18 percent.

Spain's biggest bank Santander (SAN.MC) fell 1.6 percent after it posted a 21.5 percent rise in net interest revenue without dividends to 18.1 billion euros ($23.59 billion), underpinned by robust recurrent earnings from its core retail banking business.

Will spending $50 million to promote arts in the United States help stimulate the U.S. economy? How about $335 million to educate people about sexually transmitted diseases?

Those items and more form part of an $825 billion economic stimulus that may grow larger, creating a feeding frenzy in Congress as lawmakers seek to fund their wish lists.

On Wednesday night, stimulus legislation cleared the House of Representatives, where members hew more closely to party ideology than the Senate. The 244-188 vote was along party lines, with every Republican voting against the bill designed to fight the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would seek to begin debate in the Senate on Monday. President Barack Obama wants the package approved by mid-February.

Japan  said it would offer a lifeline to the small- and medium-sized companies at the heart of the world's second-largest economy with a $16.7 billion fund to buy stakes.

Tokyo has already committed funds to help banks and spur lending but unpopular Prime Minister Taro Aso's ruling bloc is under pressure to do more ahead of an election which must be held by October.

"In light of the looming election, the government needs to help companies that are bleeding losses," said Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist at Credit Suisse in Tokyo.

In Russia, sources told Reuters that the government was set to help top bank Sberbank and other lenders with a second bailout package worth more than $27 billion.

As Wall Street imploded, Mark Posnick took his retirement fund out of Lehman Brothers and invested it with an online broker.

Now he's his own money manager, joining a new wave of investors who have lost confidence in traditional brokers whose fees and commission became all the more glaring during the bear market of 2008.

"The (Lehman) bankruptcy was quite an ordeal to say the least," said Posnick, 69, a retired mortgage banker who now trades with optionsXpress. He said his confidence was shaken "not only in them but also in the entire concept of entrusting others to be fiduciaries on your behalf and giving you advice."

Customers are choosing alternatives to Wall Street banks that charge for financial advice and executing trades, sometimes with opaque pricing on fees and commissions.

Many former wire house bankers have left their Wall Street jobs since the turbulence of last fall and have taken clients with them, creating investment advisory boutiques that direct new trades to online and discount brokers such as Charles Schwab (SCHW.O), TD Ameritrade (AMTD.O), E*Trade (ETFC.O) and the privately held Scottrade.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Bank of America will get another $20 billion from the U.S. government's bailout fund, with federal guarantees for another $118 billion in mortgage-backed securities on its balance sheets, the Treasury Department announced early Friday.

The new arrangement provides additional capital for Bank of America in exchange for preferred stock with an 8 percent dividend, the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced in a joint statement.

Bank of America has agreed to restrictions on executive pay and will be expected to adjust mortgages for troubled borrowers.

LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The dollar briefly trimmed gains against the yen and U.S. Treasury futures fell on Friday after ailing U.S. financial giant Citigroup Inc (C.N) reported a bigger-than-expected loss in fourth quarter earnings.

Citigroup reported a fourth quarter net loss of $8.29 billion, or a loss per share of $1.72 compared with forecasts for a loss of $1.32. [nWNAB0562]

Separately, Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) also reported a fourth quarter loss per share of $0.48, hours after winning a $20 billion lifeline from the U.S. government to help it absorb Merrill Lynch & Co. [nWNAB0566]

The dollar briefly dipped to near 90.45 yen <JPY=> from around 90.60 yen shortly before the release.

"The combination of the two earnings releases just underline yet again, if it was required, the scale of the problems facing the global banking sector," said Jeremy Stretch, markets strategist at Rabobank in London.

"The post BoA (bailout) optimism has seemingly been trimmed a little bit, but there's probably a reluctance to chase the market too much lower today," he added.