A court-appointed examiner said demands from JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) for collateral helped to drive Lehman Brothers into bankruptcy. In other news, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE:POT) sharply raised its first-quarter forecast on Thursday, citing a sharp rebound in demand for potash — a key crop nutrient. Shares jumped over 7% before the bell. Also, Ann Taylor (NYSE:ANN) on Friday swung to a fourth-quarter profit even as sales fell 3% after it controlled inventory and revamped merchandise to help sell more products at full price. Shares declined 1.8% even though the company forecast a strong quarter. –Daily Finance
European Union finance ministers will discuss next week whether any Greek bailout should be funded by EU bonds guaranteed by euro region governments, said three people briefed on preparations for March 15-16 meetings. Another option would be for governments in the 16-nation bloc to give Greece loans to help the country finance its budget deficit, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. Any EU bond sale would have to be agreed upon by all 27 EU nations, they said. –Bloomberg
The dollar gained ground against rivals after stronger U.S. economic data fueled bets that the Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy sooner than expected. The greenback hit an intraday high against the yen, trading close to 91 yen, and pared overnight losses against the euro after U.S. retail sales in February unexpectedly rose. –The Wall Street Journal
China could allow its currency to begin appreciating against the U.S. dollar within the next month, as Beijing responds to growing pressure from Washington to allow its currency to trade more freely, according to analysts. Pressure to end the yuan’s de-facto peg to the U.S. dollar for the last 20 months will increase in the weeks leading up to the U.S. Treasury Department’s currency report, due to be released April 15. "If China does not make an obvious move away from its [U.S. dollar] peg in the next month, the U.S. is likely to impose trade sanctions," wrote Standard Chartered analysts Stephen Green and Mary Nicola in a research. -MarketWatch
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