In a ploy to recapitalize Citigroup, Inc., the Department of Treasury converted last month a portion of its investment in the bank from preferred stock, which would have given Treasury an 8% return on its "investment" annually, to common stock (i.e. what is traded in the stock market), which guarantee nothing. So far, the gamble has paid off as Citi's shares have increased considerably in value since its purchase.

The Associated Press reported last night that when the Obama White House announces the federal deficit next Tuesday, the number will be about $262 billion less than officials predicted earlier this year – in part because the administration has provided less aid to Wall Street than originally expected.

The New York Times is reporting that as part of the recent information exchange agreement between the U.S. and Switzerland, UBS will ultimately hand over the names and account details of close to 5,000 wealthy American citizens suspected of tax avoidance. According to the Times, Switzerland has 370 days to examine the accounts of some 4,450 clients before turning the information over to the IRS and DOJ. Moreover, the agreement allows the Swiss government to work with other Swiss financial institutions to disclose the identities of other Americans suspected of hiding money offshore.

With the release of his detailed budget information in May, President Obama proposed cutting or scaling back 121 programs that would save the government $17 billion in FY 2010 - a very small first step in getting the budget deficit under control. Yesterday, CongressDaily published an article that examined the degree to which Congress accepted Obama's proposed cuts and the results are underwhelming.