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Lampert, Wood Reveal Failings of `Concentrated' Stock Hedge Fund Strategy When Jon Wood opened his Monaco-based hedge fund, the former UBS AG trader told investors he'd beat the market by buying stakes in no more than 40 companies -- the same way he made $2.4 billion in six years for his old employer.

Citigroup Leads Wall Street Drive to Punish Taxpayers in Auction-Rate Debt Taxpayers from Massachusetts to California are paying Wall Street banks to end derivative contracts gone bad as they exit the collapsing auction-rate bond market, with penalties in some cases topping $10 million and compounding the pain of rising borrowing costs.

Petrobras Seeks Refinery Takeovers to Export Gasoline, Diesel, Not Crude Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil's state-controlled oil producer, plans to acquire refineries that may make the company the world's third-largest seller of gasoline and diesel.

Thailand's Rush to Grow Rice May Drain Water Reserves, Cut Future Harvests Kamolsak Thongta was working at a garage in northern Thailand when rice prices began to soar. So he quit his job, found a plot of unused land and became a farmer.

New Jersey's Corzine Seeks First Wind-Energy Farm Off U.S. East Coast New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine wants his state to be the first in the U.S. Northeast to build an electricity-generating wind farm off the Atlantic coast.

Police Chief Throws Book Discussion at Violent Crime Wave in U.S. Capital Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier is looking to bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell to help tip the balance against crime amid a spike in murders in the U.S. capital.

California's Yountville Trades Beer Bars for Manning, Ellison, Witherspoon The blue-collar workers in Napa Valley's Yountville have been knocked off their bar stools, replaced by the likes of Super Bowl quarterbacks Tom Brady and Eli Manning, Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison and actress Reese Witherspoon sitting in fine restaurants.

Rebates Will Fail to Spark U.S. Economy as Fuel Prices Soar, Survey Shows The Bush administration's tax rebates won't prevent the U.S. economy from stagnating in the second quarter as soaring food and fuel bills hurt consumers, a Bloomberg News survey showed.

Kostunica May Be Serbia Kingmaker as Tadic's Pro-Western Alliance Stumbles Serbia's caretaker prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, may be kingmaker after a May 11 general election in which pro-western forces are battling politicians who favor closer ties to Russia.

Mugabe Spokesman Shocks Ex-Neighbors With Slams at `Bloodthirsty' Britain When Bright Matonga left the U.K. in 2001 to return home to Zimbabwe, he spoke fondly of his seven years in Britain.

GM May Break Up 72-Year SUV-Truck Marriage to Reduce Fuel Use, Emissions General Motors Corp. may be forced to break up a seven-decade marriage of pickups and large sport- utility vehicles as Americans restrict the fossil-fuel diet of their transportation.

Boeing Unions May Use 787 Delays to Gain Leverage in Contract Negotiations Boeing Co.'s delayed 787 Dreamliner may give its two main unions extra leverage in contract talks with the world's second-biggest commercial aircraft maker.

Israelis Mark 60th Anniversary Amid a Prosperity They Can't Seem to Enjoy By plenty of objective measures, Israelis have reason to celebrate as they observe the 60th anniversary of their nation's founding today.

Quebec's Separatist Flame Fades as Harper's Spending Quells Urge to Leave Michel Tremblay, a French-speaking Montreal native, has for almost 30 years supported parties that want Quebec to leave Canada. In the next national election, he plans instead to back Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Vallejo Residents See Service Cuts as Bankruptcy Looms for California Town As Vallejo, California's home prices plunged, the once-humming Navy town on the north edge of the San Francisco Bay seemed like a good place to settle down, said Tim Medrow, a manager at a store that sells floor and bathroom tiles.

Diesel Scam Costs India $6.5 Billion as Drivers Fill Up With Cooking Fuel At a kiosk on the Trichy-Tanjore highway, one of southern India's main trucking routes, drivers of motorized rickshaws, scooters and vans belching black smoke line up to buy water bottles filled with green liquid.

North Sea Divers Wrecked by Oil Demand Payment After Making Norway Wealthy Gary Cronin usually lasted six weeks inside a diving capsule before he started seeing monsters.

Albania May Apply to Join EU Within Decade as Investment, Growth Pick Up Albanian Central Bank Governor Ardian Fullani said Europe's poorest country may apply to join the European Union within a decade as foreign investment boosts growth and the government moves toward a market economy.

Credit Seizure? Brokers' $6 Million Payday Turns on Massaged Relationships In the course of a three-and-a-half- hour dinner at Manhattan's Smith & Wollensky steakhouse, Emil Assentato went from also-ran to the top of the world's fastest- growing credit market.