links for 2010-01-13

The recent spike in U.S. bond yields, coinciding with a rally in the dollar against the yen, is flagging a return to the yen to fund carry trades

The replacement of Japan’s finance minister four months into the government’s term increases concern about the commitment to contain the world’s largest public debt burden, Moody’s Investors Service said.

In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident–albeit a significant one–was something quite different.

Exports to one of Florida's top trading partners, Venezuela, are likely to keep sinking after the South American nation devalued its currency by as much as 50 percent in a bid to rein in a budget deficit and bolster its national industries amid depressed oil prices and a struggling economy.

The Federal Reserve’s efforts to stabilize the financial system paid off handsomely last year as the central bank raked in a record-setting profit of more than $52 billion.