Obama’s Buffett Rule Backed By 63% Of Investors (Bloomberg)
The call for the rich to pay found backing among financial professionals in the quarterly Global Poll of 1,031 investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers. “Higher tax payments could help to avoid or delay potential social disturbances and in addition create some kind of a general solidarity,” says Henry Littig, chief executive officer of Henry Littig Global Investments AG in Cologne, Germany, a poll respondent. In the U.S., support for the idea was lower, with more than half opposing it, although four in 10 supported it. “The U.S. does not have a tax rate problem — we have a spending and entitlement problem,” said poll respondent Jay Wright, managing director of Samco Capital Markets in San Antonio, Texas. “And if we do not address it quickly we are going to be Greece.”

Wall Street Is Bearish On Perry (WSJ)
Hedge-fund manger Leon Cooperman said he is “negative” on Mr. Perry because he thinks the Texan is too conservative on social issues. “I’m a great believer in separation of church and state,” Mr. Cooperman said. “Any guy that has a meeting to pray for rain—that’s a guy I’m not voting for.” Others said Mr. Perry’s style is just as much a concern for Wall Street donors. “It’s the Texas bravado that rubs Wall Street the wrong way,” said Nathan Gonzales of the Rothenberg Political Report.

Morgan Stanley Seen As Risky As Italian Banks (Bloomberg)
“The CDS spreads are making investors and creditors nervous” about Morgan Stanley, said Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York who rates the company’s stock “outperform,” in an e-mail. The price of Morgan Stanley credit-default swaps has continued to climb even though the firm’s shares have risen this week. The stock jumped 93 cents, or 6.6 percent, to $15.09 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday, the fourth- biggest gainer in the 81-member S&P 500 Financials Index. Shares are down 45 percent since the start of the year.

Fed’s Twist Might Prompt Bigger Turn (WSJ)
As the Federal Reserve Bank of New York prepares to release on Friday new details about the central bank’s rate-lowering program, some bond-market strategists have done their own back-of-the-envelope assessment already. Their conclusion: Operation Twist could in some ways do as much—or more—for the bond market than its predecessor, known as QE2. The program also could prove to be a boost for stocks.

Guilty Plea On Tap In Tainted Yogurt Case (TSG)
As detailed in an Albuquerque Police Department report, the female victim, 29, told cops that she was shopping with her daughter at the Sunflower Farmers Market on January 25 when a “pushy” Garcia approached her offering the yogurt sample. After ingesting the yogurt, the woman immediately thought the sample tasted “gross and disgusting.” And, as police reported, she “said it tasted like ‘semen.’” In a handwritten statement, the woman recalled, “I spit it out on the floor many times cuz I was upset.” She also recalled that a supermarket manager told her the sample “was a Greek yoghurt. People love it [because] has lot of protein on it.” Read more »