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.”

Europe Prepares Next Steps After Merkel Win (Bloomberg)
European leaders are turning their focus to the next steps to stem the region’s debt crisis after German lawmakers approved an expansion of the euro-area rescue fund’s firepower. With the European Commission now expecting the overhauled 440 billion-euro ($594 billion) European Financial Stability Facility in place by mid-October, euro finance chiefs will next week discuss accelerating enactment of a permanent rescue fund that provides more capital and a tool for managing defaults. “I’m not convinced that this bailout package is going to be remotely enough for the euro zone itself,” Wilbur Ross, the billionaire chairman of private-equity firm WL Ross & Co., said yesterday in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop” with Betty Liu. “I think it should start with a ‘T,’ not a ‘B,’” he said, referring to trillions instead of billions.

Pandit Sees No Repeat Of 2008 Crisis, Confident On Euro-Zone (Reuters)
“I’m fully confident that the Europeans will figure it out…as that happens I don’t think we need to worry about a financial crisis,” Pandit said.

DA Wants To Make Sure SAT Cheats Don’t Become White Collar Criminals (NYP)
Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice — whose office blew the lid off the scam this week — said cheating on college entrance tests is widespread and that security should be beefed up as soon as this weekend, when nearly 700,000 students are expected to take the SAT. “If we don’t send the message to these kids now,” she said, “they’re going to be the future corrupt politicians, the corrupt CEOs, the corrupt accountants, because they’re going to say, ‘Look, I did this when I was 17 and I got a slap on the wrist. Cheating pays.’ ” Four college freshmen and two current seniors at Great Neck North allegedly enlisted hired brain Sam Eshaghoff, 19, an Emory University sophomore, to take the exams for them between 2009 and last January. Five of the six paid Eshaghoff between $1,500 and $2,500 to take the tests, according to Rice. The sixth was Eshaghoff’s girlfriend, the school source said, who didn’t have to pay.

At SEC, Strategy Changes Course (WSJ)
In a major shift from the agency’s traditional enforcement strategy, the SEC could file more civil cases in which defendants are accused of negligence only, rather than harder-to-prove charges of intentional wrongdoing or recklessness, according to SEC officials. In the past, the SEC sometimes persuaded individuals to agree to narrow negligence charges in order to settle the case, rather than fight the agency in court over more-serious allegations, according to defense lawyers. The SEC generally wasn’t willing to risk a courtroom defeat if the only allegation was negligence.

Chris Christie Seriously Considering Running For President (NJ)
Chris Christie is seriously rethinking his months of denials and may launch a campaign for the White House after all, a source close to the governor said yesterday. Christie has a small window of opportunity to make his final decision, and some political experts think he has only days to declare.

Trump Casino Offers $25K Plastic Surgery Prize (AP)
The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort plans to give $25,000 worth of plastic surgery to a winner from a player’s card contest. The lucky one can mix and match surgeries including breast enhancements, tummy tucks, liposuction and face lifts until the total hits $25,000. “We wanted to change the face of a typical casino promotion, and with this one we are literally doing it,” said Kathleen McSweeney, senior vice president of marketing for Trump Entertainment Resorts.