Write-Offs: 06.16.11

$$$Housing Starts Increase, While Jobless Claims Slip (NYT)

$$$Greek deal fails to ease contagion fears (FT)

$$$Ireland Bank Stance Complicates ECB’s Debt Fight (Bloomberg)

$$$ Blackstone's Byron Wien: Time for a Pause (Blackstone via RealClearMarkets)

$$$ It’s a fab time for a Greek buyback, says Goldman (FT Alphaville)

$$$Art Cashin Compares This Week's Action To The Days Before Black Friday (ZeroHedge)

$$$ Trailer: 'Moneyball' aims for 'The Blind Side' sweet spot (Entertainment Weekly)

$$$Black Swan: A 40 Percent Correction? (CNBC)

$$$Goldman Sachs Sees No Panic in Options as VIX Takes Six Weeks to Exceed 20 (Bloomberg)

$$$U.S. Banks’ Greek Risk Under $33 Billion: Schorr (Bloomberg)

$$$ Barclays: Don’t Worry, Banks Are a Buy (Deal Journal)

$$$House Passes Bill to Cut CFTC Funding (Bloomberg)

$$$ Basel Weighs 3.5-Point Fee to Curb Bank Growth (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-16/basel-is-said-to-consider-3-5-percentage-point-fee-to-curb-growth-of-banks.html

$$$ Gambler or Investor? The Truth About Why We Trade (WSJ)

$$$Santander head and family face tax probe (FT)

$$$Capital One to Buy ING’s U.S. Online Banking Unit for $9 Billion (DealBook)

$$$Moody’s Corp. Skids Sharply After It Gets Downgraded (MarketBeat)

$$$Goldman Adds Barnard College President Debora Spar to Board of Directors (Bloomberg)

$$$UBS hires four Stoners from Morgan Stanley (Reuters)

$$$Obama Is Said to Talk With Economist Blank About Heading Economic Advisers (Bloomberg)

$$$ Pandora: BTIG Says Sell, $5.50 Target (Barron’s)

$$$RIM slashes forecast again, shares tumble (Reuters)

$$$Oracle Seeks Billions in Lawsuit Against Google (Reuters via NYT)

$$$Corrupt officials took $124bn out of China (FT)

$$$British man Sean Murphy shoots off own finger with shotgun to remove wart (NYDN)