Opening Bell: 08.05.11

Job Creation Inches Higher; Unemployment Slips To 9.1 Percent (AP)
The Labor Department says employers added 117,000 jobs last month. That's an improvement from the past two months...Still, the economy needs twice as many net jobs per month to rapidly reduce unemployment. The rate has topped 9 percent in every month except two since the recession officially ended in June 2009.

RBS Slides to Loss as Greek Writedown Adds to Burden of Insurance Redress (Bloomberg)
“Greece was the only significant sovereign exposure that we had inherited from ABN Amro among the countries first in the firing line,” said Hester, 50. “In Ireland and Portugal, the other two, although we have commercial positions inside those countries, our sovereign debt position is negligible.” RBS’s first-half net loss compared with a profit of 9 million pounds in the year-earlier-period and analyst estimates of a 571 million-pound loss, according to the median estimate of five surveyed by Bloomberg. The loss widened to 897 million pounds in the second quarter from a 528 million-pound loss in the first three months of the year.

Merkel, Sarkozy to Discuss Euro-Zone Situation (WSJ)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will talk Friday to French President Nicolas Sarkozy over the telephone, with the "current situation in the euro zone" among the issues to be discussed, a Merkel spokesman said Friday. The spokesman had no further information, but the office of the French presidency confirmed the conversation will take place Friday afternoon. On Friday expectations surrounding the Merkel-Sarkozy talk were high. "Given the tornado that's hitting markets, it would be judicious for policy makers to send a strong signal and bring a bit of calm and reason to investors who have lost their compass," Fabrice Couste, head of CMC Markets France, said.

Marc Faber: Brace For A 'Global Reboot' And A War (CNBC)
"You have a computer. Occasionally the computer will crash and you have to reboot it. That will happen to the global economy. Before this happens there will be much more money printing because basically the central banks are willing to do that," he said. "By printing money, problems are not solved, but they can be postponed, and they become larger. It's like the recession in 2001. Had there not been massive money printing, it would have been steeper than what we had, but equally, we would have avoided probably the financial crash in 2008...The next time we have a global economic crisis, it will be much worse than 2008. Before this happens there will be money printing and there will be war. The whole system will collapse," he said. "That's why I'm advising people that they have to think it through. In a total collapse you don't want to own government bonds and cash."

Asian Leaders Vow To Respond If Needed (WSJ)
Asia-Pacific policy makers Friday voiced concern about the darkening of the global outlook and declared themselves ready to respond, potentially complicating the fight against inflation that many in the fast-growing region are waging.

Rent Is Too Damn High Candidate Facing Eviction From Rent Controlled Apartment (NYP)
Jimmy McMillan says he pays $872.96 for a rent-controlled ground-floor apartment on St. Marks Place in the East Village -- which he's had since the late-1970s, when the rent was around $275. But the man who founded the tenants-rights party says his landlords are giving him the boot so they can pull in way more dough. "I've been here since 1977, and they want more money!" McMillan says. "It's about 'My Rent is Too Damn Low.' "

Allegations Against Italy Analysts 'Entirely Founded' (CNBC)
As under-fire Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi prepared to address his parliament about the state of the nation's economy on Wednesday, Italian police raided the Milan offices of Moody's and Standard & Poor's. The raid came as both agencies pondered a further downgrade of Italy's sovereign debt after concerns about the country's debt-to-GDP ratio, the second highest in the euro zone after Greece. It is in increasing danger of being lumped in with Greece, Spain, Ireland and the other euro zone economies perceived as vulnerable. Italian market regulator Consob has been asked to provide documents relating to the credit agencies' Italian registration. S&P said it believed the probe was "groundless" in a statement. "We strongly defend our work, our reputation and that of our analysts," it added. Rival Moody's said it "takes its responsibilities surrounding the dissemination of market sensitive information very seriously and is cooperating with the authorities."

Recession Fears Hit Commodities (WSJ)
Commodities are sliding steadily Friday in the worst pan-asset class selloff since October 2008, as fear of another severe downturn tightens its grip on the financial markets.

Robber Returns Cash, Leaves Apology (WMUR)
Surveillance video shows a man walking to another area of the store, where he appears to search through the purse, pulling out items and stuffing them into his pockets. Police said that when an image from the surveillance video was released to the media, the victim got a knock at her door. Investigators said a man was standing at her door with the victim's GPS, a new cord for the device, the $90 in cash that was stolen, plus an extra $10. Police said he also gave the woman a note before he ran away. The note said, among other things, that he didn't stalk or follow the woman and didn't go to the store with the intent of committing a crime. It also said, "I am sorry a million times over," and closes with, "Sorry & Thank You." The note is signed at the bottom, "Stupid."