May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who pledged to continue the policies of his predecessor, is sticking close to Alan Greenspan's opposition to regulation of hedge funds.

In the first in-depth study of its kind, the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that taxpayers who took their case to the IRS's appeals division won at least some relief in about 41% of the cases. (WSJ)

WASHINGTON – For the Bush administration, awarding Libya this week with restoration of full diplomatic relations should be a lesson to Iran and North Korea. Give up your nuclear weapons programs just as Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi did, administration officials argue, and you too can reap the benefits of political and economic ties with the United States.( CSM)

May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's 10-year government bonds were set for the biggest gain in a month on speculation inflation will slow after the yen rallied to an almost an eight-month high against the dollar.

Industrial production rose 0.8 percent in April after an increase of 0.6 percent in March. The levels of the output index for January through March were revised upward, and industrial production is now reported to have increased at an annual rate of 5.4 percent in the first quarter. In April, manufacturing production advanced 0.7 percent, and the output indexes for mining and for utilities both increased 0.9 percent. At 112.3 percent of the 2002 average, overall industrial output was 4.7 percent above its April 2005 level (FED)

The rate of capacity utilization for total industry climbed 0.5 percentage point, to 81.9 percent, a rate almost 1.0 percentage point above its 1972-2005 average. The factory operating rate, at 80.8 percent, was 1.0 percentage point above its long-run average. The operating rate for mining jumped to 89.8 percent, a rate 2.5 percentage points above its 1972-2005 average. The capacity utilization rate for utilities also increased, but it remained below its long-run average.(FED)

(CNSNews.com) - Former vice presidential candidates John Edwards and Jack Kemp joined forces on Tuesday in Pentagon City, Va., calling on corporations to offer automatic 401(k) options in an effort to boost the financial security of middle and lower-income American families.