Financial chiefs from the Group of Eight industrialized nations yesterday offered their most optimistic assessment yet of the global crisis, noting encouraging signs of economic stabilization and calling for an "exit strategy" from the policies that have been used to stimulate growth around the world.

Following two days of meetings in Lecce, Italy, the eight finance ministers -- including U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia -- also agreed to create "a set of common principles and standards governing the conduct of international business and finance."

Michigan's ailing, auto-dependent economy got a big boost Friday from the U.S. government, which offered to help back $2 billion in bonds for local communities to fix roads and infrastructure or help private developers create jobs.

The program, announced by Vice President Joe Biden in Kalamazoo, would give Michigan more money per capita for local projects than any other state under the $25-billion national program. Detroit and Wayne and Oakland counties would be among the top 10 recipients in the nation.

Will rising government bond yields upset investors' love affair with corporate bonds? Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields hit 4% this week, having risen from a low just above 2% at the start of the year, starting to raise questions about the attractiveness of what has been the slam-dunk trade of the year: buying investment-grade corporate bonds. The risks have risen, but company debt still looks like it's in the sweet spot.

* Wins approval for U.S. Treasury bailout

* Selling up to $750 mln common stock over time

* Term of Allianz warrants to buy Hartford stock extended (Adds details on Allianz agreement, paragraphs 8-9)

NEW YORK, June 12 (Reuters) - Hartford Financial ServicesGroup Inc (HIG.N) said on Friday it will take $3.4 billion offederal bailout money and plans to sell as much as $750 millionof common stock.

The 199-year-old life and property insurer announced itsplans eight days after saying Chairman and Chief ExecutiveRamani Ayer will retire by the end of the year, following biglosses tied to investments and variable annuity sales.

Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis told federal legislators Thursday that the government urged him to continue with plans to buy Merrill Lynch & Co. after BofA became aware of “accelerating losses” at the troubled brokerage.

In prepared testimony before Congressional committees, Lewis said BofA contacted officials at the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve in mid-December to inform them that the bank “had serious concerns about closing the transaction.”

An official with the U.S. Treasury Department's task force responsible for overhauling the American automobile industry has defended the $80 billion bailout effort to rescue General Motors and Chrysler, saying it helped prevent huge job losses. The testimony came at a Senate hearing Wednesday.

* US dollar recovers after Russia Treasury comments

* Higher risk appetite fades, euro, sterling retreat

* Euro trades in broad $1.3952-$1.4145 range on Wednesday

* Some doubts about strength of global recovery linger (Updates, adds comment, detail)

NEW YORK, June 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar edged upagainst the euro on Wednesday, erasing losses suffered afterRussia's central bank said it will diversify its currencyreserves by cutting U.S. Treasury purchases and buyingIMF-backed bonds.

U.S. Bancorp has received approval from the U.S. Treasury Department to repay all $6.6 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Funds it had received, the bank announced Tuesday.

U.S. Bank (NYSE: USB) will also repurchase the 10-year warrant that had entitled the Treasury to purchase shares of U.S. Bank’s common stock. Nine other banks were also approved to repay their TARP funds Tuesday, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The list was not made public.

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration rushed an alliance between Chrysler LLC and Fiat SpA despite Chrysler's worries about Fiat's financial health and its willingness to share technology, according to internal company emails.

The emails show Fiat ignoring requests for documents and trying to change contract terms late in the talks. One Chrysler adviser said the company had become a guinea pig for the government to display its toughness. Another top executive referred to the U.S. Treasury Department as "God."

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese officials are giving U.S. efforts to prime its ailing economy a vote of confidence and understand why higher budget deficits are a temporary necessity, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday.

BEIJING, June 1 -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner arrived in China this week seeking to reassure America's biggest creditor that its hundreds of billions of dollars of holdings in U.S. government debt remain safe.

Responding to remarks by Chinese officials in recent months about their nervousness over the value of U.S. Treasury securities, Geithner said he remains committed to a strong dollar and pledged that the United States would cut its fiscal deficit and eliminate "the extraordinary government support" that had been put in place to overcome the crisis.

Timothy Geithner is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on May 30 for his first official visit to China as U.S. Treasury Secretary. Long-running exchange-rate policy issues will be central to his discussions with Chinese officials.

The April release of the Treasury's semi-annual report on currency issues echoed familiar themes from years of Bush administration Treasury currency reports, lamenting China's huge current account surplus (9.6% of gross domestic product in 2008), accumulation of foreign exchange reserves and "undervalued" exchange rate.

BEIJING -- China, which has greatly benefited from open trade and investment, must now boost opportunities for U.S. firms in its economy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will say Monday in a broad speech on U.S.-China economic relations at Peking University.

"China has benefited hugely from open trade and investment and the ability to greatly increase its exports to the rest of the world. In turn, we expect increased opportunities to export to and invest in the Chinese economy," Mr. Geithner said in a written copy of his speech.

Decades of decline and seven months of negotiations with its union, creditors, and the U.S. Treasury Dept. will culminate in an historic bankruptcy for General Motors (GM) in New York on Monday morning, June 1, senior Obama Administration officials and company sources said Sunday night.

The once proud and dominant company, which owned half of the American car market at its peak, was finally brought to its knees by the recession and frozen credit markets,

Troy-based supplier Delphi Corp. continues talks with its lenders General Motors Corp. and the U.S. Treasury on a deal that would bring the supplier out of bankruptcy.

But the supplier issued a warning Friday evening that if a deal can't be reached by Monday, or if the company can't get an extension, that it could default on its loans.

The disclosure, made in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, comes days before a hearing slated Tuesday in which the supplier must present the deal to a bankruptcy court.

May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Delphi Corp. said lenders agreed toan extension of the auto-parts maker’s right to use a$4.35 billion bankruptcy loan until June 30.

Delphi continues negotiations with former parent GeneralMotors Corp. and the U.S. Treasury’s auto task force to try tobring the company out of court protection, according to aregulatory filing today.

To get the loan extension, Delphi must use $47 million incash on hand to pay down a portion of the loan, according to thefiling.

May 28 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., the world’slargest automaker until its 77-year reign ended in 2008, plansto file for bankruptcy protection on June 1 and sell most of itsassets to a new company, people familiar with the matter said.

May 28 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. and the U.S.Treasury reached an agreement with some of the automaker’slargest bondholders to smooth the way through bankruptcy.

* Japanese demand for overseas assets hits yen

* Dollar supported after Moody's affirms US credit rating

* Kiwi dollar rises after S&P lifts NZ outlook to stable

* Focus on yet another U.S. Treasury auction (Updates prices)

LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - The dollar rallied to a 2-1/2week high against a broadly weaker yen on Thursday as a spike inU.S. bond yields and Moody's affirming the United States' prizedtriple-A rating drew Japanese investors into overseas assets.

General Motors Corp.’s bid to stave off its bondholders has come up short, pushing the company closer to a bankruptcy filing -- and potentially meaning the automaker could cut ties with even more of its dealers.

GM (NYSE: GM) said that its offer to bondholders to trade $27.2 billion of unsecured debt for company stock failed to satisfy the debt-reduction requirement in its loan agreements with the U.S. Treasury Department.