During the 2003 -- 06 boom years, three agencies, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave out millions of dollars in bonuses to regulators of these agencies.

The bonuses were supposedly given out for "superior" performance. Records show that at least $19 million in bonuses was awarded.

Interoil (IOC - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company said it will have to redrill part of its Antelope-2 well in Papua New Guinea due to mechanical issues. The company now expects the horizontal extension at Antelope-2 to be completed in late April. Despite crude futres being up more than 2.5% today, IOC is down a good deal on this less-than-stellar news. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on IOC.

This morning, IOC opened at $66.43. So far today the stock has hit a high of $67.80 and a low of $65.00. As of 11:50, IOC is trading at $66.53, down $2.05 (-3.0%). The chart for IOC looks bearish.

They don't all work out. The fundamentals of Central Garden & Pet Company (CENT), first written about here on June 22, 2009 at a price of $10.16, have not improved considerably, after about a year's performance window.

What's more, the U.S.'s 'frugal consumer' era, strong competition, and the 50/50 prospect for a sluggish U.S. housing sector recovery do not provide encouragement, moving forward, hence the calculation is to close the position at this time and take the roughly $1 gain.

February was an expensive month for the insurance industry, with a multibillion dollar price tag. It's easy to focus on the magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile, but there were other disasters, too. The Haiti earthquake added to the economic and insured losses and others that may not have claimed many headlines but did tick the cost to insurers and reinsurers higher. A new report by Aon Benfield (AON) runs through the damage caused in February, showing that the shortest month still found a way to be expensive.

The quake in Chile is estimated to have caused $2 billion to $8 billion in insured losses, to which you need to add $2.1 billion for Windstorm Xynthia, not to mention many eight-figure insured losses that will chip away at the industry's coffers. Haiti wasn't all that pricey, Aon says, because "insurance penetration is far greater than in Haiti."

The U.S. Labor Department's February jobs report, which indicated the world's largest economy lost just 36,000 jobs in the past month, points to a month in the near future in which in the U.S. economy final starts adding jobs on a monthly basis. Job growth appears to be up ahead: that's the good news.

The not-so-good news concerns the likely trend for gasoline prices: when the U.S. economy starts adding jobs, that means increased gasoline demand, which will likely send already-high gasoline prices up even more.

The index for pending home sales is closely watched because it is an indication of final sales. It usually takes about two months for real estate deals to be completed.

The newest numbers are not good. Pending home sales fell by 7.6% in January. The National Association of Realtors index stood at 90.4. A reading of 100 is considered normal. Analysts had expected a rise of 1% in January.

Late Tuesday, Synovus Financial (SNV) confessed that it's facing an informal inquiry by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). In a regulatory filing, Synovus disclosed that the SEC is attempting "to determine whether any person or entity has violated the federal securities laws." The financial firm was first informed of the informal investigation in a letter from the SEC dated Dec. 15, 2009.

Synovus said it intends to cooperate fully with the SEC's inquiry, but declined to provide further information on the matter. "We cannot discuss any details of the informal inquiry," explained spokesman Gregory Hudgison. "As stated in our public filings, the SEC has not asserted that Synovus or any person or entity has committed any securities violations."

Safeway (SWY - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company forecast 2010 EPS in a range between $1.65 and $1.85. Analysts previously expected EPS of $1.88 for the grocer. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on SWY.

This morning, SWY opened at $23.84. So far today the stock has hit a low of $23.84, but as of 11:50, SWY is trading near its daily high at $24.85, down $0.03 (-0.1%). The chart for SWY looks neutral and S&P gives SWY a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Travelers using the U.S.'s air travel system, already groaning from more than a decade of inadequate maintenance, will have to bear with another hardship for four months as the longest runway at New York's JFK International Airport undergoes repairs, The Wall Street Journal reported (subscription required.)

One-third of JFK's traffic and half of its departures with be diverted to three smaller runways, resulting in longer lines at take-offs/landings, the AP reported.

How does work on JFK's Bay Runway affect travelers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, etc.? As veteran air travelers know, the U.S.'s air travel system is so efficient and interdependent that travel delays at one hub frequently ripple throughout the system.

Okay, last week I mocked the government because of the assertion that the recent blizzards were a reason that we saw a larger-than-expected increase in jobless claims. I thought that perhaps this was the blame game going overboard, but that isn't the case.

White House economic adviser Larry Summers reiterated yesterday that "winter blizzards were likely to distort U.S. February jobless figures." Seriously. Yes, I know that some companies have weather-related issues and that could have some impact on the jobless picture, but this is just a bit much.

If you do business with Iran, it's probably going to be harder to get insurance coverage. Regulators and lawmakers in the U.S. are looking for stiffer penalties to thrust upon companies that do business with Iran. And insurers, likely acutely aware of how risk can spread, are starting to pull back.

Munich Re (0KFE) and Allianz (AZSEY) announced that they are suspending business in Iran, according to a report by Business Insurance. Neither company, however, stands to lose much. For Allianz, the lost premium is "negligible," and for Munich Re, it's only around $13.6 million.

We have an absolute crisis of the greatest magnitude facing the unemployed. After Sunday, February 28, the jobless will no longer be able to apply for federal unemployment benefits or the COBRA health insurance subsidy.

Federal benefits kick in after the basic state funded 28 week period. Federal benefits are divided into tiers and the jobless must apply each time they move up to a new tier.

Here are some devastating statistics:

• Nearly 5 million will run out of benefits by June.
• Right now, 1.2 million stand to lose benefits in March.

Wynn Resorts (WYNN - option chain) stock is trading slightly lower today after the company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $5.2 million, or 4 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, WYNN earned 8 cents per share on revenue of $809 million. Analysts had forecast a profit of 13 cents per share on revenue of $784 million. Though the company was pleased with results from its Macau properties, company CEO Steve Wynn told a conference call that the company has a bearish outlook for its Las Vegas properties. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on WYNN.

This morning, WYNN opened at $62.49. So far today the stock has hit a high of $63.11 and a low of $61.18. As of 11:55, WYNN is trading at $62.39, down 41 cents (-0.6%). The chart for WYNN looks neutral and S&P gives WYNN a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), resales of U.S. homes and condominiums slipped 7.2% during January. This drop brought the seasonally adjusted annual rate to 5.05 million, which was the lowest in seven months. January's drop marks the second-straight month of drops, following up December's record plunge of 16.2%.

A spokesman for NAR noted that this is "not good news. ... There is rising concern about the strength of the housing recovery." The group is holding out hope that the Spring will be better, as the latest tax break will expire and potential job growth could help push home sales higher. The good news is that the pace of sales in January outpaced those from a year earlier by 11.5%. The current inventory of unsold homes stands at a nearly 8-month supply at the current sales pace.

It isn't hard to figure what's been weighing on the Dow recently. True, the soap opera-like drama being played out in Europe regarding how to point Greece toward fiscal solvency has been on traders' minds, but the big mood changer on Wall Street concerns U.S. unemployment and health of the nation's industrial sector.

Two, consecutive, unexpected increases in initial jobless claims -- they jumped 22,000 this week to 496,000 -- have given the market's bears some evidence to argue that a double-dip recession is not entirely beyond the realm of possibility.