Not a lot of bounce back here yet:

March U.S. Auto Sales Were In Like A Lamb, Out Like A Lamb

By Jim Henry

Plus airfare, hotel, meals, airport limo, etc. ;):

Bernanke received at least $250,000 for his appearance at the financial conference staged by National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s largest bank, according to sources familiar the matter. NBAD did not announce the fee.

Because of Abu Dhabi’s oil wealth, state-controlled NBAD prospered during the global crisis caused by Lehman’s collapse, taking market share from hard-hit U.S. and European banks.

Bernanke’s speaking fee is similar to one received by his predecessor Alan Greenspan for an Abu Dhabi speaking engagement in 2008, the sources said.

Greenspan embarked on a series of lucrative speeches after he stepped down, and Bernanke now appears to be doing the same. He is scheduled to speak at an event in South Africa on Wednesday and in Houston on Friday.

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Strapped Scientists Abandon Research and Students

Less money means less science, as shown by a Chronicle survey of more than 10,000 researchers.

Expiring tax cuts accelerated capex?

U.S. business borrowing for equipment rises in January: ELFA

Feb 25 (Reuters) — U.S. companies borrowed more in January to spend on capital investment, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) said.

Companies signed up for $6 billion in new loans, leases and lines of credit last month, up 2 percent from a year earlier, but fell 44 percent from December, according to data from the ELFA.

“With fiscal pressures in Washington subsiding … and most major U.S. economic indicators showing positive signs, we are hopeful that these factors will help promote a favorable climate for continued investment in 2014 and beyond,” ELFA Chief Executive William Sutton said.

Washington-based ELFA, a trade association that reports economic activity for the $827 billion equipment finance sector, said credit approvals totaled 76.9 percent in January, down from 78.3 percent in December.

ELFA’s leasing and finance index measures the volume of commercial equipment financed in the United States. It is designed to complement the U.S. Commerce Department’s durable goods orders report, which it typically precedes by a few days.

From FT on Portugal, says it all:

The national statistics office noted worrying signs that domestic demand was contributing positively to growth in the last quarter for the first time since 2010. This may reflect the impact of previous cuts in public sector pay and pensions that were subsequently overturned by Portugals constitutional court. An over-reliance on the domestic market has been seen as one of Portugals structural weaknesses but exports are now driving the turnround.

The G-20 said it would “significantly raise global growth” without overtaxing national finance through measures to promote competition and increase investment, employment and trade.

As an initial step toward achieving the $2 trillion target, each country will present a comprehensive growth strategy to a summit of leaders scheduled for November in the Australian city of Brisbane.