Citi sets a record… how it could signal a market bottom by June…Dan Amoss on a “rescue” program that might work as advertised — and even touch off a stock rally… Buffett dispenses more pearls of wisdom… highlights of his annual letter to shareholders… Byron King on the energy crisis the government must solve… soon… U.S. still doesn’t have it that bad… the new Iron Curtain forming in the EU

To ease the ongoing credit crisis and get banks lending again, the Obama administration realizes that it first has to resuscitate the “shadow financial system” that’s dominated by hedge funds and other large-scale private investors.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson yesterday (Wednesday) announced a reshaping of the government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. Instead of purchasing troubled assets directly from banks, Paulson said the majority of the funds allotted to the Treasury Department would be used to purchase equity stakes in financial institutions and bolster the consumer credit market.