Quantum Fund co-founder George Soros had it right on Monday, when he said the U.S. recovery would be held back by “basically bankrupt” banks and companies.

Investment banks have gotten fat off the land since 1982, when the great U.S. bull market got its start. Their business has multiplied many-fold, and their earnings have soared into the stratosphere, to a level far higher than any other sector.

The bankruptcies of Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GRM) provided Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE ADR: TM) with an unparalleled opportunity to increase U.S. market share. But now patent-infringement claims could result in a U.S. import ban on some of the company’s most popular hybrid cars.

Is the U.S. housing market truly at a turning point, as investors seem to increasingly believe? Or is this actually a false dawn, meaning that there are problems and pain ahead for those who turned bullish too soon?

A new Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.  (FDIC) plan to offload busted banks to vulture investors strikes an uneven balance between private equity players and public taxpayers and may inadvertently sow the seeds for another round of bank failures.

Asia is poised to become the “new” Detroit.

Steel maker Nucor Corp.’s (NYSE: NUE) stock has rallied some 51% from its March 3 low of $29.84 a share and has twice bumped against its recent high of $49.91 a share. 

Just when it thought the competition was leveling off, Blockbuster (NYSE:BBI) faces another nasty barrage. The company missed estimates yesterday, now the Street is forcing it to pay.

Cash for Clunkers is driving up sales. Ford (NYSE:F) proves it doesn’t need the government, but some free money is always nice. Who else is profiting from Washington’s handouts?