Agricultural Bank of China Raises $7.3 Billion; Banks Applying to Repay TARP; Fiat CEO Confident About Opel Bid; World Bank Prez Sees Year-End Recovery; Derivatives Shrink to $592 Trillion; GE Reaches Debt Funding Goals for 2009; UAW & GM Still at Odds on Labor Agreement; Home Depot Beats Street

In the currency market, the dollar was sharply higher against the euro. Late Friday, the euro was trading at $1.3471 vs. $1.3633 on Thursday.

Despite promises of open government, the Obama administration tried to “cover up the very existence of smoking-gun documents” prepared for a meeting in which former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson allegedly coerced major banks to allow the government to take equity stakes, according to conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch.

Even though the government stress tests have ended and the banks in question have set about raising the required capital, credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s believes the nation’s banking crisis has “merely entered a new phase” and might not end before 2013.

In an odd bit of capitalist irony, the U.S. banking crisis could end up as the catalyst that finally jump-starts the long-moribund market for initial public stock offerings (IPOs).  In fact, it already appears to be happening.

One business day removed from the government’s bank stress tests, four of the largest U.S. banks – BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) – announced plans to raise capital through stock offerings.

Now that the results of the U.S. bank stress tests are finally in the books, the extent of the capital shortfalls are known and – in many cases – are actually being addressed.

The results of the government’s bank stress tests were released yesterday (Thursday), and the U.S. Federal Reserve has directed 10 banks to raise an aggregate $70 billion-plus in capital.

In the energy market on Wednesday, crude for June delivery pushed to a six-month high, closing at $56.34/barrel, up $2.50. June reformulated gasoline rose 5.58 cents, to $1.628/gallon.