This column highlights the most interesting and useful election season and financial commentary on politics from around the Web every Wednesday. FactCheck.Org Link: Gillespie Twists the Facts on Bain Capital "A letter Bain Capital sent to its investors is now becoming a talking point for Mitt Romney surrogates. But once again the company letter which boasts of Bain's success is being misrepresented - this time by Ed Gillespie a senior adviser to the Romney campaign." OpenSecrets.org: OpenSecretsblog Link: Law and Lobbying Powerhouse Dewey & LeBoeuf Goes the Way of the Titanic "The firm Dewey & LeBoeuf filed for bankruptcy Monday

All major US indices fell more than 1% Wednesday led to the downside by the S&P which fell 1.43%. Financials and energy stocks were the biggest drag on the index which saw each of its 10 sectors finish in the red. The pressure continues to mount on Spain's banking system with reports suggesting that the country will need to tap into eurozone bailout funds to recapitalize its third largest bank and largest lender Bankia ES. A disappointing pending home sales number didn't help the cause either. Apple (AAPL) was once again a standout breaking above a key pivot and closing

The following are the latest daily summaries of my ongoing intraday coverage providing context to interpret price action. Any prices listed are for a contract's current "front month." Their direction tends to correlate with any ETFs listed for each. Today's Highlight: Currencies aggressively extended their trends Wednesday. Extending them further Thursday could lead to even steeper moves into and out of the weekend. Dollar Basket Jun Contract DX; (UUP) (UDN) Tuesday's peak at the 82.70 target suggested that either the rally was ending or that its pace was about accelerate. In fact Wednesday's open gapped up to 82.70 and the

MINYANVILLE ORIGINAL After a year of rumors about Facebook (FB) building a phone there appears to be proof that such a project is in the works. New York Times' Nick Bilton reported that Facebook has poached at least seven Apple (AAPL) engineers who have worked on either the iPhone or the iPad to design the hardware and software for a Facebook phone. The New York Times quotes an anonymous Facebook employee who said "Mark is worried that if he doesn't create a mobile phone in the near future.. Facebook will simply become an app on other mobile platforms." Certainly Facebook

In what may prove to be an unheralded but game changing move earlier in May the Federal Reserve approved plans by three of China's largest banks to establish bank branches in the US. Although the Fed's approval gives China's three largest state-owned lenders the opportunity to open banking outlets investors and customers shouldn't expect branded banks and ATMs from the likes of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Instead the decision may have the biggest impact on specialty commercial banking units at the nation's largest banks like JPMorgan Chase (JPM) Citigroup (C) Bank of America (BAC) and Wells Fargo

MINYANVILLE ORIGINAL People find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than for being right. --Joanne Kathleen Rowling I have continued to argue for some time that 2012 is likely a year of reflation and that stocks can rally significantly more as inflation expectations return to markets. The "mini-correction" I first addressed on April 6 has resulted in the US stock market still positive for the year while most international markets have cratered on eurozone fears. With bond yields (IEF) at record low levels it begs the question of whether a further breakdown in equities is coming because