Market Talk

- SEC investigating a few dozen financial firms regarding repo 105s is a welcome move, but it brings into question whether the agency has enough reach to be effective, Yves Smith says.

- Amazon (AMZN) currently controls nearly all of the e-book market. That will change with the iPad, Nook and others taking share, but maybe they can all thrive together, MediaMemo blogger Peter Kafka ponders.

- Current financial reform proposals are “toothless facades of what real regulation should look like,” Barry Ritholtz writes. He offers 10 questions finance reformers need to answer before passing legislation.

- New iPhones potentially on both AT&T (T) and Verizon Wireless may possible be Palm’s worst nightmare, Digital Daily blogger John Paczkowski says.

- This March has been a great month for stocks. And more gains may be on the way. April’s historically one of the best months of the year for the market, with the Dow averaging a 1.9% gain in April over last 50 years, according to Bespoke.

- “Regulation has to be smarter than something as simple as narrow banking,” Paul Krugman says. “Government backing — the 21st-century version of deposit insurance — plus regulation so that the backed institutions don’t abuse the privilege is still the way to go.”

- Non-profits can’t possibly save print journalism, Newsosaur blogger Alan Mutter argues.

- Ireland’s government announced plans to inject billions of euros into the nation’s beleaguered banking system and outlined bigger-than-expected discounts on loans to be transferred by financial institutions to the nation’s “bad bank.”

- Wondering what the next big battle between Wall Street and Washington will be? Capital ratios and liquidity, Andrew Ross Sorkin says.

- This perfectly exemplifies how bad the job market truly has gotten.

- Germany’s considering a plan with its EU partners to offer Greece and other troubled euro zone members loan guarantees.

- Debt problems in Europe seem to be growing by the day. But Greece is tiny compared to the rest of Europe. So are Portugal and Ireland. Paul Krugman argues the problem is contained. But isn’t that the same thing they said about subprime in 2007?

- Barnes & Noble’s (BKS) Nook e-reader will finally be available in stores tomorrow, only about four months after original unveiling. “Better late than never. But not a lot better,” Peter Kafka says, as iPad has essentially redefined e-reader market. “It’s now Amazon’s Kindle vs Apple’s iPad.”

- Google’s (GOOG) new foray into social networking, dubbed Google Buzz, has pros and cons. Seems like a clean design, but “lacks any imagination,” Dan Frommer notes.

- Apple’s repudiation of Flash follows its same pattern with floppy drives in the first iMacs, John Paczkowski writes. “It’s a move that inevitably generates great controversy and criticism, but ultimately proves to be ahead of its time.”

- “If you want to understand Obamanomics one year out, look at the demand-side hole we’re still in, the gargantuan boomer deficit we’re heading for, and the mad-as-hell party these bad times have spawned,” former labor secretary Robert Reich says. “How Obama deals with all three will be the real economic test of his presidency.”

- EBay looks to users for help enhancing search. “It’s imperative that we have a deeper conversation with customers and buyers,” Christopher Payne, eBay VP of search, tells NYT’s Bits blog. “It’s fair to say it’s a cultural change at eBay.”

- Hiring won’t ramp up without demand. “No responsible business owner would incur additional debt to hire more workers – unless the company anticipates a major demand increase,” The Atlantic’s Daniel Indiviglio says. “I doubt that’s happening at many smaller firms right now.”

- Average length of time unemployed workers have been out of jobs is at an all-time high, NYT’s Economix blog notes.

- Morningstar buys financial blog Footnoted. Deal’s terms weren’t disclosed. “While I negotiated mightily for the keys to the Gulfstream, the corporate apartment in Paris, the company yacht, the lifetime consulting contract and, of course, a tax gross up — all crazy perks we’ve written about in various M&A deals — I came up empty handed,” Michelle Leder says. “That’s because Morningstar doesn’t believe in those sorts of things. Nor do I.”