Conflict of interest in government policy.

President Bush's nomination of Henry J. "Hank" Paulson to replace John Snow as Treasury Secretary is a practice that dates back to the Eisenhower Administration, when John Foster Dulles, whose law firm represented Goldman Sachs, was appointed Secretary of State.
In more recent history, Goldman Sachs co-CEO Robert Rubin instigated massive banking deregulation in the five years he served as Treasury Secretary in the Clinton Administration. Rubin quit in 1999 for a multimillion-dollar position at Citigroup. Around the same time, Jon Corzine lost an internal political battle as Paulson's co-CEO, rebounding first as the Democratic senator of New Jersey and now as governor.
Enter Hank Paulson, who has spent the past eight years as Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO. He joined the firm in 1974 after serving as a member of the White House Domestic Council in the Nixon Administration. Under Paulson's leadership, Goldman Sachs has become one of Washington's most generous patrons.
At that time Bush's approval ratings for his economic policies was hovering around 40 percent.Paulson's sole job essentially was traipsing up to Congress once a year and urging lawmakers to raise the US debt cap by another trillion dollars so there wouldn't be default on interest payments to China.
In a highly touted post-Enron-implosion speech at the National Press Club in mid-2002, Paulson urged reform in the financial system in three areas: accounting policy, standards of corporate governance and conflict of interest. "Conflicts are a fact of life in many, if not most, institutions, ranging from the political arena and government to media and industry," he said. "The key is how we manage them."

The Dow Friday is 20 days to index futures expiry.

Asian Index Futures expiry 30/04/10.Roll over short-covering to start.
9:30am:--Durable goods orders for March fell 1.3%,a bearish 20.0 points gap down.

10:30am:--Opening gap fully filled to session high with pullback to MAV support.Greece has requested financial aid from the EU and IMF

11:30am:--Bearish engulfing to near low.Concerns persist over the fiscal health of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and Spain.

12:30noon:--A retracement to near session bull pivot resistance. Better-than-expected earnings from Schlumberger (SLB 71.84, +3.66) have attracted buyers into oil and gas equipment plays.

1:30pm:--Still hoovering at session bull pivot resistance ,a dragonfly doji noticed.New home sales for March surged 26.9% month-over-month .

2:30pm:--Another noticeable dragonfly doji.Energy shares are up 1.7%, the strongest performers of the day.

3:30pm:--Bulls are holding at morning session high.

4:00pm:--An indecision dolji at the close holding at the high of the day.

The Dow closed on its highs for the year, and finished higher for its eighth consecutive week.

It's a bullish week despite all the odds and negative news about Greece.

Next week will be another full week of earnings plus a look at GDP for the beginning of the year. The Fed is expected to hold rates early on and bank reform is set for debate. Also, Goldman executives head to testify on the Hill.

Any profit taking will be mild and near to the month's bull pivot.