Earlier this evening, I had the opportunity to get the unvarnished thoughts of a former Deutsche Bank employee familiar with Trump from this $640-million deal gone awry on the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.

US Weighs Summer Sale Of GM Stock (WSJ) To break even, the U.S. Treasury would need to sell its remaining stake—about 500 million shares—at $53 apiece. GM closed off 27 cents a share at $29.97 in 4 p.m.

A passage from his latest screed implies as much. The Macks make for an interesting couple. John , a Lebanese-American nicknamed “Mack the Knife” for his legendary passion for firing people, has one of the most recognizable faces on Wall Street, physically resembling a crumpled, half-burned baked potato with a pair of overturned furry horseshoes for eyebrows .

Obama Demands Budget Deal To Avert Government Shutdown (Bloomberg) fter meeting with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Obama said issues remained unresolved and he hoped for a breakthrough that would prevent a shutdown, set to begin at midnight tonight. “I’m not yet prepared to express wild optimism but I think we are further along,” he told reporters

In first address to the nation 10 days after launching military action in Libya, President Obama justifies U.S. intervention [ LAT ] In other disturbing news, Abercrombie & Fitch now makes a padded bikini top, formerly marketed as the “push-up triangle”, for girls as young as age 7 [ KABC ] Above average radiation levels officials insist are too low to pose a threat detected at Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s busiest container port [ KTLA ] With Steve Carrell bowing out after seven seasons, could Will Ferrell’s upcoming four-episode stint on “The Office” become a permanent gig?

Rajaratnam’s Wiretapped Call With Brother Bolsters Insider Case (Bloomberg) And in testimony earlier this week, Goel said that Rajaratnam told him in 2003 that Rajaratnam had given BMW cars to two women in Intel’s sales department who leaked information to him. Lynam asked Goel if he thought Rajaratnam was joking

Following reports yesterday that  AOL ( AOL ) will be consolidating several media properties , UBS Securities analyst Brian Pitz this morning raised his rating on the shares to Buy from Neutral, with a $25 price target, arguing that the company stands to gain from “stabilization” and “monetization.” AOL shares today are up 64 cents, or 3.4%, at $19.61. AOL’s effort on display ads, dubbed “ Project Devil ,” appear to be getting higher-than-average CPMs , at about $30, writes Pitz

RBS CEO Stephen Hester was recently asked by Parliament to defend his bonus for 2011, which clocked in at around £7.7m.

The following post is by Dealbreaker reader and commenter Infinite Guest . If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And if the only tool you have is an election, then every place looks like a democracy

CrowdGather , a company that says it owns more than 65,000 online forums, has just completed $7.85 million in new funding through a private placement. Chief executive Sanjay Sabnani said the money should help the startup continue acquiring more forums.