U.S. financial stocks were little changed on Friday, with shares of American International Group the biggest loser after the company said its chief executive will resign.

The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) , which tracks the financial stocks in the S&P 500, slipped 0.2%.

American International (AIG) said late Thursday that Chief Executive and Chairman Ed Liddy will leave after replacements are found. AIG also said it plans to split the roles of chairman and chief executive at the giant government-owned insurer.

Full Story:  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/financials-weak-aig-chief-throws-in-the-towel?siteid=yhoof

Contrary to the prevailing analysis, we believe that the Obama and Bush administration insistence on protecting banks at the expense of the taxpayer is the result of a Machiavellian effort by Goldman Sachs and other major banks to influence U.S. economic policy by infiltrating the corridors of power.

Today, we duly note that Goldman Sachs has just hired former Barney Frank staffer Michael Paese to be its top Washington lobbyist. This position was formerly held by Mark Patterson, the current chief of staff at the Treasury.

Pease and Patterson are not the only ones to pass through the revolving door between Washington and Goldman. Bush’s Treasury secretary, Hank “The Hammer” Paulson is a former Goldman CEO. And his replacement, Tim Geithner, was mentored by Gerald Corrigan, a former New York Fed president and current partner and managing director of the Office of the Chairman of Goldman Sachs.

Who else was President Obama considering

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – March 20, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (WYE), Schering-Plough (SGP), China Mobile (CHL) and AIG (AIG).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579.

Here are highlights from Thursday's Analyst Blog:

Pfizer to Trim Animal Health Biz

Yesterday, Pfizer Inc. (PFE) announced that it may have to sell a portion of its animal health business in order to gain regulatory clearance for its proposed purchase of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (WYE). On January 26, 2009, Pfizer announced

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Highlights include American International Group, Inc.  (AIG), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Citigroup Inc. (C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC).Apparently the contracts that were signed by AIG (AIG) with its executives in its Financial Products unit -- the part of the company that wrote all the Credit Default Swaps and sank the company and almost sank the world financial system -- are iron clad. So says Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and AIG CEO Ed Liddy (installed at only $1 a year after the mess had been made).I'm a finance and economics guy, not a lawyer, but it does strike me that there are probably several grounds on which the contracts are at least ambiguous enough that the company should have avoided paying them. If a company knows it is in financial trouble, it cannot strike sweetheart deals with some ...