News Today - Apr 17

* JPMorgan Chase reported a better-than-expected profit of $2.1 billion in the first quarter, even as the bank aggressively set aside money to cope with rising loan losses, the company said Thursday.

* San Francisco Federal Reserve president warns of ticking time-bomb of asset inflation, calling for central bank vigilance.

* Search giant Google posts higher earnings, handily beating expectations, thanks to spending by search advertisers and a clampdown on costs.

* India's Annual inflation based on wholesale prices hit a new record low of 0.18% for the week to April 4, continuing a decline that started early this year, but a sharp rise in vegetable prices and higher fuel costs prevented its widely-expected fall into negative territory.

* After averaging at 8.8 per cent growth over the past four years, India's growth rate in 2009-10 is expected to slow down to 5.5 per cent mainly due to lower investment and declining external demand, the US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said.

* Jim Rogers: How He's Investing After the Crisis, Read