Monday's Top Stories in 2 Minutes

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Here at the Fool, we've searched high and low across the Web this Monday morning to find the biggest news and best stories around. Here are your top five morning reads.

1. CIT Group (NYSE: CIT) dresses up as WaMu for Halloween
CIT filed for bankruptcy on Sunday. The firm pursued a last-ditch effort to convert debt to preferred shares, but bondholders balked, and the plan failed. One casualty of CIT's bankruptcy: Taxpayers will be out the $2.3 billion that was given to the company as part of the TARP program. (Read more at CNNMoney.)

2. Ford (NYSE: F) cruises to profits
Ford released an upbeat earnings report this morning. The company, which was expected to post a loss, ended up generating nearly $1 billion in earnings. While Ford received one-time benefits from the Cash for Clunkers program last quarter, it also expressed confidence in its long-term business by increasing guidance for 2011. (Read more at The New York Times.)

3. Steve Ballmer rains on the tech parade
While IT industry stalwarts such as Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), and IBM (NYSE: IBM) all had solid quarters, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was quick to downplay expectations. In a speech to South Korean executives, Ballmer said he doesn't see IT spending returning to pre-crash levels anytime soon. (Read more at Yahoo! Finance)

4. How to earn $10 million a day
The Wall Street Journal details how John Paulson, a somewhat obscure hedge fund manager before the crisis, decided to place major bets on housing prices collapsing. Paulson's foresight netted more than $15 billion for his hedge fund and grew his personal wealth by more than $10 million a day during 2007. (Read more at The Wall Street Journal.)

5. The iPhone gets poor reception in China
Despite large amounts of fanfare, Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) roll out of the iPhone in China wasn't met with much enthusiasm. The phone is being sold by China Unicom (NYSE: CHU), which is much smaller than the country's largest wireless operator, China Mobile. Also, the Chinese iPhone may struggle because it's being sold at higher prices than "gray-market" iPhones and lacks Wi-Fi services. (Read more at The Wall Street Journal.)

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