Quick Picks focuses on a select few of the day's stories from "Breaking on the Web."

• Special dispensations from state regulators have allowed some of the nation's largest insurers to pad their bookkeeping by hundreds of millions of dollars, the Washington Post reports. Insurance companies are using the boon to make their finances seem artificially strong.
• Even though there are less than two weeks before automakers are required to submit detailed plans for use of $17.4 billion in federal loans, the Obama administration still hasn't designated a car czar. Inside sources told the Wall Street Journal this is undermining the automakers' ability to negotiate with bondholders and unions, putting their plans in jeopardy.

Check out more of our roundup of the best investigative stories around the Web.

Was there a story we missed? Please keep sending us stories from your local paper, favorite blog or magazine, etc. via e-mail or Delicious.