Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- William Poole, who developed a reputation as one of the Fed’s most forceful inflation fighters, said he’s less concerned about prices than six months earlier and suggested the central bank may soon stop raising interest rates.
- Falling demand for gold jewelry in India, the world’s largest consumer, and the Middle East may cause the precious metal to drop.
- Albertson’s(ABS) agreed to be sold for $17.4 billion to a group led by Supervalu(SVU) and CVS Corp.(CVS).
- Natural gas is plunging another 8.0%, pushed lower by mild US weather that’s expected to leave supplies near all-time record high levels at the end of winter even as a substantial amount of Gulf of Mexico production remains shut-in.
- The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Research In Motion(RIMM), leaving intact a patent-infringement ruling that threatens to shut down BlackBerry e-mail service to as many as 3 million of the company’s US customers.
- Ford Motor Co.(F) will close 14 manufacturing facilities over the next six years on CEO William Clay Ford’s plan to end North American losses in 2008.
- The US dollar is falling to a four-month low against the euro after ECB officials suggesting higher interest rates are needed to prevent a surge in oil prices from spurring faster inflation.

Wall Street Journal:
- Oil prices are unlikely to rise as much this year as they did in 2005, so it will be hard for oil companies to maintain the rapid profit growth that will be seen this week, when they report fourth-quarter earnings.
- Newly started hedge funds may have a tough time raising capital this year as industry returns slow, and investors growth more selective, citing market participants including Jack Inglis, Morgan Stanley’s co-head of European prime brokerage.
- William Perez may step down today as CEO and president of Nike Inc.(NKE).
- Stanford University’s endowment rose 23%, faster than any other of the top-10 wealthiest US universities, as the educational institution benefited from its investments in private venture-capital funds.
- Hedge funds are getting bigger and more complex and many investment managers are finding they need more than one “prime” broker for their trading, borrowing and portfolio-monitoring.
- Applied Materials(AMAT) is going against the trend at other corporations and bringing a standalone venture capital fund back under its own management at the semiconductor-equipment marker.

NY Times:
- Some online stores have found that personalized recommendations for shoppers can significantly boost sales.
- The supply of crystal methamphetamine has increased in the US, as officials have clamped down on a home-made powdered variety of the drug.
- Walt Disney(DIS) will begin publishing a parenting magazine next month about how children learn from birth to age 6.
- Walk Disney(DIS) may reach an agreement in the next two weeks to sell its ABC broadcasting unit to Citadel Broadcasting for almost $3 billion.

Reuters:
- China, the world’s biggest steelmaker, became a net exporter of the metal for the first time last year.

NY Post:
- Sirius Satellite Radio(SIRI) executives are writing internal guidelines for what shock jocks such as Howard Stern can broadcast.

Nikkei English News:
- Hitachi Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., and Toshiba Corp. will start joint production of liquid crystal displays ahead of schedule in May.

7 Days:
- Persian Gulf stock markets are overvalued by at least $300 billion as earnings growth among companies in the region slows, citing Nomura Holdings.