Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- The Bush administration and House lawmakers announced agreement on an economic stimulus package that would distribute rebate checks to 117 million families and give businesses incentives to invest in equipment.
- Societe Generale SA said unauthorized bets on stock index futures by a rogue trader caused a $7.2 billion trading loss, the largest in banking history.
- NY’s insurance regulator said a plan to have US banks aid bond insurers will “take some time to finalize.”
- Dow Chemical(DOW) CEO Andrew Liveris said financial markets are overreacting to the prospect of the US entering a recession.
- Short-term debt backed by assets such as mortgages and auto loans expanded for a fourth straight week as the Fed cut its target rate the most in 23 years, pushing borrowing costs to the lowest since July 2005.
- The risk of companies defaulting fell after NY regulators urged Wall Street firms to bail out bond insurers including MBIA Inc.(MBI) and Ambac Financial Group(ABK) to avert worsening credit-market turmoil.

Wall Street Journal:
- Some of Mike Huckabee’s top advisers are working pay and some field directors have been let go entirely, the campaign said today, as money woes have taken hold.
- The Wall Street Journal’s Web site, WSJ.com, will keep a significant portion of its content behind its paid-subscription wall, News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said.

NY Times:
- Jeffries Cuts Hedge Fund Investment Amid Loss.

NY Post:
- Sharks Circle Yahoo!(YHOO). LBO, Media Bigs Attracted to Battered Stock.

Reuters:
- OPEC doesn’t need to raise its output because recent declines in prices show there is enough supply, citing Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, Qatar’s oil minister.
- Spanish Economy Minister Pedro Solbes said the European Central Bank is debating whether to cut interest rates amid market turmoil.

Financial Times:
- One of the most controversial figures in world shipping markets has denied playing a pivotal role in the past few weeks’ decline of dry bulk shipping rates, saying it results from fundamental market changes.
- French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said he expects the European Central Bank to act to cushion the economy against market turbulence and slowing growth.

globeandmail:
- Smiles disappearing in hedge fund land.

Cbichina.com:
- China’s copper output rose 17% to 302,200 metric tons in December, compared with a year earlier, citing figures form the National Bureau of Statistics.