Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- The euro declined the most against the dollar in almost two months after Europe’s service industries weakened and raised concern that Jean-Claude Trichet’s reluctance to cut interest rates will hamper growth.
- Apple Inc.(AAPL) unveiled higher-prices models of its iPhone mobile handset and iPod media player with double the memory of older versions, altering its lineup for the second time in six months to encourage shoppers to spend more.
- Computer Sciences(CSC) rose the most in more than two years in NY trading after third-quarter profit topped analysts’ estimates.
- Whirlpool(WHR) said fourth-quarter profit rose more than analysts estimated, sparking the largest appliance maker’s biggest gain on the NYSE in nine months.
- Perot Systems(PER) rose the most in more than four years after fourth-quarter profit and sales topped analysts’ estimates.
- Illumina, the market of tools used to analyze genetic material and diagnose disease, rose the most in three weeks after forecasting profit that tops analysts’ estimates.
- Worldwide investment in clean energy technologies, driven by the need to address climate change, could reach a total of $7 trillion through 2030, according to a study by Cambridge Energy Research Assoc.
- Dennis Gartman, editor of the Gartman Letter, Sees Up to 15% Drop for Gold.
- Sugar inventories that rose 19% last year will reach a record within months as farmers from Brazil to India contribute to a growing glut.
- Crude oil is falling more than $2/bbl. on a rising US dollar, less speculation by investment funds, decelerating global demand and record global production.

Wall Street Journal:
- Microsoft Corp.(MSFT) will probably raise its $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo! Inc.(YHOO) to avoid a lengthy battle. Sandeep Aggarwal, an analyst with Oppenheimer, said no other company wants Yahoo as much as Microsoft does and the latter will have to raise its bid to something in the range of $36 to $40 a share.
- Microsoft’s(MSFT) Yahoo(YHOO) Gambit.
- Chinese Investors Relying on ‘Olympic Put’ for Rally.

Businessweek.com:
- Buffett Stock Screen Shows 60 Candidates.

CNBC:
- Wilbur Ross, chairman of NY-based WL Ross, said he’s still looking at several bond insurers and may make a decision on investing in the next few weeks.

Marginal Revolution:
- Commercial loans from large banks are at an all time high and increasingly rapidly.

Dealbreaker:
- Goldman Sachs’ latest hedge fund, which was the largest launch in the history of the industry, had a rough first month. The fund is down 6% for January, according to a source familiar with the results.

San Francisco Chronicle:
- Lennar(LEN) attracts major backer for S.F. projects.
- New Intel(INTC) chip sets a record, doubles processing power.

LA Times:
- Top corporate insiders last month bought more of their companies’ shares than they sold for the first time since 1995, while the volume of shares sold short last month grew to 3.7% of NYSE-traded companies’ total shares outstanding, the highest since at least 1931.

USA Today:
- Farmland more valuable than ever.

AP:
- US-backed Sunni Muslim tribesmen found about 50 bodies in a mass grave west of the Iraqi city of Samarra, citing local officials. About 200 bodies were unearthed in recent months from mass graves around nearby Lake Tharthar, an area that was controlled by al-Qaeda until an uprising this year by local tribes.

De Telegraaf:
- Corporate Express NV is in “exploratory” talks with Staples Inc.(SPLS) to be bought.

Reforma:
- Mexico’s wind-generated power industry will receive $4.5 billion in international and domestic investments in the next five years.