Bloomberg:

• Producer Prices in U.S. Rose .8% in November; Core Up .3%. Wholesale costs in the U.S. rose in November by the most in eight months, led by higher prices for gasoline, heating oil and fruit. Separate figures from the Commerce Department showed retail sales rose more than forecast in November, a sign consumers will play a bigger role in the recovery. Purchases increased 0.8 percent, following a 1.7 percent gain in October that was larger than previously estimated.
• Treasuries Drop as Fed Cites Recovery Signs, Maintains Easing. Treasuries fell as the Federal Reserve said the U.S. recovery is continuing and maintained a $600 billion program of debt purchases. The 30-year bond yield advanced to a seven-month high on speculation President Barack Obama’s agreement to extend tax cuts will win passage in Congress, supporting growth and stoking inflation.
• Europe's Bondholders Shouldn't Share Bailout Cost, Danish Government Says. Euro-area senior bondholders shouldn’t have to share the cost of bailing out the region’s most indebted members as the onus is on governments to rein in budgets and reassure investors, Danish Finance Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen said. “It’s important that the countries consolidate in a convincing way to tell the markets that they are on the right track,” Frederiksen said in an interview in Copenhagen yesterday. Asked whether Europe should force debt investors to foot part of the bill on subsequent bailouts, he said: “I don’t think so, frankly.”
  
• Belgium Has S&P Outlook on Debt Cut to 'Negative' Amid Political Stalemate. Belgium had the outlook on its debt rating lowered to “negative” from “stable” at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services because the country’s political stalemate makes it vulnerable to rising borrowing costs. S&P may cut Belgium’s AA+ sovereign credit rating by one step within the next six months should the seven parties involved in coalition talks fail to form a government “soon,” the credit agency said today in a statement. It may also cut the rating within two years should the next government fail to stabilize public debt and improve political cohesion. “Belgium’s current caretaker government may be ill- equipped to respond to shocks to public finances,” Marko Mrsnik, a credit analyst at S&P in Madrid, said in the statement. “The federal government’s projected 2011 gross borrowing requirement of around 11 percent of GDP leaves it exposed to rising real interest rates.”
• U.S. Credit Swaps Decline for a 10th Day, Longest Drop Since October 2006. The cost of protecting bonds from default in the U.S. fell for a 10th straight trading day, the longest streak since October 2006. “People are bulled up on credit,” said Stephen Antczak, head of U.S. credit strategy at Societe Generale SA in New York. “There’s no fear of defaults. There just isn’t in the near term.” The Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index, which investors use to hedge against losses on corporate debt or to speculate on creditworthiness, fell 1.2 basis points to a mid- price of 84.8 as of 12:14 p.m. in New York, the lowest since April, according to index administrator Markit Group Ltd.
• Credit-default swaps on General Motors(GM) were at a mid-price of 332.5 basis points as of 10:42 am in New York, according to Barclays Capital. It marked the first time the contracts were cited since the U.S. automaker's bankruptcy.
• Best Buy(BBY) Plunges Most in 8 Years After Cutting Profit Forecast. Best Buy Co., the world’s largest consumer-electronics retailer, fell the most in more than eight years after slashing its annual profit forecast amid increasing competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. Best Buy plunged $6.50, or 16 percent, to $35.20 at 1:21 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, after falling as much as 18 percent, the biggest intraday drop since Aug. 8, 2002.
• Chief Executives in U.S. Are the Most Optimistic Since 2006, Survey Shows. Optimism among U.S. chief executives in the fourth quarter rose to the highest level since the start of 2006 as business leaders projected increased sales, investment and hiring, a private survey showed. The Business Roundtable’s economic outlook index climbed to 101 after falling in the previous quarter for the first time since the beginning of 2009, the Washington-based group said today. Readings higher than 50 coincide with an economic expansion. The gauge, which increased from a third-quarter reading of 86, rose to 102 in the first quarter of 2006. Forty-five percent of respondents said they will add to payrolls, an increase of 14 percentage points, while 80 percent said they expect sales will grow in the next six months, up from 66 percent in the third quarter.
• Airline Profits to Drop 40% on Taxes, Oil, Group Says. Airlines may post a 40 percent decline in combined profits next year on slower economic growth, higher fuel costs and austerity measures in Europe, a leading industry group said today. Net income will drop to $9.1 billion in 2011 from $15.1 billion this year, International Air Transport Association Chief Executive Officer Giovanni Bisignani told reporters in Geneva.
• Temperatures Around New York Plunge as Cold Air Moves in From U.S. Midwest. New York City temperatures will be almost 20 degrees below normal today, the lowest of the new winter season, and cold air is expected to linger through mid- week, according to the National Weather Service.
• Canadians With More Debt Than U.S. Spark Policy Makers' Warning. Canada’s top economic officials yesterday urged households to be wary of taking on too much debt after data showed the indebtedness of Canadians surpassed U.S. levels for the first time in 12 years. Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in separate public appearances that they are concerned about rising debt. The ratio of household debt to disposable income in Canada was 1.48 in the third quarter according to Statistics Canada, exceeding the U.S. level of 1.47. “Our parents were more inclined to pay off that mortgage as soon as possible, and some Canadians are not as inclined to do that now,” Flaherty told reporters yesterday. “I encourage them to do it.”

Wall Street Journal:

• Google(GOOG) Acquires Zetawire for Mobile Payments Tech. Google confirmed it has acquired Zetawire, a Toronto-based start-up that has been working on technology that turns a cellphone into a virtual wallet.
• ECB Criticizes Hungary Over Central Bank Independence. The European Central Bank criticized Hungary Tuesday for failing to observe central bank independence in several instances. The ECB said it “is closely following the recent legislative developments in Hungary.” The Hungarian government’s move to reduce the remuneration of the central bank’s interest-rate decision-making body, the Monetary Policy Council, and its plan to eliminate the central bank governor’s right to nominate two members of the seven-member MPC, together with the repeated government criticism of the bank’s interest rate decisions “raise concerns as this could be seen as the government trying to influence the governor in the performance of his tasks,” the ECB said in a statement.

CNBC:

• Fed Holds on Rates, Says Recovery Remains 'Slow'. The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Tuesday the economic recovery was still too slow to bring down unemployment, reaffirming its commitment to purchase $600 billion in bonds to stimulate growth and create jobs.
• With Economy Recovering, Is Market Ready for Fed Exit?

Zero Hedge:

• Cap & Trade - A Train Wreck. What to do with carbon based emissions? I have no clue. I’m not sure Congress does either. They will be more confused than ever after reading a recent CBO report on the topic.
  

New York Times:

• To Conquer Wind Power, China Writes the Rules. Judging by the din at its factory here one recent day, the Spanish company Gamesa might seem to be a thriving player in the Chinese wind energy industry it helped create. But Gamesa has learned the hard way, as other foreign manufacturers have, that competing for China’s lucrative business means playing by strict house rules that are often stacked in Beijing’s favor.

Washington Post:

• Poll: Americans Say WikiLeaks Harmed Public Interest; Most Want Assange Arrested. Most of those polled - 68 percent - say the WikiLeaks' exposure of government documents about the State Department and U.S. diplomacy harms the public interest. Nearly as many - 59 percent - say the U.S. government should arrest Assange and charge him with a crime for releasing the diplomatic cables.

Foreign Policy:

• Michael Moore Offers to Post Bail for Julian Assange.

Univ. of Illinois:

• Expert: Seven-Year Moratorium on Gulf Oil Drilling an Unwise Decision. The recently announced seven-year moratorium on offshore drilling is yet another example of the short-sightedness of the U.S. Department of the Interior, says John W. Kindt, a professor of business and legal policy at Illinois and expert on marine pollution. "It's a ridiculous decision on the part of the Interior Department," said John W. Kindt, a professor of business and legal policy at Illinois. "The previous 180-day moratorium really hurt a lot of businesses. Well, a seven-year ban is going to sting even more." Kindt says giving the oil companies a public spanking through a seven-year ban isn't going to solve our energy problems, and that unreasonably prohibiting offshore drilling will not only exacerbate the region's economic woes, it also will strengthen U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Politico:

• Harry Reid to Bring START to Senate Floor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to bring both the START Treaty and the bill to fund the federal government the floor Wednesday, despite continued protests from senior Republican leadership that the treaty should wait until the next congress.

USA Today:

• U.S.: More Teens Smoke Marijuana Than Cigarettes. More high school seniors this year used marijuana than smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days, according to government data released Tuesday. In addition, daily marijuana use increased significantly among eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders, with about one in 16 high school seniors using marijuana daily or near-daily, the annual "Monitoring the Future Survey" found. Teens in all three grades exhibited more favorable attitudes toward the drug, according to the national survey of more than 46,000 teens. The survey's lead investigator, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the White House "drug czar" blamed the rising use among teens in the past three years on publicity surrounding medical marijuana. "Young people are increasingly seeing marijuana as not dangerous," said lead investigator Lloyd Johnston of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research.

Reuters:

• JPMorgan(JPM) Denies it Holds 90% of LME Copper Stocks. U.S. investment bank JPMorgan said it does not hold more than 90 percent of copper stock warrants in London Metal Exchange warehouses, but declined on Tuesday to comment on whether it had a smaller position. A single holder, recently controlling 50-80 percent of copper stocks and cash contracts in London Metal Exchange warehouses, appears to have raised the position to above 90 percent, latest data from the world's biggest metals market showed.
• US Senate Democratic Spending Bill Adds Earmarks. A 2,000-page Senate bill that would fund the U.S. government until October 2011 includes many examples of the pet projects known as earmarks that have become a symbol of wasteful spending for many voters. The bill, obtained by Reuters ahead of its release, is likely to draw the ire of Senate Republicans who have renounced earmarks.

Telegraph:

• ECB Urges Bigger Rescue Fund as Bond Investors Punish Spain.The European Central Bank urged Europe to increase the size and scope of its €750bn financial rescue fund ahead of a crucial leaders' summit this week as bond investors demanded higher interest rates to hold Spanish debt.

Der Spiegel:

• Capitalizing on the Euro Crisis. China Expanding Its Influence in Europe. China is seizing on Europe's debt problems to expand its influence on the continent with large-scale investments and purchases of government bonds issued by highly-indebted states. The strategy could push Europe into the same financial dependency on China that is posing a dilemma for the US.

DigiTimes:

• Nvidia(NVDA) Seeing Popularity Grow in Tablet PC Market. Nvidia's Tegra 2 platform has recently become a new spotlight in the tablet PC market as most of the tablet PC vendors including Acer, Asustek Computer, Toshiba and Samsung Electronics as well as several regional brand vendors in China, Germany and the UK, are all set to launch Tegra 2-based models, according to sources from notebook players.