Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Fewer Americans Filed Jobless Claims Over Past Month. Fewer Americans filed claims for unemployment insurance payments over the past month, indicating the labor market is improving. The average number of applications for jobless benefits over the past four weeks dropped to 410,750, the lowest level since July 2008, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Claims for the week ended Jan. 1 rose by 18,000 to 409,000, in line with the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. “The recovery in the labor market is continuing to move along at a gradual pace,” said Omair Sharif, an economist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, who forecast claims would rise to 410,000. “Employers are getting to the point where they are becoming a little more confident about the strength of the recovery.” The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits held at 3.3 percent in the week ended Dec. 25. Twenty states and territories reported a decline in claims, while 33 reported an increase.
• Portuguese, Spanish Government Bonds Decline Amid Debt-Auction Speculation. Portuguese and Spanish bonds declined amid speculation investors will demand higher yields to purchase European nations’ debt at auctions next week. The extra yield investors demand to hold Portuguese securities rather than benchmark German bunds widened to the most in a month as the IGCP debt office announced the sale of 2014 and 2020 debt, scheduled for Jan. 12. Belgian bonds tumbled after the nation’s political leaders failed to restart seven- party negotiations to form a government. German bunds rose. “The underlying story behind this slide in Portuguese government bonds is supply-related,” said David Schnautz, a fixed-income strategist at Commerzbank AG in London, who said he had heard speculation about the Portuguese sale before it was announced. “Next week we will keep on running at full steam in the primary market with supply from Spain and Italy,” he said. The yield on 10-year Portuguese bonds jumped 26 basis points to 7.17 percent as of 4:40 p.m. in London. The yield premium to bunds widened to 404 basis points, the most since Dec. 1. The 4.8 percent bond due in June 2020 fell 1.57, or 15.70 euros per 1,000-euro ($1,301) face amount, to 84.12. Portuguese credit-default swaps rose 7 basis points to 504, the highest since Nov. 30, according to CMA.
• Dollar Rises to Two-Week High on Signs Economic Recovery is Accelerating. The dollar advanced to a one-month high against the euro before tomorrow’s U.S. payrolls report, forecast to show employers added jobs for a third month and the unemployment rate eased to 9.7 percent. The euro dropped below the 200-day moving average versus the dollar as the European Union discussed spreading the cost of bank failures. “The dollar is really in demand,” said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at online trader GFT Forex in New York.
• OPEC to Cut Supplies By Most Since August, Oil Movements Says. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reduce supplies this month by the most since August as demand for winter fuels in the northern hemisphere passes its peak, according to tanker-tracker Oil Movements. Shipments will drop 1.3 percent to 23.6 million barrels a day in the four weeks to Jan. 22 from 23.91 million barrels in the period to Dec. 25, Oil Movements said today in a report. It’s the biggest decline since a 1.8 percent fall during the four weeks to Aug. 28.
• Oil Falls Below $90 as Dollar Gains Versus Euro on Payrolls Report Outlook. Oil fell below $90 a barrel in New York as the dollar strengthened against the euro before a U.S. payrolls report forecast to show tomorrow that employers added jobs for a third month. Oil tumbled as much as 2.7 percent as the greenback advanced to a one-month high against the euro, curbing commodities’ appeal as an alternative investment.
• Copper Declines as Inventory Gains in London, Shanghai Signal Ample Supply. Copper fell for the second time in three days on signs that more supplies are becoming available. Copper stockpiles in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange are the highest since Sept. 24 after increasing for 16 straight days. Supplies monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed 9.5 percent last week to the highest since June. Some investors may want to put more money into equities than metals this year as growth becomes more assured and “because metals have already put in a massive performance in anticipation of this growth,” according to William Adams of Basemetals.com in London.
• China Will Crack Down on 'Hot Money' Inflows, Currency Regulator SAFE Says. China’s currency regulator said it will continue to crack down on “hot money” inflows and step up monitoring of cross-border capital flows this year. The measures also underscore government concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s expanded monetary stimulus may cause capital inflow into China, inflating asset values and adding pressure for the yuan to rise. China’s inflation reached a 28- month high of 5.1 percent in November. The bank reiterated that it will implement “prudent” monetary policy this year, and will use a combination of tools, including interest rates, reserve ratio requirements and open market operations, to adjust banking-system liquidity.
• Monsanto(MON) Profit Tops Estimates as Seed Sales Gain. Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed company, posted higher first-quarter profit than analysts estimated on rising sales of corn and soybean seeds in Latin America and cotton seeds in Australia.
• Obama Said to Choose Daley as Next Chief of Staff. President Barack Obama will name William Daley, a JPMorgan Chase & Co.(JPM) executive and former commerce secretary, as his new chief of staff, administration officials said. Obama will make the announcement alongside Daley at 2:30 p.m. at the White House, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Daley, a Washington veteran with strong ties to business and part of the most powerful political dynasty in Illinois, joins the administration as Obama prepares an agenda for the second half of his term.
• Sperling is Said to be Obama's Choice for Economic Post, Replacing Summers. President Barack Obama will name Gene Sperling, a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, as head of the National Economic Council, according to a person familiar with the matter. Sperling, 52, is returning to the post he held from 1997 to 2001 under former President Bill Clinton. He replaces Larry Summers, who was NEC director for the first two years of Obama’s presidency and left last month to return to Harvard University.
• Leonard Green, TPG Said to Be in Talks for Plams Casino Stake. Leonard Green & Partners LP and TPG Capital are in talks to take a controlling stake in the Palms Casino Resort, a Las Vegas celebrity hangout, as owner George Maloof seeks to restructure the property’s debt, people with knowledge of the matter said.
• Study Tying Vaccine to Autism Was 'Fraud,' U.K. Journal Says. A Lancet study linking vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella to autism was a fraud that endangered hundreds of thousands of children, according to a report in the British Medical Journal. Each of the dozen cases included in the study led by Andrew Wakefield at the Royal Free Hospital in London and published in 1998 in the Lancet was misrepresented or altered, journalist Brian Deer wrote today in the BMJ. There’s “no doubt” the fraud originated with Wakefield, BMJ editors concluded after reviewing Deer’s work. Today’s report is the latest to discredit Wakefield’s research.

Wall Street Journal:

• Packages Explode in Maryland State Buildings. Federal and state authorities were investigating reports of two explosions in the mailrooms of Maryland government office buildings Thursday, officials said. "DHS is aware and closely monitoring reports of an incident involving two packages that arrived at two Maryland state facilities," a federal Department of Homeland Security official said.

Zero Hedge:

• Baltic Dry Free Fall Continues: 4%+ Drop for 3rd Consecutive Day, At Lowest Since April 2009. (graph)
• Food Riots Commence as the Fed's Loose Money Policy Leads to First Violence of 2011.
  

New York Post:

• Ponzi Socialism by Charles Gasparino. Why Europe's Malaise Could Come Here.

New York Times:

• Postcrisis, a Struggle Over Mortgage Bond Ratings. Two weeks ago, Standard & Poor’s put out a news release warning that it was poised to lower its ratings on almost 1,200 complex mortgage securities. So what? Isn’t that dog-bites-man at this point? Well, two-thirds of these mortgage bonds were rated only last year, long after the financial crisis. And S.&P. was supposed to have taken the distress of the housing crash and credit crisis into account when it assessed them. But in December, the ratings agency acknowledged that it had made methodological mistakes, including not understanding who would get interest payments when.

Cult of Mac:

• Apple(AAPL) Puts Vacations on Hold, May Signal iPhone, iPad Launch. If you are looking for Apple to introduce a new product, a good time period may be between the last week of January and the first half of February. The Cupertino, Calif. company reportedly has cancelled vacations for its retail employees during that period, a possible signal a new product launch is imminent. Apple has ordered the so-called vacation “black-out” period of three weeks after retail managers began expressing “reluctance” to grant employee requests for days off for January, according to a blog citing “people familiar” with the firm’s retail plans. Additionally, Apple has taken the unusual step of retaining extra holiday retail staff usually let go after the Christmas shopping period, another signal a “major product launch” is in the offing.

TechCrunch:

• Google's(GOOG) AdMob Seeing 2 Billion Daily Mobile Ad Requests; 100 Million Android and iOS Monthly Requests. Google’s mobile ad network AdMob is releasing a number of staggering statistics today as the network begins its first full year under the Google umbrella. Google says that AdMob is receiving 2 billion ad requests per day, a data point which has quadrupled over the past year. To put that in perspective, as of May of 2010, AdMob was receiving 10 million monthly mobile ad requests. To give you a picture of the current pace of mobile advertising, Google receives more ad requests in a single day than AdMob received for the entire month of December 2007 (a growth rate of 30 times in just over three years).
• Apple's(AAPL) Mac App Store Opens With More Than 1,000 Apps.
  

The Detroit News:

• Poll: U.S. Car Firms to Gain Market Share. U.S. auto companies will boost market share during the next five years, according to a survey of global automobile executives released today. The 12th annual global automotive survey by KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, predicted growth among U.S. automakers would be spurred by product innovation, restructuring and continued improvement in product quality. When asked to predict global market share winners over the next five years, the executives picked Ford Motor Co(F). About 43 percent saw Ford gaining market share, compared with 29 percent in 2010 and 13 percent in 2009. That was above the 40 percent that predicted Toyota Motor Corp. would gain market share. Ford's market share grew to 16.7 percent in 2010 from 15.5 percent in 2009.
  

Real Clear Politics:

• The Ongoing Folly of Quantitative Easing.

Politico:

• Boehner Wants Cuts for Debt Limit. New House Speaker John Boehner demanded Thursday that President Obama "cut spending" in exchange for Republican votes on raising the debt limit. "The American people will not stand for such an increase unless it is accompanied by meaningful action by the President and Congress to cut spending and end the job-killing spending binge in Washington," Boehner said in a statement. Here's Boehner's full statement:
• GOP Restarts Anti-Health Law Agenda. Republicans reopened their battle against President Barack Obama’s health care law, using the first committee meeting of the new Congress Thursday to eviscerate the overhaul as a “job killer” and a “malignant tumor.” “We must pull it out by the roots,” said Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) in his opening testimony at a Rules Committee. The Rules Committee meeting marked the starting round in the GOP’s bid to repeal the law, a central pillar of the party’s governing manifesto.
  

Reuters:

• December U.S. Retail Sales Show Shoppers Still Wary. December sales at stores open at least a year for the 28 major retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters rose 3.1 percent, below Wall Street's forecast of a 3.4 percent increase.
• Valeant Sees Strong Results, Shares Jump 15%. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX) on Thursday said it expected to report quarterly results that could exceed what analysts on average had expected and issued a 2011 outlook that topped their forecasts.
• US Seasonally Adjusted CP Market Shrinks. The U.S. commercial paper market shrank for a 10th consecutive week on a seasonally adjusted basis, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday. On a seasonally adjusted basis it fell by $3.3 billion to $965.7 billion outstanding in the week to Jan. 5, the lowest on record based on Fed data going back to the beginning of 2001.

Telegraph:

• Europe Unveils Sweeping Plans to Govern Reckless Banks. Brussels has called for sweeping powers for regulators to seize failing EU banks, sack board members, and impose haircuts on senior bank debt, aiming to ensure that taxpayers are never again held hostage by high finance.

DigiTimes:

• CES 2011: Nvidia(NVDA) to Ship at Least 15 Million Tegra Series Processors in 2011. Nvidia, with orders from tablet PCs, smartphones and car electronics, is expected to have already landed orders for about 15 million Tegra-based processors in 2011. Tegra will become the new growth driver for the company in the future, according to sources from notebook players. At Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2011, over 20 global IT brands including Samsung Electronics, Asustek Computer, Micro-Star International (MSI), Motorola, LG Electronics, Acer and High Tech Computer (HTC) will all display tablet PCs based on Nvidia's Tegra 2 processor. In addition, orders from China-based white-box tablet PC makers are expected to help the company ship over 10 million Tegra 2 processors to the tablet PC market in 2011. As for smartphone and car electronics, Nvidia has recently received orders from LG for its Optimus 2X dual-core smartphone, and has also landed orders from car brand Audi for in-car navigation and entertainment systems.