Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Rebar Extends Decline as Leading Index Signals Slower Recovery. Steel reinforcement-bar futures dropped for a second day after a leading indicator for China’s economy rose at a slower pace, boosting concern that demand growth for the construction material may slow. Rebar for delivery in May fell as much as 1.4 percent to 3,764 yuan ($604) a metric ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the biggest intraday loss since Nov. 29. It ended the morning session at 3,779 yuan. The gauge rose 1.1 percent in November, compared with a revised 1.6 percent gain the previous month, the New York-based Conference Board said today. “We’ve had a rally that was largely pinned on people’s optimistic outlook for a faster economic recovery and therefore steel consumption,” Lv Xiaohua, an analyst at Everbright Futures Co., said by phone from Shanghai. “The immediate market is not reinforcing that view.”

• Gold Futures Decline to Lowest Since August on U.S. GDP Report.

• Copper Falls for a Fourth Day in New York on U.S. Budget. Copper futures fell for a fourth day in New York, heading for the longest string of declines since October, as signs that U.S. budget talks are faltering dimmed prospects for economic growth and metals demand. Copper futures for March delivery dropped 1.8 percent to $3.5405 a pound at 11:09 a.m. on the Comex in New York after touching $3.523 a pound, the lowest since Nov. 28. The metal hasn’t fallen for four straight sessions since Oct. 29. Comex copper fell below its 100-day and 200-day moving averages, a bearish signal to analysts who study historical price patterns. Stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange expanded for an 11th session to 311,925 metric tons, the longest rising streak since January 2011. 

• Obama Expels BP, Record Number of Firms From Contracting. The Obama administration has temporarily barred more than 3,800 contractors from winning new federal work so far in 2012, the most on record.

• New Rebel Islamist Groups Shun Free Syrian Army, UN Says. Syria’s newest insurgent groups increasingly operate independently of the rebel military command and some are affiliated with al-Qaeda, a United Nations panel said. Many of the foreign fighters are linked to extremist groups and “are Sunnis hailing from countries in the Middle East and North Africa,” the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria said in a report published today on its website. While the new groups sometimes coordinate attacks with the Free Syrian Army, they’re not under its control, it said.

• Fed’s $4 Trillion Rescue Helps Hedge Fund as Savers Hurt.

Wall Street Journal: 

• How Did Fiscal Talks Hit Impasse Again? After a brief and happy stretch of several days in which negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff seemed to be humming along nicely, they have gone into the ditch once again.

• The Fiscal Cliff: Live Stream.

• Philly Fed Manufacturing Bounces Back. Business conditions for mid-Atlantic manufacturers this month improved dramatically, according to a report released Thursday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Fed said its index of general business activity within the factory sector increased to 8.1 in December from -10.7 in November. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected the latest index to improve only to -2.1. Readings under zero denote contraction, and above-zero readings denote expansion.

Barron's:

• How the NYSE-ICE Deal Could Hurt CME(CME). NYSE Euronext (NYX) has for the last two years tried unsuccessfully to challenge CME Group (CME) in the commodities business. CME has largely been viewed as an impregnable fortress with an iron grip of U.S. commodities trading, and all the firms that engage in commodities trading — much in the same way NYSE dominates its slice of stock trading.

CNBC:

• Manufacturing Jobs Making a Comeback in Southern U.S. Apple CEO Tim Cook's announcement earlier this month that the company will start building Macs closer to home in 2013 was seen as a milestone that could help jump-start U.S. manufacturing. But over the past few years, factories in the American South from the Carolinas to Alabama to Kentucky have already experienced such are birth. 

Zero Hedge: 

• Initial Claims Flatline Despite NY And Penn. Getting 'Back To Work'. (graph)

• Final Q3 GDP Prints 3.1% - Government, Inventories Account For Half; Fixed Investment Negligible.

• The Section Preventing Indefinite Detention of Americans Without Trial Removed From Final NDAA Bill.

• Wall Street's Biggest Geniuses Reveal Their Favorite Charts Of 2012.

• Facebook(FB) Is Testing A System That Sells Access To Your Inbox For $1.

• Apple(AAPL) Is Bringing Billions Of Dollars And Thousands Of Jobs Into Texas.

Bespoke Investment Group:

• Bullish Sentiment Rises to Highest Levels Since February. (graph)

PC World: 

• Samsung to be charged by EU over Apple(AAPL) patent battle. Samsung is accused of abusing its dominant market position by filing patent lawsuits against Apple.

Reuters:

• Higher costs hurt KB Home(KBH) profit, shares tumble. KB Home reported a 20 percent rise in quarterly revenue as selling prices rose, but higher costs prevented the fifth-largest U.S. homebuilder from taking full advantage of a recovering housing market and the company's shares fell as much as 7 percent. Homebuilding costs and expenses jumped 18 percent in the fourth quarter while gross margins shrank to 14.2 percent from 14.7 percent a year earlier, dulling the effect of a 14 percent rise in the company's average selling price to $270,700. "We're just not seeing any real growth in their business here and our overall concern is that they're driving ASPs (average selling prices) well beyond what the rest of the (peer) group is," Williams Financial Group analyst David Williams said. Cancellations as a percentage of gross orders rose to 35 percent from 34 percent a year earlier.

• Hunger and homelessness rise in U.S. cities -report. Amidst the holiday season of family feasts and corporate dinners, the mayors released a report that found requests for emergency food assistance rose in 21 out of the 25 cities it surveyed in 2012 and remained at the same level in three. More than half the cities said homelessness increased.  

• Reid: US Senate will return Dec 27 if no pre-Christmas deal.

• Obama grants Russia 'permanent normal trade relations'.

Telegraph: 

• 'Grexit' still a possibility warns finance minister. A Greek exit from the eurozone is still a “possible risk” should social unrest stall economic reforms, the country’s finance minister warned. 

• US GDP revised up to 3.1pc: what the economists say. The US economy grew at faster than previously estimated 3.1pc in the third quarter. here's how economists reacted.