Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Euro-Area Manufacturing, Services Shrink More Than Estimated. European services and factory output contracted more than initially estimated in December, adding to signs a recession in the region may extend into this year. A composite index based on a survey of purchasing managers in both industries was revised down to 47.2 from an initial estimate of 47.3 published on Dec. 14, London-based Markit Economics said in a report today.

• Euro-Area Consumer Prices Rise More Than Estimated on Food. Euro-area consumer prices increased more than economists estimated in December as higher prices for food and services offset slower growth in energy costs.

• Google(GOOG) Free to Extend Web Search Lead as U.S. Ends Probe. Google Inc. (GOOG) is free to extend its dominance of the $50 billion Internet-search market after U.S. regulators ended an investigation into whether the company unfairly disadvantaged competing websites by favoring its own services in search results.

• JPMorgan(JPM) Faces Sanction for Withholding Madoff Documents. The U.S. Treasury Department’s inspector general has threatened to punish JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) for failing to turn over documents to regulators investigating the bank’s ties to Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

Wall Street Journal:

• Brazil to Ease Back on Stimulus Measures. Brazil's government plans to ease back on policies to weaken the currency and lower interest rates in 2013 as economic growth starts to recover after two years in the doldrums, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said in an interview. "2013 will be calmer, with fewer measures because they've been done," Mr. Mantega said. "Monetary and exchange rate policies are now adjusted."

• FDA Proposes Food-Safety Rules. Federal regulators on Friday proposed new rules aimed at preventing food-related illnesses, requiring that fruit and vegetable farmers keep deadly bacteria out of their fields and subjecting processors to stricter safety monitoring. The safety standards proposed by the Food and Drug Administration will cover all aspects of growing and harvesting produce, including crops like cantaloupes and lettuce, which have been the source of deadly illness outbreaks in recent years. Facilities that use those raw crops to make food like peanut butter will be ordered to implement government-approved plans to keep bacteria out.

Barron's:

• Gold: Is the Fed Signaling a Sell? Credit Suisse Calls Metal a ‘Wounded Bull’.

Fox News: 

• Ex-Burglars Say Newspaper’s Gun Map Would’ve Made the Job Easier, Safer. Reformed crooks say the New York newspaper that published a map of names and addresses of gun owners did a great service – to their old cronies in the burglary trade.

CNBC: 

• Santelli: 'This Whole Discussion is Childish!' (video)

Zero Hedge:

• 155,000 Jobs Added in December, Unemployment Rate 7.8%. (graph)

• US Services Add Jobs. 

• Spain - Out Damned Spot. 

• European Stocks End Best Week In 5 Months On Sour Credit Note. (graphs)

Business Insider:

• CHART OF THE DAY: THE SCARIEST JOBS CHART EVER. 

• GOLDMAN(GS): These Are The 40 Most Undervalued Stocks In The Market. 

• Factory Orders Show No Growth In November.

Reuters:

• Copper down on Fed minutes.

• Hedge fund chief Einhorn disappoints, Loeb has big 2012. 

• Mosaic(MOS) profit drops on weak China supply contract.

• Fund investors sought stocks ahead of U.S. fiscal deal -EPFR. Investors poured $5.06 billion into stock funds worldwide in the latest week, as the appetite for risk rose after U.S. lawmakers cobbled together a last-minute tax deal that avoided the worst of the so-called fiscal cliff, data from EPFR Global showed on Friday. 

• Bullard says Fed could pause QE this year. The Federal Reserve will be in a position to think about halting its large-scale asset purchases this year if the U.S. economy improves, a top central bank official said on Friday, fingering a 7.1-percent unemployment rate as a possible goal.