Carlyle

• Facebook CEO Raises Dealmaker Profile With $19 Billion Takeover (BBG)
• WhatsApp’s Founder Goes From Food Stamps to Billionaire (BBG)
• U.S. Feels Putin's Sharp Elbows in Ukraine (WSJ)
• PBOC Drains Cash as Overnight Rate Slides to Lowest in 10 Months (BBG)
• Fed Puts Rate Increase on the Radar (Hilsenrath)
• Banks Flouting Bonus Rules in Denmark Set to Be Named by FSA (BBG)
• Work Set to Resume on Upgrading Panama Canal (WSJ)
• Euro-Area Recovery Loses Pace as Manufacturing Weakens (BBG) - uh, what recovery?
• Ukraine Exposes EU Policy Disarray (WSJ)

• Comcast Agrees to Buy Time Warner Cable for $45.2 Billion (BBG)
• Italian leadership squabble weighs as shares halt hot run (Reuters)
• Russia says Syria aid draft could open door to military action (Reuters)
• China trust assets rise 46% in 2013  (WSJ), China Trust Assets Surge to $1.8 Trillion Amid Default Risks  (BBG)
• Australian Unemployment Jumps to 10-Year High (BBG)
• Tea Party Scorns Republicans as House Lifts Debt Ceiling (BBG)
• Peso plunge forces Argentine soya hoarding (FT)
• BNP Paribas Net Falls After $1.1 Billion U.S. Legal Charge (BBG)
• Hacking Joins Curriculum as Businesses Seek Cyber Skills (BBG)
• Android's 'Open' System Has Limits (WSJ)
• Blackstone-Fueled Single-Family Home Boom Lifts Chicago (BBG)

After initially sending the all important USDJPY carry pair - and thus all risk assets - into rally mode, the initial euphoria over manipulated Chinese trade data (see China Trade Puzzle Revived as Hong Kong Data Diverge), has all but fizzled and at last check the USDJPY was sliding to its LOD, approaching 102 from the wrong side. That, and a statement by the ECB's Coeure that the ECB is "very seriously" considering a negative deposit rate (and that the OMT is ready to be used even though it obviously isn't following the latest brewhaha from the German top court) have so far defined the overnight session, the latter having sent the EUR sliding across all major pairs.

• Here is why AAPL bounced off $500: Apple Repurchases $14 Billion of Own Shares in Two Weeks (WSJ)
• German Court Refers OMT Decision to Europe's Top Court (WSJ)
• Inflation Fuels Crises in Two Latin Nations (WSJ)
• U.S. job growth seen snapping back from winter chill (Reuters)
• Google to own $750 million Lenovo stake after Motorola deal closes: HK exchange (Reuters)
• Frigid Winter Spells Trouble for U.S. Economy (BBG)
• Winter Games to open, Putin keen to prove doubters wrong (Reuters)
• Regulators Ready to Proceed on Bank Leverage Limit (WSJ)
• Abe Eyes Window for Biggest Military-Rule Change Since WWII (BBG)

• Obama warns divided Congress that he will act alone (Reuters)
• Fed Decision Day Guide From Emerging Markets to FOMC Voter Shift (BBG)
• Fed poised for $10 billion taper as Bernanke bids adieu (Reuters)
• Bernanke’s Unprecedented Rescue Unlikely to Be Repeated (BBG)
• Argentina Spends $115 Million to Steady Peso (WSJ)
• Billionaires Fuming Over Market Selloff That Sinks Magnit (BBG)
• SAC’s Counsel Testifies at Insider Trading Trial in Unexpected Move by the Defense (NYT)
• Automakers Fuel Japan’s Longest Profit Growth Streak Since 2007 (BBG)
• Turkey Crisis Puts Jailed Millionaire at Heart of Gold Trail (BBG)
• Ukraine expects $2 billion tranche of Russian aid soon (Reuters)

• NSA phone data control may come to end (AP)
• China to rescue France: Peugeot Said to Weigh $1.4 Billion From Dongfeng, France (BBG)
• China to rescue Davos: Davos Teaches China to Ski as New Rich Lured to Slopes (BBG)
• Hollande’s Tryst and the End of Marriage (BBG)
• Iran has $100 billion abroad, can draw $4.2 billion (Reuters)
• Target Hackers Wrote Partly in Russian, Displayed High Skill, Report Finds (WSJ)
• Nintendo Sees Loss on Dismal Wii U Sales (WSJ)
• Goldman's low-cost Utah bet buoys its bottom-line (Reuters)
• Royal Dutch Shell Issues Profit Warnin: Oil Major Hit by Higher Exploration Costs and Lower Oil and Gas Volumes (WSJ)
• EU Weighs Ban on Proprietary Trading at Some Banks From 2018 (BBG) - so no holding of breaths?
• Sacramento Kings to Accept Bitcoin (WSJ)

• Charter, Comcast in renewed talks on Time Warner Cable bid (Reuters)
• Bankers' Stock Awards Jet Higher (WSJ)
• Yahoo CEO Mayer Dismisses Operating Chief De Castro (BBG)
• Amazon Employees Vote to Reject Union (Reuters)
• Luxury in China loses luster as wealthy flee (Reuters)
• UnitedHealth Profit Up on Stronger Enrollments (WSJ)
• U.S. government failed to secure Obamacare site: experts (Reuters)
• Spain Sells Bonds at Record-Low Yield as Rajoy Touts Rebound (BBG)
• Newport Beach’s $100,000 Lifeguards Feel Pension Squeeze (BBG)
• Bailed-Out Euro Nations Expect Painful Challenges to Remain (BBG)

There is no quicker route to success in the USSA than to go into “public service” regulating a massive industry and then flip back over to engage in M&A in the exact industry you were in charge of regulating.

• Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished (WaPo)
• Japan’s Nikkei 225 Extends Six-Year High on U.S. Data  (BBG)
• Retailers blend stores, e-commerce to snag holiday stragglers (Reuters)
• Storm wreaks havoc in Britain, France ahead of Christmas (Reuters)
• Big Rally to Pump Up Wall Street Bonuses (WSJ)
• Obamacare Sign-Up Extended as Record 1 Million Use Site (BBG)
• Merkel Hits Wall With Europe Fix (WSJ)
• Boaz Weinstein Loses for Second Year as European Bet Sours (BBG)
• UniCredit has reached an agreement to sell almost €1 billion in nonperforming loans to Cerberus (WSJ)
• U.S. mortgage applications fall as refinance hits five-year low (Reuters)
• Cohen Said to Have Warned Friend About Possible Federal Investigation (NYT)
• ‘Duck Dynasty’ Dad Risks $500 Million With Gay-Sin Remark (BBG)

• Traders Seek an Edge With High-Tech Snooping (WSJ)
• Gold Drops Below $1,200 an Ounce for First Time Since June (Bloomberg)
• SAC Manager Guilty as Insider Focus Turns to Martoma (Bloomberg)
• Why Ukraine spurned the EU and embraced Russia (Reuters)
• Target confirms major card data theft during Thanksgiving (Reuters)
• Zuckerberg is no suckerberg: Company to Sell 27 Million Class A Shares While CEO Will Offer 41.4 Million (WSJ)
• Facebook, Zuckerberg, banks must face IPO lawsuit (Reuters)
• Swiss Christmas Trees Feel Chill as Franc Helps Rivals (BBG)
• Iran, six powers to resume nuclear talks after snag (Reuters)
• Dolphins Suffering From Lung Disease Due to Gulf Oil Spill, Study Says (WSJ)

• Tough Question for Fed: Time to Act? (Hilsenrath )
• Merkel Begins Third Term Strengthened by SPD Partner Backing (BBG)
• Wary of Roma, Europe cold-shoulders its new eastern workmates (Reuters)
• New Medicines Emerge, but Few Blockbusters (WSJ)
• SIP in the crosshairs: U.S. Exchanges Near Deal for Infrastructure Upgrade (WSJ)
• Secret Inside BofA Office of CEO Stymied Needy Homeowners (BBG)
• AIG Said to Near Sale of Plane Unit to AerCap (BBG)
• Inside the Saudi 9/11 coverup (NYPost)
• Russian Bank Chief Weighs Firings as Costs Absorb Revenue (BBG)
• Video Boom Forces Verizon to Upgrade Network (WSJ)
• Chinese Manufacturing Slows (AP)

• Winter storm lashes eastern U.S., threatens Thanksgiving travel (Reuters)
• Fed Reveals New Concerns About Long-Term U.S. Slowdown (BBG)
• Private equity keeps $789bn of powder dry (FT) - because they are "selling everything that is not nailed down"
• Merkel and SPD clinch coalition deal two months after vote (Reuters)
• Japan approves new state secrecy bill to combat leaks (BBC)
• CLOs are the new black: Volatile Loan Securities Are Luring Fund Managers Again (WSJ)
• Health website deadline nears (WSJ)
• Norway Debates $800 Billion Wealth Fund’s Investment Options (BBG)
• Set of global trade deals stalls (WSJ)
• Berlusconi To Learn Fate In Senate  (Sky)
• Silvio Berlusconi withdraws support from Italy’s government (FT)

• M&A Mystery: Why Are Takeover Prices Plummeting? (WSJ)
• Hedge-Fund Fight Club Traded Illegal Tips Not Punches (BBG)
• Speed Traders Meet Nightmare on Elm Street With Nanex (BBG)
• A new wave of U.S. mortgage trouble threatens (Reuters)
• Penny Lane: Gitmo's other secret CIA facility (AP)
• US hardens threat to leave Afghanistan with no troops (WSJ)
• Russian Prison Stuns Captain of Greenpeace’s Bombed Ship (BBG)
• ECB's Weidmann Warns Central Banks Might Be Too Dominated by Fiscal Concerns (WSJ)
• China Air Move Splits Japan as Carriers Obey New Rules (BBG)
• Inside the Breakup of the Pritzker Empire (WSJ)

• What can possibly go wrong: Tepco Successfully Removes First Nuclear Fuel Rods at Fukushima (BBG)
• Japan's Banks Find It Hard to Lend Easy Money (WSJ)
• U.S. Military Eyes Cut to Pay, Benefits (WSJ)
• Airbus to Boeing Cash In on Desert Outpost Made Field of Dreams (BBG); Dubai Air Show: Boeing leads order books race (BBG)
• Sony sells 1 million PlayStation 4 units in first 24 hours (Reuters)
• Russian Tycoon Prokhorov to Buy Kerimov's Uralkali Stake (WSJ)
• Google Opening Showrooms to Show Off Gadgets for Holidays (BBG)
• Need. Moar. Prop. Trading: Federal Reserve considering a delay to Volcker rule (FT)
• Raghuram Rajan plans ‘dramatic remaking’ of India’s banking system (FT)
• SAC Capital's Steinberg faces insider trading trial (Reuters)

When Tim Geithner announced his departure from the US Treasury in January, the only question was how long would it take the former NY Fed head to get a job with the only industry that he cared about as either a Fed or Treasury official: Wall Street. Tim did his best to diffuse such speculation with amusing stories about writing books, which were accentuated by his refusal to join the Fed chairmanship race. Why not? After all there was nobody that Wall Street would benefit more from as the head of the Fed than TurboTax Tim. Today, less than a year after his exit from public service, the answer has presented itself - Tim Geithner is joining private equity titan Warburg Pincus, his first private sector job in decades since working for Henry Kissinger early in his career.