The Senate is close to a vote on the new tax package. (Reuters)

China extended its reserve requirements for top banks. (Reuters)

A&P filed for bankruptcy. (Reuters)

Oil rose after OPEC refused to raise supplies. (Reuters)

There is still some chance that the euro zone could issue bonds. (Reuters)

A hardware problem took down the Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) website. (Reuters)

Sanofi- Aventis extended its offer for Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) until January 21. (Reuters)

A WSJ poll of economists predicts an improvement in the US economy next year. (WSJ)

Normal supply and demand has taken the lead role in determining commodities prices. (WSJ)

Mortgage lenders have become even more selective as they grant loans, a sign of further home price problems. (WSJ)

BYD will test market cars in the US soon. (WSJ)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has promoted its own content over that of its customers (WSJ)

Verizon Wireless has begun an aggressive push into 4G. (WSJ)

Hackers attacked the Gawker websites. (WSJ)

President Obama has invited CEOs to Washington to meet about problems with business and the economy. (WSJ)

The pace of reimbursement for BP plc (NYSE: BP) oil claims will speed up. (WSJ)

Beijing is likely to tighten more due to high inflation. (WSJ)

The UK will pushed investments in low-carbon energy. (WSJ)

German politicians struggle with the question over whether to deepen ties to neighbors. (WSJ)

E-book marketers have begun to test advertising in their content. (WSJ)

Large employers have begun to test integration of new healthcare rules. (WSJ)

Fedex (NYSE: FDX) and UPS (NYSE: UPS) are prepared for an upturn in holiday shipments. (WSJ)

The Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University says college hiring has picked up in some regions. (WSJ)

The Bank for International Settlements says bank exposure to Ireland and southern European debt was larger than thought. (WSJ)

The ECB likely bought large sums of Ireland, Portugal, and Greece debt. (WSJ)

OPEC left production targets unchanged. (WSJ)

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) has begun to seek locations in New York City. (NYT)

Asset bubbles and inflation could hurt China’s economy next year. (NYT)

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) may be hurt by the expiration of its content deal with Starz . (NYT)

New suits by Madoff trustees are after $40 billion. (FT)

Chinese IPOs raised three times those in the US this year–$53 billion.  (FT)

GE (NYSE: GE) will buy Wellstream to increase its energy business. (Bloomberg)

China may increase new lending to $1.1 trillion. (Bloomberg)

Beijing may allow yuan options to be traded by banks. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

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