Media Digest (12/14/2010) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

The new tax package made it through the first stage of Congressional approval. (Reuters)

The federal government began the process of setting higher capital requirements for US banks. (Reuters)

China will have to take hard and complex steps in an effort to cap inflation. (Reuters)

A judge ruled against parts of the Obama healthcare package. (Reuters)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) will lay off 600 people. (Reuters)

Emails and birth dates of McDonald’s (NYSE: MDC) employees were hacked. (Reuters)

Toshiba will make LCD screens for the new Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone. (Nikkei)

The US tax code has become a replacement for other financial policy issues to deal with stimulus and the collection of revenue. (WSJ)

Off-shore trading of the yuan is brisk. (WSJ)

The possible end of the Build America Bonds program pushed yields on municipal debt higher. (WSJ)

The costs of PCs continues to rise, according to NPD Group. (WSJ)

The WTO supported US claims against China on the price of imported tires. (WSJ)

Comcast will test a service which combines TV and access to online data. (WSJ)

Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) said it did not set trades which took down Bear Stearns hedge funds. (WSJ)

Fewer homes were underwater in the third quarter, according to Corelogic. (WSJ)

Board member George Lorch was made chairman of Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). (WSJ)

Total ECB purchase the region’s debt was less than expected. (WSJ)

HRC Manorcare will sell real estate holdings for $6.1 billion. (WSJ)

Carl Icahn let his offer for Lions Gate shares expire. (WSJ)

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) closed its stores in Russia. (WSJ)

GM offered buyouts to 3,00o blue collar workers. (WSJ)

Thomson Reuters will launch a local news service to compete with the AP. (WSJ)

Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) will buy Compellent for nearly $1 billion. (WSJ)

The demand for Treasury bonds pushed prices higher. (WSJ)

New Obama tax breaks for business could cause new hiring and capital spending. (NYT)

Thomas M. Hoenig, a Federal Reserve governor, believes current actions by the central bank will cause inflation. (NYT)

The large number of Chinese IPOs have given another reason to fear inflation in the nation. (NYT)

The Obama home loan modification program has helped only 750,000 people, far fewer that the three million goal according to the Congressional Oversight Panel. (NYT)

JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) cut back its silver holdings. (FT)

The head of McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) objected to “food police” which hope to bring down calories in the company’s offerings. (FT)

Growth in Asia helped drives adoption of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android. (FT)

Mercedes is likely to be the No.3 luxury car market by sales in the US  this year. (Bloomberg)

Google and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will join to shutter illegal online pharmacies. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre