According to Reuters, Merrill Lynch (MER) plans to lay-off 1,600 people.

Reuters writes that US durable goods numbers were worse than expected for November.

Reuters writes that Wal-Mart (WMT) will end its movie download business.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Nokia (NOK) has delayed its mobile game business launch again.

The Wall Street Journal writes that hedge funds are having more trouble borrowing money.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Warren Buffett is starting a bond insurance company which will make it cheaper for local governments to borrow money.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Citigroup (C) and HSBC (HBC) are considering selling units to shore up finances.

The New York Times writes that millionaires created by Google (GOOG) are putting their money into a series of start-ups.

The New York Times reports that holiday online sales were only up 19% over a year ago.

The FT writes that the subprime crisis is hitting newspaper revenues.

The FT reports that IPOs of Chinese companies are expected to raise $100 billion next year.

Barron’s writes that a Google phone may launch in February.

CNN Money writes that oil moved up to $96.

Bloomberg writes that Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), and JP Morgan (JPM) are discounting their LBO debt by as much as 10%.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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