Reuters:   Novartis (NYSE:NVS) will buy the part of Alcon (NYSE:ACL) that it does not currently own for $39 billion.

Reuters:   JAL may receive a bailout from the Japanese government.

Reuters:   The Fed defended it policies from before the recession and predicted slow economic growth.

Reuters:   Kraft (NYSE:KFT) may raise its bid for Cadbury (NYSE:CBY) in the next two weeks.

Reuters:   December retail sales probably rose but spring will probably be difficult.

WSJ:   The number of brokers at major Wall St. firms is shrinking and they are losing clients to financial advisors.

WSJ:   Bernanke said rate hikes may be an option to prevent bubbles.

WSJ:   Some analysts are using demand for metals and railroads to gauge the recovery.

WSJ:   The US faces credibility issues over shrinking the deficit and national debt.

WSJ:   The government gave Delta (NYSE:DAL) the go ahead to finish the integration of NWA.

WSJ:   Cinema ticket sales moved ahead of DVDs for the first time since 2002.

WSJ:   Samsung reported higher LED TV sales.

WSJ:   Car sales are likely to have moved up sharply in December.

WSJ:   Broadcasters are closer to offering mobil TV.

WSJ:   AMD (NYSE:AMD) will start to proved chips to Lenovo.

WSJ:   Ad sales for magazines and newspapers moved up late in the year.

WSJ:   Employers may have stopped firing people but they are unlikely to start hiring again.

WSJ:   The coming week will be telling as the Treasury goes to the market for billions of dollars.

WSJ:   Fifty-three IPO plans were filed in the fourth quarter.

WSJ:   Japan is risking a third “lost decade.”

WSJ:   Investors are reconsidering companies that were in trouble early last year.

NYT:   Consumers are likely to pay higher cable bills as carriers pay more for content.

NYT:   Hollywood is working on plans to allow consumers to buy or rent movies and play them on any consumer electronics device.

NYT:   The apps business, so successful for the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone, is moving to much simpler handsets.

NYT:   Skype will allow people to watch TV apart from one another and chat about shows.

NYT:   Mittel (NYSE:MIT) will provide toys for the World Wrestling Federation.

FT:   China and India are leading the Asia recovery.

FT:   Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) will try to cut supply chain costs.

FT:  A new category of devices, smartbooks, are going to threaten the growth of netbooks.

Bloomberg:   Pimco is cutting Treasury holdings and getting cautious on corporate debt.

Bloomberg:   Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK) had its worst performance against the S&P in a decade.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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