“It is possible that some brainless members of the U.S. Congress may have introduced a bill that seeks to nationalize pensions, but I hope that it will not be given serious consideration, even by the liberal Democrat majority now in control.”

In mid November, Bank of American Corp. (BAC) ponied up more than $7 billion to nearly double its already existing investment in the state-owned China Construction Bank Corp., a move that gave the biggest U.S. bank a 19% stake in China’s second-largest lender.

Deutsche Bank Drops $6.3 Billion in 4Q; Nortel Files for Chap. 11; Lehman Out of Chap. 11 in 18-24 Months; Work on World’s Tallest Building Delayed; Yahoo Tunes in to Asian Players; Record Job Cuts; More Adults Downloading TV; D-TV Switch Could be Delayed

Oil fell $2 a barrel to below $36 on Wednesday after a U.S. government report showed larger-than-expected rises in inventories of gasoline and distillates.

The U.S. Treasury Department has done nothing to make sure $700 billion in taxpayer-provided bailout money is used to buttress the weak U.S. mortgage market, which was the catalyst for the growing global financial crisis, congressional watchdog Elizabeth Warren said Friday.

India started the year on an actionable note by sharply cutting interest rates and unveiling another stimulus package. The Reserve Bank of India lowered its repurchase rate by one percentage point to 5.5%, and lowered the reverse-repurchase rate by one percentage point to 4%.

Dow Chemical, Kuwait deal collapses… Nasdaq dragged by large-cap tech companies… Oil rises above $38 per barrel on Middle East tensions…  Dow off 1.6 pct, S&P off 1.6 pct, Nasdaq off 2.3 pct

The People’s Bank of China continued nipping away at its one-year lending rate, cutting off 0.27 percentage points to 5.31%, its fifth rate cut in three months.

The most foreboding Christmas season in history…every day brings more cutbacks, more bankruptcies and more trouble… Borrowers have counted on home equity money to fill in the gaps in their household budgets, using borrowing in place of saving… Americans are really beginning to resent Wall  Street…Consumer prices are sure to fail in the near future…and more!

Kenya Growth Stalls Quickly; Caterpillar Cuts Pay and Jobs; Wal-Mart Offers $2.66 Billion for Chile’s Biggest Grocer; Walgreen Falls Short, Cuts Opening Plans; Palm Gets $100 Million Injection; JPMorgan Buys UBS Assets; Oil Falls 6%