Friday morning links

TOP STORIES
Manufacturing Cools Around the World - NY Times
Russia, Ukraine Poised to Resume Talks After Gas Halt - Bloomberg
Who Saw The Housing Bubble Coming? - Forbes
Credit Freeze Puts Chill on Dealmaking, With Volume Down 29% - Washington Post
Past Financial Crises Suggest Pain Far From Over - Naked Capitalism
Semiconductor sales fall 9.8% in November - MarketWatch
The Most Distrusted Institution In America - Forbes

MARKETS/INVESTING
Crude Oil Declines as Traders View Year-End Gains as Excessive - Bloomberg
Gold eases as dollar firms, oil tumbles - Reuters
New Year, New Price Poll - The Oil Drum
Oppenheimer bond fund losses hit college 529 savings plans - USA Today
After worst year ever, commodities may lag recovery - Reuters
2008 Year Review and Outlook For 2009 - Grandich, Agoracam
Father-son market experts diverge on 2009 forecast - MarketWatch

ECONOMY
The new consumer: Tight-fisted and 'emotionally fragile' - Globe & Mail
Secondhand stores shine in weak retail market - CNN/Money
As Recession Deepens, So Does Milk Surplus - NY Times
Life after a six-figure salary - CNN/Money
Steel Industry, in Slump, Looks to U.S. Stimulus - NY Times

INTERNATIONAL
China, India, Russia factories slash output, jobs - Reuters
India Cuts Rates, Unveils Package to Spur Economy - Bloomberg
Sovereign Wealth Funds Take a Big Hit - BusinessWeek
World stock markets kick off 2009 brightly - AP
UK house prices suffered record drop in 2008 - Telegraph
New year nightmare brings spectre of 1930s-style depression to eurozone - Guardian
Worldwide, a Bad Year Only Got Worse - NY Times

HOUSING
Housing woes no longer a business myth - OC Register
Are Home Prices Still Too High? - Seeking Alpha
The housing market in 2009? It’s anyone’s guess - Wash. Biz Journal
Sacramento-area real estate market befuddled the experts - Sacramento Bee

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
Paulson blames global imbalances for credit crisis: report - AP
Credit crunch to intensify, Bank of England warns - Telegraph
Credit rating downgrade, real estate collapse crippled AIG - LA Times
US Treasury finalizes 4-billion-dollar loan for GM - AP

INTERESTING
Marines buy cows for Iraqi widows - LA Times
A Chinese family's hard path to riches - IHT