Wednesday morning links

TOP STORIES
Promise to Trim Deficit Is Growing Harder to Keep - NY Times
TrimTabs suggests government manipulated stocks - MarketWatch
GMAC May Post $10 Billion Annual Loss After U.S. Takes Control - Bloomberg
On kleptocracy and the sense that we have a one-party system - Credit Writedowns
The shortlist for worst takeover of the century - Telegraph
Schwarzenegger readies California budget plan - Reuters
Paul Volcker: The Lion Lets Loose - BusinessWeek
Cramped on Land, Big Oil Bets at Sea - WSJ

Get these links delivered to your inbox every day.

MARKETS/INVESTING
Oil hovers below $82 amid US crude inventory drop - AP
Gold firms as New Year fund flows boost commods - Reuters
Pump prices on pace to top 2009 high by weekend - USA Today
Pimco's Bill Gross Sees 2010 as Year of Reckoning - Time
Can you outsmart the market? - CNN/Money
Don't fight the Fed - MarketWatch

ECONOMY
Private sector shed 84,000 jobs in December - Reuters
Quarterly planned job cuts fall to 9-year low - MarketWatch
Conflicting housing, factory data show fragility of recovery - Washington Post
Recession fuels shift from private to public schools - USA Today
Keynesianism Delivers a Decade of Zero - Ron Paul

INTERNATIONAL
Gold buying frenzy grips China - Commodity Online
Global financial regulation overhaul seen in 2010 - Reuters
China's services sector on mend, data show - MarketWatch
Government must deliver details for deficit plan to be credible, MPs warn - Telegraph
China’s 2009 Power Use Rises 6%, Green Spending Jumps - Bloomberg
U.K. Consumer Confidence Drops the Most in a Year - Bloomberg
Iceland minister says country won't default - MarketWatch
Greece promises to tackle huge government borrowing - BBC

REAL ESTATE
House price per square foot at 2003 levels - O.C. Register
Pending home sales tumble 16 percent in November - Reuters
Housing: Stable In The First Half Of 2010... Then Off A Cliff - BusinessInsider
Foreclosure Re-default Drops Loan Balance Reduced - Blown Mortgage

FED/TREASURY/BANKING
Senate panel nears agreement on role of Fed - Reuters
If Fed Missed This Bubble, Will It See a New One? - NY Times
Time for Fed to disprove PPT conspiracy theory - MarketWatch
Taylor Disputes Bernanke on Bubble, Blaming Low Rates - Reuters

INTERESTING
Why cable is going to cost you even more - CNN/Money
Senator Dodd Will Not Seek Re-election, Democrats Say - NY Times
The $175 Razor: A Sign of Economic Recovery in Retail? - Time
The campaign against Larry Summers - Reuters

###