christmas 2012: FOMC, New Regulation

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34380027/ns/meet_the_press/ns/meet_the_press

Fed Expected to Keep Rates Low at Final Meeting of Year
The Fed will likely close out the year by repeating a pledge to keep interest rates low for an extended period even as it nods to signs of economic healing.
Who Will Move on Rates First, the Fed or ECB?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve has done all it can do to reduce unemployment and needs to worry more about the risk of inflation from the stimulus it poured into the economy, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Sunday.
"I think the Fed has done an extraordinary job and it's done a huge amount (to bolster employment). There's just so much monetary policy and the central bank can do. And I think they've gone to their limits, at this particular stage," Greenspan said on NBC's "Meet the Press." http://www.cnbc.com/id/34405433

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Federal agency operations got a boost Sunday as the Senate approved a $1.1 trillion spending bill that Republicans said will cost too much as the country continues to grapple with tough economic times.
On a 57-35 vote, senators approved legislation that would combine $447 billion in funds for a variety of federal agencies and about $650 billion in payments for benefit programs like Medicare and Medicaid. The agency money is for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2010. It doesn't include defense spending.

Financial Reform Bill

Obama Plans to Press Banks Monday to Start Lending Again
Banks have "got obligations to the country after all that's been done for them,"Obama economic adviser Larry Summers said Sunday.
Obama Defends Financial Watchdog
What's In House Financial Overhaul
Despite Low Rates, Homeowners Can't Refinance
Why Store Credit Cards May Not Be a Good Idea
Week Ahead: Stocks Look Ready to Pass 2009 Highs
'The Princess and the Frog' Leaps to Top of Box Office
Economist Paul Samuelson, Nobel Laureate, Dies at 94
Slideshow: 20 Stocks With Biggest Potential to Drop
Are Americans Really Ready For a National Sales Tax?
Oil Next Week: What Energy Traders Will Be Watching
Big Banks, Strong Regionals May Be Winners in 2010