TOP STORIES
U.S. STOCKS RISE TO RECORDS
U.S. stocks ended higher for a fourth straight session after the
Federal Reserve reiterated last week it would be patient about
raising interest rates. The Dow industrials added 155 points to end
at a record 17959.
U.S. EXISTING-HOME SALES TUMBLE IN NOVEMBER
Sales of previously owned homes tumbled to a six-month low in
November, a sign the housing market continues to underperform
despite a burst of hiring and stronger economic growth.
OCWEN HEAD AGREES TO STEP DOWN
Shares of Ocwen Financial fell more than 25% after the firm's
chairman agreed to step down and the company said it would pay $150
million following a lengthy probe by New York's top financial
regulator.
ALSTOM TO PAY $772 MILLION TO SETTLE BRIBERY CHARGES
French engineering giant Alstom pleaded guilty and agreed to pay
$772 million to resolve criminal charges it paid tens of millions
of dollars in a "widespread" bribery scheme to win energy contracts
around the globe.
ROSNEFT, MORGAN STANLEY OIL BUSINESS DEAL COLLAPSES
Morgan Stanley scotched a deal to sell an oil-trading and
storage business to Russia's Rosneft, leaving the Wall Street firm
on the lookout for a new buyer of the division.
EXPRESS SCRIPTS, ABBVIE IN HEPATITIS DRUGPRICE DEAL
Express Scripts Holding, the largest manager of U.S.
prescription-drug benefits, is taking sides in a fight between new
hepatitis C treatments that cost close to $100,000 per patient.
MACQUARIE EYES MORGAN STANLEY'S COMMODITIES BUSINESS
Macquarie Group, an Australian bank eager to build out its
commodities-trading arm, is said to be among the firms that has
expressed interest in Morgan Stanley's oil-trading and storage
business.
CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT TO ACQUIRE AFFILIATE IN STOCK DEAL
Caesars Entertainment agreed to acquire affiliate Caesars
Acquisition in a stock-for-stock merger that will better position
the $18.4 billion debt load of its largest unit.
GOLDMAN SACHS SELLS ALUMINUM BUSINESS TO SWISS FIRM
Goldman Sachs Group said it had completed the sale of its Metro
International Trade Services metal warehousing unit to a Swiss
company, Reuben Brothers. Terms of the transaction weren't
disclosed.
WELLS FARGO ORDERED TO PAY $54.8M IN CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT
Wells Fargo has been ordered to pay $54.8 million in damages
tied to a class-action lawsuit alleging that fees charged by two
mortgage servicers were excessive.
OIL PRICES RETREAT ON SIGNS OPEC WILL STAY ITS COURSE
Crude-oil prices slid in the first day of trading after several
OPEC members defended their refusal to take drastic action to prop
up prices. February Nymex crude settled down $1.87, or 3.3%, to
$55.26 a barrel.
======= DOW JONES NEWSWIRES ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARIES =======
The Wall Street Journal
WHY SAUDIS DECIDED NOT TO PROP UP OIL
Behind OPEC's decision not to cut crude output was Saudi
Arabia's view that America's energy boom poses a new threat -- one
factor in a growing distance between the two allies.
Digits
NORTH KOREA LOSES INTERNET ACCESS
North Korea's connection to the public Internet went down, after
U.S. officials promised a "proportional response" to the nation's
alleged cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.