$$$ Bernanke: Don’t play politics with debt limit (MarketWatch)

$$$ Bill Ackman’s $490 Million Profit on J.C. Penney (Deal Journal)

$$$ Sino-Forest Says Paulson Still ‘Supportive’ (Bloomberg)

$$$Senator to Block SEC Nominees Until Stanford Ruling Issued (WSJ)

$$$Carlyle Acquires 55% of Tiger-Backed Emerging-Market Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)

$$$Rajaratnam’s Arrest Led Analyst To Destroy Data (Bloomberg)

$$$ FSA fines trader for manipulating spread bets (FT)

$$$ From African Village to Center of Strauss-Kahn Ordeal (NYT)

$$$ U.S. Retail Sales Fall Less Than Estimated as Consumers Weather Fuel Costs (Bloomberg)

$$$U.S. Approves Minimum Capital Standard for Big Banks (WSJ)

$$$CFTC to Delay Some Swaps Rules Until Dec. 31 (WSJ)

$$$ Sarkozy urges firmer commodities rules (FT)

$$$Mario Draghi Holds E.C.B. Line Against Restructuring for Greece (NYT)

$$$Blankfein loses yen for retail brokerage (Reuters)

$$$Citigroup Said to Explore Taking Offices at Manhattan’s World Trade Center (Bloomberg)

$$$ Investors Hold Cash as Hedge Funds Cut Debt (Bloomberg)

$$$ Oil Price Conundrum: Why Is Brent So Much More Costly Than WTI? (MarketBeat)

$$$ Groupon’s Leonsis Seen by Governance Experts as Having Potential Conflict (Bloomberg)

$$$ Apple starts selling unlocked iPhone 4 for $649, $749 (CNET)

$$$ Jeter's 3,000 hits chase interrupted by calf injury (Reuters)