$$$ Bernanke Says Fiscal Cliff Fix May Bring ‘Very Good’ Year [Bloomberg] $$$ The Feds Are Closing In on Steve Cohen [DI / Kevin Roose] $$$ How gaming Libor became business as usual [Reuters] $$$ Xstrata Shareholders Back Deal Without Retention Packages [WSJ] $$$ "Is it possible to build a jetpack using downward firing machine guns?” [What If?] $$$ An elite boutique M&A firm is looking for an analyst with 1-2 years of investment banking experience [DBCC] $$$ US banks warn on money transfer rule [FT] $$$ Here you will find smart people attempting to understand Nassim Nicholas Taleb without reading him [Deus Ex Macchiato] $$$ Map: Where the Emotionally Challenged Live [BBW] $$$ Mitt Romney Is at Disneyland, Doing His Thing [Gawker]

$$$ Barclays to shrink controversial tax unit [FT] $$$ Glencore Details Final Offer for Xstrata [WSJ] $$$ Nasdaq unwavering on paybacks for faulty Facebook launch [Reuters] $$$ Tim Geithner ran a pretty good triathlon this weekend [DealBook] $$$ Goldman Goes Unpaid in El Paso Case [Deal Journal] $$$ William Morris Endeavor Entertainment is suing Amanda Drury for its commissions [Hollywood Reporter] $$$ BlackRock is looking for a marketing associate for private clients in New Jersey [DBCC] $$$ California wants the DOJ to stop hedge funds from threatening cities who want to use eminent domain to rewrite mortgages [Reuters] $$$ Everything you could possibly want to know about IOER [FTAV] $$$ Deutsche Bank Chiefs to Unveil Plan [WSJ] $$$ Harvard Football Said to Risk Losing Players in Cheating Probe [Bloomberg] $$$ "A jury on Monday awarded casino mogul Steve Wynn $20 million in his slander case against 'Girls Gone Wild' founder Joe Francis, who claimed the creator of some of Las Vegas' most upscale resorts threatened to kill him over a gambling debt." [NYP]

$$$ Buffett Picks His ‘Bear’ for Annual Meeting [DealBook] $$$ Wall Street’s latest idea: collateral transformation [FT] $$$ Nasdaq executing trades at a loss [FT] $$$ "Las Vegas Sands is disputing reports out late Friday that it likely violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," even though those reports included its own 10-K [CNBC] $$$ Mike Mayo has a lot to say about not being invited to meetings and stuff [CNBC] $$$ Fake bishop sneaks into Vatican meeting with 100 real cardinals [NYDN] $$$ Susquehanna is looking for operations analysts in New York [DBCC] $$$ The Effect of Underreporting on LIBOR Rates [St. Louis Fed] $$$ Big redemptions unlikely if Avenue loses Lasry to Parisian embassy [HFI] $$$ Icahn Foe Rachesky Joins Mentor Attack on Navistar [Bloomberg] $$$ The M&A pickup [FTAV] $$$ 'Batman' brings in suspect to Bradford police [BBC]

$$$ Spain Banks Have $76 Billion Capital Deficit in Stress Test [Bloomberg] $$$ How Bernanke Pulled the Fed His Way [WSJ] $$$ The economics of video games [Wonkblog] $$$ Scaramucci Picking Singapore Shows City as Hot Spot [Bloomberg] $$$ "SocGen’s Alberts concedes that his writing can be 'pretty insane' and his market timing 'unerringly inaccurate.'" CNBC's headline is "Bernanke’s ‘Ruinous’ QE Will Lead to Rapid Inflation: SocGen’s Albert Edwards" [CNBC] $$$ 'Cocaine For Snowblindness': What Polar Explorers Packed For First Aid [NPR] $$$ AIG is looking for a credit analyst in New York [DBCC] $$$ Mortgage lending should provide a tailwind to bank earnings [Reuters] $$$ Ex-analyst at unit of Cohen's SAC Capital admits insider trading [Reuters] $$$ Global regulators follow UK’s Libor lead [FT] $$$ What Your Beer Says About Your Politics [Hotline] $$$ From King’s Daughter to Lowly Fishmonger: Lisa Marie Presley Is Selling Fish and Chips out of the Back of a Van [Gawker]