$$$ Euro Zone Economy Shrinks, Darkening Outlook [WSJ] $$$ Greece seeks two-year austerity extension [FT] $$$ Knight Upgrade Triggered Old Trading System, Big Losses [WSJ] $$$ Goldman executives win dismissal of mortgage, TARP lawsuit [Reuters] $$$ Reservoir poised to seed ex-Goldman trader Buck Ratchford with $200M+ [AR-Alpha, related] $$$ You should really be drinking more at work [Economist] $$$ United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care [Bob Sutton] $$$ A Chicago hedge fund is looking for a senior quantitative strategist to develop commodity futures high frequency trading strategies [DBCC] $$$ In Ski-Resort Bankruptcy, FDIC Tries Role of Lender [WSJ] $$$ Steve Cohen, George Soros Purchased Facebook Shares [Deal Journal] $$$ Rakoff better able to review SEC-Citigroup pact [Reuters] $$$ BATS Proposes Plan to Offer Discounts on Retail Orders [Reuters] $$$ Biden Says Romney Would Put Middle Class ‘Back In Chains’ [Bloomberg] $$$ The head of Hungary's far-right anti-Semitic party found out he's Jewish [AP]

$$$ David Einhorn is at the final table of the $1mm buy-in no-limit hold-em event at the World Series of Poker [ESPN] $$$ Police search Sarkozy home and offices [FT] $$$ JPMorgan’s Role in Power Market Comes Under Scrutiny [DealBook] $$$ Fink Says Diamond ‘Emotion’ May Have Aggravated Regulator [Bloomberg] $$$ The culture of CEO-punching runs deep at BarcLeh [NetNet / John Carney] $$$ That’s it for us today. Enjoy the 4th and we'll see you on Thursday. $$$ A $10 billion NY-based asset manager is looking for an ADR arbitrage trader - interested? [DBCC] $$$ Welcome back Ireland! [FTAV] $$$ SEC Loses Bid to Get SIPC to Pay Stanford Ponzi Claims [WSJ] $$$ In Maine, lobster that is cheaper than bologna [MSNBC] $$$ Tom Cruise prevented a Dawson's Creek reunion [NYP]

$$$ Spain reveals €100bn capital flight [FT] $$$ Spain Says It Has Months to Raise Bank-Bailout Funds [WSJ] $$$ Market Braces for What Could Be Another Weak Jobs Report [CNBC] $$$ Goldman’s Cohn Warns Of Poaching Risks From Further Cuts [Bloomberg] $$$ Larry Fink's hedge-fund-manager son Josh isn't having a great time of it [AR-Alpha] $$$ "T. Boone Pickens, who apparently follows Drake on Twitter, sure isn't [impressed], replying 'The first billion is a helluva lot harder' with a mic-drop retweet." [Gizmodo] $$$ RAND Corporation is looking for a business analyst in Santa Monica [DBCC] $$$ Blankfein Expected to Testify at Gupta Trial [WSJ] $$$ JPMorgan CIO Swaps Pricing Said to Differ From Bank [Bloomberg] $$$ Felix Salmon is in a fight with a startup that has "has the best part of $300,000 in interest-free financing repayable at a time of its choosing in underwear." [Reuters] $$$ "'They signed off on their messages with LOL — laughing out loud,' Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. 'Well, there was a person who was laughing out loud. That was Police Officer Michael Rodrigues of the 77th Precinct.'" [NYP] $$$ Try "the Douche Burger, a $666 edible fiscal disaster that piles caviar, lobster & truffles on top of a foie-stuffed, gold-leaf-wrapped Kobe patty, smothers it with Gruyere melted with Champagne steam, and finishes it off with BBQ sauce made using Kopi Luwak coffee that's passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet, explaining why it 'may not taste good, but will make you feel rich as f*ck.'" [Thrillist via Copyranter]

$$$ Goldman Reviewing Conflicts Policies for M&A Bankers [WSJ] $$$ Sprint Terminates Network Deal With Falcone’s LightSquared [Bloomberg] $$$ Deutsche Bank board appointment blocked [FT] $$$ Maybe Peter Henning thinks inside information obtained in AA meetings gets a free pass under securities laws? [DealBook, earlier] $$$ Shining Shoes Best Way Wall Street Women Outearn Men [Bloomberg] $$$ A $2 billion relative value hedge fund is looking for a credit trader in New York [DBCC] $$$ That thing about Apple's Foxconn slave laborers was fake [Marketplace] $$$ Billionaire index arbitrage [Felix Salmon / Reuters] $$$ Andrew Ross Sorkin is the most influential financial journalist; Zero Hedge's Tyler Durden tied for tenth [Talking Biz News] $$$ "Many under-30 tech entrepreneurs see the paper rectangles as an anachronism, so they are turning to digital options. About 85 million people manage their professional networks with LinkedIn. Some 77 million smartphone users have downloaded the Bump app, which allows them to bump their phones together and instantly exchange contact information." Business cards are passé among 20something tech nerds. [Chicago Tribune] $$$ A (human) BusinessWeek writer did a taste test of gourmet dog food [BW] $$$ But what will happen with St. Kitts and Nevis CDS? [FTAV]

$$$ Treasury nominee wins over critics, says tax reform top priority [Reuters] $$$ Meet the Morgan Stanley C.F.O. Candidates [DealBook] $$$ Has a Restructuring Credit Event occurred with respect to SNS Bank NV? [ISDA, also FTAV] $$$ "Mr. Grantham, chairman of Boston-based GMO LLC, a global investment management firm, was not arrested, but his daughter, Isabel, was one of 48 protesters arrested for handcuffing themselves to the White House fence ..." [P&I Daily] $$$ Dogs! [NYT] $$$ A leading software company in New York is looking for a Senior Vice President; Equity Financial Engineer [DBCC] $$$ Best Buy Founder Schulze Considers Alternatives to Buyout Plan [WSJ] $$$ SEC to roll out ‘Robocop’ against fraud [FT] $$$ Underwater and Drowning? Some Facts about Mortgages that Could Be Targeted by Eminent Domain [Liberty Street / NY Fed] $$$ "[S]tudents in Fröhlich’s "Intermediate Programming", "Computer Science Fundamentals," and "Introduction to Programming for Scientists and Engineers" classes ... collectively planned to boycott the final. Because they all did, a zero was the highest score in each of the three classes, which, by the rules of Fröhlich’s curve, meant every student received an A." [Inside Higher Ed via Catherine Rampell]

$$$ Fed Is 'Playing a Game With Us:' Pimco's Gross [CNBC] $$$ Bundesbank steps up pressure on Draghi [FT] $$$ Broker departures accelerate at Merrill Lynch [Reuters] $$$ The head of credit trading at Credit Suisse has been fined £210,000 for disclosing confidential information about a forthcoming €2.5bn bond issue after inviting a UK fund manager to “play charades” and guess the identity of the issuer. Nicholas Kyprios encouraged a fund manager who had been invited by Credit Suisse to a roadshow in November 2009 for an unnamed company to guess the issuer, using phrases like “you’re getting warmer”, the Financial Services Authority said. [FT] $$$ How would you like to be a Fixed Income Business Management Analyst for BlackRock in New York? [DBCC] $$$ Goldman Hires a New P.R. Chief $$$ Euro Zone Split over Financial Transaction Tax [Der Spiegel] $$$ Fred Wilpon's lawyers have planned a whole range of distractions for their Madoff trial [WSJ, related] $$$ Robert Lacoursiere, the Paulson & Co. partner who oversaw the $23 billion hedge fund’s team of banking analysts, quit last week after four years to start his own fund, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. [Bloomberg] $$$ Manhattan madam's 'sidekick' turns herself in, released on $100K bail [NYP]

$$$ Markets Cheer Europe Plan, Await Details [WSJ] $$$ Merkel Secures Vote for Euro Treaties [Der Spiegel] $$$ Icahn Takes Aim at Forest Lab’s Succession Plan [DealBook] $$$ Area man has no name, big idea: don't let poor people vote [NetNet / John Carney] $$$ [Mike Tyson] raised a few eyebrows when he tweeted: "Holyfield's ear would've been much better with his new BBQ sauce." Holyfield had used the social media forum to promote his new Real Deal BBQ Sauce on Twitter earlier in the day. "My realdealbbqsauce.com will make you take a bite out of someone's ear! Ask Mike Tyson – Luv ya bro!" [NYDN] $$$ Citi's alternative asset management platform Citi Capital Advisors is looking for an associate-level research analyst for its event-driven fund [DBCC] $$$ Counterparties feel effect of bank downgrades [FT] $$$ AB InBev, Modelo in $20.1 Billion Deal [WSJ] $$$ RIM’s Plunge Adds Pressure To ‘Sell, Break Up Or Die’ [Bloomberg] $$$ Gary Maggetti, general manager of food and beverage at [Disney theme park] California Adventure, says the chili cones are part of an effort by the world’s largest theme park operator to create dining options as special as its rides. Consumers, he says, are looking for “signature items that create unique food memories.” [BW]

$$$ Europe stimulus rift crisis etc. etc. [FT] $$$ Corporate Profits Just Hit An All-Time High, Wages Just Hit An All-Time Low [BI] $$$ Wells Fargo's mushrooming mortgage risk [Reuters] $$$ Investors cast doubt on "end of world" hedge strategies [Reuters] $$$ Rajaratnam Wiretaps Catch ‘Chunky But Funky’ Goldman Salesman in Scandalous Act of Doing His Job [DI / Kevin Roose] $$$ This is a good post about quants [Mathbabe] $$$ "Europe’s highest court ruled that workers who happened to get sick on vacation were legally entitled to take another vacation." [NYT via MR] $$$ A leading investment bank is looking for a manager of High Frequency Trading development [DBCC] $$$ The Bank of England is now posting collateral on derivative trades [FTAV] $$$ ‘Orwellian’ Goldman Loses Bid to Dismiss Suit Over CDO Deals [Deal Journal] $$$ President Obama Can’t Be in the Same Room As Forks Anymore? [DI] $$$ When your soccer team loses, you feel down and are therefore more inclined to sell securities in the markets [SSRN, related?] $$$ Germany 4 - 2 Greece [NYT] $$$ Just Thinking About Having a Drink Can Help You Relax [CNBC]