$$$Dimon: U.S. Consumer is in Better Shape [FBN]

$$$Buffett pulls ahead in wager against hedge funds [Fortune]

$$$Obama Throws Down The Gauntlet With New Pick To Head The SEC [ATL]

$$$Greenhill Results a Positive Omen for M.&A. Boutiques [DealBook]

$$$ "After a thoughtmash session with the Dalston Davos co-chairs – my housemate Phill and Graham, the manager of Costcutter, a deceptively expensive grocery shop – we have decided on a theme: 'Transcending the imperative of shared norms in a post-collaborative reality'." [FT / John McDermott]

$$$The Middle Manager's Oath [McSweeney's]

$$$ A $7bn+ hedge fund in Greenwich is looking for an equity sell-side relations analyst to talk to sell-siders and "judg[e] whether their investment cases are sensible or not"[DBCC]

$$$ "A flurry of lawsuits in Delaware accuses Freeport and its directors of paying too little for McMoRan Exploration Co and Plains Exploration & Production Co, as well as paying too much." [Reuters]

$$$Mark Zuckerberg Will Host a Fundraiser for Republican Gov. Chris Christie in His Palo Alto Manse [BetaBeat]

$$$Ranch Dressing Is Ruining America’s Endangered Chicken-Wing Supply [Grub Street]

$$$ There's a squash tournament of champions, and it's happening now [Deadspin]

$$$ Arianna Huffington and Lloyd Blankfein wrote an op-ed together [HuffPo]