$$$ Knight Weighs Offers [WSJ] $$$ US banks call for easing of Basel III [FT] $$$ US banks increase retention of mortgages [FT] $$$ Instagram's CEO maybe lied to the California Corporations Department about whether Twitter offered to buy Instagram [NYT, cf. Felix Salmon] $$$ Peter Madoff Says He Was a Victim of Brother’s Ponzi Scheme [Bloomberg] $$$ Silvio Berlusconi may or may not be engaged to a 27-year-old [Gawker] $$$ A leading buyside institution is looking for a senior investor relations specialist in New York [DBCC] $$$ Argentina got its boat back [Credit Slips] $$$ Aladdin Capital to pay $1.6 mln to resolve SEC charges [Reuters] $$$ U.S. agency sues JPMorgan over mortgage securities [Reuters] $$$ Calstrs Reviewing Cerberus Investment in Light of Newtown Shooting [Deal Journal] $$$ Elie Ayache, Author of the Black Swan [Wilmott]

$$$ UBS’s Orcel Says Investment Bank Revamp Will Take Up to 5 Years [Bloomberg] $$$ American Banks Actually Are Lending Again — to Europe [NetNet] $$$ Brevan Howard on Hiring Spree Makes Comeback in New York [Bloomberg] $$$ Hostess Has Seen 'Flood' of Interest in Its Brands, Lawyer Says [WSJ] $$$ The surprising correlation between a turkey and a short-gamma trader [Peter Brandt] $$$ Fox News Pundit Finds the Silver Lining of Having Almost No Money for Food [DI] $$$ That’s it for us today. Happy Thanksgiving. We hope you all have a great holiday. There will be brief posting/moral support for those working on Friday, and we'll see the rest of you back here on Monday $$$ A New York hedge fund is looking for an experienced quantitative strategist to join their equities team [DBCC] $$$ Senator Warner says deficit talks to be different this time [Reuters] $$$ Olam launches Muddy Waters libel case [FT] $$$ "[CNBC's] audience does not consists mainly of the very rich; rather, it’s the 1 percent wannabees, who imagine that watching many hours of talking heads will somehow let them absorb the secrets of getting rich." [Paul Krugman] $$$ "Fehr and colleagues found that, in one-shot encounters where employment contracts were struck, 51% of principals exploited agents. 'The Marxian idea that power can be used for exploitation is real' they conclude." [Stumbling and Mumbling] $$$ A Very Dramatic Reading of Francisco Dao's Tale of Startup Failure [The Awl] $$$ The co-writer of The Empire Strikes Back will write one of the new Star Wars movies [Hollywood Reporter]

$$$ Citigroup could be surprise winner in stress tests [Reuters] $$$ Goldman Buoyed by Credit Rally Seen Leading Bank Trading Gains [Bloomberg] $$$ Will Portugal Follow Greece Into Debt Relief? [NetNet] $$$ Highland Capital is looking for a distressed investments senior analyst-- you? [DBCC] $$$ Wily, Elusive Foragers Invade Upstate New York [NYT] $$$ Bradley H. Jack a former investment banking chief at Lehman and an owner the most expensive residential property in Fairfield, has been charged for the second time in less than a year with forging a prescription for a controlled substance. [CTP] $$$ Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit Says Anger With Wall Street Is ‘Understandable’ [NYO] $$$ Peter Thiel, university-hater, heads to campus [Reuters] $$$ Groupon of a lifetime: "$12,500 for a signed Titanic DVD and 13-day ocean voyage with tour of the Titanic (a $59,680 value); departs from St. John’s, Newfoundland, on July 26 and returns August 8" [G]

$$$ Stocks Near New Heights as Small Investors Regain Faith [NYT] $$$ J.P. Morgan Risk Officer Taking Leave of Absence [WSJ] $$$ Soros Says Hedge Funds Can’t Beat Market Because of Fees [Bloomberg] $$$ UBS Chairman proposes industry-wide settlement over Libor [Reuters] $$$ "One explanation for the confusion is that many things that are considered normal in finance look like fraud to almost everyone else." [Free Exchange] $$$ Outcry Over Bid to Make Water Cheaper Than Beer [WSJ] $$$ An investment management firm is looking for a senior investment associate to research credit hedge funds in D.C. [DBCC] $$$ Europe's Banks Rush to Repay ECB Funds [WSJ] $$$ U.S. Court Ruling Threatens Consumer Bureau Decisions [Bloomberg] $$$ Italy's Monte Paschi faces shareholder fury as scandal widens [Reuters] $$$ You may be surprised to learn that "the president and chairman of Mortgage Xpress, Inc. (subsequently renamed The Alternative Energy Technology Center, Inc.)" was sued by the SEC [SEC] $$$ Cory Booker Continues His Steady March Toward Canonization by Personally Saving a Stranded Dog from Freezing to Death [Gawker]

$$$ Here's Warren Buffett's shareholder letter [BRK/A] $$$ JPMorgan No. 1 Investment Bank Amid a Flurry of New Deals [Bloomberg] $$$ Goldman Sachs trims risk-taking to lowest level in 7 years [Reuters] $$$ Look Out, Wall Street: The Goldman Sachs Partners Ball Is Back [DI] $$$ Groupon CEO Andrew Mason's severance: $378.36 [CNN] $$$ An investment bank is looking for a head of investment advisory compliance in New York [DBCC] $$$ SecondMarket to Launch Student-Loan Securities Platform [WSJ] $$$ Give us a formula, Argentina [FTAV] $$$ MBIA flags 'going concern' doubts, liquidation risk for unit [Reuters] $$$ New York Men Looking for Sequester Sex on Craigslist [DI]

$$$ Italy Vote Shows No Clear Winner, as Berlusconi Rises [WSJ] $$$ Goldman to begin fresh round of job cuts [Reuters] $$$ Remember That $83 Billion Bank Subsidy? We Weren't Kidding [Bloomberg, earlier] $$$ "There appears to be a growing trendin dying industries: The bosses want to hold their bedside vigils in private." [Deal Journal] $$$ Banks to sell complex CDS books [IFR] $$$ "As an excellent student with advanced people skills and an exciting resume, with a desire to be part of a challenging, energetic, and reputable organization, I will be a valuable addition to The Catholic Church as your new Pope." [McSweeney's] $$$ A top-tier investment management firm is looking for a VP, behavioral finance specialist in New York [DBCC] $$$ Wells Fargo Role in Heinz Deal Is Credit Negative, Moody’s Says [Bloomberg] $$$ Leveraged loan market on fire [Sober Look] $$$ Banks Face Key Hurdle in Libor Fight [WSJ] $$$ RBS plans IPO for U.S. arm Citizens in next two years [Reuters] $$$ John Kerry Brings Democracy to Kyrzakhstan [DI]

$$$ Judge Approves Payout to MF Global Customers $$$ Dell Buyout Deal Could Come as Soon as Monday [Reuters] $$$ US banks squeezed as mortgage profits hit [FT] $$$ High Drama at CFTC: The Battle Over Swaps and Futures [BBW] $$$ UBS Set to Classify Bond-Buying Clients as 'Aggressive' Investors [FBN] $$$ "We were served water, at exactly the right cool temperature, yet without ice cubes"; also Bill Gates was there [MR] $$$ Aston Martin in Barn With Mouse Nest May Fetch $300,000 [Bloomberg] $$$ A highly respected bank is looking for a senior associate and a VP/director to originate, structure, and market credit-based structured products in New York [DBCC] $$$ SNS Nationalized in Netherlands After Real Estate Losses [Bloomberg] $$$ Swap mis-sellingand the dark heart of the City [Telegraph] $$$ Banks slow crisis money repayment to ECB [Reuters] $$$ Twitter nears $10 billion valuation [Fortune] $$$ Sociology of the evolution of electronic trading [Jayanth R. Varma] $$$ Half of students in Harvard cheating scandal required to withdraw from the college [Boston.com]

$$$ The ECB's unlimited bond buying may be limited to already outstanding bonds [FTAV] $$$ Fed Officials Weigh In On Central Bank's Action [WSJ] $$$ Fannie Mae Pays Banks $1.5 Billion So It Can Fire Them [HuffPo] $$$ Terrorists may or may not have slowed down Bank of America's website [Reuters] $$$ Pimco’s QE3 Distaste Grows as Peso Bond Bet Fades: Mexico Credit [Bloomberg] $$$ Fake Bloomberg Headlines [Twitter] $$$ TIAA-CREF is looking for a manager for asset allocation and investments in New York [DBCC] $$$ Court allows Greenberg suit to proceed over AIG bailout [Reuters] $$$ Lehman Sues J.P. Morgan Over Derivatives Claims [WSJ] $$$ The new mortgage-backed security in a renter's world [Fortune] $$$ Alibaba Completes $7.6 Billion Repurchase of Yahoo Stake [Bloomberg] $$$ Is This Guy A Member Of Maroon 5? [BF]