Yelp explores sale; Blackstone raises $17 billion fund in 7 months; FitBit going public; "Giggles the pig running for mayor of Flint, Michigan"; and more.

$$$ Ireland calls vote on European fiscal pact [FT] $$$ Ray Dalio’s Pure Alpha hedge fund made $13.8 billion for its investors last year, while John Paulson lost clients almost $10 billion after an unsuccessful wager that the U.S. economy would recover, according to a report by LCH Investments NV [Bloomberg] $$$ Apple joins the $500bn club [FT] $$$ Hot Item: Pre-IPO Facebook Shares [WSJ] $$$ Too many high frequency traders use the same part of the second [Grumpy Economist] $$$ No one will sell Becky Quick a minivan [Fortune] $$$ A global asset manager is looking for a portfolio manager; compensation is "astronomical" [DBCC]

Inside Traders Look to U.S. Supreme Court for Redemption; Deutsche cutting 1/2 of Brazil team; Fed holds line; Customs says man smuggled live birds in fanny pack, groin of pants; and more.

$$$ Holder: Big banks' size complicates prosecution efforts [The Hill] $$$ Stress Tests Seen Boosting U.S. Bank Shareholder Payouts [Bloomberg] $$$ February the strongest month ever for US buybacks [FTAV] $$$ E*Trade Exec Behind Talking Baby Leaves [Deal Journal] $$$ Anti-CNBC ad runs on CNBC [TBN] $$$ "Also, releasing a new version of a customer favorite like 'snackable chicken,' works well, says James O'Reilly, chief marketing officer for Sonic Corp. 'Consumers love to eat chicken in portable forms,' so Sonic introduced a spicy version of its Jumbo Popcorn Chicken for a limited time last month, he says." [WSJ] $$$ Eaton Vance is looking for a junior U.S. taxable fixed income analyst in Boston [DBCC] $$$ Tiger accelerator fund pounces back after early losses [AR] $$$ Football Investors Get 62% in Run Around Players on Transfer Bet [Bloomberg] $$$ Monte Paschi seeks 1.2 billion euros damages over derivatives [Reuters] $$$ Wallace Shawn ‘Fascinated and Shocked’ by Iran’s R.O.U.S Problem [DI] $$$ Tensions brewed, for instance, when she organized a golf-themed 21st-birthday party for a student at University of Virginia—under orders from his mother in Epsom, England. The mother, Lindsay Smart, says her son Henry was initially wary of the party plan, but "as it got nearer, I think he warmed to the idea." He directed her not to do anything "over the top," but otherwise gave little guidance on the event, which was for about 25 people. "We were trying not to treat him like he was 5 years old," Ms. Battani says. [WSJ]

$$$ Goldman will console itself for its lost $20mm El Paso merger fee with its $220mm profit on the other side of the deal [Dealpolitik] $$$ "What's more, they tend to finance long-term mortgage securities with short-term repo. Typically they borrow from banks for 60-90 days and just roll their loans. Banks don't have to use much capital for securitized short-term loans, so they generally extend credit lines to REITs with no trouble." That sounds great [Sober Look] $$$ Jamie Dimon said some Dimony things today [DealBook] $$$ Mark Zuckerberg wrote the founder's letter in the Facebook S-1 on his phone [SAI] $$$ Kevin Roose went to TechCrunchDisrupt conference, disrupted it [DI, also, also] $$$ Brown Brothers Harriman is looking for a banking analyst in Philadelphia [DBCC] $$$ Moody's Cautions of Possible U.S. Downgrade in 2013 [WSJ] $$$ Integrating Banks Spurs Last-Minute Fears in Europe [NYT] $$$ "A South Carolina woman said she was shocked to discover her ex-boyfriend from 12 years ago has been living in her attic." [UPI] $$$ There may be a jaguar on the prowl in East Hampton [EH Patch via DI]

Lloyd Blankfein blamed for Goldman Sachs’ ‘lost decade’; I quit JP Morgan and ended up winning two Grammy awards; Manspreading at work is good for your health; Mayor Accused Of Stealing 111 Road Signs; and more.

$$$ Markets are building up a tolerance to Eurozone blather [Sober Look, RTE] $$$ Germany set to allow eurozone bailout fund to buy troubled countries' debt [Guardian] $$$ EU official says Greek bailout terms up for talks [Reuters] $$$ Goldman Stuck With a Defense Tab, and Awaiting a Payback [DealBook] $$$ College graduates with arts majors are pretty employed [Gawker] $$$ Mark Ruffalo Joins Call for a Tax on Wall Street [DealBook] $$$ Surely you'd like to join Morgan Stanley's Structured Secured Funding desk in New York as an Executive Director? [DBCC] $$$ Walgreen to Spend $6.7 Billion on Alliance Boots Stake [WSJ] $$$ Jefferies profits hit by trading slump [FT] $$$ Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners Takes Lazard Stake [II] $$$ BNY Mellon settles with Prudential Fin over forex trades [Reuters] $$$ Stay-Rich-Quick Schemes [McSweeney's]

$$$ ICE Said to Be in Talks to Merge With NYSE Euronext [DealBook] $$$ Report Says Libor-Tied Losses at Fannie, Freddie May Top $3 Billion [WSJ] $$$ Treasury to Sell G.M. Stake Within 15 Months [DealBook] $$$ All your bank frauds in one place [Counterparties] $$$ Ben Affleck may be running for Senate in Massachusetts [Politico via DI] $$$ A major energy trading firm is looking for two quantitative developers to join its data driven trading team [DBCC] $$$ "Bank of America Corp. has amassed $64 billion of mortgages that are at least six months delinquent and have yet to enter foreclosure, more than twice the amount held by its four largest competitors combined." [Bloomberg] $$$ Money Funds Brace for Flood [WSJ] $$$ Greece faces ‘make or break’ year [FT] $$$ Holiday videos from First Round Capital and FT Alphaville [Pando Daily, FTAV]