Friday Morning Links

MUST READS
Cliff Talks Down to the Wire - WSJ
Fiscal cliff fears grow, confidence plunges - Telegraph
Social Security Ran $48B Deficit, Disabled Workers Hit Record 8,827,795 - CNSNews
Under siege, Japan central bank wakes up to political reality - Reuters
Welcome to the Currency War, Part 6: Japan Gets Explicit - Dollar Collapse
The Monetary-Policy Delusions of Shinzo Abe - Roach, Project Syndicate
Behind the Scenes in Brussels: EU Summit Reveals a Paralyzed Continent - Spiegel
Euro doomsayers adjust predictions after 2012 apocalypse averted - Reuters
Egypt fears bank run, imposes limit on amount people can withdraw - Daily Mail
Taibbi: Libor Scandal ‘The Biggest Financial Corruption Case In History’ - HuffPost
Top Ten Reasons Why Fiat Currency Is Superior To Gold - Daily Capitalist
House Ethics closes Countrywide probe without taking action - The Hill

MARKETS/INVESTING
Oil rises ahead of fiscal-cliff talks - AP
Gold dips, but heads for weekly gain - Reuters
Ordinary folks losing faith in stocks - AP
Visual History Of The S&P 500 - ETFdb
Stocks Getting More Vulnerable to ‘Cliff’ Talk as Deadline Nears - CNBC
If Congress doesn’t avoid ‘dairy cliff,’ milk prices could double - Washington Post
Goldman Sachs Buying Japan’s Exporters on Abe Policy Bets - Bloomberg
Trader Sees a ‘Sleeper’ Bet on This Metal - CNBC
India’s ultra rich: younger, richer and buying gold - Mineweb
Gold Bulls Strongest Since August as Funds Retreat - Bloomberg

ECONOMY/WORLD/HOUSING/BANKING
Are we already in a recession? - MarketWatch
Fiscal cliff clouds otherwise improving climate - McClatchy
Three ways Washington could mess up the recovery in 2013 - Washington Post
French recovery weaker than first estimated - Telegraph
Greek Crisis Harms Nation’s Mental Health - Financial Times
Strong IPO market in Asia expected in 2013 - Channel News Asia
Mortgage Nightmares: Evictions Become Focus of Spanish Crisis - Spiegel
Where to for Australia house prices in 2013? - Business Spectator
2012 Could Mark Turning Point For Housing Market - MSNBC
If 2012 was a year of housing uncertainty, what will 2013 bring? - Housing Wire
With all the Fed activity, there has been no QE in 2012 - Sober Look
QE4: Another Step Toward Helicopter Money, And Away From Freedom - Forbes