Monday Morning Links

MUST READS
Secret and Lies of the Bailout - Taibbi, Rolling Stone
Doom scenario far-fetched but euro gloom to deepen - Reuters
Banks Win 4-Year Delay as Basel Liquidity Rule Loosened - Bloomberg
McConnell: Tax issue ‘finished,’ focus on spending cuts - The Hill
Pelosi: Tax revenues must be part of next deficit deal - The Hill
Cheap Money Era That Saved U.S. Housing Seen Bottoming - Bloomberg
Besides Gold, Economists Don’t Agree On Much - Businessweek
Here Comes the Debt Ceiling - Dollar Collapse
The Hoax of Entitlement Reform - Robert Reich
Markets Vanish - “In a Flash” - aucontrarian
The Good Without The Awful - Hussman Funds
Issues 2013 - Noland, Prudent Bear

MARKETS/INVESTING
Oil falls as uncertainty hits energy markets - AP
Gold slips towards $1,650 as stocks ease - Reuters
Market Has a Big 2013 Open, Now Brace for Earnings - CNBC
Dollar rebounds with eyes on Fed outlook - MarketWatch
Investors Keep Faith in Hedge Funds - Financial Times
Bond Vigilantes Of Yore Cowed by Central Banks - CNBC
LBMA’s Best Gold Forecaster Says Bull Market Is Over - Bloomberg
India Gold import duty: A cure or a lure for smuggling? - Commodity Online
Mineweb readers pare average gold price forecasts for 2013 - Mineweb
Inflation fears to boost Japanese Gold Funds - BullionStreet

ECONOMY/WORLD/HOUSING/BANKING
Consumer Spending in December Highest in Four Years - Gallup
Friday’s Unemployment: “Good” Only By “New Normal” Standards - RCM
Eurozone left in lurch as US ‘can-do’ spirit spurs economy - Telegraph
Abe Seen Spending 12 Trillion Yen to Boost Japan’s Economy - Bloomberg
Bernanke Strikes First Yen Blow as Yield Gap Rises - Bloomberg
Germany’s Housing Market Is Hot. Is It Overheating? - NPR
A Mortgage Bond Boom Isn’t a Housing Recovery - Bloomberg
Fitch warns home prices overvalued - Housing Wire
BofA to pay $3.6B to Fannie Mae to settle mortgage claims - Reuters
Why Paul Krugman should be the next treasury secretary - Guardian
Why the Fed Can’t Raise Interest Rates - BullionVault
Surprise, Surprise: The Banks Win - NY Times