Media Digest (12/23/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, Bloomberg

December 23, 2011 by Douglas A. McIntyre

Congress makes a deal to keep payroll taxes low and unemployment benefits in place for two more months. (Reuters)

The U.S. approves a Deutsche Boerse deal to merge with NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX). (Reuters)

The International Monetary Fund presses to sharply increase its size and give more rights to large developing nations like China. (Reuters)

AT&T (NYSE: T) gets regulatory approval to buy some spectrum from Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM). (Reuters)

A German court makes a preliminary ruling that Samsung’s tablet does not resemble the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad enough to block sales. (Reuters)

A bankruptcy judge says AMR’s (NYSE: AMR) American Air division may buy 32 Boeing (NYSE: BA) jets. (Reuters)

Philip Falcone rejects an SEC deal that would have banned him from the securities industry. (WSJ)

The Federal Reserve may plan to keep interest rates low into 2014. (WSJ)

The activity of German consumers picks up. (WSJ)

The head of AIG (NYSE: AIG) tells his board he would like to stay another year. (WSJ)

Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) names its general counsel as president. (WSJ)

Mercedes and BMW battle to see which will be the leader in U.S. luxury car sales this year. (WSJ)

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) tells some customers it cannot fulfill back orders. (WSJ)

Online retailers do more to change their websites as e-commerce becomes more competitive. (WSJ)

Retailers sharply cut prices to clear inventory before the holiday weekend. (NYT)

The Italian Senate passes a new budget plan. (NYT)

Retail sales in the U.S. should rise 3.8% for the holidays as good weather helps keep shoppers in stores. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

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