By Paddy Power Trader

Dubai World’s creditors have formed a committee comprising six banks that will meet with the troubled state-controlled conglomerate next week, a bank executive familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. (RTRS)

In other news, concerns grow of overheated debt markets. Some of the most controversial financial practices of the credit-bubble years – from “cov lite” (short for covenant light –loan borrowers are granted credit with few, if any conditions) to “Pik toggle” (transactions make it possible for debt to be repaid with more debt) notes and “dividend recap” exercises – have returned to Wall Street, stoking fears that debt markets are growing overheated. (FT)

Ben Bernanke has the backing of a majority of U.S. senators on the Banking Committee for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman. Eight Democrats and four Republicans, among the 23 lawmakers on the panel overseeing the central bank, made their views known in interviews, comments to reporters or written statements. Some said they will support Bernanke, while others said they’re leaning in his favour. (BBG)

In other news, US retail sales may have risen for the third straight month in November as purchases during the Black Friday weekend propped up holiday sales, a research firm said. November sales may have advanced 2.4%, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Retail Metrics Inc. That compares with a slump of 7.3% last year, the Swampscott, Massachusetts-based firm said. (BBG)

US Challenger Job Cuts (Nov) Y/Y 50.349K vs. Prev. 55.679K, number of planned job cuts in November at lowest since December 2007 (RTRS)
US MBA Mortgage Applications (Nov 27) W/W 2.1% vs. Prev. -4.5% (BBG)
ABC Consumer Confidence (Nov 29) W/W -45 vs. Prev. -47 (BBG)

Wall Street

Wal Mart – Co. announces price cuts on 2009 video games and Gift Card with Wii console purchase. (Briefing.com)

United Technologies – Co. was awarded a USD 1.723bln government contract which provides F117-PW-100 installation of engines, spare engines and associated data for the C-17 aircraft. A total of up to 208 engines may be acquired under this contract. At this time, no money has been obligated. (BBG/RTRS)

GE – Co. will not pay Vivendi any cash for its 20% stake in NBC Universal until late next year at the earliest. (FT)

Kraft Foods – Co. remains favourite to acquire Cadbury, says Bernstein analyst Andrew Wood. However, he said that co. will have to pay more than the GBP 9.8bln bargain price it ha been hoping for originally because of interest from rival potential bidders. (Daily Express/Neue Zuercher Zeitung)

AT&T/Verizon – Nokia said it expects handset-industry volumes to rise 10% in 2010 from 2009 as market conditions improve and said it would focus on stabilizing the average selling price of its handsets. Nokia said it expects to maintain its share of the mobile-device market in volume terms in next year, but aims to increase revenue by concentrating on stabilizing its average selling price. (BBG/RTRS)

S&P 500

S&P 500 – UBS says index may climb to 1,250 by end of 2010. UBS expects S&P 500 profits to rise 27%. (BBG)

Bank of America – At least two candidates for the top job at co. told directors that the giant bank should consider breaking itself up, but board members in charge of the CEO search have rejected the idea at least for now. (WSJ)

Morgan Stanley – Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is among the bidders for co.’s stake in Chinese investment bank CICC, a deal could reach more than USD 1bln. (RTRS)

Regional banks – Oppenheimer says that regional banks have reported only 36% of net charge-offs expected in this credit cycle. The problems in commercial real estate are just now beginning to surface and the ultimate health of this asset class in the years ahead will decide the fate of many mid- and small-sized banks. (Briefing.com)

Wells Fargo – Co. will close 122 bank branches in California due to the overlap of old Wachovia branches. (Los Angeles)

Pharma stocks – Fitch says negative outlook for global pharmaceuticals in 2010. (RTRS)

Merck & Co. – Co. and Santarus Inc. said the FDA approved co.’s over-the-counter version of the Santarus prescription heartburn drug Zegerid. Co. also announced that the US FDA has approved Zegerid OTC, for over-the-counter treatment of frequent heartburn. In other news, co. is among the companies short-listed for the AUD 900mln sale of iNova Pharmaceutical Pty, which may be completed this month. In addition, Addex Pharmaceuticals announced the extension of its research collaboration with co. for an additional year. The collaboration is focused on developing the treatment of Parkinson’ disease and other undisclosed indications. Addex will receive research funding from co. in addition to the original financial terms, which include milestones and royalties. (AP/The Australian Financial Review/theflyonthewall.com)

Monsanto – Co. confident in operational path to 2012 financial goals, reflecting focus on delivering step-change new technologies that emphasize mix opportunity. (Briefing.com)

Northrop Grumman – Co. President and COO Wes Bush told the Pentagon that his company will not bid on the USD 40bln Air Force contract for tanker jets for aerial refuelling unless the selection process is changed. If Northrop bows out that may leave Boeing as the only bidder. (WSJ)

Utility stocks – Known as inflation hedges, utilities have become a deflation fighter as well, according to the Wall Street Journal’s “Ahead of the Tape”, and a bet on them now “is also a bet that the doldrums of this decade have yet to run their course.” (WSJ)

US Retailers – Online retail sales on “Cyber Monday” were expected to hit new records, as shoppers returning to work from the Thanksgiving weekend scoured Web sites for holiday bargains. ComScore estimated that Cyber Monday sales could top USD 900mln, up 6% from last year and said yesterday that online sales on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, rose 11 percent to USD 595mln. (NY Post)

Walgreen – Co. reports November comparable SSS up 3.9%. (BBG)

CME Group – announced that November volume averaged 10.8 million contracts per day, up 5 percent from November 2008 and representing the first month of positive year-over-year growth to date in 2009. (BBG/RTRS)

Hershey – The charitable trust that controls co. and wants to “maintain control”, is pushing the company’s management to outbid Kraft for Cadbury to increase co.’s income. (WSJ)

Companies going ex-dividend: Bank of America (USD 0.01000), Kimberly Clark (USD 0.60000), PepsiCo (USD 0.45000)

NASDAQ

Google – As news executive battle co. over free content, the Internet giant has said that publishers will determine how many articles viewers can read for free on a daily basis. (WSJ) Also in the news, co.’s Chrome operating system-based netbook will be launched by Acer in 2H10, industry sources say. Acer was the first first-tier vendor to launch a Google Android-based netbook in the market. (DigiTimes)

Microsoft – France’s largest publisher Lagardere says it is in discussions over content with co. (La Tribune)

Amazon – E-readers are the iPods of this holiday season, but today’s e-reading devices may not survive for a long time. Current e-readers have their limits, and manufacturers are working to improve the devices. In addition, a majority of people seem to be happy reading books on their PCs, according to the Journal. (WSJ)

Teva – Shire plc has settled the litigation with co. over Shire’s supply to co. of an authorized generic version of Adderall XR. Co. has now dismissed its lawsuit, including its claims for monetary damages, specific performance and other equitable relief. (BBG/RTRS)

Time Warner – AOL hopes to increase its ad revenue once it is spun off from co. However, the Internet service provider’s ad revenue sank 19% during the first nine months of this year and its subscriber base is also declining. As a result, investing in AOL would be “a leap of faith,” according to the WSJ’s “Heard on the Street”. (WSJ)