Quote of the day: "I'm not going to give that any oxygen" - Ben Bernanke on the trillion-dollar coin at Monday's University of Michigan speech. Falling Apple. The S&P 500 closed down 0.1 per cent at 1,470.68, while Apple dropped more than 3 per cent on fears of weak demand for iPhones (Bloomberg). President Obama challenged Republicans to raise the debt ceiling without conditions. Markets could go haywire. It would be a self-inflicted wound for our economy," if the ceiling is not raised in time, the President said at the last press conference of his first term (Financial Times). While ruling out negotiation, Mr Obama said he was ready to accept a Congressional deal which increased the debt ceiling for more than a few months (Wall Street Journal). The President must get "serious about spending and the debt limit is the perfect time for it," the Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell fired back within moments of the conference ending (Reuters). Dell was said to be in talks to go private. Dell's shares jumped over 10 per cent on news of "preliminary" buyout talks with at least two private equity firms, including contacts with banks (Bloomberg). Dell said it did not comment on speculation. With Dell's market capitalisation of $20bn, any deal would be the largest buyout of a technology company since 2007, and the largest acquisition in the sector since Hewlett-Packard bought Compaq for $19bn in 2002. Dell has struggled to navigate the declining market for PC sales, and its shares have fallen by almost a third in the last year (Wall Street Journal). The Fed scolded JPMorgan for risk management failures in its "London Whale" trades. The cease-and-desist order by regulators comes two days before the bank releases its own internal reports into operational failures exposed by the losses in large synthetic credit positions (Fed order). JPMorgan will release separate reports by its management and its board alongside its fourth-quarter earnings (Wall Street Journal). Junk bonds have surged ahead of investment-grade bonds so far this year, posting an overall total return of 1.3 per cent to the latter's negative 0.15 per cent. Junk bonds rated CCC have posted the highest return, of 2 per cent (Financial Times). Brazil has urged Venezuela to hold elections as soon as possible after if President Hugo Chavez dies. Brazilian officials delivered the message to both Nicolas Maduro, the Vice-President and preferred successor of Chavez himself, and the opposition leader Henrique Capriles (Reuters). Pollution in Beijing: "the skies were the color of gargled milk." Is broker-dealer leverage really the mystery risk factor? Beware forced buyers of risk in the high-yield market. When do US payments start running out under the debt ceiling? A presentation. ..."while NGDP level targeting will not cure the flu at least it will not kill you. Inflation targeting on the other hand will kill you if you get the flu. Fun Edge symposium: What *should* we be worried about?