Briac

* Blackstone Group managing director Ramesh Chakrapani has been sued by the SEC for insider trading. He worked in Blackstone's advisory business, not its private equity group, but the allegations do involve a boomtime buyout deal: The 2006 acquisition of supermarket chain Albertsons by Supervalu and Cerberus. * Felix Salmon throws cold water on the suggestion that tax troubles will derail Tim Geithner's nomination. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point to continued losses, FTSE slips on HSBC fears, rest of Europe also sags, Nikkei and Hong Kong edge higher. * Kirsner learns who's now living in Charles Ponzi's old digs. * A handy guide to Citi's deal with Morgan Stanley. * S&P writes the following, in regards to keeing U.S. credit at a "AAA" rating: "The rating (for the U.S.) was affirmed despite our judgment that fiscal risk has noticeably increased as we expect that the fiscal deterioration will be temporary." (h/t Kedrosky)

* Mother Jones fills out a TARP application, and finds that it only takes 27 minutes to complete. But don't worry, that's still 25 more minutes than it took them to fill out a new credit card application... * Best. Job. Ever. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, FTSE down 1.2% in early trading, rest of Europe erases 2009 gains, Nikkei hits one-month closing low and Hong Kong shares are flat. * Julius Genachowski is tapped to run the FCC. It must have been that pro-Obama post he wrote for peHUB last fall. * General Motors plans to open a lithium ion battery production plant in Michigan, which is welcome news for the burgeoning battery startup market. * Is hedge fund manager John Paulson brilliant or evil? * In your career, will you be Pittsburgh or Detroit? Until the economic collapse began destroying Rhode Island's job market, this also could have been titled: Will you be Providence or Worcester?

* The Satyam scandal has revived fraud fears among private equity pros investing in Asia. * Some banks want their old bailout back. * Morning Call: U.S. futures are mixed, FTSE inches up on bank gains, rest of Europe falls on oil, both the Nikkei and Hong Kong take dips. * Capitalism freezes in winter of discontent. * Bernie Madoff to his co-op neighbors: "Please accept my profound apologies for the terrible inconvenience that I have caused over the past weeks. Ruth and I appreciate the support we have received."

* Ritholtz fisks Rove on the housing meltdown. * A coming Congressional report will severely fault the Treasury Department for a lack of TARP oversight. I've got no problems with where Congress is pointing its finger, so long as its got another finger pointing at itself. Given that Paulson's original plan was just a three-page blank check, didn't anyone on Capitol Hill know to attach more strings? The Barney Frank argument that Congress allocates and the executive executes is pure bunk. * Everybody down on Morning Call, in preparation of the U.S. jobs report: U.S. futures, FTSE, rest of Europe, Nikkei and Hong Kong. * John Doerr tells Congress about a stealth-mode battery startup that could revolutionize the auto industry. * What are the chances of a depression? It depends on who you ask. * It looks like Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking will be bought by its own management.

* Daniel Gross: The FDIC sold IndyMac to fast and too cheap. And to think, Thomas H. Lee Partners bailed out of the buying consortium just weeks ago, because it didn't believe the terms could produce PE-level returns. * Carl Icahn: The right way to Icahn-proof your board. * Morning Call: U.S. stocks point lower as retail sales are eyed, European shares down (maybe BoE move will help), Nikkei and Hong Kong both drop. * VC-backed battery maker A123 Systems still can't push into the public markets, but that doesn't mean it can't ask for $1.84 billion in public monies. * Layoffs at One Laptop per Child. * Marion Maneker nails it: The media's problem is advertising, and it's a problem that the Web is exacerbating, not relieving.

* It's time for Dealbook's annual closing dinner. * Harvard Square's Out of Town News might soon become a Starbucks, but Scott Kirsner is intrigued by the former's owner's concept of a 21st Century Newsstand. I second that emotion. * Morning Call: Wall Street futures point higher, European shares rise on autos and Obama package, Nikkei keeps climbing and Hong Kong slips on China telcos. * Heidi thinks that Indymac is an indication that private equity firms are getting "smart about banks." Maybe, but this particular deal strikes me more as a situation where certain private equity firms were willing to settle for hedge-like returns and time horizons. * Kedrosky notices that Fortress Investment Group leads in YTD stock performance, and rightly calls it "surreal." * Ritholtz: Former National Association of Realtors Economist is a Jackass.

* An imaginary retrospective on 2009. * When American Greetings bought $44 million of Recycled Paper Greetings debt in September, RPG chief executive Jude Rake called the move "predatory." Apparently bygones are bygones, as RPG has agreed to be acquired by American Greetings. Rake now calls the merger "a testament to the creativity of our greeting cards and the outstanding customer service RPG people provide our customers." * Jim Robinson of RRE Ventures on venture capitalists in general: "We have always been too arrogant." * Morning Call: U.S. futures mixed before final session of 2008, FTSE up in early trading, other European shares rise 1% on oil and bank gains, Nikkei rises and Hong Kong flat. * The American Small Business League continues its stubborn refusal to recognize VC-backed startups as small businesses. Bank loans yes, institutional equity investment no. Some dichotomy.

* Sherle Schwenninger: Redoing globalization. * Michael Wolff: Private equity is the ultimate bubble. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point to rebound, Europe rises with oil bump, Nikkei up and Hong Kong down. * The trustee presiding over the liquidation of Bernie Madoff's "investment" firm is planning to give (ex) employees $28.1 million. Unless there are any objections, and I'd imagine there might be a few... * Don't worry GMAC execs: Accepting federal bailout money doesn't mean you can't keep taking private jets. Some people never learn... * Heidi thinks it's time to begin casting the inevitable Lehman Brothers movie.

* Yale sends a new letter to faculty and staff, estimating that its endowment's value is off 25% from the end of June: "The ultimate consequence of the market decline is still substantial, causing an annual budget shortfall on the order of $100 million next year (2009-10) and growing to over $300 million by 2013-14." * Erin wrote yesterday about the unreliability of year-end predictions, including those from venture captialists. But no amount of December-morning quarterbacking is going to stop folks from opining on 2009. This morning we've got a whole slew of new VC predictions, courtesy of the NVCA. Click here for survey results and here for a set of individual VC quotes. * Morning Call: U.S. futures fall, European shares pushed down by banks, Nikkei and Hong Kong both rise on U.S. rate cuts. * Anyone who helps Bernie Madoff make bail should be publicly flogged. * Recluses Gone Wild: Cerberus chief Stephen Feinberg caught on film. * Let's move Wall Street to Vegas.

* Senate to Detroit: Drop Dead. * Phil LeBeau on CNBC this morning: "When Oldsmobile went away, the value of existing Oldsmobiles dropped by $1,000. And that was just a brand going away, not a bankruptcy." * Morning Call looks ugly, based on the auto bailout collapse: U.S. futures plummet, European futures down, FTSE falls and Hong Kong slumps. * Jobless techies turn to crime. * Cleantech VC Rob Day on what's wrong with cleantech VC. * What the mainstream media is missing about recession recruiting. * The "financial adviser" in the middle of the Blago scandal.