Wednesday morning headlines

Stocks push higher: Ho-hum inflation numbers and a rebound in housing starts last month might be playing a role. Dow is up in early trading.

Fed decision: No change is expected on interest rates later this morning, but keep an eye on the commentary part of the announcement.

Bernanke is the man: Time selects the Federal Reserve chairman as its 2009 Person of the Year. "The recession was the story of the year. Without Ben Bernanke ... it would have been a lot worse," said managing editor Richard Stengel. From Reuters:

After a "near-death experience," banks are wary of taking on the kind of risk that led to the crisis although they have rebuilt capital, he said. The Fed has taken steps to loosen markets through programs that allow investors to invest directly in various forms of credit, such as auto loans and credit card loans. But further steps are needed to pull the sector out of the "convalescent stage," he said. "We need to have extensive reform in the private sector, in the public sector, to eliminate these risks in the future," he said.

Exports looking good: They continue to be one of the economy's strongest suits, with the Port of Los Angeles posting an 18 percent increase in outbound container traffic last month and the Port of Long Beach settling for a 4 percent hike. November imports fell from a year earlier. (LAT)

U.S. sues Intel: Federal Trade Commission accuses the chipmaker of using its dominant market position "to stifle competition and strengthen its monopoly." It's a big, kinda boring story that won't be resolved for years.(NYT)

Lopez on the economy: LAT columnist wonders whether it's time to spend or save and he looks to economist Chris Thornberg for answers:

Thornberg insisted that debt is something you should only take on for a long-term asset that you pay for over many years. A house, for instance. But you don't take on debt to buy iPods for the family, he said, or you're asking for big trouble, especially given the outrageous finance charges. "In the '90s, American consumers spent like college freshmen with dad's credit card," Thornberg said. We've slowed down because we woke up in 2007 to discover the "$1-million house is worth only $500,000" and the equity line of credit had become a flesh-eating monster. But in his opinion, "Americans still have way too much debt."

Big PR deal: Showbiz flaks BNC and PMK/HBH, both owned by Interpublic Group, are merging. Already, a handful of senior executives announced plans to leave the firm, taking some A-list clients with them. (LAT)

FCC goes after loophole: Regulators are moving to prevent cable operators from withholding local broadcasts of sports events from competing satellite and telecom companies. It's known as the "terrestrial loophole," From the Wash Post:

That means, Dish Network customers, for example, couldn't be deprived of Philadelphia sports games owned by Comcast. And AT&T U-Verse customers would get access to San Diego Padres games, that competitors complain have been withheld from their program lineups by Cox.

On Villaraigosa's trip: Daily News part-time columnist Doug McIntyre isn't impressed:

The mayor of Los Angeles says he's "dead serious" about creating jobs, and we all believe him, right? He's so serious about creating jobs he's only spending a measly week in Copenhagen, Denmark, sightseeing and posing at the U.N. climate conference. A fella can hardly take in the blondes, sorry, the sights, in just a week. But as mayor of a city with an official unemployment rate of nearly 14 percent and an actual unemployment rate in the 20 percent range, Antonio Villaraigosa is willing to make the big sacrifices.