FINANCE
• Bear Stearns followed up yesterday’s Morgan Stanley announcement with its own $850 million loss, again the first quarterly deficit in the bank’s history. [DealBook/NYT]
• Is former Bear Stearns exec Ralph Cioffi, the guy behind the two Bear funds that imploded this summer, the main culprit in the subprime crisis? New reporting suggests his team set off the plague of dirty debt that cost Citi and other top banks billions. Oh, and Cioffi’s under investigation for pulling out a couple mil before anyone else got the chance. [Business Week]
• What a mensch: David Rubenstein, the former lawyer turned Citadel private-equity master, decided to keep his new copy of the Magna Carta on display at the National Archives. Rubenstein paid $21.3 million — chump change for a guy worth around $2.5 billion. [Law Blog/WSJ]
MEDIA
• Murdoch wished his minions “great joy” for the “holiday season,” but no mention of Christmas. Can’t wait for the Bill O’Reilly takedown of that political correctness. [Portfolio]
• The White House persuaded the Times to change a few words in the subhead for their most recent blockbuster story — “White House Role Was Wider Than It Said” — on the destruction of the CIA interrogation tapes. You see, everything in the story was true, but the White House claimed they hadn’t said anything yet. Which makes the story “pernicious and troubling,” of course! [NYO, Politico]
• Which stars will go scab and show up on Leno and Letterman when the hosts return to late night this January? Katherine Heigl says no way, but Donald Trump is already booked! [NYT]
LAW
• Could dishing out legal advice on Facebook land you in a malpractice suit? [Law.com]
• No surprise: The New Jersey lawyer who sued David Chase for stealing stories for The Sopranos got nowhere in his suit against the writer. Insert appropriate mafia joke here. [Law Blog/WSJ]
• Which firm boasts the best holiday card? Let’s just say Cadwalader’s trying way too hard. [Law Blog/WSJ, Above the Law, Cadwalader]
FASHION
• Gucci’s going sporty: The design house is creating a line for the Beijing Olympics. But how do you show loyalty to your country’s colors when you’re wearing all black? [WWD]
• Gisele is designing a range for Dolce & Gabbana. No word on whether they’ll ever update that damn D&G perfume commercial. [British Vogue]
• Carine Roitfeld is being honored by amFAR. Maybe she’ll smile! [FWD]
