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Shares of MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) soared almost 30% after the world's largest bond insurer got a $1 billion cash infusion from Warburg Pincus LLC, a private equity firm.

The money couldn't have come at a better time for Armonk, N.Y.-based MBIA, which faced a potentially crippling downgrade from the credit rating agencies As Bloomberg News notes, "MBIA's AAA ranking stands behind $652 billion of state, municipal and structured finance bonds, and losing the AAA credit rating would endanger MBIA's ability to guarantee debt, its main source of revenue."

Under the terms of the agreement, Warburg Pincus will make an initial investment of $500 million through the acquisition of 16.1 million shares at $31 per share, a slight premium over Friday's closing. The investor will also backstop a shareholder rights offering of up to $500 million that MBIA expects to make next year. In addition, Warburg will receive warrants to purchase 8.7 million shares of MBIA common stock at a price of $40, and "B" warrants, which, upon obtaining certain approvals, will become exercisable to purchase 7.4 million shares of stock at $40.

The waring sides in the Hollywood writers' strike don't give a hoot about the public.

Sure, we TV viewers haven't suffered much yet, but the future looks bleaker than Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives after the tornado, according to the Wall Street Journal:

Artful scheduling of remaining episodes of scripted shows will get them through January. Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS)'s ABC Television, for instance, has a couple of episodes of Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy that it can stretch out with some techniques such as longer recaps of previous episodes. After that, the network has a couple of new mid-season scripted shows it is planning to debut.

Oh no, does that mean that we are going to keep hearing about the tornado? Will the slow, torturous relationship between Meredith Grey and Derrick Shepherd continue to move along at a glacial pace on Desperate Housewives? Do the networks want people to start reading?

McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD) again has proven that Wall Street's most optimistic forecasts are too conservative.

The number one restaurant chain today reported an 8.2% rise in November sales, a 4.4% gain in U.S. same store sales, a 10.8% increase in Europe and a 12% jump in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Shares of the home of the Quarter Pounder, up about 40% this year, rose to a 52-week high over $61 this morning.

One big reason for the company's success is coffee. The Oakbrook, Illinois-based company's promotion that lets consumers get any sized coffee for 69 cents is brilliant because it hits Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) at its most vulnerable point: price.

In the first six months of this year, Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) was mentioned on network television 3,054 times in product placements, according to Nielsen data cited by the New York Times.

Think about it: every time Paula Abdul gulps down a Coke -- at least that's what it says on the can -- on American Idol, that's put on the tab of the Atlanta-based company. Neither is it coincidental when a brand is mentioned on shows like Big Love, American Dad or Scrubs.

Welcome to the post-commercial world. The theory is that the 30-second spot is so 2001 and that people -- particularly the young ones advertisers want to attract -- are savvy enough to avoid most advertising. That's why product placements are soaring.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, for one, is concerned that the public may not always be aware that someone is trying to sell them something. That concern is justified when it comes to children who are bombarded with show after show that are just excuses to sell them crap.

Unfortunately, though, the era of product placements has only begun.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) may name Vikram Pandit, the former Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) executive who sold his hedge fund to the New York-based financial services giant for $800 million in July, as the company's new CEO this week, according to various media reports.

The leak of Pandit's front-runner status is an interesting one. Clearly, the beleaguered Wall Street firm thinks that his appointment as CEO is going to be criticized by shareholders, so it decided to "get ahead of the story."

The problem, it seems, may be with former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who became chairman after Chuck Prince was ousted. Rubin doesn't want the job permanently, which raises the question of whether Citigroup will ask him to stick around for a while if Pandit becomes CEO, whether it names a new chairman or whether it gives Pandit both jobs from the start, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Citigroup is in a pickle.

Shareholders abhor a leadership vacuum, but want the next CEO to be someone with whom they have absolute confidence. But if CItigroup doesn't give Pandit both jobs or a clear path toward both jobs, there is a good chance that he will be hired away by a rival firm.

Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER), Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB), and Bear Stearns Cos. (NYSE: BSC) have been subpoenaed by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as part of an investigation of "related to the packaging and selling of debt tied to high-risk mortgages," according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

Among the information Cuomo is seeking is about the super cozy relationship between the banks and the credit-rating agencies, the paper said.

This is big.

Cuomo, the son of former Gov, Mario Cuomo, is a politically ambitious guy. His predecessor Eliot Spitzer made his mark exposing the sleazy practices of Wall Street analysts and brought down former New York Stock Exchange honcho Richard Grasso.

Sure this is a fishing expedition, but Cuomo is a captain of a mighty big ship. The banks better strike a deal with him fast or else they are going be in for a tough slog.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson could teach Little Orphan Annie a thing or two about optimism.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal [subscription required], he again told investors that the sun will come out tomorrow. Heck, in his world the sun continues to shine as bright as ever.

"I believe we're going to continue to grow," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in an interview with the paper. "I've always said these credit-market problems weren't going to work themselves out quickly. And the housing-credit market, the price of oil -- these are the risks. But we have a very diverse, healthy economy. "

Most voters -- who are scared out out of their wits by a crashing real estate market, rising energy prices and a volatile stock market -- would beg to differ. In fact, 52% of Americans say the economy and health care are the most important issue to them compared with 34% who cite terrorism and moral issues, which is the reverse of the polling before the 2004 election, according to the Journal.

Is it any wonder that people are getting worked up into a frenzy over illegal immigration? The average person -- the ones who can't tell a stock from a bond -- are scared to death about the economy. Free market conservatives like Paulson forget that many people don't have as much faith in markets as they do.

This post is part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst of 2007. Be sure to cast your vote for the dumbest business moment of the year.

So many dumb moments in business in 2007, so little space. This year had everything from the torturous dance between Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and the Bancroft family over the future of Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) to the almost weekly Chinese toy recalls to the collapse of the subprime mortgage markets. Let's not forget the JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) Valentine's Day Massacre that left thousands stranded on airport runways for hours during a snowstorm, or Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) Chief Executive John Mackey's anonymous chatroom postings about his company on message boards.

Sure, those stories may have been gloriously idiotic in their own way, but none of them had anything to do with a wacky cartoon featuring a talking milk shake, order of fries, and wad of meat.

If the stars of the "The Aqua Teen Hunger Force" don't ring a bell with you, don't feel bad because they didn't ring a bell with the Boston Police Department either. For those who've never heard of the show, the Aqua Teens are the obnoxious "Master Shake," the cerebral "Frylock," and the dimwitted "Meatwad." Originally, they were supposed to be some sort of detectives. Most shows, though, they just hang out in their dilapidated house and torment their ultra-hairy neighbor named Carl. Among the minor characters are two slacker aliens called the Moonites who look like they dropped out of a video game from the 1980s.

Motorola Corp. (NYSE: MOT) Chief Executive Ed Zander is stepping down as of January 1, according to CNBC's David Faber. He is being replaced by president and chief operating officer Greg Brown.

Zander, who was brought to the company to replace the mess created by his predecessor Chris Galvin, will remain as chairman. Shares of Motorola are down about 29% over the past year. They are trading up in pre-market trading.

The move isn't surprising since Zander was on thin ice with investors for a long time, including billionaire activist Carl Icahn.

"Until recently, much of the blame for the ailing mobile-phone business was laid at the feet of Motorola's former cell phone czar, Ron Garriques, who was criticized for chasing market share at the expense of profitability," BusinessWeek wrote in July. "But in the absence of Garriques, who bolted for Dell (DELL) in February, the buck stops with Zander, investors say."

Shares of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) fell in after-hours trading after the computer maker reported third-quarter earnings that didn't impress Wall Street.

Net income rose 27% to $766 million, or 34 cents, on and sales rose 8.5% to $15.6`5 billion. Excluding one-time items, profit was 35 cents meeting analysts' forecasts. The revenue figure beat analysts' forecasts of $15.36 billion.

Investors appear to be reacting to the 6% decline in Dell's U..S. consumer business which underscores the challenge the Round Rock. Texas-based company faces in recapturing the top spot in the PC market from Hewlett-Packard.Corp. (NASDAQ: HPQ). Analysts also may have expected better margin performance.

Moreover, the outlook was also a bit downbeat in the earnings release.

"The company continues to focus on strategic priorities that will provide better value to customers while driving a more optimal balance of liquidity, profitability and growth," the company said. "As the company executes against these priorities it will continue to incur costs as it restructures to improve productivity and execution, reduce headcount where appropriate, and invest in infrastructure and acquisitions. These actions, which the company believes are necessary to drive long-term sustainable value, may adversely impact the company's performance."

In a move bound to arouse the ire of a few religious conservatives, The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is selling what it calls "Miracle Trees" on its web site.

These "Miracle Trees" look suspiciously like what some folks call "Christmas trees." In fact, the company says that people who buy them will "enjoy less mess and more cheer." A representative for Atlanta-based Home Depot couldn't immediately be reached for comment, so it remains unclear what "miracle" these things are supposed to perform. I'll update the post if I hear from the company. The name of the product came from the manufacturer, according to a Home Depot spokeswoman, who added that the company continues to call Christmas trees by their given name.

The right-wing American Family Association, which earlier this month criticized Lowe's Companies (NYSE: LOW) for calling Christmas trees "holiday trees," was aware of the the Home Depot "Miracle Trees" but had no other immediate comment. Word of the "Miracle Trees" also has spread to talk radio.

With the holiday season about a month away, AFA already is on a heightened state of alert to ferret out Christmas slights. The Gap (NYSE: GPS) is in the group's penalty box for "censoring Christmas" for the second year in a row.

"At Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic, Christmas hardly exists. For these three companies, all owned by Gap, the only items listed as having anything to do with Christmas were a pair of boxer shorts and a child's sleepwear set," the group says. A spokesperson for San Francisco-based Gap couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Update: Gap spokesman Greg Rossiter denies the retailer is anti-Christmas. The company encourages its 150,000 workers to greet customers "warmly" during the holiday season. "They are not required to use that greeting (Merry Christmas) nor are they required not to," he said in an interview.

Who would have thought that Christmas wasn't commercialized enough?

Gallery: 'Tis the season to boycott: Would Christmas by any other name be so controversial?

The market today took its head out of the oven, thanks to a decline in oil prices and talk from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn reinforcing the need for further rate cuts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 322 points to 13,280.76 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index surged 74.86 to 2,655.66. The S&P 500 jumped 37.94 to 14,566.17. CNBC's anchors were positively orgasmic, saying it was the best one-day point gain for the year, even though home sales and durable goods orders continue to be weak.

Beaten-up financial stocks rebounded. Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER), which had gotten pounded because of subprime mortgage concerns, surged $4.42, or 8.3%, to $57.49. Citigroup (NYSE: C), another stock in Wall Street's doghouse until recently, jumped $2.13. or 7%, to $32.45. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH), Bear Stearns & Co. (NYSE: BSC), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and even Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) also showed gains.

"Kohn's comments just add to a perception that the Fed is embarking on a sustained path of easing,'' Oppenheimer Holdings Chief Investment Strategist Michael Metz told Bloomberg News. "There's also huge relief that the worst of the financial crisis may be behind us.''

Other stocks showing gains include Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), which dodged a huge regulatory bullet from the FCC. Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), perhaps the most sensitive to worries about consumer spending, also rose, as did tech heavyweights such as Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Not everyone was impressed.

Tom Higgins, chief economist at Payden & Rygel, told the Wall Street Journal that "it's more of a technical correction of oversold conditions.There's no fundamental reason that today should [bring a] rally."

Predictably, shares of the New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) are down more than 2% today after Bank of America put a "sell" rating on the newspaper publisher, citing a potential downturn in advertising from luxury advertisers and from financial services companies in New York and Boston.

Analyst Joe Arns slashed his price target by 33% to $21 as he believes the company's earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortizations could be 19% below Wall Street's consensus forecasts assuming a "mild recession," according to MarketWatch.

While I agree with Arns' analysis, like most analysts he is a day late and a dollar short. Wall Street has put a "sell" rating on the stock a long time ago. Shares of the New York-based publisher are down more than 33% for the year even though the company posted BETTER-THAN-EXPECTED third quarter results. The stock trades under the $19.50 median target of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

My hunch is that newspaper publishers are such a low priority for Wall Street firms that they could care less whether or not their ratings are the least bit timely.

Note: I have done freelance writing for the New York Times and Boston Globe.

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) reportedly is in talks to buy social networking site LinkedIn.

"A well-placed source has confirmed with us that these talks are serious," writes VentureBeat's Eric Eldon. "News Corp.'s strategy, from what we understand: Somehow integrate LinkedIn's network with the Wall Street Journal as well as its other newspapers around the world, hopefully figuring out how to recoup News Corp.'s newspapers' declining classified ad revenue in the process."

The strategy makes sense. Plus, Murdoch is eager to bolster the company's social networking business in the face of the rising popularity of MySpace. LinkedIn claims that 14 million professionals use it, representing every member of the Fortune 500. Its investors include Sequoia Capital, Greylock, the European Founders Fund and Bessemer Venture Partners.

As Murdoch has shown with the $5 billion acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ), Murdoch is willing to pay up for something he wants and if shareholders benefit so much the better. Investors continue to be sour on the media sector and will be for a while considering the uncertainty surrounding advertising spending and the overall economy. Shares of News Corp., which recently said earnings were rising ahead of its forecasts, are down 3% this year.

This may turn out to be a holiday season only The Grinch could love.

The closely watched Conference Board index of consumer confidence fell to 87.3 in November, its lowest level since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, while house values fell 4.5% in the third quarter, the biggest drop since S&P/Case-Schiller started tracking them in 1988, according to Bloomberg News. Rising foreclosures will sap billions from major metropolitan areas next year, according to a report released today by the National Conference of Mayors.

To put it bluntly, despite the hoopla over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, all indications show that consumers are telling retailers "bah humbug." Does this mean that Santa (AKA Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke) will bring more holiday rate cuts? At least one fed official says no.

In a speech today in Rochester, NY, Charles Plosser of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that he isn't inclined to seek another rate cut unless growth in 2008 is much weaker than expected. Besides, a weaker economic outlook for next year was considered when the Fed cut rates in October.

The stock market, though, continues to act irrationally.

Today, the Dow Jones industrial average surged 215 points to 12,958.44 after Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) got a $7.5 billion investment from a fund tied to the government of Abu Dhabi. That's nice but as Bloomberg News points out, that investment came with a steep price.

"Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank, is paying a "junk bond'' rate to uphold Chairman Robert Rubin's pledge to preserve the dividend and weather this year's mortgage-market decline," the news service says. "The 11 percent interest rate on $7.5 billion of convertible shares that Citigroup sold to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is almost double the rate it offers bond investors."

This proves that there is no so such thing as a free lunch.