A.M. MARKET UPDATE: 01.24.10 INVESTORS EXPECT REBOUND

LAST WEEK'S SELL-OFF 'OVERDONE'?
WALL STREET JOURNAL: U.S. stock futures were pointing to a rebound on Monday, after last week's bruising close which some say was overdone and as a heavy week of political, economic and corporate events lines up for investors . . . U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffering . . . its biggest one-day drop since October 30. Those losses came as earnings from American Express, Google and others fell short of investors' lofty expectations and as the market continued to fret over U.S. bank restrictions proposed by President Barack Obama and monetary tightening from China . . . READ MORE

SENATE RE-CONFIRMATION FOR
BERNANKE APPEARS MORE LIKELY
THE STREET: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke appears to have edged closer to a second term. Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, told NBC's "Meet the Press," on Sunday he expects Bernanke to be confirmed . . . Bernanke's confirmation for a second, four-year term was thrown into doubt late last week as some key Democrats said he wouldn't be getting their vote. The uncertainty over Bernanke helped lead to a slide of 552 points last week in the Dow Jones industrial Average . . . READ MORE

CURRENCY: DOLLAR DOWN ON FED NEWS
REUTERS: The dollar slipped against the euro and higher-yielding currencies on Monday . . . Reports that embattled Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was edging closer to winning confirmation to serve a second term also calmed markets, tarnishing the dollar's safe-haven appeal . . . READ MORE

POLL: MOST OPPOSE STIMULUS
CNN: A majority of Americans oppose the economic stimulus program, according to a new national poll. Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Sunday say they oppose the stimulus package, with 42 percent supporting it . . . READ MORE

BOND SALES FUND STIMULUS DEBT
CNN/MONEY: Rising domestic demand for U.S. debt allowed the government to sell more than $1.7 trillion of Treasurys during fiscal 2009. Those sales paid for billions of dollars of stimulus spending . . . The big question is whether the feds can pull off that trick again in 2010. The government can't count on the Federal Reserve to soak up $300 billion of Treasurys, as it did last year in a bid to ease the stressed credit markets . . . READ MORE

COMMENTARY/BLOOMBERG NEWS
CAN THE FED HEAR ITSELF?
CAROLINE BAUM: “In the current environment of historically low short-term interest rates, it is important for institutions to have robust processes for measuring and, where necessary, mitigating their exposure to potential increases in interest rates,” sayeth the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve and other regulators in a Jan. 8 Interagency Advisory Bulletin . . . Are regulators reading their own memo? Rising interest rates introduce a new kind of balance-sheet risk for the Fed. With $1.2 trillion of variable-rate liabilities and $2 trillion of fixed-rate assets, when rates rise, the Fed’s net interest margin shrinks. What would happen if it disappeared? . . . READ MORE