Quick Overview

• (Bloomberg) -- The La Nina weather pattern that caused flooding in Australia and a dry spell in South America may persist through August, curbing corn and soybean output in the U.S. and China, Commodity Weather Group LLC said.

• The Conference Board’s index of U.S. sentiment increased to 60.6 from a revised 53.3.

• (Bloomberg) -- Parts of the Dodd-Frank financial services overhaul face a “potential undoing” by Republican proposals to cut spending, senior House Democrats said.

• J&J said that fourth-quarter sales fell 5.5% to $15.6 billion from last year's quarter.

• (S&P/Case-Shiller index) U.S. home prices fell 1% in November

• British Q4 GDP fell 0.5% --  first decline since 2009

• Corning (GLW) profit rose 41 % in Q4