** US WRAP **

** COMMODITY HEADLINES **

- Commodity Strategists: Aluminum Will Gain Most in 2006, Merrill Predicts
- Gold May Rise From a 24-Year High on Concern for Inflation, Survey Shows
- Crude Oil Rises on Signs of Increasing Gasoline Demand, Economic Growth
- Copper Rises on Speculation Interest Rates Will Stay Low, Support Housing
- Raw Sugar, Near Its Highest in 11 Years, Will Rise Further, Sucden Says
- Wheat Falls Most Since July as Overseas Buyers Shun U.S. Costly U.S. Grain
- U.S. Corn Export Sales Rose Last Week While Soybeans, Wheat, Cotton Fell
- Cocoa Production in Ivory Coast Will Rise This Year, Coffee Output to Fall
- Turkey Confirms Fourth Human Case of Bird Flu After Three Children Died
- Codelco Says Copper Production Unaffected on Third Day of Strike at Mines

** TRADING HEADLINES **

- Boston Scientific, Outbidding J&J, Offers $25 Billion to Acquire Guidant
- U.S. Retail Spending Rose Last Month by Most Since July, Report May Show
- Dollar Bears Increase on Speculation Rising Rate Cycle Ending, Survey Says
- U.S. Stocks Add to New Year’s Rally, Pushing Indexes to Highest Since 2001
- Treasuries Post Gain for the Week After Fed Minutes; Yield Curve Steepens
- Wal-Mart Says January U.S. Same-Store Sales Are Rising Within Its Forecast
- General Motors Sales in Latin America, Africa, Middle East Rise 20 Percent
- Morgan Stanley’s Mack Re-Hires Jerry Wood as Managing Director at Firm
- Motorola’s Zander Seeks to Replace Personal Computer With New Q Phones
- Lions Gate’s `Hostel’ Opens at No. 1 With $20.1 Million in Weekend Sales

** TODAY **
The macro agenda is empty with only Consumer Credit numbers for November being reported well after European close (21:00 CET). After the U.S. close Alcoa will report earnings.