Fox, stocks, bank, etc.

Happy New Year: Hong Kong is three minutes into 2010, while Aukland, New Zealand is already 5+ hours into the new year. Still another hour to go in Bangkok and three more in Islamabad.

Latest on Fox squabble: Sen. John Kerry threatened to intervene via the FCC if Time Warner Cable and News Corp., parent of the Fox networks, can't come to terms over a new contract by midnight tonight. News Corp. COO Chase Carey said Wednesday that a new deal is unlikely to be worked out in the alloted time. (Bloomberg)

Stocks slip lower: On the last trading day of 2009, the Dow is down about 30 points, to a little over 10,500. Still, the Dow is up 60 percent from its low in March. (NYT)

AT&T drops Tiger: The telecom giant's logo appeared on Woods' golf bag and he had been the host of the AT&T National PGA event in July (company says it will continue to sponsor the event). Accenture and Gillette have also dumped Woods. (AP)

City National repaying feds: L.A.-based bank is being allowed to repay half of the $400 million that regulators provided last year under TARP. The remainder will be repaid in 2010. From the LAT:

Although City National appears on track to emerge as a strong survivor from the financial industry's near-meltdown, analysts say questions remain about the bank's exposure to the weak California economy and, in particular, the shaky commercial real estate market. "The regulators are taking an extremely cautious approach these days, so it's not entirely surprising to see this," said Aaron Deer, an analyst at securities firm Sandler O'Neill.

One California Plaza off block: After a lukewarm response from potential bidders, the big downtown property is no longer for sale. Macquarie Office Trust, an Australian real-estate investment trust, had been trying to unload the 992,000-square-foot office building for most of the year. From the WSJ:

The move also may signal the company's confidence in a recovery. In a briefing with unit holders this month, Macquarie executives seemed to suggest a change in its U.S. asset strategy. This year, Adrian Taylor, Macquarie's chief executive, said the company would sell some U.S. assets. In the more recent briefing, the company said it planned to invest in the U.S. portfolio as the markets start to recover rather than to sell assets at a low point in the cycle, according to a document posted on the company's Web site.