Facebook Gets Promoted, Pandora Crashes, and One Massive Acquisition: Market Recap

Need a Job? Private employers added a better-than-expected 118,000 jobs to their payrolls in November, private payroll processor ADP reported on Wednesday. But last month’s figures represented a significant decrease from October’s gain of 184,000, as Superstorm Sandy’s lasting effects diminished hiring in the Northeast. (Read more.)

The European Union Dishes out a Huge Fine: A group of technology companies were fined a total of 1.47 billion euros, or $1.92 billion, by the European Commission for operating two massive cartels that engaged in price fixing for television and computer cathode-ray tubes for nearly a decade. (Read more.)

Is Bernanke Re-Loading His Monetary Bazooka? Operation Twist, a $45-billion-per-month bond-repurchasing program instituted by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, is set to expire at the end of the year. Concerned that QE3 alone won’t provide the stimulus that he wants, many economists believe that Bernanke will re-load his monetary bazooka and announce a new monthly bond-purchasing policy at a gathering on December 11 and 12. (Read more.)

Freeport-McMoRan Plays “Let’s Make a Deal”: After months of negotiations behind closed-doors, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX) announced on Wednesday that it agreed to purchase Plains Exploration & Production (NYSE:PXP) for approximately $6.9 billion in cash and stock, while also buying McMoRan Exploration (NYSE:MMR) for about $3.4 billion in cash, or $2.1 billion net of 36 percent of McMoRan assets currently owned by Freeport and Plains. (Read more.)

Don’t Miss: Freeport-McMoRan Plays Let’s Make a Deal.