As I write this Friday morning, it is a quiet day on the markets. Stocks are mostly unchanged, largely due to a lack of news and a lack of volume.

I expect volume to remain below average until Jan 5. Many portfolio managers have closed the books and there is very little news scheduled for the next 7 days.

January should be interesting. There may be excitement heading into the inauguration. It would not surprise me to see some type of Obama rally.

On the other hand, fourth-quarter earnings are going to be lousy. Current forecasts show 276 S&P 500 companies reporting a year-over-year decline in profits. Earnings for the S&P 500 will still be positive, however, with modest growth of 3.3%. Coal, drug, medical products and refining companies should report the strongest growth. Avoid steel and semiconductor companies.

The economic data won't be positive either. December was another month

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Dollar-Euro parity? Crude at $12 a barrel? 15% unemployment? J. Christoph Amberger presents the Today’s Financial News top predictions for 2009…

A month ago, I asked my colleagues at TFN to think about the year ahead… the events that will shape the year both politically and financially. In short, to come up with realistic “Predictions for 2009″. As history is fast-forwarding, some of these events have already taken place. Others look increasingly probable… and not half as far out as they appeared just a month ago.

Here they are, in no particular order

*** Dollar hits parity against euro by June 2009.

*** Oil bottoms at $12 per barrel by April 2009.

*** Gold falls to $500 as Indian economy crashes and Dubai abandons spending spree.

*** Russian troops wearing Gazprom uniforms invade Ukraine to “protect” natural gas pipeline. The Russian stock market collapses. Three European energy stocks soar. (Yes, there’s

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Bald Eagle Energy Inc. (BEEI.OB), based out of Houston, is an oil and gas exploration company specifically formed to address America’s independence on foreign resources. While domestic energy companies produce 5.1 million barrels of oil per day (MMBOPD), US consumers use 20.7 MMBOPD. The current 15.6 million barrel shortfall is the gap that Bald Eagle is committed to reducing by tapping into the energy resources found in Alaska.

The North Slope Basin is known for its abundance of hydrocarbon with an estimated 27 billion barrels of discovered recoverable oil (BBO) and 52 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas (TCFG). Compared to other parts of the US, the region has a low exploration-drilling density and is under-explored.

Bald Eagle entered into an agreement on April 18, 2008 to acquire a 100% working interest in six separate leases located on the Alaska North Slope.

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The press and blogosphere are of course having a field day with the news that executives from Gazprom are enjoying a road show in Alaska this week to woo local representatives and meet with ConocoPhillips, possibly discussing participation in natural gas pipeline down to the lower 48 states. Given that Gov. Sarah Palin, the eminent "Kremlinologist," has placed so much emphasis on her foreign policy expertise with Russia, the Gazprom invasion is embarrassing to say the least. Some think that the timing of the Alaska visit carries a message: "The timing is as interesting as the visit itself," said Chris Weafer, chief strategist at UralSib Financial in Moscow. "Gazprom's entire senior management goes into Sarah Palin's backyard during a contentious election. There's a message there." However let's not lose the plot completely. Gazprom has had a business ...

Leon Cooperman is one of the best living investors. He's the founder of Omega Advisor, a $4.5 billion hedge fund based in New York.

According to Leon, “This is the most difficult environment I’ve lived through. And I’ve been doing this for 41 years.”

Capital & Crisis editor Chris Mayer caught up with Leon at a value investing conference recently. Cooperman presented Atlas Pipeline (NYSE:APL) as one of his favorite ideas of the moment -- a pick Chris previously recommended to Catital & Crisis readers.

The financial crisis is forcing energy companies to reduce their projected spending plans, with Gazprom Neft suggesting a drop of 10-20%, but state nuclear corporation Rosatom has just been granted a six-year, $83 billion finance program by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Gazprom is planning a long-term program of oil production outside of Russia. Gazprom and Italy’s Eni are set to finalize an agreement on joint entry into the Libyan oil and gas market. Gazprom says its Sakhalin natural gas pipeline could be ready as early as 2011. Closer cooperation between OPEC and Russia ‘could see a bigger political risk premium priced into oil’.

Russia and South Korea have signed a preliminary agreement on a $90 billion energy supply project involving Gazprom and Kogas. The 30-year project is planned to go ahead in 2015, and will allow Russia to diversify away from Europe as well as linking South and North Korea. Russia blames the US for stalls in talks to renew the START 1 treaty aimed at reducing both countries’ nuclear arms supplies. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will visit Russia this week to discuss energy relations. Did the Russian government engineer a slowdown in oil production by raising taxes? Gazprom may build a $935 million natural-gas pipeline in Russia's Far East next year. Is TNK-BP finally solving some of its problems?

We are reiterating our Buy recommendation, earnings estimates and price objective for Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB) shares. The company remains well positioned to capitalize on attractive growth opportunities in its low-risk exploration and production (E&P) business, besides enjoying strong leverage to continued strength in natural gas liquids margins in its Midstream business.

We believe that Williams Rockies development drilling program focused on the Piceance Basin is the key to its upstream growth going forward. Additionally, the company raised its earnings outlook for the rest of 2008 and 2009, citing production growth. A recently completed $1 billion share repurchase program, a 10% dividend increase, and creation of a pipeline MLP are some of the other positives in the Williams story.

We believe that the company has moved beyond its restructuring phase and is now clearly ready to focus on growth opportunities. We expect double-digit volume gains in 2008, after production growth

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