Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) said it would halt all production in Japan for 11 days to reduce buildup of inventory in the face of plunging demand. The world's largest automaker's sales fell 37% last month, forcing it to forecast its first annual loss in 70 years.

The suspension, which will affect production at all of the company's 12 Japan-based plants, is expected to end in February or March. The company's new announcement adds to a three-day shutdown earlier this month.

Battered American rivals like General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) have also idled plants across North America in response to the slump in auto sales in a weak economy.

Toyota shares were up more than 1% at $66.30 at noon on the New York Stock Exchange.

Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) shares plummeted Monday after the largest U.S. meat processor said President and Chief Executive Dick Bond will step down, effective immediately.

Bond, who held the top position at Tyson since May 2006, will be replaced by former CEO Leland Tollett on an interim basis. The resignation comes amid instability in the meat industry due to higher costs and lower demand, forcing rival Pilgrim's Pride into bankruptcy protection.

Last month, Tyson pledged all its assets as collateral and agreed to pay higher interest rates in lieu of greater flexibility on the covenants of a $1 billion credit line. It has already forecast a possible loss for the fiscal first quarter, partially due to its unprofitable chicken division. The consensus estimate for the quarter is pegged at a loss of 17 cents per share.

Tyson was trading down more than 12% at $8.21 at noon

Dow Chemical, Kuwait deal collapses… Nasdaq dragged by large-cap tech companies… Oil rises above $38 per barrel on Middle East tensions…  Dow off 1.6 pct, S&P off 1.6 pct, Nasdaq off 2.3 pct

Wall Street stumbled on Monday after a joint venture between Kuwait and Dow Chemical fell through, threatening one of the larger merger deals of the year and adding to fears about a faltering global economy.

Dow shares tumbled to their lowest since 1991 after Kuwait decided to end a $17.4 billion petrochemical joint venture amid slumping petrochemical sales and the global financial crisis.

The news ignited worries that the largest U.S. chemical company would not be able to buy rival Rohm & Haas , which Dow agreed to acquire for about $15.3 billion in July. Rohm & Haas (ROH) shares fell as much as 25 percent.

These declines were also exacerbated

Children didn’t make up Santa. Parents did. Santa may be generous. But naughty kids get nothing but coal. Santa is a ruthless administrator of justice. This is not a kid’s fantasy. But it is a parental one.

So my holiday message to President-Elect Obama and his new Treasury Secretary – Timothy Geithner is this…

Don’t ask banks to be your kid’s wimpy version of Santa Claus – giving out gifts to all those who ask nicely … or scream the loudest (autos, anybody?).

Banks can make your dreams come true. Or they can destroy them.

In either case, I’d like them to lend responsibly.

I’ve seen both sides of what banks can do. And I’m sure you have too.

I remember getting a bank loan for my first home. I needed to prove that payments would take up no more than 20 percent of my disposable income. I needed to prove I had a job. I

President-elect Barack Obama yesterday (Thursday) named Mary L. Schapiro – a strong proponent of protections for individual investors – to head the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission when his administration takes office next month, the biggest of three nominations with potential financial crisis implications.

And in the latest addition to his Obamanomics plan, the president-elect has also proposed a massive stimulus package of as much as $775 billion over the next two years as part of a historic infusion that’s aimed at overhauling America’s infrastructure, schools, broadband networks and energy use, a Congressional source told MarketWatch.com yesterday.

But making the Schapiro nomination official was considered a key move. In its Thursday morning issue, Money Morning reported that Schapiro had been chosen and that an official announcement would be made later in the day. And that’s just what happened.

Obama named

General Mills Inc. (GIS) and ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) both topped analysts' forecasts on their second-quarter profit, as the deepening global economic slump forced more cash-strapped customers to dine at home. Price increases for their products and improved cost-control measures also helped the companies post better-than-expected results.

General Mills' net income fell 3.1% to $378.2 million, or $1.09 a share, in the quarter. Excluding certain one-time items, profit was $1.36 per share, compared with the consensus estimate of $1.22. The maker of Progresso Soup also boosted its 2009 earnings guidance, even after forecasting a 9% increase in costs. General Mills now expects to earn between $3.83 and $3.87 a share, from an earlier view of $3.81 and $3.85.

ConAgra posted quarterly earnings of $168.1 million, or 37 cents a share, down from $244.8 million, or 50 cents, a year ago. Excluding items, earnings were

Beckman Coulter (BEC) shares soared today after the diagnostics instrument maker reiterated its 2008 guidance and forecast a 10% earnings-per-share growth for the next year period.

The company said that despite broader economic uncertainties, it was confident it could achieve double-digit earnings growth in 2009, due to higher-margin recurring revenue and tighter cost-control measures. Sales are also expected to rise by 5%.

Beckman Coulter expects to earn between $3.55 and $3.65 per share in 2008. The consensus estimate is pegged at $3.59.

Shares of the company were up nearly 12% at $41.48 in noon trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Honeywell International Inc. (HON) soared Monday morning after the company reaffirmed its 2008 outlook and said it expects raw material costs to fall sharply next year, negating some effects of the global recession.

However, the diversified manufacturer still forecast profit falling by 6% to 16% between $3.20 and $3.55 per share in 2009, due to lower demand across its end markets. The consensus estimate has gone down 9 cents to $3.49 in the last week. Honeywell also sees global flying hours dropping by 2% in 2009.

The world's largest maker of cockpit electronics reiterated its guidance of $3.76 to $3.80 for 2008. Average analyst expectation is in line with the low end of that range.

Optimistic investors saw the near-term outlook as positive and took Honeywell up nearly 9% in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock, which was dropped from the

Waters Corp. (WAT) sank to a new 52-week-low after the company reduced its quarterly profit forecast, citing falling demand for its liquid-chromatography and mass-spectrometry devices.

Waters now expects to earn between 94 and 99 cents per share in the fourth quarter, down from its previous guidance between $1.08 and $1.12 a share. Analysts are a little more bullish, with the consensus estimate pegged at $1.09 per share.

A number of brokerage analysts downgraded the stock, sending Waters down nearly 14% to $36.24 in noon trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Earlier in the session, the stock had touched a new 52-week low at $32.21.

The Fall Of Legg Mason's Bill Miller

Legg Mason's Bill Miller managed to outwit the S&P 500 longer than anyone else.  But eventually he was doomed to fail. And now there's little doubt that the biggest star among stock mutual fund managers has stumbled badly.

This Wall Street Journal  piece takes an in-depth look at Miller's huge bets and stunning failures in the past few years. It even quotes him as saying he was "naïve."

(One minor disappointment about this article is that it didn't touch on how Miller, as his fund as well as Legg Mason's business grew, took on more administrative functions and delegated more daily fund management duties to associates.)

But just a minor point in an otherwise fascinating look at the fall of one of the industry's greatest names. You can read it here.

Some Commodities