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* * * * * MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2013 ~ VOL. CCLXI NO. 5 WSJ.com HHHH $2 .00

CONTENTSAbreast of the Market C1Corporate News.... B2,3Global Finance........... C3Heard on the Street C8Law Journal................. B7Market Data................ C4

Media & Marketing B6Moving the Market C2Opinion................... A11-13Sports.............................. B8U.S. News................. A2-5Weather Watch........ B7World News......... A6-10

Lastweek: DJIA 13435.21 À 497.10 3.8% NASDAQ 3101.66 À 4.8% NIKKEI 10688.11 À 2.8% STOXX600 287.83 À 3.2% 10-YR. TREASURY g 1 26/32 , yield 1.915% OIL $93.09 À $2.29 EURO $1.3069 YEN 88.17

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Vital Signs

The national debt isgrowing. Total public debtoutstanding was $16.07 tril-lion as of the third quarter,up from $15.86 trillionthree months earlier. Thefederal debt is now equiva-lent to 101.6% of the na-tion’s gross domestic prod-uct, up from 53.5% in early1990. Not all the federaldebt is subject to the na-tion’s borrowing limit of$16.394 trillion.

Federal debt outstanding,quarterly, in trillions

Source: Fed. Reserve Bank of St. Louis

0

4

8

12

$16

'00’90 '10

>

G lobal banking regulatorsagreed to relax a rule de-

signed to ensure that bigbanks are able to weather fi-nancial crises without run-ning short of cash, bowing totwo years of intense pres-sure from the industry. C1n Banks were closing in ona $10 billion foreclosure-abuse settlement with regu-lators that could be unveiledas soon as Monday. C2n Fed insiders say the centralbank’s move to tie rate booststo specific jobless and inflationlevels will likely be only a tem-porary part of its tool kit. A2n U.S. businesses took onnew office space at a sluggishpace in the fourth quarter asemployers remained cautiousabout adding new jobs. A3n Junk bonds are continuingto clock new milestones, butsome fund investors and ana-lysts say there is little room forthem to climbmuch further. C1n The NHL and its playersreached an agreement to enda four-month lockout, andleague officials began plan-ning a 48-50 game season. B1n Flowers Foods and GrupoBimbo are in discussions toacquire pieces of HostessBrands’ bread business. B3n Nvidia plans to market itsown videogame device directlyto consumers, a change instrategy for the company. B4n As big law firms grapplewith lackluster demand, someare handing out pink slips topartners who don’t boostthe bottom line enough. B1n Latin American banks areexperiencing a sharp rise in“payroll loans” that are re-paid through deductionsfrom workers’ paychecks. C1nVenezuela continued itssearch for a missing plane car-rying Italian fashion executiveMissoni and five others. B3

nA defiant Assad ruled outtalks with Syrian rebels.The president rejected interna-tional peace efforts for a planof his own that keeps him inpower. Critics viewed his com-ments as the harshest declara-tion of war against the opposi-tion yet. They are likely to fueldebate among the rebels’ for-eign backers over whether tohelp them defeat the regimemilitarily or press for talks. A1The U.S. dismissed Assad’sproposal as another attemptto cling to power and calledit “detached from reality.”n The Senate GOP leaderruled out further tax increasesin coming budget and debttalks, portending a fight overraising the borrowing limit. A1nObama plans to nominateformer GOP Sen. Hagel as de-fense secretary today in theface of intensifying oppositionby Republican lawmakers. A4n Clinton will resume herduties today, five days afterbeing released from a hospitalfor treatment of a blood clot,the State Department said. A5n Venezuela’s ailing Chávezis unlikely to be sworn in aspresident Thursday, increas-ing uncertainty about overwho will lead the country. A8n Abbas officially changedhis government’s name to“the State of Palestine” inlight of its new U.N. status. A7n Sudan and South Sudanagreed to implement dealsto demilitarize their borderand allow oil exports. A10n Afghanistan plans to askthe U.S. for more controlover aid money during Kar-zai’s visit to Washington. A6n Egypt’s president sworein 10 new cabinet appointees,strengthening Islamists’ holdon the government. A7n China is building a nuclearpower plant after lifting a mor-atorium imposed following Ja-pan’s Fukushima disaster. A10n China said over 39 tons of achemical used in manufactur-ing and agriculture leaked intoa river after a pipe burst. A9

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What’s Ahead—MONDAY, JAN. 7 Afghanistan’s PresidentKarzai heads to Washingtonthis week and will meetwith President Obama. Alabama and Notre Dameclash in the BCS title game.TUESDAY, JAN. 8 U.S. consumer credit fig-ures for November are due. The World Economic Fo-rum issues its annual globalrisks report.WEDNESDAY, JAN. 9 Germany releases No-vember industrial produc-tion data.THURSDAY, JAN. 10 The European Central Bank

and the Bank of England con-clude policy meetings. Illness is expected to keepVenezuela’s Chávez from hisscheduled inauguration for anew term as president. The Labor Departmenttallies initial jobless claimsfor the latest week. Oscar nominations are an-nounced.FRIDAY, JAN. 11 China posts inflation datafor December. The U.S. reports on thebalance of trade for Novem-ber and the budget deficitfor December.

For the week ahead in corporatenews, see page B2.

Like many students, Steve Vonderweidt hopedthat a master’s degree in business administrationwould open doors to a new job with a higher pay-check.

But now, about eight months after receiving hisM.B.A. from the University of Louisville, Mr. Vonder-

weidt, 36 years old, hasn’t been ableto find a job in the private sector, andcontinues to work as an administratorat a social-service agency that helpsLouisville residents obtain foodstamps, health care and other assis-tance. He is saddled with about

$75,000 in student-loan debt—much of it from grad-uate school.

“It was a really great program,” says Mr. Vonder-weidt. “But the job part has been atrocious.”

Soaring tuition costs, a weak labor market and aglut of recent graduates such as Mr. Vonderweidt areupending the notion that professional degrees likeM.B.A.s are a sure ticket to financial success.

The M.B.A.’s lot is partly reflected in starting pay.While available figures vary by schools and employ-

ers, recruiters’ expected median salary for newlyhired M.B.A.s was essentially flat between 2008 and2011, not adjusting for inflation, according to a sur-vey by the Graduate Management Admission Coun-cil.

For graduates with minimal experience—threeyears or less—median pay was $53,900 in 2012,down 4.6% from 2007-08, according to an analysisconducted for The Wall Street Journal by Pay-Scale.com. Pay fell at 62% of the 186 schools exam-ined.

Even for more seasoned grads the trend is simi-lar, says Katie Bardaro, lead economist for Pay-Scale.com. “In general, it seems that M.B.A. pay iseither stagnant or falling,” she says.

The pressures are greatest for those attendingless prestigious schools, says Stanford BusinessSchool professor Paul Oyer, who studies personneltrends. But even at top programs, some graduatesare likely to struggle in today’s environment, hesays.

Another burdensome issue: a high debt load.Nearly 60% of graduating M.B.A.s said they expectedto repay some loans after graduation, according to

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WASHINGTON—Republicanswon’t accept further tax in-creases in coming budget anddebt negotiations, the party’sSenate leader said Sunday, put-ting GOP lawmakers on a colli-sion course with Democrats overraising the government’s borrow-ing limit.

Congress and President BarackObama last week raised income-tax rates on high earners as part

of legislation to avoid the seriesof spending cuts and broad taxincreases known as the fiscalcliff.

“The tax issue is finished,over, completed. That’s behindus,” Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell (R., Ky.) toldABC. He said new tax revenue is“absolutely” off the table as partof any coming negotiations withDemocratic lawmakers and Mr.Obama.

Democratic leaders say morerevenue is needed, mainly by

scaling back tax breaks.“There are still deductions,

credits, special treatments underthe tax code that ought to belooked at very carefully,” Sen.Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Demo-crats’ No. 2 leader in the Senate,said on CNN Sunday.

Mr. McConnell’s line in thesand comes as lawmakers pre-pare to consider the terms forraising the nation’s statutoryborrowing limit, or debt ceiling,which must be done by late Feb-

PleaseturntopageA4

BY SIOBHAN GORMANAND PETER NICHOLAS

Battle Lines Drawn on Budget

BEIRUT—Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad issued a defiantcall to war to defend the countryagainst what he called a foreign-inspired rebellion, ruling out talkswith rebels and rejecting interna-tional peace efforts for a politicalplan of his own that keeps him inpower.

The proposal, made Sunday inMr. Assad’s first national addressin six months, dims any chance ofa quick resolution to the longest,deadliest and most complicatedof the Middle East’s Arab Springrevolts.

After the speech to a cheeringaudience of supporters in Damas-cus, international critics repeatedcalls for Mr. Assad, whose fam-ily’s four-decade rule of Syriasparked an uprising in 2011, tostep down. A U.S. State Depart-ment spokeswoman called hisproposal for political reforms“another attempt by the regimeto cling to power.”

The latest sign of defiancefrom Damascus is expected to fueldebate among the opposition’s in-ternational backers. The U.S., itsEuropean allies and Arab coun-tries opposed to Mr. Assad aresplit on whether to move moreaggressively to help rebels defeathis regime militarily or force botha scale-back in the fighting andthen political negotiations, ana-lysts and diplomats say.

It is also likely to intensifytalks between the U.S. and Russia,which acknowledged last weekMr. Assad was unlikely to will-ingly concede power, on how tonavigate the crisis, analysts said.

Mr. Assad appeared to suggesthe won’t cooperate either way. Hesaid he was determined to fight,and ruled out a political settle-ment except on his own, specificterms. Critics viewed his com-ments as the harshest declaration

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BY NOUR MALAS

DefiantAssadRulesOutTalksWithRebels

BY RUTH SIMON

For Newly Minted M.B.A.s,A Smaller Paycheck Awaits

RUSSIAN DRESSING: Film actor Gérard Depardieu, wearing a local costume in the town of Saransk on Sunday,embraced Russian citizenship after he abandoned his homeland in a dispute over taxes on high earners. A8

Reuters

Oil Industry’s New WorkersHave Great Eyesight—And Feathers

i i i

Falcons Find Jobs at Refineries,Scaring Off Starlings; The Night Shift

Until recently, falconry—theancient art of hunting smallgame with trained birds ofprey—was just a hobby forMichael Gregston, who makes aliving leading canoetrips down the Mis-souri River. But tosupplement his in-come, he has beentoting four of hisrare hawks and fal-cons in the bittercold to an unusualdestination for abird enthusiast: anoil refinery.

“The battle be-gins when the sungoes down,” said Mr. Gregston,60 years old.

Donning a bright green hard-hat and fireproof suit on a recentafternoon, he prepared to fly hisprized birds into the labyrinth ofpipes and towers at the Phillips

66 refinery in Billings, Mont.,where thousands of starlingsroost each night. With twonearby refineries likely facingsimilar starling infestations, hesaid, “I think I have some job se-curity.”

Big oil has neverhad the most bird-friendly reputation.But refineriesacross the countryare now payingthousands of dollarsa day to bring inrare raptors tochase away the nui-sance birds thatsully their facilities.It is a relatively newform of pest-control

that is also becoming popular atfarms and vineyards.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife de-partment started issuing com-mercial falconry licenses sixyears ago and has only issued 92

PleaseturntopageA10

Michael Gregston

BY HANNAH KARP

Bonjour, Comrades: French Star Models New Passport

Investing in FundsStrategies for the new year.A Special Report, R1-12

Mr. Secretary?Expected nomination of formerSen. Chuck Hagel to lead thePentagon draws fire.................. A4

Republicans Say Further Tax Increases Off the Table for Coming Debt Negotiations

Getty

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