Top 10 News Items 12/5-12/9: ECB Cuts Benchmark Rate, Adds €200B to Bailout Fund; Ford Restarts Qtr. Dividend at 5c/Share; S&P Warns on EFSF, Euro Sovereign Ratings

Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street:

1. The ECB cut its benchmark interest rate from 1.25 percent to 1.00 percent on Thursday, furthering a number of actions which are apparently impacting markets less than regulators first expected. The action came just ahead of an EU Summit which spanned Thursday and Friday. Traders waking up Friday morning were pleasantly surprised to find EU officials hammered out a deal for an added €200 billion to its bailout fund earlier than expected. The Summit also effectively tightened anti-deficit rules. The ECB Pres Mario Draghi said the meeting had a "very good outcome."

2. Patient Ford (NYSE: F) investors were rewarded this week when the Board announced a reinstated 5 cent per share quarterly dividend. With the stock trading around $11 this week, the dividend yields about 1.80%.

3. Elsewhere on the Eurozone front, the S&P placed the AAA long-term credit rating on the EFSF on CreditWatch Negative and also warned of possible downgrades on 15 Eurozone sovereign ratings. The firm said systemic stresses in the eurozone have risen in recent weeks and now threaten the eurozone as a whole.

4. Shares of SuccessFactors (Nasdaq: SFSF) surged more than 50 percent on Monday amid news of a $40 per share cash offer from SAP (NYSE: SAP). The deal is being valued at around $3.4 billion. Shares of SAP fell 2 percent on Monday following the announcement.

5. AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) shares continued an extremely volatile run this week following last week's 83 percent drop on Chapter 11 Bankruptcy news. The stock rose nearly 9 percent on Monday, 67 percent on Tuesday and 59 percent on Wednesday and then fell 32 percent on Thursday and 14 percent on Friday. Trading in the stock was a veritable circus as volatility circuit breakers went off left and right all week.

6. Blue Coat (Nasdaq: BCSI) shares jumped almost 44 percent on Friday following news PE firm Thoma Bravo will acquire the company for $25.81 per share in cash.

7. Shares of DuPont (NYSE: DD) fell 3 percent on Friday following reduced FY11 EPS guidance. The company now sees earnings of $3.87-$3.95 per share, down from a prior outlook of $3.97-$4.05. The Street is currently looking at $4.04.

8. TI (NYSE: TXN) cut Q4 guidance on Thursday afternoon: sales will now be $3.19-$3.33 billion and EPS will be 21-25 cents. The company had previously forecast sales of $3.26-$3.54 billion and EPS of 28-36 cents. Despite the lowered outlook, TI shares closed Friday's session up 0.07 percent.

9. Also in M&A Land, DemandTec (Nasdaq: DMAN) shares jumped 56 percent on Thursday on the heels of news of a $440 million deal with IBM (NYSE: IBM). IBM will pay DemandTec holders $13.20 per share in cash.

10. Consumer confidence for December as measured by the UofM index was better than expected this week at 67.7. Economists were expecting a reading of 65.8. The November reading came in at 64.1.

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