The! Biggest! News! of! the! Day! - Not Verizon, Amazon.com, Kohn's Comments, Pep Boys, or Google and eSolar

Here are some of the contenders for today's biggest...news...of...the...day...

• A move by Verizon Communications (VZ) to open Verizon Wireless to phones and devices from other networks...
• A scramble by Freddie Mac (FRE) to raise cash...the company is selling stock and cutting its dividend...
• A "green" push by Google (GOOG) as the company is working with eSolar Inc and Makani Power Inc on renewable energy technologies in a project dubbed "Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal"...
• A call for homeowners to "hedge their risk" by using the futures market...
• Gloom about the economy as it is said "Santa Claus may leave a recession under the tree this year, as economists worry that tighter credit standards will put the brakes on consumer spending in the new year"...
• Talk of a market meltdown as it is said - "But don't let the Wall Street crowd fool you into thinking that the current decline is mostly noise, an irrational blip in a bull market caused by a spate of bad news. What we're probably witnessing is a massive, irreversible revaluation of stocks based on fundamentals"...
• Data on durable goods...
• Fed chatter as Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn made some comments about "turbulence"...this is leading some to believe this bolsters the case for a rate cut...
• A legal victory for Amazon.com (AMZN)...
• A restructuring plan at Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack (PBY) that calls for laying off more than 500 workers...

While those are all stories worth watching, I think it is obviously clear that the biggest story is this - Ga. man tries to deposit fake $1M bill...according to the article, a man "was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of forgery after he walked into the bank and tried to open an account by depositing a fake $1 million bill"...the article then goes on to note "The federal government has never printed a million-dollar bill"...

What is so shocking to me is that this is not first time we have discussed this happening!!! Just last month we saw a man jailed after he tried to cash a one million dollar bill at a supermarket...and was looking for change.

I am physically at a loss to express my confusion about who thinks it is a good idea to try to pass off a $1 million bill as real. I will even admit to understanding the logic of "risk-to-reward". After all, if you are going to risk going to jail you should make it worth your while to do so but a $1 million bill? They had to have thought that would raise some eyebrows...

Oh, and for those that just can't get enough of the animal uprising (or simply need another example before being convince) check out this story - "Warning. Beware of aggressive otters"...this comes courtesy of my colleague Mark Fightmaster. His email to me consisted of the link and this quote...

"Becker said the animal chased her at least 100 yards, onto a neighbor's porch. No one answered the door and the otter continued to attack until she winged it with a doormat."