(Reuters) - The worst is yet to come in the euro zone's debt crisis but the currency union will survive 2012 intact, according to a Reuters poll of economists who say France will probably lose its top-notch credit rating. While just nine out of the poll's 64 economists said the bloc had turned the corner on a sovereign debt crisis, only 10 said the euro zone would not survive the year in its current form. The rest were reasonably confident it would.

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(Reuters) - The U.S. futures regulator on Wednesday adopted further protections for customer collateral posted in swap trades, an area of heightened importance as the search continues for hundreds of millions of dollars in missing MF Global customer money. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also will vote on its draft of the Volcker rule that cracks down on banks' risky trading, a version similar to one introduced by four other regulators last October.

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(Reuters) - Excuses, excuses and more excuses. Some of the best-known hedge fund managers have offered lots of excuses for underperforming the major stock market indexes last year, with many large funds posting double-digit losses.

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(Reuters) - Twinkies and Wonder Bread maker Hostess Brands Inc filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than three years, after failing to reach an agreement with workers on pension and health benefits. Hostess' declining financial performance, crippling legacy costs associated with its pension plans and massive debt levels led the company to Chapter 11 bankruptcy, court papers showed on Wednesday.

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(Reuters) - Stocks hit a five-month high on Tuesday after strong import data from major metals consumer China and a bullish forecast by Alcoa boosted the outlook for commodities companies and pointed to a stronger global economy. Although Wall Street was concerned about sovereign debt auctions later in the week from Italy and Spain, the two countries at the center of the euro zone crisis, the focus remained on recent solid economic reports and optimism about the coming earnings season.

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(Reuters) - Hedge funds are taking on the powerful International Monetary Fund over its plan to slash Greece's towering debt burden as time runs out on the talks that could sway the future of Europe's single currency. The funds have built up such a powerful positions in Greek bonds that they could derail Europe's tactic of getting banks and other bondholders to share the burden of reducing the country's debt on a voluntary basis.

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(Reuters) - Popular health information website WebMD Health Corp (WBMD.O) took itself off the auction block and warned investors of lower 2012 profits as its advertisers in the drug industry pull back on spending. Shares of WebMD, in which activist investor Carl Icahn owns a nearly 10 percent stake, tumbled 29 percent on the news.

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(Reuters) - Wall Street banks lowered their outlook for U.S. economic growth due to concerns over the European debt crisis, oil prices, regulatory uncertainties and "continued disarray in Washington," according to a financial industry survey released on Tuesday. The survey, which included bankers from Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo Securities and Citigroup, forecast that the U.S. economy will grow at a rate of 2.2 percent this year, down from a previous forecast of 3.1 percent.

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(Reuters) - Inventories at wholesalers barely rose in November and growth in the prior month was revised lower, suggesting the economy did not get as big of a boost as expected from companies restocking their shelves in recent months. Wholesale inventories climbed 0.1 percent, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday, falling short of analysts' expectations of a 0.5 percent gain.

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(Reuters) - Stocks turned negative on Monday, with all three major indexes falling into the red, as financial and technology shares pulled back from earlier levels. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 25.24 points, or 0.20 percent, to 12,334.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX lost 3.01 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,274.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC shed 10.66 points, or 0.40 percent, to 2,663.56.

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