The Morning Report -- Wednesday January 30, 2013

Twinkies Saved? -- Home Prices Surge -- Consumer Confidence Collapses -- No More NFL? -- LaHood Leaves Obama Cabinet -- Senate Confirms Kerry  -- Should The Queen Retire? -- Fox News Crashes -- Man Kidnaps Child, AL 

HOSTESS PICKS APOLLO, METROPOULOS AS LEAD CAKES BID

AP

(Bloomberg) -- Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt maker of Wonder bread and Twinkies, picked the team of Apollo Global Management LLC and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. as the lead bidder for its cake brands, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

The assets include some facilities, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private. The offer becomes the so-called stalking horse for an auction of the cakes business, meaning it sets the standard that other suitors have to beat. Hostess’s cake products include CupCakes, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos.

HOME PRICES SURGE MORE THAN 5%, MOST SINCE 2006

Home prices rose in November, climbing more than 5 percent from a year ago, in the biggest increase since August 2006, when the housing market was just starting to collapse.

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A separate economic report issued Tuesday, on consumer confidence in the United States, held less encouraging data, with moods falling to their lowest level in more than a year as Americans grew more pessimistic about the economic outlook and their financial prospects. In the latest sign that the housing sector is on the mend, the Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.6 percent in November, on a seasonally adjusted basis, in line with economists’ forecasts.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE COLLAPSES

BERNARD POLLARD: NFL WON'T LAST

NEW ORLEANS - Bernard Pollard is known for hard hits (just ask the New England Patriots), and he leveled one at the NFL this week when he predicted the league wouldn't be around in 30 years, because the crackdown on ferocious hits will turn off fans.

On Tuesday, at Super Bowl XLVII media day, the Baltimore Ravens safety didn't back down.

"There's a car crash every play," he said. "Those helmets are popping, those pads are hitting. This is a grown man's game.

"I stand by what I said. I'm entitled to my own opinion. I play this game. I understand this game. For me, growing up, to see where the game has gone from then to now, it's a very special game, but it's changing."

LAHOOD: IT'S TIME FOR ME TO MOVE ON

AP

Washington — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood — who championed funding for Detroit's M-1 light rail project and oversaw key auto regulations — is stepping down after four years.

"I love this job. It's the best job I've ever had in government, in public service," LaHood said in a Detroit News interview Tuesday, noting he made the tough decision after talking to his wife of 45 years.

"It's time for me to move on," said LaHood, 67. "I do it with some reluctance and a great deal of satisfaction."

SENATE CONFIRMS KERRY

AP

The Senate confirmed President Barack Obama’s nomination of Sen. John Kerry, D- Mass, to be secretary of state Tuesday. The vote was 94 to 3, with three Republicans – Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. – voting against him.

“Sen. Kerry has a long history of liberal positions that are not consistent with a majority of Texans,” said Cornyn spokesman Drew Brandewie.

Kerry stood on the Senate floor as his colleagues voted on his confirmation. Kerry himself voted "present."

SHOULD THE QUEEN RETIRE AND GIVE THE CROWN TO CHARLES?

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announced Monday that she would be stepping down in April to allow her son to take the throne, but don't expect Queen Elizabeth do to the same, experts say. 

Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, took to Dutch television to announce her abdication in favour of her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, 45. 

FOX NEWS RATINGS HIT 12 YEAR LOWS

At the end of each month, cable news ratings are released to the public. And, like clockwork, Fox News dominates the top 13 or so programs, far outstripping its competitors.

January was ... a little different. To be sure, everything is relative in cable news: Fox News still had nine out of the top 10 programs. It has spent 11 consecutive years as the top-rated cable news channel. Its 6 a.m. show drew almost double the ratings of CNN's top-ranking prime time show.

MAN FATALLY SHOOTS SCHOOL BUS DRIVER, KIDNAPS SON IN ALABAMA

AP

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. –  Authorities in southeastern Alabama say a man boarded a school bus, fatally shot the driver, then removed a 6-year-old passenger and ran.

The Dale County Sheriff told WBMA-TV that the suspect shot the driver in Midland City several times after he refused to let the child off the bus Tuesday afternoon. The driver later died of his wounds.

It is unclear how many other students were aboard the bus at the time, though WSFA.com reports that several children on the bus witnessed the man shoot the driver take the young boy away.