Santorum Surge Brings Focus on Faith, Dow Perspective, Gas Prices Concern, Hillary Clinton Feeling Green (PM Note)

The Dow Briefly Broke 13k - http://abcn.ws/zivOiH

Or, as @stewsays sees it - "Dow Jones back to pre-Obama administration levels?"

Fact Check: 8 Months pre-Obama administration.

God, Christianity and Satan in 2012 - With the Santorum Surge, Talk of Religion Keeps Cropping Up -

Rick Santorum's 2008 Warning on Satan… http://abcn.ws/zFzRCZ

Franklin Graham More Confident in Santorum's Christianity than Obama's… http://abcn.ws/AEIcVb

Romney Defends Says Obama Has 'Secular Agenda' - Mitt Romney shifts from his usual focus on the economy and tackles social and religious issues while campaigning in his native Michigan. More from Emily Friedman - http://abcn.ws/ynHfSr

Even the Losers - We (the media) were kidding all those other times this year when we said we were on the cusp of a turning point. Iowa was supposed to be key. Then South Carolina. Then Florida. Then Santorum's hat trick was a turning point even though it wasn't supposed to be. It's clear that winning no one state will put away the nomination. But if Romney loses next Tuesday in his birthplace… Matt Jaffe sees something larger in the game of musical yard signs they played this morning in Shelby, Michigan… http://abcn.ws/y2E9IV

Feeling Green: Hillary Sticks Out at G20 Summit - Hillary Clinton must have missed the memo when she appeared for the "class photo" at the G20 Summit in Mexico. While the other foreign ministers opted for white shirts, the Secretary of State wore a lime green blouse and stuck out like the proverbial sore green thumb. http://abcn.ws/xGmHk1

Oddities of the Day -

Inside Outsider - Santorum says he wasn't an Insider when he was inside Washington -

Jay Carney, Under Questioning from Tapper, Accuses Republicans of Holding up Keystone Pipeline -

"In terms of Keystone, as you all know, the history here is pretty clear. And the fact is, is that because Republicans decided to play politics with Keystone, their action essentially forced the administration to deny the permit process because they insisted on a timeframe within which it was impossible to appropriately approve the pipeline." http://abcn.ws/x3XNxp

So Go Gas Prices… Jake Tapper on why they're sweating at the White House despite all that good economic news  - http://abcn.ws/ymAHEa

Romney and Santorum as Deficit Slayers? Obama Camp Says 'No' - In yet another sign of Rick Santorum's growing status as GOP frontrunner, President Obama's re-election campaign released a memo on Tuesday targeting the former senator's economic policies. More from Devin Dwyer - http://abcn.ws/vZ6xkn

 Supreme Court Takes Up Affirmative Action Case - The Supreme Court will add another controversial issue to its already fiery docket - the issue of race in university admissions. Ariane de Vogue reports on the Court's decision to hear a case on affirmative action in higher education. http://abcn.ws/Aul8vy

Lying About a Medal of Honor - Illegal or Just Dumb? - http://abcn.ws/zhsUjq

Obama Touts Payroll-Tax Cut Compromise - Relishing his political victory, President Obama said Tuesday that Congress "did the right thing" and urged lawmakers to "keep going" to help the middle class. http://abcn.ws/xlQQJO

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Statoil earnings surge on higher oil, gas prices

OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA on Wednesday said its profits soared in the fourth quarter on higher oil and gas prices and a one-time gain from the sale of a stake in a gas transportation company.

Net profit was 25.5 billion kroner ($4.40 billion), up from 9.7 billion kroner in the same period a year earlier. And revenue rose 22 percent to 173.9 billion kroner.

State-controlled Statoil booked a gain of 8.5 billion kroner, mostly related to the sale of a majority of its stake in Gassled, which owns the grid that transports gas from the Norwegian continental shelf to consumers on the European continent and Britain.

Equity production increased 1.5 percent to 1.975 million barrels of oil equivalents a day, and Statoil said it aims to reach production levels of 2.5 million barrels per day in 2020.

The company received a boost last year when it found new oil discoveries in the North Sea and the Arctic waters of the Barents Sea.

"We delivered strong exploration results in 2011, adding more than 1 billion barrels to Statoil's resource base," CEO Helge Lund said. "Making high impact discoveries in the mature North Sea as well as in the Barents Sea reaffirms the potential of the Norwegian continental shelf."

Statoil shares rose 2.60 percent to 153.90 kroner in Oslo after the earnings report.

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Asia stocks up following surge on Wall Street

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Wednesday as Greece appeared close to a deal with creditors to cut its massive debts and avoid a chaotic bankruptcy.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.6 percent to 8,975.65. South Korea's Kospi rose 1 percent to 2,000.24 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.6 percent to 20,821.06. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2 percent to 4,281.40.

Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and mainland China rose, while Indonesia's fell.

Greece has been kept solvent for the last two years by euro110 billion ($145 billion) in international rescue loans. But the money was not enough and a second loan is urgently needed to avert bankruptcy.

International lenders, however, have refused to approve more aid unless Greece learns to live within its means and implements a strict austerity program. Without an injection of emergency money — some euro130 billion ($170 billion) is on the line — Greece will likely default on bond repayments due next month.

"Optimism about finalizing the prolonged Greek debts deal boosted sentiment overnight as Greek officials said that the final draft of agreement between the Greek government and international creditors is in progress," analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said in an email.

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 3.5 percent, a day after Japan's top automaker raised its annual earnings forecast, saying a recovery is on track. Yamaha Motor Co. surged 4.3 percent and Mazda Motor Corp. soared 5.1 percent.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.3 percent to close at 12,878.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 0.2 percent to 1,347.05. The Nasdaq composite rose marginally to 2,904.08 — about a point shy of its best close since December 2000.

A report that job openings soared to the highest level in almost three years in December also helped the U.S. market. The government reported Friday that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent in January, the lowest in almost three years.

Benchmark oil for March delivery was up 43 cents to $98.84 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.50 to $98.41 per barrel on the Nymex on Tuesday.

In currency trading, the euro slipped to $1.3246 from $1.3248 late Tuesday in New York. But the dollar rose to 76.93 yen from 76.78 yen.

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