• According to the Wall Street Journal, Bank of America Corporation's (NYSE: BAC) $2B investment in Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) may still hold important long-term strategic value for Bank of America. In order to strengthen Countrywide, the company may be forced to make another infusion.

• Top executives from Chrysler will meet with the president of Russian automaker GAZ to discuss the possibility of building Chrysler vehicles in Russia, the Detroit News reported.

• Barron's Online's "Weekday Trader" reported that after falling 28% since it spun off from Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) a year ago, Idearc Inc (NYSE: IAR) represents a bargain worth considering. It offers high cash flow from a no-growth business that offers quarterly dividends totaling $1.36, for a rich 7% yield.
• AT&T Inc's (NYSE: T) CEO Randall Stephenson said Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) will unveil a new version of its iPhone next year that will be able to download the Internet at a faster rate, Bloomberg reported.
• Amazon.com Inc's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Clickriver advertising system is design to target Amazon's sponsor's in their product listing, reports the rumormonger at ValleyWag.com. This is part of a plan to "build next generation advertising products" using Amazon's "world-class personalization technologies."

The spin-off of Verizon Communications, Inc.'s (NYSE:VZ) phone book business has been completed. Idearc (NYSE:IAR), operator of Yellow and White Pages, begins trading today on its own basis.

Idearc's products include Verizon Yellow Pages and smaller-sized portable Verizon Yellow Pages Companion Directories, SuperPages.com, SuperPages Mobile(TM), Solutions At Hand(TM) magazine and Solutions Direct(TM) direct mail packages.

Idearc also provides sales, publishing and other related services for more than 1,200 distinct directory titles in 35 states and in D.C. It lists a total 2006 expected circulation of approximately 136 million copies and is the largest publisher of Hispanic directories in the United States.

Barron's gave this a positive write-up this weekend after Idearc shares traded on a when-issued basis last week for $26.60. A Citigroup analyst who covers the sector noted that Idearc shares could be worth $33.00. The company also has plans to raise some $9 Billion in loans and bonds.