Atlantic City's Taj Mahal Safe … for Now

Morning Money Memo …

Atlantic City will not witness the shutdown of another of its famed casinos … for now. Despite failing to negotiate on a $100 million settlement deal to save the floundering boardwalk fixture, billionaire investor Carl Icahn assured Taj Mahal employees that they could keep the lights on, as he committed a $20 million investment to keep the casino operational throughout its bankruptcy proceedings. The casino was slated to shut down at 6 a.m EST on Saturday. In an open letter to Trump Entertainment Resorts CEO Bob Griffin, Icahn proclaimed that he took "great pride in [his] ability to successfully rebuild failing businesses," while subsequently calling the casino operator "one of the most distressed companies I have ever come across in my 50+ years of investing." Ultimately, while a wider deal could not be reached to save the casino, Icahn committed in his letter to work with the union and the state-local government on a new deal, but made no assertions that such a deal was formally in the works.

Will the rally continue? U.S. markets opened this morning just 180 points from an all-time high for the Dow, after Thursday's 421-point surge marked the best day for U.S. equities in three years and pushed the two-day gain for the index to more than 700 points. Futures were up only slightly this morning, with Asian markets overwhelmingly positive for the day. Markets in Europe, meanwhile, were largely in the red after strong gains Thursday. Worldwide markets reacted strongly to Fed chair Janet Yellen's announcement of "patience" on an interest rate increase. Crude oil rebounded slightly from its five-year lows to just less than $55 per barrel this morning.

Ford expanded its nationwide recall, adding nearly 500,000 vehicles to the list for issues related to Japanese airbag maker Takata. Included in the recall were model year 2005 to 2008 Ford Mustangs and 2005-2006 Ford GTs built at various assembly plants in Michigan. At least 10 automakers have now recalled close to 12 million vehicles with Takata airbags, which have been linked to at least five deaths.

As theaters enter their final holiday film push for 2014, a slew of new movies will debut at the box office in the next week, with one now-familiar name noticeably absent. Big budget sequels to "Night at the Museum" and "The Hobbit," along with the Jamie Foxx comedy re-make of "Annie ," will compete with blockbuster holdover "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay" for the pre-Christmas audiences, with "The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies" expected to nab the top spot. On Thursday, they'll be joined by Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper," musical "Into the Woods," Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" and Mark Wahlberg in "The Gambler," in a crowded set of showings all debuting Christmas Day. Meanwhile, theaters and distributors will surely be assessing the impact Sony's canceled premiere of "The Interview" will have on holiday film audiences, following anonymous threats made by hackers linked to North Korea. Analysts had expected the film to bring in upwards of $20 million at the box office.