Israel’s military operations in Gaza continue to dominate front pages of major newspapers and morning talk shows. Wall Street is looking for a positive start as oil and gold prices ease back from the price spikes that followed the onset of the Israeli strikes against Hamas.USA-OBAMA/

President George W. Bush remains at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, while President-elect Barack Obama continues his vacation in Hawaii.

GMAC said it will resume financing auto loans following a $5 billion investment from the U.S. Treasury. The latest financial rescue also included a $1 billion loan to General Motors to purchase equity in GMAC.

Extreme weather and the weak economy also taking top spots in holiday week news cycles. A dismal shopping season could take down some malls struggling to service their debt.

Congress will take a closer look at what went wrong on Wall Street beginning next week with a hearing on financier Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50 billion fraud. Meanwhile, the Washington Post takes a close look at why insurance giant AIG needed so much government bailout money.