Here are some of the contenders for today's biggest...news...of...the...day...

• Earnings from BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP)...
• Earnings from Lowe's Co (LOW)...
• Earnings from Trina Solar Ltd (TSL)...
• Weakness in Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) after a Barron's article...
• Earnings from Focus Media Holding Limited (FMCN)...
• Optimism on CME Group Inc (CME) as it is expected that Nymex Holdings Inc (NMX) shareholders will agree to CME's takeover offer...
• Comments from Jeff Immelt, chairman of General Electric (GE)...
• Optimism on Broadcom Corp (BRCM)...
• Optimism on Eagle Outfitters (AEO)...

While those are all stories worth watching, I think it is obviously clear that the biggest news is this trio of stories -

• King penguin receives Norwegian knighthood - "...made honorary colonel-in-chief of the elite Norwegian King's Guard in 2005. And on Friday he was knighted... " [courtesy of my colleague Colleen King]
• No sandcastles please, you're in Italy - Italian mayors are passing by-laws such as "...don't wander off the beach in a bikini...building sandcastles is forbidden...don't even think about mowing your lawn at the weekend..."
• Australian town mayor pleads for 'ugly women' - Mayor John Molony says - "we should find out where there are beauty-disadvantaged women and ask them to proceed to Mount Isa"...women respond with - "We've got a saying up here that the odds are good, but the goods are odd..."

Who would have thought that knighting a penguin would be the most "sane" story?

Oh, and for those wondering about the claim that bigfoot has been found, here is a follow-up story - Georgia men defend Bigfoot body claims. It seems like if you really did have a body, there still shouldn't be any confusion. Of course, it does look like I was wrong about Jack Link's Beef Jerky being involved, so what do I know...