peHUB First Read

* Obama drops plans for a car czar, in favor of a task force. No word on if Steve Rattner will be on the task force, or how he'll explain his Washington dalliance to prospective LPs in the new fund Quadrangle Group is trying to raise. * The credit markets are beginning to move from dead to critical (next stop, stable). * U.S. futures signal drop, European shares hit two-week low, the Nikkei hits a four-month closing low and Hong Kong shares dop 3.8 percent. * Alta Partners cashes out of Icagen, a drug company in which Alta was once the largest shareholder. * Two Yale law students fight back against online defamation. * Venture debt firm Hercules Technology shuts its San Diego office. * TechStars opening a satellite in Boston, which should help fill the gap left by Y Combinator's departure. * Order your pitchfork-wielding Madoff desk toy today.