peHUB First Read

* Dark days for green energy: Just when we need more, we’re making less.

* The top 10 cities for small businesses.

* Morning Call: U.S. futures rise, European stocks extend rally and both the Nikkei and Hong Kong break losing streaks.

* N2N Commerce is the latest VC-backed bust, although Kirsner reports that the shutdown decision wasn’t actually made by the lead VC (General Catalyst). Instead, it was made by strategic investor/partner Limited Brands.

* The Uggconomy: What furry footwear tells us about our economic future.

* Steve Syre: How has Boston Scientific fallen so far, so fast?

* HuffingtonPost co-founder Ken Lerer teaches journalists to think like VCs.

* Bill Frezza, a general partner with Adams Capital Management, is now writing over at RealClearMarkets. Here is his latest piece, on the issue of federal intervention in the financial markets.

* Beware exploding cell phones. They can kill you, even if it doesn’t seem to make much sense.

* Last month, we reported about how Cash4Gold had raised over $40 million in VC funding. Now it seems that everyone is writing about them (thanks, in large part, to that Super Bowl ad). Here’s: Barry Ritholtz, Joe Weisenthal, Chris Morrison and BoingBoing (and those are just the ones I saw this morning) 

* In case you don’t have your copy yet, here is the House’s version of the stimulus bill. All 647 pages of it. And here is the Senate’s (slightly smaller) version.