Financial Markets and Economy
U.S. Dollar Soars on Bets That Donald Trump Could Spur Inflation (Reuters)
The U.S. dollar hit an 11-month peak on Monday as the risk of faster inflation and wider budget deficits, if president-elect Donald Trump should go on a U.S. spending spree, sent Treasury and other benchmark global bond yields shooting higher.
China's Central Bank Faces Trump Headache (Bloomberg)
As if defusing the world’s biggest debt bomb while keeping economic growth humming wasn’t tough enough, Donald Trump’s shock election victory has just made the policy outlook even more complex for People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan.
Oil Trader Andurand Says OPEC Cut Likely, $70 in Sight for 2017 (Bloomberg)
Hedge fund manager Pierre Andurand says OPEC is still likely to agree on an output freeze this month and prompt a sharp rally in oil prices, despite disputes among its members.
S&P Global Downgrades New Jersey’s Bond Rating (The Wall Street Journal)
S&P Global Ratings cut its rating for New Jersey’s general-obligation bonds Monday, marking the state’s 10th credit downgrade under Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
'Trump Thump' whacks bond market for $1 trillion loss (Reuters)
Donald Trump's stunning victory for the White House may mark the long-awaited end to the more than 30-year-old bull run in bonds, as bets on faster U.S. growth and inflation lead investors to favour stocks over bonds.
Trump may open up a major part of America's oil and gas industry that has been off limits (OilPrice.com)
Much has been made about President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to dismantle environmental regulations and streamline regulations that could lead to the construction of more pipelines. But there are a few other controversial energy issues that President Trump might ram through a Republican Congress, which would hand the oil and gas industry new areas for drilling that have long been off limits.
Trump can’t repeal the laws of economics (The Washington Post)
Following a brief market plunge, the president-elect’s speech last Tuesday night was more conciliatory than many expected and emphasized his commitment to infrastructure investment.
Blame the Banks for All Those Boring Chain Stores Ruining Your City (Bloomberg)
Not long after he leased out the shell of a once-iconic Phoenix steakhouse, developer Lorenzo Perez got an email from a broker. He learned that the new space, now home to an award-winning restaurant, a small garden store, and an independent bookshop, was worth about $195 a square foot. Nearby retail properties, the broker said, were being valued at 25 percent more.
One week of demonetisation in India: the good, the bad, and the ugly (Quartz)
Just seven days and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s massive demonetisation exercise has snowballed into an unprecedented financial emergency in Asia’s third-largest economy.
Goldman Warns Of Stagflation Under "Adverse" Trump Scenario (Zero Hedge)
While the market has clearly taken the Trump presidency in stride, expecting that a deluge of debt-funded fiscal stimulus will be beneficial for risk assets, and ostensibly, the US economy, one question we have posed for the past two weeks is just how viable is another debt-funded growth spurt in the longer term.
RBC Market Commentary: "Under The Hood, It's Not Good" (Zero Hedge)
With the "Trump reflation" rally fizzling, not helped by a Goldman note which forecast that no matter what Trump does, it will lead to a slowdown in the global economy, momentum chasers, pardon, traders are once again confused what to do next: if we are approaching an inflection point, and algos get cold feet about ramping upside stops, well, the downside beckons.
“Dr. Copper’s” Rise About Sentiment, Not Fundamentals (Value Walk)
The economy has not changed a bit since the election……what is changing and changing fast is sentiment. Refer to this post from Davidson to see what can happen to the market when sentiment goes very positive.
Goldman Just Killed The "Reflation Euphoria" – Concludes Global Growth Will Suffer Under Trump No Matter What (Zero Hedge)
Earlier today, we presented an analysis by Goldman Sachs which emerged with a lukewarm take on Trump's policies as to how they stand to impact US domestic growth, with only Goldman's "adverse" scenario resulting in a "stagflationary", i.e., recessionary outcome.
There's been a dramatic shift in why the world drinks coffee — and it's a boon for companies (Business Insider)
People don't drink wine only to get drunk. Similarly, many people enjoy coffee for more than just an early-morning or late-night boost, according to Andrea Illy, the CEO of the Italy-based Illycaffè coffee company.
Companies
Soros More Than Doubles Stake in Barrick Gold as Shares Drop (Bloomberg)
After selling most of his stock in Barrick Gold Corp. in the second quarter, billionaire investor George Soros more than doubled his remaining holding in the mining company.
Morgan Stanley: Airbnb’s Threat to Hotels Is Only Getting Sharper (Bloomberg)
The industry is already experiencing trouble with lower occupancy rates and smaller profits per room, and a new survey from Morgan Stanley points to more problems in the future. The bank's survey found that peer-to-peer travel startup Airbnb Inc. is presenting an even greater threat to hotels than expected.
Warren Buffett makes a bet on U.S. airlines (CNN Money)
In 2007, he called airlines a "bottomless pit." But during the third quarter, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway took stakes in American Airlines (AAL), United Continental (UAL) and Delta Air Lines(DAL), according to a regulatory filing disclosed Monday.
ExxonMobil is supporting the Paris climate agreement (The Verge)
The energy industry has long resisted efforts to rein in fossil fuel consumption for decades to combat climate change. It is mildly surprising then, that ExxonMobil released a statement earlier this week announcing its support of the Paris climate agreement, which went into effect on November 4th.
Technology
China Threatens to Cut iPhone Sales Over Trump Rhetoric (Fortune)
The Global Times, a state-run news agency in China, on Monday issued its strongest rebuke of Trump and his policies, saying that if he “wrecks Sino-U.S. trade,” several U.S. industries could be “impaired.” The news outlet, which called Trump “naive,” signaled Apple’s AAPL -2.51% iPhone sales could be targeted by the Chinese government.
Here's Why Apple and Other Tech Stocks Are Seeing Extended Losses (Reuters)
Apple’s stock extended recent losses on Monday after a warning that iPhone sales could suffer if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on campaign threats to impose new tariffs on China.
Trump Tech Meltdown Hits Fourth Day With Amazon Cut by $35 Billion (Bloomberg)
The stock market’s post-election bifurcation sharpened Monday as technology shares extended their worst performance since the start of the bull market on speculation Donald Trump’s trade and immigration policies will translate into lower earnings.
Internet Freedom Wanes As Governments Target Messaging, Social Apps (NPR)
For decades Freedom House has been ranking the world on free speech, political and civil rights. In recent years, this nongovernmental organization has extended its research into the state of the Internet. And for the sixth consecutive year, it has found Internet freedom on a decline.
Facebook folded to conservatives: The social media giant didn’t block fake news because it would have stopped conservative memesFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is desperately trying to defend his company amidst reports that they allowed fake news stories that helped Donald Trump on their site in order to avoid offending their conservative users.
Facebook “satire” tag could wipe out the Internet’s terrible hoax-news industry (The Washington Post)
In a move that could permanently cripple the Internet’s unchecked hoax industry (… and ruin at least a couple of decent punch lines), Facebook this week announced that it’s experimenting with a tag that will mark sites such as the Onion, Clickhole and Empire News as satire — and, hopefully, alert the millions of gullible people who share these sites as truth each week.
Sony Wants To Patent A System For Scoring Journalists' 'Veracity' (Tech Dirt)
Spotted by Eriq Gardner over at The Hollywood Reporter, Sony has applied for a patent measuring how accurate reporters are.
Politics
How voter ID laws helped Donald Trump win the presidency (Salon)
Donald Trump spent the final weeks of the 2016 election claiming that the contest was being rigged. It turns out he was right; the Republican Party’s years-long effort at suppressing minority voters effectively rigged the election in his favor.
Behind GOP Unity, Trump Plans May Be Stymied by Fiscal Hawks (Bloomberg)
In the afterglow of Donald Trump’s unexpected triumph, Republicans exulted over what they could accomplish with control of both chambers of Congress and the White House.
Obama Says Donald Trump Will Be Driven by Pragmatism Not Ideology as President (The Wall Street Journal)
President Barack Obama said he believes President-elect Donald Trump will be driven by pragmatism, not ideology, as he governs, but he warned the Republican businessman’s temperament could be an issue unless he shifts course once in office.
Obama to reassure U.S. allies about Trump's commitment to NATO (Reuters)
President Barack Obama said on Monday he would reassure U.S. allies during his trip overseas this week that Republican President-elect Donald Trump plans to maintain core U.S. strategic relationships around the world, including with NATO.
Mary Jo White leaving SEC before Trump takes office (CNN Money)
Mary Jo White announced plans on Monday to step down as chair of the powerful Securities and Exchange Commission before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Hillary Clinton Apparently Got More Popular Votes Than Any American President Besides Barack Obama (TeenVogue)
Over the past several days, more and more votes have been counted, and Hillary Clinton's margin on Donald Trump has gotten even wider. As the New York Times notes, "By the time all the ballots are counted, she seems likely to be ahead by more than 2 million votes and more than 1.5 percentage points… She will have won by a wider percentage margin than not only Al Gore in 2000 but also Richard Nixon in 1968 and John F. Kennedy in 1960."
Paul Ryan sees an opening to gut Medicare, Obamacare — and it’s all thanks to Donald Trump (Salon)
According to Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, the president-elect is considering calling a special session of Congress on his first day as president to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare).
Donald Trump Says He May Keep Parts of Obama Health Care Act (NY Times)
More than 100,000 Americans rushed to buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday, the biggest turnout yet during this year’s sign-up period, the day after the election of Donald J. Trump, who has promised to repeal the law.
Donald Trump wrongly tweets that he 'never said' more countries should have nuclear weapons (Politifact)
Two days after telling CBS that he planned to be "very restrained" on social media going forward, President-elect Donald Trump lashed out at the New York Times on Twitter.
Day Five of Anti-Trump Protests As Demonstrations Continue Nationwide (Occupy.com)
After thousands of people took to the streets across the country Saturday to display dissent for Donald Trump's election, many more demonstrations began all over the nation Sunday afternoon — the fifth straight day of protests.
Looks like there was fraud in the parliamentary election in Russia where Putin's party cleaned up (Reuters)
Russian police have said they found evidence of fraud at a polling station where Reuters reporters saw irregularities during a Sept. 18 parliamentary election that was won by a party loyal to the Kremlin.
Legal Marijuana And A Higher Minimum Wage: States That Passed Key Ballot Measures In 2016 (Data Design)
Although the new president-elect may have taken the spotlight on election day, the nation also made important decisions on the legality of marijuana, the minimum wage, gun control, tobacco and income tax.
Well, looky here: Mike Pence wants to block public access to his emails (Daily Kos)
After the Trump-Pence ticket exploited the issue of Hillary Clinton's emails at every turn, Mike Pence is working to block public access to the contents of his emails as governor of Indiana.
Health and Biotech
These drugs had the highest price increases in 2015 — according to the government agency that pays for them (Business Insider)
On Monday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which covers roughly 100 million Americans, reported on the drugsit spent the most money on in 2015, as well as how many people are using them. The intent of the report is to "to provide a better sense of the frequency and pervasiveness of these increases," the agency noted.
Life on the Home Planet
The 3 Things All Humans Crave–And How To Motivate Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere (Forbes)
As you probably know, once we have food and shelter, but before we can seek self-actualization—the Smart State—we must feel safety, belonging and mattering. Without these three essential keys a person cannot get in their Smart State—they cannot perform, innovate, feel emotionally engaged, agree, move forward.
Denying climate change is only part of it: 5 ways Donald Trump spells doom for the environment (Alternet)
If the world’s governments don’t prevent the planet’s surface temperature from increasing more than 2°C, then life on Earth will become a difficult proposition for many humans, animals and plants.
We finally have a solid lead on one of space’s most mysterious signals (Science Alert)
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are among the most explosive and mysterious signals ever detected from space. They only last milliseconds, but in that short period of time, they generate as much energy as the Sun does in an entire day. And we have no idea where they come from.
