Financial Markets and Economy
Oil declines after OPEC-inspired rally as U.S. inventories rise (Reuters)
Oil prices fell on Wednesday, returning some of the gains made in one of the year's biggest rallies a day earlier, after industry data showed U.S. crude stocks rose beyond expectations last week to add to an oversupplied market.
Treasuries Rally as Biggest Global Bond Rout Since 2003 Pauses (Bloomberg)
Treasuries rose as investors questioned how much extra spending President-elect Donald Trump will be able to implement, halting a selloff that put global bonds on track for their worst month in 13 years.
U.S. Businesses Bet on Which Trump Will Govern (The Wall Street Journal)
U.S. businesses witnessed two very different sides of Donald Trump during the presidential campaign—the populist who railed against elites, global trade and unchecked immigration, and the more traditional Republican who promised to temper the regulatory state and overhaul the tax code.
Carney Sees Faster Inflation Ahead as Pace Slips in October (Bloomberg)
Mark Carney said the latest unexpected slowing of inflation doesn’t change the outlook that the rate of price increases will exceed the Bank of England’s target soon.
German Cooling, Italy Rebound Keep Euro-Area Growth at 0.3% (Bloomberg)
The slowdown in Germany to 0.2 percent, along with a resumption of growth in Italy and France, left expansion in the 19-nation currency region at 0.3 percent, in line with an initial estimate and matching the pace of the three months through June.
World’s Biggest Real Estate Frenzy Is Coming to a City Near You (Bloomberg)
If they were anywhere else in Beijing, the five young women in cowboy hats and matching red, white, and blue costumes would look wildly out of place.
Multinational firms dumping Venezuela operations in fire sales (Reuters)
Multinational companies are selling their Venezuelan operations at hefty discounts – or even giving them away – as they to seek to escape the OPEC nation's soaring inflation and chronic supply shortages.
U.S. stock futures slip as post-election rally slows (Reuters)
U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Wednesday, a day after the Dow ended higher for the seventh day in a row following Donald Trump's election win.
Another Financial Warning Sign Is Flashing in China (Bloomberg)
The adjusted loan-to-deposit ratio, which includes a range of off-balance sheet items and is an indicator of the banking system’s ability to weather stress, climbed to 80 percent as of June 30, according to S&P Global Ratings. For some smaller lenders, the ratio has already topped 100 percent, S&P estimates.
The Best and Worst Countries to Be a Rich CEO (Bloomberg)
If your life’s goal is to be a highly paid chief executive officer, the U.S. is the place. But if your dream is just to be richer than society, South Africa and India are great bets too.
How Hedging and a Certain Someone Upended the Year of the Peso (Bloomberg)
For the Mexican peso, 2016 wasn’t supposed to end this way.
U.S. Fed’s Bullard Leans Toward Backing December Rate Rise (The Wall Street Journal)
LONDON—Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said Wednesday that he is still leaning toward backing an interest-rate rise increase in December, saying the outlook for monetary policy in the short term is unchanged following Donald Trump’s victory in this month’s presidential election.
Oil Demand Won't Peak Before 2040 (Reuters)
The International Energy Agency expects global oil consumption to peak no sooner than 2040, leaving its long-term forecasts for supply and demand unchanged despite the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement entering into force.
Companies
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Discloses New Investments in Airlines (The Wall Street Journal)
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. slashed its investment in the world’s biggest retailer and placed fresh bets on three big US airlines.
Snapchat Parent Files for $25 Billion IPO (The Wall Street Journal)
Snap Inc. has confidentially filed paperwork for an initial public offering that may value the popular messaging platform at as much as $25 billion, a major step toward what would be one of the highest-profile stock debuts in recent years.
Technology
Microsoft offers concessions to EU regulators eyeing its $26.2BN LinkedIn bid (Tech Crunch)
Microsoft has offered concessions to EC competition regulators in the hopes of smoothing the way for its planned acquisition of LinkedIn. It announced the $26.2 billion deal this June.
Fake Content Puts Pressure on Facebook, Google (The Wall Street Journal)
Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are under increased pressure to police what news content can be posted on their platforms, making them reluctant judges of what is misleading, hateful or true.
Chinese Consumer Agency Asks Apple to Investigate iPhone Battery Complaints (Reuters)
The China Consumers Association (CCA) has asked Apple to investigate “a considerable number” of reports by users of iPhone 6 and 6s phones that the devices have been shutting off and cannot be turned back on again, it said on Tuesday.
Apple Considers Wearables Expansion With Digital Glasses (Bloomberg)
Apple Inc. is weighing an expansion into digital glasses, a risky but potentially lucrative area of wearable computing, according to people familiar with the matter.
Taiwan asks Apple and Google to ditch Uber (CNet)
Taiwanese officials want the two Silicon Valley tech giants to remove Uber from the App Store and Google Play respectively, according to Reuters. It is also seeking the removal of UberEATS, the company's food delivery service, which launched in Taiwan on Tuesday.
suitX's modular exoskeleton can prevent work-related injuries (Engadget)
suitX, a robotics company out of University of California, Berkeley's Human Engineering Lab, launched an exoskeleton that can help people walk again earlier this year. Now, the company has officially launched another product: one that can prevent people from needing that exoskeleton in the first place.
Politics
Trump will get wake-up call when he takes office, Obama says (Reuters)
President-elect Donald Trump is in for a quick wake-up call and will have to adjust his temperament when he confronts the realities of his new job on Jan. 20, President Barack Obama said on Monday.
GOP Backs Ryan as Speaker Gets Ally in Trump’s White House (Bloomberg)
The president-elect’s appointment Sunday of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to be his White House chief of staff was a key signal to House Republicans that Trump plans to try working with Ryan, a man he attacked bitterly on Twitter several times in the final months of the campaign.
Trump could return Iraq war boosters to power (The Reuters)
Despite his professed opposition to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, President-elect Donald Trump is considering several of the major advocates of that war for top national security posts in his administration, according to Republican officials.
Italy polls get worse for Renzi as referendum nears (Reuters)
Opinion polls are making increasingly grim reading for Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi less than three weeks ahead of a referendum on constitutional reform on which he has staked his political future.
Thousands of students carry protests against Trump into second week (Reuters)
Demonstrations protesting the U.S. presidential election victory of Republican Donald Trump entered their second week on Monday, with thousands of students chanting phrases like "Not My President" after walking out of classes across the country.
The untold stories of the 2016 battle for the Senate (The Hill)
The team, according to senior Republican strategists in Washington and Kansas, had been dispatched by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to look into the background of Rep. Mike Pompeo (R), an ambitious conservative with an affinity for the limelight who was considering a primary challenge to Sen. Jerry Moran (R).
Supreme Court now in Trump’s hands (The Hill)
President-elect Donald Trump has a chance to radically shift the Supreme Court to the right over the next four years.
Trump will immediately have an opportunity to fill a court vacancy, and three other liberal justices, two of which are in their 80s, could retire on his watch.
Pence Takes Reins as Trump Transition Team Is Shuffled (The Wall Street Journal)
Another round of staff changes buffeted President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team Tuesday amid resistance from within the Republican Party over a top choice for secretary of state.
76 national security experts urge Trump to keep Iran deal (The Hill)
Seventy six national security experts are urging President-elect Donald Trump to uphold the Iran nuclear deal, as he deliberates whether to tear it up or enforce the agreement.
Macron Declares Bid for French Presidency as Pro-EU Liberal (Bloomberg)
Emmanuel Macron declared that he will seek the French presidency in next year’s election, ending months of speculation after he repeatedly pledged to offer an alternative to both the political establishment and to populists.
Trump’s Win and Transition Turmoil Buy Time for FBI Chief Comey (Bloomberg)
The election of Donald Trump may have saved James Comey’s job as FBI director — at least for the time being.
Comey’s stunning back-and-forth on the Hillary Clinton e-mail inquiry less than two weeks before the election would have made it hard for him to stay had the Democrat won.
French Presidential Election Turns on Question of Identity Ahead of Key Primary (The Wall Street Journal)
As voters prepare to head to the polls Sunday for the Républicains’ primary—which could ultimately determine the next president—the rhetoric at rallies and debates has increasingly focused on whether France’s secular values are compatible with its Muslim population—one of Europe’s biggest.
A post-Trump SEC could shake up current policy (Reuters)
It will be a new day at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after President-elect Donald Trump installs his choice to run the agency.
Health and Biotech
Geographic Variability in Zika-Related Birth Defects Baffles Scientists (Scientific American)
ATLANTA—Zika infection during pregnancy can lead to birth defects except, of course, when it does not. Now scientists are wondering why the virus catastrophically affects some fetuses but not others.
Life on the Home Planet
Almost 500 migrants reach Italy, more deaths reported at sea (Reuters)
Almost 500 migrants arrived at the port of Catania on Wednesday after being rescued earlier this week near the coast of Libya, with the influx of refugees heading to Europe showing no signs of slowing.
Egyptian court overturns ex-president Mursi's death sentence (Reuters)
Egypt's Court of Cassation on Tuesday overturned a death sentence against deposed president Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood and ordered a retrial.
Indonesian court sentences American to life for drug smuggling: agency (Reuters)
The district court in the port city of Semarang, the provincial capital of Central Java, found Kamran Malik guilty of smuggling 97 kilograms of the drug inside generator sets being imported from China, Antara said.
Special Report: Under siege in Mosul, Islamic State turns to executions and paranoia (Reuters)
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State, "has become intemperate," said the early November message, written by an informant inside the city who has contact with the group but is not a member of it.
