Financial Markets and Economy
Gross Sees ‘No New Trump Bull Market,’ Says Growth Plan Flawed (Bloomberg)
The president-elect’s plan to reduce taxes and increase infrastructure spending is unlikely to bolster economic growth or equities, Gross, manager of the $1.68 billion Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, wrote Wednesday in a November commentary.
Brexit Is a Mess, But the U.K. Economy Keeps Humming Along (Fortune)
For the liberal metropolitan elites who forecast immediate doom and destruction, it’s just adding insult to injury.
These Stocks Show How Some Markets Have Gotten Way Ahead of Themselves Since the Election (Bloomberg)
A 1,500 percent stock surge since Nov. 8? It's possible in Trump's America.
DryShips Inc., which owns tankers that carry iron ore, coal and other commodities, is becoming a poster child for stocks that have seen massive gains following Donald Trump's surprise victory in the U.S. presidential election.
Sweden could become the first major country to issue a national digital currency (Business Insider)
Sweden aims to decide on whether to issue a digital currency called "ekrona" within two years, according to a Financial Times report.
Cecilia Skingsley, deputy governor of Sweden's central bank Riksbank, told the Financial Times in an interview that the bank is considering the move after a dramatic drop in the usage of cash.
Yuan’s Slide May Have More to Do With Economics Than Donald Trump (The Wall Street Journal)
BEIJING—China’s currency dropped to the lowest level in eight years Wednesday, extending a rapid decline over the course of a few days and demonstrating what officials and analysts say is the government’s increasing tolerance of a cheaper yuan as it combats a lagging economy and growing asset bubbles.
Illinois' unfunded pension liabilities reach $130 billion: study (Reuters)
The financial condition of Illinois’ five state pension systems worsened during 2016 with unfunded liabilities growing to a record-setting $129.8 billion, a new report showed on Wednesday.
Now You Can Sell Shares in Yourself to Pay for College (Money)
Taking out another high-interest private student loan seemed like the only option for Amy Wroblewski this fall. The 21-year-old native of Lafayette, Ind., was working two part-time jobs and had maxed out her federal student loans. But she still needed about $13,000 more to fund her junior year at Purdue University.
5 Big Changes Coming to Investors in a Trump Presidency (Reuters)
Post-recession Wall Street reform could head in a new direction.
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.
After Trump and Brexit, All Eyes Are on Italy’s Constitutional Referendum (The Wall Street Journal)
After Brexit and Donald Trump, will Italy be next? Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s Dec. 4 referendum on his proposed constitutional overhauls—designed to strengthen the power of the government by making it easier to pass laws—is the next opportunity for voters in a major economy to give the establishment another kicking.
America’s on Track to Export a Record Volume of Shale Gas (Bloomberg)
Nine liquefied natural gas tankers have departed or are scheduled to leave Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass terminal in November, already the most for any month since exports began in February, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg and Genscape Inc.
Best Business Schools 2016 (Bloomberg)
An MBA can get you access to hot internships, sprawling alumni networks, and the most desirable jobs in the market.
As a bonus, it can wipe out your savings and swell your debt.
Fed's Kashkari Releases Plan To End "Too Big To Fail", Compares Banks To Terrorists (Zero Hedge)
In the latest reminder that 7 years after the financial crisis, the US banking system still remains a systemic risk, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari today released four-step plan to end too-big-to-fail problem. In his speech to the economic club of New York, the former Goldman banker said that while significant progress has been made to strengthen U.S. financial system, biggest banks continue to pose a significant, ongoing risk to our economy.
The US has revived a disturbing economic ideology that helped cause the Great Depression (Business Insider)
Globalization has been one of the dominant economic trends for over 100 years. Expanding free trade and increasing the flow of goods, services, and people from country to country has been a so-far invincible force since the late 19th century.
These 7 Pot Stocks Reported Earnings This Week (The Daily Maruana Observer, Seeking Alpha)
No matter how you feel about Trump as president, or the outlook of the overall market, we are reiterating our long-term bullish stance on the marijuana industry. With seven cannabis companies having reported financial results this week and even more with notable updates, it is clear that the favorable voting for cannabis legalization in the elections was only the start to this green gold rush.
Are Humans Already Obsolete? (Forbes)
In the aftermath of the Brexit vote to leave, one of the Tweets that caught my eye was from founder and CEO of analyst firm HfS Research Phil Fersht, which simply said, “At least the British can stop worrying about robots taking their jobs. Just get rid of the jobs altogether…”
Scenes Of Panic In India As Gold Price Skyrockets After Currency Ban (Acting-Man.com, Zero Hedge)
Here is a link to Part 1, about what happened in the first two days after India’s government made Rs 500 (~$7.50) and Rs 1,000 (~$15) banknotes illegal. They can now only be converted to Rs 100 (~$1.50) or lower denomination notes, at bank branches or post offices.
Zerohedge Included in What NY Magazine Calls ‘Extremely Helpful List of Fake and Misleading News Sites’ (Max Keiser)
With Hillary’s loss, the mainstream media and its distressed and discredited allies are in a panic like we have never seen before. They understand that alternative voices now influence the public as much, if not more so, than the mainstream press, and they are now out to destroy those voices.
Companies
Larry Ellison: Oracle will be 'more profitable than we’ve ever been before' (Business Insider)
REDWOOD SHORES, California — Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison told his shareholders that cloud computing will cause Oracle "to be a much larger company, growing double-digits and more profitably than we were before."
Target is soaring after demolishing earnings (Business Insider)
The retailer posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.04, well above analysts expectations of $0.83 per share. Additionally, revenue came in at $16.44 billion against projections of $16.30 billion.
Cisco's profit forecast misses estimates, shares slip (Reuters)
Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) forecast adjusted profit for the current quarter below analysts' estimate as the company's traditional business of switches and routers continues to struggle with sluggish demand.
Technology
New MacBook Pro lets you skip YouTube ads with the Touch Bar (The Next Web)
The new MacBook Pro line has been met with a lot of criticism about an underpowered ‘Pro’ line that lacks any of the innovation of its competitors. The Touch Bar is new, but it feels gimmicky — and it definitely wasn’t worth waiting over a year for. Still, it’s a cool new feature, and one that should only get better as we figure out how to better utilize it.
The $5 PoisonTap quickly, completely hijacks even a locked computer’s internet (Tech Crunch)
After I learned of this clever exploit from Samy Kamkar, my poor 2012 MacBook Air looks more vulnerable than venerable: Asleep on the table, its USB ports exposed, it could be hijacked in seconds by a malicious Raspberry Pi Zero called PoisonTap. No need for passwords, zero-days or million-dollar back doors — although a little social engineering to get me to leave the room might help.
Domino's starts delivering pizza by drone, but only in New Zealand (Engadget)
If you measure the future in terms how pizza is delivered, the future is now: Domino's now delivers via autonomous drone. Today, the pizza chain officially launched its drone delivery service in New Zealand. The pizzaria chain has been working with Flirtey on the program for awhile now, but has only just started offering it to a select group of customers.
Richard Branson is bringing us the next supersonic passenger aircraft (Mashable Asia)
On Tuesday, the founder of Virgin Group is joining forces with Boom — an aircraft production startup — to unveil the XB-1 Supersonic Demonstrator, a prototype supersonic passenger airliner.
Apple reportedly plans to cut App Store video fees (CNet)
The tech titan plans to reduce the amount of revenue it collects from subscription video streaming apps from the current 30 percent to 15 percent, Bloomberg reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the company's plans. Apple takes a 30 percent cut of sales for app subscriptions, but if an app maker holds onto a subscriber for a year or longer, Apple's cut will shrink to 15 percent.
Politics
‘American Democracy Is Bigger Than Any One Person,’ Obama Says (NY Times)
ATHENS — Having warned of the risks of a Trump presidency, President Obama returned on Wednesday to a more optimistic vision of the future of the United States, as part of his final international tour while in office.
Elizabeth Warren Threatens Trump: Don't Let "Wall Street Get Away With Murder" (Fortune)
President-elect Donald Trump ran a campaign that lambasted Wall Street and the established financial elites—but his transition team is chock full of lobbyists and corporate insiders. That is at least accounting to the watchdog-in-chief of these matters—Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Russia quits International Criminal Court (CNN News)
Russia says it will withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) under a directive signed by President Vladimir Putin.
U.S. Companies to Trump: Don’t Abandon Global Climate Deal (NY Times)
Hundreds of American companies, including Mars, Nike, Levi Strauss and Starbucks, have urged President-elect Donald J. Trump not to abandon the Paris climate deal, saying a failure by the United States to build a clean economy endangers American prosperity.
Trump transition appears to have flouted internal ethics rule on lobbyists (Politico)
Donald Trump’s transition team appears to have deviated from its own ethics rule barring lobbyists whose work for Trump would overlap with any matters on which they lobbied in the previous year.
Drug Prices Don't Budge Even After Pressure From Congress (Associated Press)
Congress's routine of publicly shaming drug company executives over high prices works no better than a placebo: It may make some people feel better, but it doesn't treat the problem.
Cities Passing More Laws Making Homelessness A Crime (Associated Press)
HONOLULU (AP) — Cities across the country are enacting more bans on living in vehicles, camping in public and panhandling, despite federal efforts to discourage such laws amid a shortage of affordable housing, a new report said.
GOP Governors Gather Amid Push For 'Disruptive Change' (Associated Press)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The nation's Republican governors met Tuesday in battleground Florida where they said were "giddy" at the opportunity for "disruptive changes" to wrest power from Washington following the election of Donald Trump.
Japan's Abe told not to take Trump's campaign rhetoric literally (Reuters)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will seek reassurances from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on U.S.-Japan ties on Thursday and a senior adviser to Abe said he had been told that campaign remarks calling the alliance into question should not be taken literally.
Bernie's empire strikes back (Politico)
The revolution is back in business.
Supporters of Bernie Sanders' failed presidential bid are seizing on Democratic disarray at the national level to launch a wave of challenges to Democratic Party leaders in the states.
Trump can now loot millions of dollars from the Secret Service with no disclosure (Vox)
When he’s president, Donald Trump will fly on Air Force One. Which means the Boeing 757 that Trump owns through a holding company will be free for use by Ivanka, Melania, Eric, Donald Jr., or whomever else. And if Trump requests Secret Service protection for those people, he will probably get it. And when Secret Service agents fly alongside a protectee, they use their budget to pay airfare.
Health and Biotech
United States Comes in Last Again on Health, Compared to Other Countries (NBC News)
Americans are still struggling with their health, and rank last against citizens of 10 other wealthy countries when it comes to emotional distress, struggling to pay for care and skipping doctor visits, a new report finds.
Biotech takes Trump presidency as a green light — and end to drug price worries (Market Watch)
After a rocky election season, drug companies and sector investors are taking President-elect Donald Trump’s victory as a green light.
Life on the Home Planet
Indian tycoon hosts £59m wedding for daughter amid cash crunch (The Guardian)
A controversial Indian mining tycoon has taken over a royal palace and flown in Brazilian dancers at a reported cost of 5bn rupees (£59m) to celebrate his daughter’s wedding.
The Leonid meteor shower is about to peak: here's how to watch (Science Alert)
Just in case you missed this week's amazing supermoon show, there's no need to beat yourself up about it, because the night sky is here to console you with another awesome spectacle.
Thousands of fish dropped dead in a New York canal overnight, and locals are freaking out (Science Alert)
Imagine waking up on a Monday morning and seeing an entire stretch of the Shinnecock Canal on Long Island filled to the brim with dead and dying fish. I'm talking thousands and thousands of fish corpses, all pilled on top of each other, stretching down the canal from wall to wall.
Warren Buffett describes his first rules of investing as: “Rule #1: Never lose money. Rule #2: Don’t forget rule #1”.
