Financial Markets and Economy
Oil tops $55 for first time in 16 months as OPEC deal fuels buying (Reuters)
Brent crude oil prices rose above $55 a barrel on Monday, trading at a fresh 16-month high, on rising prospects of a tightening market after OPEC members agreed on a landmark deal to cut production last week.
European Investors Brush Off Italy Referendum Result (The Wall Street Journal)
Stocks pushed higher Monday while the euro recovered from early losses as investors largely brushed off Italian voters’ rejection of constitutional reform.
Euro Gains With Stocks as Italy Vote Absorbed in ‘Three Minutes’ (Bloomberg)
The euro shook off earlier losses and equities climbed as contagion from political turmoil in Italy was contained.
The common European currency climbed against the dollar, having earlier reached its weakest in 20 months as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi quit after losing a referendum he’d called to rein in the senate’s power.
Euro rebounds after hitting 21-month low on Italian referendum defeat (Reuters)
The euro rebounded from 21-month lows on Monday, clawing back almost all the ground it had lost overnight after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi conceded defeat in a referendum on plans to reform the country's constitution and said he would resign.
Credit Restrictions Cost Home Buyers ‘Deal of a Lifetime’ (The Wall Street Journal)
Sean Dobson wanted to start a mortgage bank four years ago to serve borrowers with middling credit or irregular income. He eventually decided that growing regulatory hurdles and other costs would erase his returns.
Italy Sinks Into Political Limbo as Defeat Sweeps Renzi Away (Bloomberg)
Italy fell into political limbo after Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation, with rival parties jockeying to fill the power vacuum following his crushing defeat in a constitutional referendum.
Rescue of Italian bank Monte Paschi in danger after Renzi's defeat (Reuters)
A 5 billion euro ($5.33 billion) rescue plan for Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) hung by a thread on Monday after Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's defeat in a referendum tipped the country into political turmoil.
Trump Takes On China in Tweets on Currency, South China Sea (Bloomberg)
Donald Trump took on the Chinese government via social media on Sunday, rejecting criticism of his decision to take a phone call from Taiwan’s president at the risk of triggering a backlash from Beijing.
A pensions time bomb spells disaster for the US economy (Real Vision TV)
Underfunded government pensions to the tune of $1.3 trillion, with a gap that just can’t be filled, is the ticking time bomb facing the US economy, which faces dramatic cuts in public services and potentially riots reminiscent of Athens six years ago.
Top Marijuana Stocks to Buy in 2017 (Fool.com)
All these words apply to investing in marijuana stocks. But if you're looking to buy marijuana stocks in the New Year, GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH), Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings(NASDAQ: CRBP), and Insys Therapeutics (NASDAQ: INSY) might be your best choices.
Don’t Hold Your Breath on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (The Wall Street Journal)
Holders of shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were thrilled at comments by Donald Trump’s choice for Treasury secretary. They should calm down. Definitive action on these companies remains a long way off, and the interests of shareholders aren’t high on the agenda of policy makers.
Dakota Access Pipeline Halted by Army Corps of Engineers (Fortune)
According to MSNBC, the Secretary of the Army Corps of Engineers has told Standing Rock Sioux tribal leader David Archambault II that it will deny the easement that would allow an oil pipeline to follow its currently planned route under the Missouri River.
Utility CEO Confirms Coal Is Finished (Fool.com)
Sometimes the best reminder that an industry is dying is the industry itself saying it's dying. Comments from DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) CEO Gerry Anderson provided maybe the best assessment of the future of coal.
Gold price forecast to soar 50 per cent up next year amid euro-zone uncertainties (South China Morning Post)
Gold traders expect the price of gold to climb between 25 per cent to 50 per cent next year as a coming swarm of political uncertainties will lead investors to bet on the precious metal.
Greenspan’s Irrational Exuberance Looks Entrenched, 20 Years On (Bloomberg)
Two decades after then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan fretted about asset prices reaching unsustainable levels — a pronouncement that caused a brief interruption in the U.S. stock rally — his successors might be tempted to warn again markets are getting ahead of themselves.
Financial Crisis Of 2017 In The Making (Part 2) (Nikolaos Giannoulis, Seeking Alpha)
All last week's economic figures generally in line with estimates. Housing market figures in UK and unemployment rate in US slightly better than expected while initial jobless claims missed estimates.
S&P 500 Weekly Earnings Update: Q4 2016 S&P 500 Earnings 'Less Negative' (Brian Gilmartin, CFA, Seeking Alpha)
The stat of the week is from FactSet, as John Butters notes that the typical downward revisions to the 4th quarter 2016 growth rate that we typically see at this point in the 3rd quarter is "less negative" than historical data suggests.
Companies
Airbnb Ends Fight With New York City Over Fines (NY Times)
Airbnb has capitulated to the demands of lawmakers over its operations in New York City, the company’s largest market in the United States, agreeing to drop a lawsuit in which it was pushing back against a newly passed state law that it said could have hurt its business.
Technology
$32 Billlion Market Expected For Agricultural Drones (Motley Fool)
Agricultural efficiency is poised to take a big leap with drone technology now that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is streamlining regulations for unmanned aerial vehicles.
The animated body parts helping cure phantom limb pain (CNet)
Phantom limb pain is a curious thing. One would think that if you lose a limb, you no longer have any sensation in that limb. But nearly all amputees report feeling sensation in their lost limb, and as many as 80 percent report feeling actual pain.
Forget Controllers, Use Your Hands: Leap Motions tracking Tech Hits Mobile VR (Digital Trends)
In a virtual world? Want to pick up that sword? Instead of using a controller like the ones that come with the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, Leap Motion has made it possible to use your hands in VR with its Orion hand-tracking software. Now the company has announced a new sensor that brings its technology to mobile VR.
Tech is upending the ways we write, speak, and even think (Digital Trends)
When you look back a decade, it’s easy to feel that little has changed. Sure, you had a different job back then, there were other shows on TV, and no one had described your shoes as “on fleek” just yet, but what’s different, really? Yet when asked to think about the year 2006, most people today would probably Google it on a smartphone.
Google Assistant now speaks Hindi in Allo messaging app (Venture Beat)
Google is expanding the linguistic capabilities of the virtual assistant that powers its Allo messaging app with the news that it’s now conversant in Hindi.
Android Pay helps Brits keep track of their Tube spending (Engadget)
It might have been late to the party, but Google is determined to make Android Pay the de facto payment solution for non-iPhone users in the UK. An update going out "this week" will add some deeper integrations with Transport for London (TfL), including incomplete journey notifications — so you'll know when you forgot to tap out — and daily travel summaries, complete with station names and bus numbers.
Politics
Trump vows 35% tax for US firms that move jobs overseas (BBC News)
US President-elect Donald Trump says he will impose punitive taxes on US firms that move manufacturing overseas.
Italy’s ‘No’ Vote Poses Trouble for Eurozone (The Wall Street Journal)
BRUSSELS—Sunday’s referendum vote in Italy reinforced a widening split between the economics needed to sustain Europe’s common currency and the continent’s rising tide of populism.
New Zealand prime minister John Key resigns (The Guardian)
John Key, the New Zealand prime minister and leader of the National party, has resigned in a decision that has taken the country by surprise.
Merkel regrets Renzi resignation but will work with new Italy government (Reuters)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel regrets Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's decision to resign after his defeat in a referendum on constitutional reform but pledged to work with Italy's next government.
New Zealand Surprised as Prime Minister John Key Stands Down (The Wall Street Journal)
SYDNEY—New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said Monday he would step down, likely ending the political career of one Asia-Pacific’s longest-serving conservative leaders and a key U.S. ally in the region.
China says Trump clear about Taiwan, in touch with his team (Reuters)
U.S. President-elect Trump is clear about China's position on the Taiwan issue and China has maintained contacts with his team, the foreign ministry said on Monday, as Trump took to Twitter to complain about Chinese economic and military policy.
Trump has broad power to implement immigration policies: legal experts (Reuters)
President-elect Donald Trump will be able to make many of his promised changes in immigration policy unilaterally by exercising the same kind of executive powers he criticized President Barack Obama for using.
Dakota Pipeline Project Halted as Obama Administration Denies Permit for Last Leg (The Wall Street Journal)
The Obama administration said Sunday that it had denied a permit needed to complete the last leg of an oil pipeline across the Midwest, prompting cheers from opponents but warnings that the move could be short-lived since President-elect Donald Trump supports the project.
Never-Trump Senate Republicans Grapple With His Upset Victory (Bloomberg)
Don’t ask Senator John McCain about Donald Trump.
"I’m not talking about President-elect Trump. I will not talk about Donald Trump. Now look, tell all your friends, OK?" the Arizona Republican told reporters last week. "Do not ask me again about Donald Trump."
Trump advisors aim to privatize oil-rich Indian reservations (Reuters)
Native American reservations cover just 2 percent of the United States, but they may contain about a fifth of the nation’s oil and gas, along with vast coal reserves.
"My Government Ends Here" Renzi Resigns After Losing Italian Referendum: The Full Rundown (Zero Hedge)
Italy PM Renzi lost by a huge margin, with the latest estimate somewhere around 59% voting "No" to Renzi's proposed constitutional referendum.
Health and Biotech
New evidence suggests Parkinson's might start in the gut, not the brain (Science Alert)
A new study adds to a growing body of research that suggests we might have been thinking about Parkinson's disease wrong this whole time.
A first-of-its-kind HIV vaccine will move to phase II trials in 2017 (Science Alert)
A brand new type of HIV vaccine will move onto phase II clinical trials in 2017, after phase I trials showed that it was safe to use in humans.
Life on the Home Planet
Fake US embassy in Ghana shut down after 10 years issuing visas (The Guardian)
Authorities in Ghana have busted a fake US embassy in the capital Accra run by a criminal network that for a decade issued illegally obtained authentic visas, the US State Department has said.
WATCH: Jupiter's moons make actual sine waves (Science Alert)
Our entire understanding of the Universe is based in no small part on the mathematical models and simulations that scientists come up with to explain the weirdly consistent patterns that keep cropping up in nature.
‘See What Racism Looks Like’: Charleston Families Brace for Dylann Roof’s Trial (TIME)
Malcolm Graham sat in a crowded federal courtroom last week and watched as Dylann Roof, the man accused of killing Graham’s sister and eight other black parishioners in a Charleston church last year, commanded the attention of the room.
Houston, we have power: Space-based solar power could be the final frontier in renewable energy (Salon)
Critics of the 2002 James Bond film “Die Another Day” decried its over-reliance on über-tech, even by 007 standards. Think sonic agitator rings for shattering bullet-proof glass, and an invisible Aston Martin that might as well be, according to one reviewer, “a Harry Potter car.”
Climate change could explain Mars' imposing topography (Engadget)
Mars has lots of water, but future astronauts won't exactly be able to scoop it into bottles — it's generally trapped in ice deposits below the surface. Scientists from Penn State think climate change lasting millions of years once warmed it enough to let the water flow free on the surface, however.
