Financial Markets and Economy
Investors Flood Into European Financial ETF by Record Amount After Draghi's Non-Taper Taper (Bloomberg)
A U.S.-listed exchange-traded fund that owns Europe's largest financial firms saw investors rush in at a record pace on Thursday, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi outlined tweaks to the central bank's asset purchasing program.
Oil-Producing Countries Agree to Cut Output Along With OPEC (The Wall Street Journal)
VIENNA—Oil-producing nations struck a deal Saturday to cut output along with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a pact designed to reduce a global oversupply of crude, lift prices and lend support to economies hurt by a two-year market slump.
Oil Traders May Abandon Ship After OPEC Cuts Profits at Sea (Bloomberg)
The group’s pledge to cut output and ease a global glut has weakened a market structure known as contango that benefited traders who stocked crude on ships to be sold at a potential profit in the future.
Oil, Gas Exploration Spend to Fall to 12-Year Low as Prices Bite (Bloomberg)
Global spending on oil and natural gas exploration is set to fall next year to the lowest level in 12 years as the industry cuts costs and shuns more expensive areas such as the Arctic, according to Wood Mackenzie Ltd.
A Bigger Economic Pie, but a Smaller Slice for Half of the U.S. (NY Times)
Even with all the setbacks from recessions, burst bubbles and vanishing industries, the United States has still pumped out breathtaking riches over the last three and half decades.
Stocks have only been this expensive during the crash of 1929, the tech bubble, and the financial crisis (Business Insider)
Stocks are getting a bit pricey.
All three major indexes break though their all-time highs on a seemingly daily basis, and this has pushed earnings multiples higher and higher.
The yen sinks to a 10-month low (Business Insider)
The Japanese yen is at its lowest level since February 2016.
The currency is down by 0.5% at 114.62 per dollar as of 8:31 a.m. ET.
Euro zone bailout fund not preparing Italy aid: Regling (Reuters)
The euro zone bailout fund is not preparing financial support for Italy though some individual Italian banks have problems and need to raise capital, the head of the fund said on Friday.
A bubble in pot stocks, David Rosenberg's warning to bulls, and why yield chasers need to be wary (The Globe And Mail)
Falling bond prices has sent bond yields dramatically higher over the past month – and the trend is leaving investors with two big questions as we head toward 2017: Will the trend continue and what will it do to my portfolio?
Does the Bond Market Believe What Draghi’s Saying? (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg View’s Mark Gilbert discusses the European Central Bank's quantitative easing program.
European Market Outlook: Political Shocks and Drama (Bloomberg)
Didier Duret, chief investment officer at ABN AMRO Private Bank, examines the state of the Italian banking industry and his expectation for global political shocks and drama related to European elections in 2017.
Surprise, surprise: RBI wrong-foots investors again (Reuters)
When it comes to interest rate decisions under Reserve Bank of India's new governor, Urjit Patel, the only certainty seems to be that nothing is certain.
When Will You Age Out of Your Career? Check This Chart (Bloomberg)
It’s surprisingly common to put very little aside and hope you never need to hang up your cleats for good. Among investors under age 35, more than four-fifths (83 percent) say they plan to work during retirement, according to a survey released this month by Merrill Edge. It’s not just millennials: 79 percent of Generation X and 64 percent of baby boomers who are still working agree.
Richards: 'Muddled Messages' From Draghi, ECB (Bloomberg)
Anne Richards, chief executive officer at M&G Investments, discusses the message sent to markets by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in Thursday's interest rate decision.
Wall Street’s surge after Donald Trump’s election was spiked by a bunch of bank stocks (Salon)
President-elect Donald Trump may have talked a big game about “draining the swamp,” but it seems stocks are surging because banks don’t believe a word of it.
Consumer Sentiment Rises to Highest Since Jan. 2015 (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg’s Matt Boesler discusses the impact of Donald Trump’s election win on the surge in consumer confidence.
Is Chinese Money Propping Up U.S. Asset Prices? (Bloomberg)
Russ Koesterich, head of asset allocation for BlackRock's Global Allocation Fund, comments on commodities and China’s capital flight during an interview with Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal and Scarlet Fu on "What’d You Miss?"
ECB refuses to help Italy's crisis-hit Monte dei Paschi bank (The Guardian)
Fears that the Italian government will have to prop up Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) are mounting after the European Central Bank refused to give the world’s oldest bank more time to find major investors to back a €5bn (£4.2bn) cash injection.
What’s Behind Gold’s Slump? (Bloomberg)
U.S. Global Investors CEO and CIO Frank Holmes says that the current decline in gold futures is just a passing storm.
Risk Looms as State Rescue for Monte Paschi May Be Needed (Bloomberg)
Lionel Laurent, a Bloomberg Gadfly columnist, discusses the European Central bank’s rejection of Monte Paschi’s request for more time in its capital raise effort.
Three-day bank holiday from today likely to deepen cash crisis (Hindustan Times)
A three-day bank holiday from Saturday could deepen the nationwide cash crisis with refilling of ATMs likely to be affected, officials said, potentially impacting millions of Indians struggling to withdraw money for over a month.
China to launch yuan's direct trading with seven more currencies (China Daily)
BEIJING – China announced Friday it will launch direct trading of its currency yuan with seven more currencies on its inter-bank foreign exchange market next Monday.
Economists Are Out. Goldman Is Back In. (Bloomberg)
It looks like Gary Cohn will be leaving Goldman Sachs Group Inc., where he is president and chief operating officer, to become director of Donald Trump's National Economic Council. This is not a unique career trajectory!
Why a Big Sustainable Investor is Buying Whole Foods (Barron's Next)
Barron’s recently highlighted Parnassus Investments as one of the best performing socially responsible investment firms. So it’s worth listening to what its founder Jerome Dodson has to say.
Japan Fukushima Cost Seen Almost Doubling to $188 Billion (Bloomberg)
Cleaning up the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, the world’s worst atomic accident since Chernobyl, will cost almost twice as much as originally expected as decommissioning expenses increase, according to Japan government estimates.
Is Bitcoin turning out to be better than Gold? (Max Keiser)
This year, Bitcoin has beaten Gold by a big margin and is still enjoying a healthy uptrend. While Gold gained 8.73% and outperformed the S&P 500 and Twenty-year US Treasury Bonds, it still couldn’t match Bitcoins 100% overshoot.
Oil Technical Analysis | Week of December 12th (Markets Analysis)
Oil prices were down slightly this week as all eyes have turned to the meeting between non-Opec and the OPEC producers, which is scheduled to be held in Vienna on Saturday, December 10th.
What Would It Take to Replace the Pay Working-Class Americans Have Lost? (NY Times)
Poor and working-class Americans have fallen behind over the last generation, receiving few of the gains of an expanding economy. But we could change that by using one of the most powerful tools in the federal government’s policy arsenal.
Bank unions write to RBI Governor over cash shortage (The Statesman)
Two bank unions on Friday urged RBI Governor Urjit Patel to ensure adequate supply of the new Rs.500 notes and bills of lower denominations to tide over the prevailing cash crunch.
President-elect Donald Trump’s supposed job-saving deal with Carrier is looking less and less impressive every day.
Gold And Silver Paper Has Been Rigged for 20 years – Podcast (Zero Hedge)
Vince Lanci reacts to LME Silver and Gold Fix scandals. He describes how all markets are rigged both top-down and bottom-up against the public. Vince is a 25 year Energy and Metals trader.
Trump Picks Goldman President Gary Cohn To Be Chief Economic Advisor (Zero Hedge)
It appears that vampire squids are quite adaptable to living inside the swamp that Trump promised to be draining.
How to End Ticket Scalping (Bloomberg)
Most music fans know the feeling: You wait for tickets to a gig to go on sale, log onto a website the minute they do and can't complete the purchase. You try dozens of times in the next few hours, to no avail. When the website is finally up again, the tickets are gone.
Top Hedge Funds Predict How It All Will End (Zero Hedge)
In early 2009, roughly at the time when this blog was launched which coincided with the start of the greatest monetary experiment of all time, we warned that there are two ways it will end: either in hyperinflation, or a deflationary supernova, the failure of currency and, eventually, barter. Now, almost 8 years later, some of the world's top hedge funds are in agreement, and they are worried.
Companies
Tesla Motors: Why JPMorgan is ‘Even More Concerned’ (Barron's)
After meeting with General Motors (GM) CFO Chuck Stevens, JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman and team write that they are “even more concerned that Tesla (TSLA) will have a difficult time realizing its profit objectives in the increasingly competitive market for electric vehicles.”
Wall Street Firm Says Apple Remains One of the World's Most Unappreciated Stocks (MacRumors)
Wall Street brokerage firm Drexel Hamilton today informed its clients it continues to believe Apple is "one of the most underappreciated stocks in the world," according to a research note seen by MacRumors.
Coca-Cola’s Biggest Challenge Under Next CEO: Cutting Calories (Bloomberg)
Coca-Cola Co.’s incoming CEO has his work cut out for him to bring the 130-year-old company into a millennial-dominated era.
Sears Transformed America. It Deserves to Die With Dignity. (Bloomberg)
Sears Holdings Corp. lost $748 million last quarter amid falling sales, an even worse performance than the dismal losses of the period a year earlier. There is no obvious reason that the business might improve. And yet executives are still discussing how important its shopper loyalty program is "to the future and growth of the company," as if the company were going to have growth, and shoppers and a future.
Technology
Here’s Why Facebook’s Repeated Measurement Mistakes Matter (Fortune)
In what has become a depressingly routine announcement from Facebook—at least for advertisers and media companies who rely on the social network—the company said Friday it has uncovered more errors in the way it measures engagement with live videos and also links to external sites.
One Hospital’s Experiments in Virtual Health Care (Harvard Business Review)
Few recent trends in health care delivery have more power to improve population health, patient and provider experience, and hospital business models than virtual care. But for an industry reliant on, and in many ways limited by, brick-and-mortar facilities, this movement will mean significant disruption for providers.
Japan Sends Long Electric Whip Into Orbit, To Tame Space Junk (NPR)
A cable that's as long as six football fields has been launched into orbit — and when it's deployed, it'll test an idea to knock out orbital debris. Japan's space agency sent the electrodynamic tether into space along with supplies for the International Space Station.
Politics
Donald Trump says the law is settled on gay marriage but not on abortion (The Economist)
A SOFTER Donald Trump greeted viewers of Lesley Stahl’s interview on “60 Minutes” on November 13th. The president-elect, in his first wide-ranging television interview since election day, seemed to renege on a promise to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton’s e-mail habits (“I don’t want to hurt [the Clintons]…they’re good people”), acknowledged that his signature wall on the southern border might become a fence along certain stretches, and applauded two of the main provisions of Obamacare—without explaining how he would keep them afloat.
Russian Hackers Acted to Aid Trump in Election, U.S. Says (NY Times)
WASHINGTON — American intelligence agencies have concluded with “high confidence” that Russia acted covertly in the latter stages of the presidential campaign to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances and promote Donald J. Trump, according to senior administration officials.
The Millions Trump’s Businesses Made From His Campaign (Bloomberg)
Donald Trump ran as a billionaire businessman whose ability to finance his campaign from his own deep pockets would keep him free from the influence of special interests.
Estate Tax Repeal: How Trump Cabinet Picks Would Benefit (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg Politics’ Sahil Kapur discusses how a repeal of the so-called death tax may test the president-elect’s populist campaign themes. He speaks on “What’d You Miss?”
Government shutdown averted as Democrats cave (Politico)
They went right up to the brink, but Senate Democrats said on Friday night that they never intended to shut down the federal government over a dispute about coal miners’ benefits.
Trump Era Brings Moment of Truth for Republican Spending Hawks (Bloomberg)
The most conservative House Republicans helped shut down the government and oust their own speaker in pursuit of cutting U.S. spending. Now they must decide whether to fight to hold Donald Trump to the same standard.
Trump Team’s Asking for Ways to Keep Nuclear Power Alive (Bloomberg)
President-elect Donald Trump’s advisers are looking at ways in which the U.S. government could help nuclear power generators being forced out of the electricity market by cheaper natural gas and renewable resources.
Donald Trump’s lazy, slipshod transition: No ideology, only cynicism and corruption (Salon)
On the “Keepin’ It 1600” podcast a few days ago, journalist Ana Marie Cox made an observation that captured the ongoing spectacle of President-elect Donald Trump appointing right-wing zealots and unqualified hacks to staff his Cabinet and his administration.
Views of President-elect Trump and his administration (Pew Research Center)
As Donald Trump prepares to take office as the nation’s 45th president, 55% of the public says that, so far, they disapprove of the job he has done explaining his policies and plans for the future, while 41% approve of the job he has done.
Women’s March on Washington barred from protesting Donald Trump inauguration (Salon)
Protesters who plan to descend on Washington in the days surrounding President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next month will find themselves barred from the nation’s most famous public protest site.
Donald Trump was paid $2 million by his campaign so that he could fly in his personal jet (Salon)
More than a month after the election, final financial disclosure forms provide revealing insights into the spending behavior of President-elect’s Donald Trump’s winning campaign as it kicked into high gear.
Austria’s new president is the Green, not the populist (The Economist)
AUSTRIA’S far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) is finding it hard to come to terms with defeat. On December 4th its candidate, Norbert Hofer, lost to Alexander van der Bellen (pictured), an ex-leader of the Green party, in a rerun of the country’s presidential election.
Congress cracks down on “bots” that snap up concert tickets (Salon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress sent legislation to President Barack Obama that could make it easier to get tickets to popular shows, sports events and concerts.
Fossil fuel executives, Republicans celebrate Trump’s EPA nominee (Think Progress)
While Democrats vowed to fight the nomination of a climate denier to head up the Environmental Protection Agency, Republican congressmen and fossil fuel industry leaders celebrated on Thursday.
Life on the Home Planet
Monkeys Could Talk, but They Don’t Have the Brains for It (NY Times)
Primates are unquestionably clever: Monkeys can learn how to use money, and chimpanzees have a knack for game theory. But no one has ever taught a nonhuman primate to say “hello.”
5 Steps to Help Yourself Recover from a Setback (Harvard Business Review)
What do you do afterward? You might go to a bar with friends, talk to your spouse, or call your mom. But those are just delay tactics. Soon the ruminating will begin. You’ll wonder what went wrong and blame yourself, others, or external factors.
Mapping Three Decades of Global Water Change (NY Times)
Rivers meander. Lakes grow and shrink. Engineers build dams and farmers flood fields.
It’s been a record-warm autumn: November was the second warmest on record in most of the U.S. (Climate Central)
It’s almost certain that 2016 will be the second-hottest year on record for the contiguous U.S., with new data showing that November was the second warmest on record for the Lower 48, capping off a record-hot autumn (for the second year in a row).
