Financial Markets and Economy
S&P 500 Overbought, Not Overwhelmed as Bulls Shrug Off Charts (Bloomberg)
The S&P 500 Index hasn’t been this overextended in 2 1/2 years, according to one technical measure, yet investors are showing few signs of worry. Hedging costs are near the lowest since July 2014, the options market has seen record call volume, and short interest sits below its one-year average.
OPEC Deal Tests Oil Majors’ Appetite for Risk and Reward (Bloomberg)
OPEC’s deal to cut production and boost prices gives oil companies the opportunity to shake off two years of layoffs and slumping profits to start investing again — if they still have the risk appetite.
Oil Closes Near $51 as Kuwait Said to Cut Sales to U.S., Europe (Bloomberg)
Oil settled near $51 a barrel in New York as Kuwait was said to make bigger supply cuts to U.S. and European customers.
Stocks jumped into the green in early trade on Thursday on the heels of solid economic data.
The three major indices slipped over the course of the day, but ultimately still finished in the green.
Why you shouldn't panic about rising mortgage rates (CNN Money)
The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.16%, up from 4.13% last week, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago, rates were sitting around 3.97%.
U.S. Equities Resume Advance as Financial, Phone Stocks Rally (Bloomberg)
Banks and phone companies pushed U.S. stocks higher for the eighth time in 10 days as investors weighed a rising dollar and prospects of a steeper path for higher borrowing costs next year. DuPont Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., American Express Co., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. led the Dow Jones Industrial Average with advances in excess of 1 percent.
Nikkei reaches 1-year high as Asian markets get back on track (Market Watch)
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average NIK, +0.60% was last up 0.7%, having reached its highest level since last December at 19,439.97 points earlier in the session. Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, -0.06% rose 0.1%, Korea’s Kospi SEU, +0.25% edged up 0.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.08% slipped 0.3%.
Dollar Solidifies Its Climb on Fed Outlook as Japan Stocks Rise (Bloomberg)
The dollar is cementing its domination of the currency market, trading near an almost 14-year high versus the euro as the Federal Reserve’s more hawkish outlook invigorates its post-election rally. Japanese stocks advanced as bonds extended their drop.
Dollar Pauses After Touching Highest Since 2002 Post-FOMC (Bloomberg)
The dollar paused for breath following a headlong dash higher after the FOMC raised rates and boosted its projection for 2017 rate hikes, extending post-election gains for the greenback, which remains a buy on dips for traders who say the long dollar trade is far from crowded.
China Extends Tax Break for Small Cars (The Wall Street Journal)
China extended a tax incentive for small-engine cars into 2017, keeping the tax below its normal level as authorities look to ease worries about slowing demand in the world’s largest car market.
Bets Against Japan Megabanks Soar as Investors Polarized (Bloomberg)
Bearish bets on Japan’s largest banks have swelled to a six-year high as their recent surge fuels speculation that the shares have risen too far, too fast.
Japan Dethrones China as Top U.S. Foreign Creditor (The Wall Street Journal)
Japan surpassed China in October as the largest foreign owner of U.S. government bonds for the first time in nearly two years, reflecting continued sales of Treasury securities by the world’s most populous nation.
Chesapeake Energy Drills Deeper for Profit (The Wall Street Journal)
Doug Lawler watched a drilling rig’s high-pressure pumps rumble as workers bored in to a massive natural-gas well, part of a new drilling campaign the Chesapeake Energy Corp. chief executive calls “Prop-a-geddon.”
China Bonds Set for Worst Week Since 2009 as Fed Adds to Stress (Bloomberg)
China’s sovereign bonds headed for the biggest weekly decline in more than seven years, reeling from the fallout of hawkish Federal Reserve comments, yuan depreciation pressures and waning liquidity.
Why Dow 20K is the mark of an underachieving market (Market Watch)
Far from celebrating the Dow reaching the 20,000-point milestone, investors should be lamenting how long it took.
Nigerian Inflation Accelerates for 13th Consecutive Month (Bloomberg)
Nigerian inflation accelerated for the 13th consecutive month in November, even as the central bank left its main lending rate at a record-high to balance price pressures with supporting a slumping economy.
Hong Kong Property Shares Turn Toxic as Mortgage Costs Spike (Bloomberg)
Hong Kong’s property developers are fast falling out of favor among investors as surging mortgage costs and punitive taxes threaten to choke home sales.
China’s 10-Year Sovereign Bond Yield Surges by Most on Record (Bloomberg)
The 10-year sovereign yield surged a record 22 basis points on Thursday as a plunging yuan and hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve damped expectations of monetary easing in China.
A Gold Price Prediction for the Coming Bull Run: $5,236 an Ounce (Money Morning)
This year has been something of a tease for gold investors – but our gold price prediction for 2017 sees the yellow metal going much higher.
GDPNow Forecast Dips To 2.4%: Looking Ahead (MishTalk)
The New York Fed Nowcast has not been updated since December 2. Last Friday was embargoed on account of today’s FOMC meeting. Such silliness. The Atlanta Fed has no embargo.
Companies
JPMorgan published a list of books you should read, albums you should listen to and places you should visit in 2017 (Business Insider)
JPMorgan's annual holiday reading list has been given an upgrade.
Uber, Lyft Face Pushback From Hometown Taxis Taking a Stand (Bloomberg)
A San Francisco taxi operator, desperate to protect a troubled industry’s turf, is trying to tighten the rules for Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. in their hometown.
B2B Customer Service Best Practices, From American Express (Amex) And Other Great Players (Forbes)
The secret of creating a great business-to-business (B2B) customer experience and customer service can be summarized in one sentence…
Yahoo’s Password Move May Put Verizon Deal at Risk (The Wall Street Journal)
Yahoo Inc.’s move to force some users to reset their passwords following a newly disclosed security breach could disrupt the planned sale of its core assets to Verizon Communications Inc., security experts say.
Technology
Uber adds color-coded system to help you find your car (CNN)
The ride-hailing startup unveiled a new device on Thursday called Uber Beacon, which can be placed under the driver's windshield. Its purpose is to identify the car by flashing a designated color.
Buzzfeed News reported today that LeEco leaned on Faraday Future, the startup it has a strategic partnership with, to design its self-driving car, the LeSee. LeEco's CEO Jia Yueting is a personal investor in Faraday Future.
If Robots and AI Steal Our Jobs, a Universal Basic Income Could Help (Singularity Hub)
In this post I’ll be discussing one of the most important proposed solutions to job loss due to automation—the notion of “universal basic income” (sometimes called guaranteed minimum income).
Hacker breaches the US agency that certifies voting machines (Engadget)
In the year of "rigged" election claims, security firm Recorded Future says it identified a Russian-speaking hacker attempting to sell accounts that have access to the US Election Assistance Commission.
There’s a robot driving the 2017 Volvo S90, and it freaked me out (Venture Beat)
I understand all of the hype, but seriously — the car costs $68,000 for the base model. To get all of the bells and whistles, with the fastest acceleration and all of the self-driving features, you can expect to pay about twice that, or around $118,000. Who has that kind of cash? Not me.
Mercedes launches car-sharing service Croove (Tech Crunch)
For something like a century, car makers have sold one car to one person one time and then waited for them to wear out that car and come back to the dealership for another one. Increasingly, that model is outmoded, and Mercedes-Benz is putting another nail in that model’s coffin with Croove.
Smartwatches Are Dying Because They Are Worthless (Gizmodo)
Back in April, I dropped $230 on a gadget that had me feeling that gadget love again. You’re familiar with the feeling too; the thrill you get walking into a Sharper Image store or thumbing through a Hammacher Schlemmer catalog. It’s that sense that you’re seeing a small glimpse of the future neatly packaged and commoditized for the present.
Politics
Bigger Than Watergate? Legitimate Concerns That Anti-Clinton Faction Within FBI May Have Conspired To Hand Election To Trump (The Huffington Post)
Unlike the effect of Russian interference on the 2016 presidential campaign, the effect—in votes—of the now-infamous “Comey Letter” is knowable.
Obama promises retaliation against Russia over hacking during US election (The Guardian)
According to extracts of an interview due to air on National Public Radio on Friday morning, the US president said he was waiting for a final report he has ordered into a range of Russian hacking attacks, but promised there would be a response.
The race to 37: Electoral College members say they’re seeing possible defections (Salon)
Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard University law professor who has been offering pro bono legal counsel to Republican electors thinking of defecting from Trump, claimed on Tuesday that he has spoken with 20 electors who may vote for a third candidate.
Trump Lets The Truth Come Out Post-Election (The Daily Show)
During Donald Trump's "Thank You" tour, the president-elect smugly admits to lying about his campaign promises to lock up Hillary Clinton and "drain the swamp."
Why Do Unified Republican Governments Always Lead to Crisis? (Value Walk)
While I believe the purpose of these types of headlines and tweets are to illicit positive emotions, readers would be well advised to look up the DISASTROUS history of extended periods of unified Republican governments.
CNN Media Cop Brian Stelter: ‘Cable News War Seems So Petty’ Now (The Daily Beast)
Practicing journalism in the Age of Trump can be a risky business.
For instance, Brian Stelter, CNN’s lead media correspondent and the host of the cable outlet’s Reliable Sources program, opened his inbox Monday night and discovered the following email (rendered here in all its illiterate glory).
While there has been a lot of speculation about what effect the hacking of Democratic operations by a group with alleged Russian ties had in Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton, a new report from The New York Times illustrates exactly how damaging the hacking was for Democratic Congressional candidates in about a dozen “of the most competitive House races in the country.”
5 incredible moments of Bernie Sanders’ town hall in Wisconsin’s Trump country (Alternet)
Donald Trump won Kenosha County, Wisconsin, by fewer than 300 votes; it’s a county that had not voted for a Republican in a presidential election in nearly 50 years. Just over a month later, former Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joined the residents of this Trump county in an MSNBC town hall to discuss their voting choices.
52 million Americans with pre-existing conditions could become uninsurable if Obamacare is repealed (The Fiscal Times)
President-elect Donald Trump says that he would like to keep some of the “good parts” of Obamacare. High on that list is the ban on insurers discriminating against Americans with pre-existing medical conditions by either denying them coverage or charging exorbitant premiums.
Life on the Home Planet
Ever Bought Art on a Cruise? Prepare to Be Seasick (Bloomberg)
Among the passengers gathered for the art auction, the guy sitting in front of me seemed the most likely to have attended just for the free booze.
Scientists Watch An Undersea Volcano Shake, Rattle And Inflate (Popular Science)
The frenzy of activity at the volcano—Axial Seamount—was recorded by a newly established underwater observatory called the Ocean Observatories Initiative Cabled Array, which came into operation just before moving magma triggered the quakes.
U.S. Kids Keep Getting Dumber; Ranked 31st Of 35 Developed Nations In Math, New Study Reveals (Zero Hedge)
The U.S. Department of Education has just released it's latest ranking of international education systems (Program for International Student Assessment – "PISA") and performance of U.S. students just continues to deteriorate on both absolute and relative terms.
These Men Pocket Dialed 911 While Allegedly Discussing Plans to Rob Restaurant (TIME)
Two would-be burglars were foiled Saturday when one of them accidentally pocket dialed 911 while sitting outside the Kentucky restaurant they were allegedly making plans to rob — that the local police chief also happened to be eating at.
The Sun is slowing down, and scientists think they finally know why (Science Alert)
The Sun, on average, rotates on its axis roughly once per month, but two decades ago, scientists made the baffling discovery that its outer 5 percent spins more slowly than the rest of its interior. And a new study might have finally figured out why.
