Financial Markets and Economy
20,000: Highlight for the Dow that Haunts the Nikkei (Bloomberg)
Two of the world’s best-known benchmarks are heading for the same round number: 20,000. For the Dow Jones Industrial Average, this is uncharted territory that’s come as the index doubled over six years.
Euro Snaps Three-Day Drop as Liquidity Evaporates Into Weekend (Bloomberg)
Calm descended on the markets as the dollar halted three days of gains and Treasury yields fell, with traders reporting lower-than-average volumes going into the weekend.
S&P May Raise Ratings on Deutsche Bank, Three Other German Banks (Bloomberg)
S&P Global Ratings said it may raise credit ratings on four of Germany’s largest banks because they will probably be able to maintain sufficient buffers to protect senior bondholders from losses should they fail.
European Stocks Hover Near 1-Year High, Set for 2nd Weekly Gain (Bloomberg)
European stocks held steady after closing at their highest level since January on Thursday, heading for a second week of gains.
Oil Heads for Weekly Loss as Libya, Dollar Weigh Against Cuts (Bloomberg)
Oil headed for a weekly loss as Libya prepared to raise supply and the dollar strengthened, offsetting the impact on prices from an agreement by OPEC and other producers to cut production.
Iraq boosts oil sales to China, U.S., India before OPEC supply cuts bite: sources (Reuters)
Iraq is selling more crude oil to its biggest customer, China's Unipec, people familiar with the matter say, digging a deeper foothold in the global supply market just before production cuts agreed with OPEC and other producers are scheduled to kick in.
Inflation in the eurozone creeped up again in November, according to the latest inflation figures released by Eurostat on Friday morning.
Singapore Home Sales Fall in November as Buyers Defer Purchases (Bloomberg)
Singapore home sales fell 31 percent from October as developers marketed fewer projects toward year-end, a time when buyers typically defer purchases to the new year.
This is ‘the big lesson of 2016’ for investors (Market Watch)
The top takeaway from this past year is that stock investors should not have hit the eject button at the market’s darkest moment.
Europe’s Monetary Guardians Go Quiet as Politics Rules Stage (Bloomberg)
After a year of renewed attempts to support their economies, Europe’s central banks are now stepping back to watch 2017’s political fireworks.
China Plans Prudent, Neutral Monetary Policy as Growth Steadies (Bloomberg)
China’s top policy makers said they plan prudent and neutral monetary policy and proactive fiscal policy next year as they seek to sustain this year’s surprisingly steady expansion.
Japanese banks are packing their bags and getting ready to leave London (Business Insider)
Japanese banks are preparing to move operations out of London in the next six months, unless they are given more clarity about Britain's Brexit ambitions, according to a report from the Financial Times on Friday.
Drug makers rise as European stocks wobble near their 2016 high (Market Watch)
European stocks wavered Friday, with drug maker shares among the few showing strength, but the Stoxx Europe 600 could still notch its highest close of the year.
Chinese Media Say Don’t Fear the Fed as Impact Is ‘Controllable’ (Bloomberg)
Chinese state-run media rolled out several commentaries assuring readers that Federal Reserve rate increases won’t roil the world’s No. 2 economy as the yuan fell to an eight-year low and government bonds headed for the biggest weekly decline in seven years.
Battered euro and yen recover after dollar surge (Reuters)
The euro, yen and pound all recovered some ground against the dollar on Friday after slides of 3 percent or more in reaction to the Federal Reserve's steer on U.S. interest rates next year.
What Global Oil Flows Might Look Like After OPEC’s Supply Shock (Bloomberg)
OPEC’s quest to end a global crude glut already snapped a two-year slump in oil prices. Now attention is turning to how the group’s surprise decision to cut output will transform international trade flows of the world’s most important commodity.
The EU could strip the City of a multi-billion pound business even before Brexit (Business Insider)
The European Union could once again try and strip the City of London of its euro clearing business, according to a Financial Times report.
Are Debt-Laden American Consumers About To Get Crushed By Higher Interest Rates? (Zero Hedge)
American consumers love debt, wall street loves securitizing that debt and collecting massive fees for selling it and pension funds, with no viable alternative investments courtesy of accommodative Fed policies, love buying that debt for the extra 25bps of yield it provides. It's a "win, win, win", right?
Companies
How A Silicon Valley Networking Firm Has Turned To Invest In Indian Startups (Forbes)
Private network and conference-producer GWC has been pulling together innovators and executives in the mobile tech space since 2008, but the Silicon Valley and Beijing-based business has since turned early-stage investor, stepping up it’s investments in Indian startups.
Adidas, Like Nike, Is Working on Sub-2 Hour Marathon Project (The Wall Street Journal)
For sportswear makers, producing the world’s first sub-2-hour marathon is becoming the ultimate arms race.
Gilead Sciences Ordered to Pay $2.5 Billion in Damages to Merck & Co. (The Wall Street Journal)
A federal jury in Delaware on Thursday ordered Gilead Sciences Inc. to pay $2.5 billion in damages to Merck & Co. for infringing its patents in developing hepatitis C drugs.
Technology
T-Mobile giving AT&T customers a free year of DirecTV Now (Engadget)
T-Mobile is trying to counter AT&T by offering AT&T customers a year of its rival's own DirecTV Now streaming service if they switch to magenta. The offer has some flaws: You'll just get a $35 monthly credit, which represents the lowest tier of DirecTV now, for one.
Never Hang Another Lost Dog Poster With Trakz GPS For Pets (DIgital Trends)
We all love our pets. Dog people, cat people, whoever we are, we can all agree that we would never want to lose our furry friends. Trakz wants to help make sure that never happens.
10 things in tech you need to know today (Business Insider)
Good morning! Here's the technology news you need to know this Friday.
1. Verizon could kill its $4.8 billion (£3.8 billion) deal with Yahoo. The company is reportedly considering either scrapping the deal or paying less for Yahoo after Wednesday's announcement that 1 billion Yahoo users had their accounts stolen since 2013.
'Ok Google' now works in Android Auto (Engadget)
With its large icons and stripped back interface, Android Auto is a simpler, safer way to access music and maps in your car. It's also designed for voice, and finally Google has enabled "Okay Google" commands for everyone.
London fintech startup Curve brings mobile wallet and all-your-cards-in-one app to Android (Tech Crunch)
The mobile wallet lets you sync your debit and credit cards into a single app and to the accompanying Curve card powered by Mastercard. You then simply select which card you want the Curve card to act as a conduit for any payments you make offline or online, meaning you only need to carry a single physical card with you.
Politics
Donald Trump’s Tax Cuts Could Save Fortune 500 CEOs Millions of Dollars (Fortune)
President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tax cuts will save Fortune 500 CEOs hundreds of millions of dollars for their retirements, according to a new study.
People prepare to fight their governments on climate change (New Scientist)
The Paris Agreement came into force in November, meaning 197 governments agreed to cut carbon emissions to help limit global warming to 2 °C. But no formal punishments have been set out for nations that fail to meet their part of the bargain. That leaves major polluters like the US free to withdraw from the deal under the leadership of Donald Trump.
Philippines wants United States to provide aid without conditions (Reuters)
The Philippines on Friday appealed to former colonial ruler the United States to reconsider a decision to withhold humanitarian aid, with Manila's foreign minister asking for the assistance to be provided without any conditions.
Will Trump’s gestures to Taiwan ramp up military tensions with China? A defense analyst’s assessment (Quartz)
Donald Trump’s phone call with Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen two weeks ago, and then his remarks to Fox News indicating that the US doesn’t necessarily need to be bound by the “one-China” policy mark the first time that a US president has challenged the framework since President Jimmy Carter acknowledged the one-China policy in 1979.
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House conservatives' sweeping plan for Trump's first 100 days, explained (Vox)
Thursday morning, the House Freedom Caucus, the main group representing the far right of House Republicans, released an ambitious regulatory — or, really, deregulatory — agenda for the Trump administration to pursue.
President-Elect Donald Trump Should Finish What Candidate Trump Started: Kick South Korea Off of U.S. Defense Dole (The Huffington Post)
Candidate Donald Trump did the seeming impossible: get elected president while speaking truths that shocked establishment policymakers. Such as criticizing the defense dole for South Korea, one of Washington, D.C.’s, most sacred sacred cows. However, as his swearing in nears, he is being strongly pressed to abandon his contrarian views.
Trump's Swaggering Sparks Was Talk From China (Newsweek)
In mid-summer 2015, the Pentagon deployed a vast fleet to the Western Pacific with an invasion force of 33,000 troops. The little reported exercise was supported by warplanes and attack helicopters, along with 21 ships, including the aircraft carrier George Washington and three nuclear missile-bearing submarines.
Life on the Home Planet
Guardian and Observer readers raise over £500,000 for child refugees (The Guardian)
The 2016 appeal is raising money for three charities working with young refugees and migrants based mainly in continental Europe and the UK: Help Refugees, Safe Passage and the Children’s Society.
This awesome photo shows the snow-covered Midwest moonlit from space (Science Alert)
A series of snowstorms have swept across the Midwest in the past week, making a mess of roads and trailing freezing temperatures across the region.
Archaeologists have discovered an ancient underground city in Greece (Science Alert)
Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of an ancient Greek city called Vlochós, roughly 560 kilometres (350 miles) north of Athens.
Aleppo evacuation suspended amid dispute over villages (Reuters)
The evacuation of the last opposition-held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo was suspended on Friday after pro-government militias demanded that wounded people should also be brought out of two Shi'ite villages being besieged by rebel fighters.
