Financial Markets and Economy
Fed Hawk Lacker Says May Need More Than Three Hikes in 2017 (Bloomberg)
Jeffrey Lacker, one of the Federal Reserve’s most hawkish policy makers, warned that the U.S. central bank may have to raise rates more than three times next year and said he doesn’t know if policy makers are already behind the curve on inflation.
It’s Dow Vs. Nikkei for Bragging Rights With 20,000 Within Grasp (Bloomberg)
Both the Dow Jones Industrial and Nikkei 225 stock averages are racing toward 20,000. For one it’s uncharted territory — for the other, one more step on the road to past glory.
BP Takes Abu Dhabi Oil Field Stake for $2.2 Billion in Stock (Bloomberg)
BP Plc cemented its 77-year relationship with Abu Dhabi by swapping about $2.2 billion of its own shares for a stake in one of the emirate’s largest onshore oil concessions.
Emerging Currencies Post First Weekly Drop in Four After Fed (Bloomberg)
Emerging-market currencies continued the week’s retreat as a tighter Federal Reserve interest-rate policy curbed the appeal of riskier assets. Chile’s peso led declines as copper fell, while Poland’s zloty topped gains.
Small-cap fund produces big profits, even if some of its holdings don’t (Market Watch)
The spectacular rise in small-cap shares since the election of Donald Trump shows that investors sometimes care more about sales and market-share growth than they do earnings.
China, Japan More Vulnerable to Financial Shocks, BOE Study Says (Bloomberg)
Asian economies including China, Hong Kong and Japan have become more vulnerable to financial shocks since the 2008 global crisis and are now among the most at risk, according to a Bank of England research paper.
Gold is the investment with the biggest turnaround potential in 2017 (Market Watch)
Around this time last year I wrote “Three stocks with the most turnaround potential in 2016,” laying out my theses for beaten-down companies that would outperform the benchmark S&P 500 Index SPX, -0.18% in the subsequent 12 months.
Greek Stocks Sink: Pensioner Pay Halts Bailout, Snap Election Next? (Barron's)
The Global X MSCI Greece exchange-traded fund (GREK) was among the week’s emerging market losers, down more than 5%, after the Greek government defied creditors with a one-time payment for pensioners.
China is selling its giant hoard of U.S. government bonds, even before Trump arrives (Vice Money)
Take the U.S. dollar: It’s been rising fast since the businessman and reality-TV star stunned the world last month when he won in enough states to claim an Electoral College victory in the presidential election. The dollar has moved sharply higher and is now hovering at around a 14-year high.
China Must Curb Speculation Amid Bubble, Top Official Says (Bloomberg)
China must do more to deflate a property bubble that expanded this year by "strictly" controlling speculation while also stepping up the fight to rein in excessive corporate borrowing, a top economic official said a day after leaders announced plans for next year.
If You Think the Pace of Economic Activity Was Weak in 2016, Just Wait Until 2017 (Financial Sense)
As shown in Chart 1, the year-over-year growth in real and nominal Gross Domestic Purchases (C+I+G) in Q3:2016 was 1.4% and 2.4%, respectively. This compares with 2.8% and 4.7% year-over-year growth in real and nominal Gross Domestic Purchases, respectively, in Q3:2014.
Stocks Suffer Worst Week Since Election As Banks, Bullion, & Bonds Sink (Zero Hedge)
Thanks to China stealing an underwater drone and quad witch shenanigans, US equities closed red post-Fed.
"Dash-For-Trash" At Its Most Extreme Since DotCom Peak… (Zero Hedge)
The Trump rally's animal spirits might be jumping the shark. The massive outperformance of the 'riskiest' high-volatility stocks over 'stodgy' low-volatility in the last few weeks.
Companies
TheStreet gets compliance notice from Nasdaq over bid price (Jason Aycock)
According to an SEC filing, TheStreet (NASDAQ:TST) received a notice from Nasdaq that it's not in compliance with minimum bid price listing qualifications.
Wells Fargo just hit with another massive fraud scandal, but thankfully Donald Trump owes them a lot of money (Boing Boing)
Wells Fargo didn't merely open 2,000,000 fraudulent accounts and bill its customers for them; it also tricked its customers into signing up for insurance policies, at mass-scale.
Airbnb Seeks to Increase Fundraising Round to $1 Billion (Bloomberg)
The financing values the home-rental startup at about $30 billion, people familiar with the matter have said. The additional equity was disclosed in a securities filing Friday, according to research firm CB Insights. Airbnb declined to comment.
Technology
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Apple, Google, and Uber join list of tech companies refusing to build Muslim registry (The Verge)
Apple, Google, and Uber have all broken their respective silences on whether they would participate in helping build a Muslim registry for the incoming Trump administration, BuzzFeedreports.
California AG Threatens Action Against Uber’s Self-Driving Cars (Bloomberg)
California Attorney General Kamala Harris has told Uber Technologies Inc. to pull its self-driving cars from San Francisco’s streets or it will seek a court order forcing it do so, saying the ride-hailing company needs a permit under autonomous vehicle regulations.
Uber will continue operating self-driving cars on San Francisco streets, defying California regulators that claim it's running the program illegally.
Bendable and foldable phones will break us from the smartphone rut (CNet)
She pushed down hard on the rectangular phone and, like a slap bracelet, it cinched around her wrist. The audience gasped; the internet went wild.
Lexus RX 450h car review – ‘It’s right on and a status vehicle’ (The Guardian)
You can tell a lot about a car by the people who admire it. When young men swarm it in the streets, you know it is renownedly fast and has red piping. When people at the school gates like it, you know it looks new (there is something about playgrounds – they dampen the petrolheads and amplify a love of tidiness).
Politics
Top US intelligence agency hints Electoral College briefing on Russian hacking won't happen anytime soon (Business Insider)
The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) all but ruled out the possibility that electors within the Electoral College will be briefed on the Russian hacking investigation before they meet on Monday.
'You people were vicious, violent, screaming': Trump applauds supporters' behavior during the campaign (Business Insider)
President-elect Donald Trump lauded the unrestrained behavior of his supporters on the campaign trail at a "Thank You Tour" rally Friday in Orlando, Florida.
Many on Wall Street are comparing Trump and Reagan — but it doesn't really make sense (Business Insider)
Wall Street thinks the real estate mogul's presidency may look a lot like the actor's presidency.
The Vampire Squid Occupies Trump's White House (Rolling Stone)
Back on February 19th, during a primary-season speech in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Donald Trump directed a two-pronged rhetorical offensive against opponents in both parties. He started with Ted Cruz.
Washington Post automatically inserts Trump fact-checks into Twitter (Ars Technica)
The new "RealDonaldContext" plug-in for the Google Chrome browser, released by WaPo reporter Philip Bump, adds fact-check summaries to selected posts by President-elect Donald Trump.
Watch how the world makes fun of Donald Trump in funny and sometimes weird satire (Quartz)
While the world seems divided about president-elect Donald Trump’s unexpected win, it agrees he’s a source of comedic inspiration. This montage of Trump satires gives a sense of why different countries find Trump funny, and how their answers might differ.
Philippines' Duterte fires two immigration officials 'tainted with corruption' (Reuters)
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday fired two immigration officials facing allegations of corruption as he reaffirmed his commitment to ensure a clean government.
Quora Question: How U.S Schools Are Failing Democracy (Newsweek)
The United States is founded on republicanism, the ultimate democratic approach in which we the people are conceived as full citizens endowed with significant rights, enabling us to take highly active roles in the private and civil spheres, but also in a public sphere limited to enumerated powers and dedicated to support of citizen involvement.
Health and Biotech
Mylan Releases $300 Generic EpiPen After Price Hike Outrage (NBC News)
Mylan, the company that came under fire recently for raising the price of the life-saving EpiPen more than 400 percent, on Friday announced it would sell a generic version for $300, or half the price.
Life on the Home Planet
Bomb Attack Targeting Soldiers Kills 13 in Central Turkey (Bloomberg)
A car bomb detonated next to a bus carrying off-duty soldiers, killing 13 people in central Turkey a week after a major attack on security forces in Istanbul.
Satellite System Tracks Glaciers' Flow in Real Time (Scientific American)
Scientists have a new tool to systematically track the evolution of glaciers and ice sheets as the climate warms. The US$1-million system, which is funded by NASA and uses data from the Landsat 8 satellite, was unveiled this week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, California.
Magnitude 8.0 quake hits east of Papua New Guinea, tsunami warning issued (Reuters)
A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck 157 km (98 miles) east of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, prompting a warning about tsunami waves in the region.
17 signs you're intelligent — even if doesn't feel like it (Business Insider)
Stupid people tend to overestimate their competence, while smart people tend to sell themselves short. As Shakespeare put it in "As You Like It": "The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool."
