Financial Markets and Economy
Chinese Stocks Are Dropping After a Fresh Signal from Beijing (Reuters)
China stocks slipped on Monday, led by blue-chips, as hopes for fresh monetary stimulus dimmed after Beijing vowed to contain asset bubbles next year by keeping monetary policy “prudent and neutral.”
An economist who predicted a 17,000-point stock-market crash just 10 days ago is suddenly bullish (Business Insider)
Dent, an economist and one of the biggest doubters of the stock market's rise since the end of the recession, said he no longer believes a crash is imminent for the market after persistently calling for a massive drop over the past seven years.
Companies Face Delays Getting Cash Out of China (The Wall Street Journal)
The conglomerate—like all multinationals operating there—faces new delays in recent weeks as Chinese regulators impose tougher restrictions on the movement of capital out of the country to slow the yuan’s decline.
Hedge funders charged in $1 billion fraud emailed about fleeing the US, prosecutors say (Business Insider)
Employees of a troubled New York hedge fund, Platinum Partners, were arrested Monday on charges of participating in a $1 billion fraud.
The Outrage Of Child Labor In Bangladesh's Sweatshops (Forbes)
In The Guardian Larry Elliot has a look at a new book detailing the use of child labour in the garment trade sweatshops in Bangladesh. At the end of which he asks a good question, why does such child labour exist? We in Britain copntrolled such in the 1830s so why can it not be done today? And there's a good answer to this question too.
Be Wary of Hong Kong's Eye-Popping IPO Gains (Bloomberg)
Hong Kong’s Growth Enterprise Market has seen a string of the world’s best stock debuts this year. It’s also been home to some of the biggest plunges, wiping out gains and raising questions about how the exchange operates.
Stock Pickers’ Delight: S&P 500 Correlations Plunge (The Wall Street Journal)
Stocks continue to shed their conformist ways. S&P 500 stock-correlation readings last week fell to their lowest levels in nearly one decade.
Decision-Day Guide: Kuroda View on Yields in Focus as BOJ Meets (Bloomberg)
The Bank of Japan on Tuesday will conclude its first policy meeting since Donald Trump’s election victory last month reset the global market landscape, triggering a surge in bond yields and a slide in the yen.
Here's everything on Neiman Marcus' must-have gift list for billionaires (Business Insider)
Neiman Marcus has released its 2016 Christmas Book, an annual collection of suggested gifts from the storied department store.
Fed's Yellen trumpets education in changing economy (Reuters)
Changing technologies and globalization have put a premium on completing a college education in order to get and keep higher-paying jobs, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Monday.
Goldman: OPEC Oil Cuts Not A Structural Shift (Value Walk)
Oil-producing nations recently pledged to cut supply by 1.76 million barrels a day. Of the cuts, 1.2 million barrels will come from OPEC nations. The decisions mark a big step in the oil cartel’s bid to bolster prices and to arrest an oil glut over the past two years.
U.S. Wages (Lack of) Growth: a Structural Crisis (True Economics)
One of the persistent features of today’s economy is the decline in wage growth and lower returns to human capital, relative to financial capital. Starting with 2010 – the onset of the so-called ‘recovery’ from the Great Recession – annual hourly earnings rose only 2 percent (data through 2015), which is about 1.5 percentage points lower than prior to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).
No More? Why One Strategist Just Downgraded the S&P 500 (Barron's)
The S&P 500 has had a heck of a run since Donald Trump’s election victory, one that’s left strategists almost universally bullish on the market. Canaccord Genuity’s Tony Dwyer and Michael Welch, however, downgraded the market to neutral today.
As Investors Flee Gold Central Banks Are Buying (Value Walk)
It has been a tough year to be a gold investor. The price of the yellow metal has whipsawed throughout the year on the back of changing interest rate expectations and political uncertainty.
Moody’s Cuts Outlook On Italy’s Banks To Negative As Bank Failures Loom (Value Walk)
Calling Italy’s banks among the 10 weakest globally, Moody’s has cut its outlook on the European nation’s financial institutions to negative, from stable.
10 Biotech Stocks Surprises for 2017…And Not All of Them Are Bad (Barron's)
Biotech stocks have been the place money has gone to die in 2016, but Cowen’s biotechnology team has list 10 surprises–events that have a 40% chance or less of occurring–for 2017.
Warnings We’ll Wish We’d Heeded, Part One — Plunging Jobless Claims (Talk Markets)
It’s the same story every time: Imbalances build up during a recovery, but most investors ignore them because good times have become the new normal and the uptrend seems bullet-proof. Then things fall apart and everyone wishes they’d paid attention to history.
U.S. Interior Department finalizes rule to protect waterways from coal mining (Reuters)
The U.S. Interior Department on Monday finalized a contentious rule to protect streams and forests from the impact of coal mining, one of the Obama administration's last major environmental regulations that the incoming Trump administration is likely to target.
As the Fed Turns (Mauldin Economics)
When I was growing up – and until I was well into my 60s, in fact – one of the fixtures of daytime TV was the soap opera As the World Turns. It was often the highest rated of the soaps, but I have to admit that I probably watched it only once or twice. Its stars were the reality-TV celebrities of their time.
Here's why you should be booking your plane tickets on Sundays (AFAR)
Booking on weekends at least three weeks before the date of travel puts you in the best position to score cheaper airplane tickets — at least according to a study released this week by Expedia and Airlines Reporting Corp.
China's True FX Outflows Since August 2015 Are $1.1 Trillion, Double The Official Number (Zero Hedge)
Two months ago, when looking at an alternative measure of Chinese capital outflows using SAFE data, Goldman found that contrary to official PBOC reserve data, "China's Capital Outflows Are Soaring Again", having hit $78 billion in September.
Companies
Disney Stock: Why The Shorts Are Fleeing Walt Disney Co (DIS) Stock (Amigo Bulls)
For the most part of the year, Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) stock underperformed the broader market as the concern around its ESPN franchise weighed heavily on the stock. But in the last two months, the stock has shown remarkable strength, rallying around 15% as investors realized that the ESPN problem was overblown.
Why General Motors Is Shutting Five U.S. Factories Next Month (Reuters)
General Motors will shut five U.S. auto assembly plants for varying durations in January, primarily to cut oversupply of sedans which have fallen out of favor among U.S. consumers.
Walt Disney: Going Rogue? (Barron's)
Today, BofA Merrill Lynch added Walt Disney (DIS) to its U.S. 1 list, helping push the shares up nearly 2% today. Then there’s the fact that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story outperformed expectations over the weekend.
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Airbnb has big plans for travel booking with development of Flights (Mashable Asia)
Airbnb wants to be more than just your next vacation lodging solution—the home rental startup's now looking to offer flight booking service within the next 18 months, Bloomberg reported Monday.
Technology
Nike's $720 Tech Sneakers Are Selling Well (Fortune)
Nike’s self-lacing, high-tech HyperAdapt 1.0 sneakers are extremely expensive, but they’re reportedly popular.
Apple Appeals Record EU Tax Bill and Calls the Idea Behind It an 'Absurd Theory' (Reuters)
Apple has launched a legal challenge to a record $14 billion EU tax demand, arguing that EU regulators ignored tax experts and corporate law and deliberately picked a method to maximize the penalty, senior executives said.
This Google Chrome extension will change every picture of Donald Trump to kittens (Business Insider)
If you're tired of looking at pictures of Donald Trump, there's a Chrome extension for that.
Make America Kittens Again is an extension you can add to your Google Chrome browser that automatically detects images of Trump on the web and changes them to photos of kittens.
Printable Organs Are Closer Than Ever Thanks to Three Bioprinting Breakthroughs (Singularity Hub)
Over the next few weeks, while browsing cuties on the dating app, Tinder, you may find an image of a celebrity with an ‘organ donor’ icon next to their photo. By swiping right (usually an action which means “sexy!”), you will be given the option to register as an organ donor.
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France is going to let drones start delivering the mailFrance is going to let drones start delivering the mailThe French postal service will soon start a new drone delivery program to carry parcels on a set nine-mile route following approval from the French aviation regulatory authority.
Bill calls for porn block on computers sold in South Carolina (CNet)
The bill, pre-filed this month by state Rep. Bill Chumley, would require manufacturers or sellers to install digital blocking capabilities on devices to prevent the viewing of obscene content. This applies to computers as well as hand-held devices that can access the internet.
Cuba announces home internet trial scheme in Havana (BBC News)
State-run telecommunications company Etecsa will install internet in some 2,000 homes in the capital's colonial district, Old Havana.
Politics
Putin To Sing At Trump Inauguration (Borowitz Report, The New Yorker, Humor)
After having difficulty persuading prominent entertainers to participate at the event, the Trump transition team announced on Sunday that the Russian President Vladimir Putin would sing at Donald J. Trump’s Inauguration next month.
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.
A new poll shows 52% of Republicans actually think Trump won the popular vote (The Washington Post)
Amid the speculation on whether the electoral college will refuse to make Donald Trump president, many Trump opponents are pinning their hopes on one glaring fact: Hillary Clinton’s sizable win in the popular vote.
Paying for an ACA replacement becomes near impossible if the law’s tax increases are repealed (Bookings)
Repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) before a replacement plan can be enacted – even if the repeal is delayed – poses many extraordinary dangers.
Christine Lagarde, I.M.F. Chief, Is Found Guilty of Negligence (NY Times)
The International Monetary Fund threw its support behind its leader, Christine Lagarde, on Monday despite her conviction in a French court on charges of misusing public funds.
Donald Trump is sending a right-wing bankruptcy lawyer to Israel — what could go wrong? (Salon)
A joke making the rounds in the days after Ben Carson’s nomination to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development held that Donald Trump had seen the word “urban” and then given the job to the first black man he could think of.
Donald Trump’s pick to be secretary of the Army is yet another really rich dude (Salon)
President-elect Donald Trump has selected Virtu Financial founder Vincent Viola to be his army secretary, making him yet the latest billionaire to join a cabinet whose combined wealth already surpassed that of one-third of all Americans combined.
Queen Elizabeth Hoping She Dies Before Having To Knight Any DJs (The Onion, Humor)
Cringing at the mere thought of the ceremonial rite she would have to perform, Queen Elizabeth II told reporters Thursday she hopes to die before having to knight any DJs.
Robert Reich: Rallies And Lies. This Is How Tyranny Begins (RobertReich.org)
Donald Trump has just finished the last of his nine post-election “thank you tour” rallies. Why did he do them? And why is he planning further rallies after he becomes president?
Health and Biotech
How we set about mending damaged knees with stem cells (The Conversation)
A meniscal tear is one of the most common knee injuries, especially in young, active people. Over a million new cases are diagnosed each year in Europe and the US alone, and it also affects professional sportspeople – footballer Luis Suarez, tennis player Roger Federer and Olympic swimmer Sharon Davies are among the many elite athletes to have suffered a meniscal tear.
Life on the Home Planet
Chicago is colder than Mars right now (DNAinfo Chicago)
Chicago is currently one of the coldest spots on the planet and is even colder than Mars. According to NASA, the temperature in the vicinity of the Curiosity rover on Mars is minus 2 degrees Celsius (28 degrees Fahrenheit). Chicago was minus 6 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of minus 20 degrees as of 9 a.m. Monday.
A KKK member plotted to kill Muslims — with a homemade death ray (The Washington Post)
Based on court records, Glendon Scott Crawford is ruthless enough to plot an elaborate mass killing of unsuspecting Muslims.
What should we be thinking about when we think about the future of biodiversity, conservation and the environment? An international team of experts in horizon scanning, science communication and conservation recently asked that question as participants in the eighth annual Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity.
Berlin: suspect held and 12 dead after truck crashes into market (The Guardian)
At least 12 people have been killed and about 50 more injured after a truck ploughed into a Christmas market in Berlin in what is believed to have been a deliberate attack.
The China Drone Theft (The Wall Street Journal)
China’s theft of a U.S. Navy underwater drone in full view of the USNS Bowditch on Thursday was “a deliberate provocation,” writes the editorial board. “China is testing U.S. resolve to maintain freedom of navigation in international waters that Beijing illegally claims as its own.”
Cache of Weapons Suggests Gunmen in Jordan Were Planning Multiple Attacks (NY Times)
KARAK, Jordan — Gunmen involved in a rare terrorist attack in Jordan on Sunday had a large cache of weapons, explosives and suicide vests in the apartment where they had been living, the country’s interior minister said on Monday.
A major storm could smack the United States this Christmas weekend (AccuWeather.com)
Depending on the track and strength of a storm, snow, wind and rain could threaten travel over a large part of the central United States on Christmas Day.
