Financial Markets and Economy
Surging Buybacks Say Stock Boom Isn’t Over (The Wall Street Journal)
Corporate stock repurchases are on the upswing once again, wrong-footing skeptics who predicted 2016 would mark the beginning of the end of a postcrisis spending spree.
Oil Extends Longest Run of Gains Since August Before OPEC Cuts (Bloomberg)
Oil extended the longest winning streak in more than four months before OPEC and other producing nations start reducing output to stabilize the market.
Fund Manager Riding 55% Posco Gain Sees Steel Prices Staying Hot (Bloomberg)
The rally in steel that helped propel Posco shares 55 percent higher this year may continue for another six months, according to a money manager who bought the stock when it was near a 12-year low.
Shale Specter Haunts OPEC’s Feast as Oil Seen Rallying Into 2017 (Bloomberg)
The first shale boom spurred a global supply glut that started prices sliding in mid-2014, and was amplified that November by a pump-at-will OPEC strategy aimed at market dominance. During the ensuing rout, prices in New York fell from more than $100 a barrel to $26.05 in February, straining the budgets of companies and countries alike.
China to rein in outward investment as domestic growth stalls (The Guardian)
Beijing has signalled plans to curb Chinese firms’ investment in foreign assets, after revealing that companies from China are on course to spend 1.12 trillion yuan (£130bn) on everything from British football clubs to a Hollywood film producer in 2016.
Oil steady in quiet holiday season trade; supply cut deal to kick in Jan 1 (Reuters)
Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday in light pre-New Year holiday trading with markets adopting a wait-and-see stance less than a week before the first output cut deal agreed between OPEC and non-OPEC members in 15 years is scheduled to kick in.
The Real Story About Rising Home Prices (The Wall Street Journal)
U.S. home values in September topped their previous peak from a decade ago, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index. New data expected Tuesday should show more of the same in October. Prices have grown at about a 5% annual clip for much of the past two years.
Asia stocks mixed in muted session, dollar recovers some losses (Reuters)
Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday, in thin trade and with little to guide them as most major markets were closed on Monday for Christmas holidays, while the dollar reclaimed its losses from Monday.
JACK BOGLE: 'Main Street hasn't been taking its fair share' (Business Insider)
He's referring to the cost of investing and the portion of investment returns that finds its way to brokers, distributors, and Wall Street at large.
Law Firms’ Accounts Pose Money-Laundering Risk (The Wall Street Journal)
Tens of billions of dollars every year move through opaque law-firm bank accounts that create a gap in U.S. money-laundering defenses, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.
What it’s like to be something other than white and male in the hedge fund business (Business Insider)
The money management industry has a diversity problem.
Morningstar's global study out earlier this year showed that one in five mutual fund managers is a woman – a rate that hasn't budged since 2008.
Retailers see returns as another chance to sell you stuff (The Wall Street Journal)
As shoppers flock to stores this week to return unwanted Christmas gifts, department stores and other traditional retailers have an opportunity that pure e-commerce players do not: make another sale.
Monte dei Paschi bailout shouldn't be seen as a done deal, says ECB member (The Guardian)
A bailout of struggling Italian bank Monte dei Paschi should not be seen as a done deal, a key European Central Bank policymaker has said.
Rising cost of essentials leaves UK households with less cash for treats (The Guardian)
Households are being left with less cash to spend on treats or to stash away as savings as the rising cost of essentials like food and fuel take a bigger chunk out of family budgets.
Why some oil companies are now interested in offshore wind-power (The Wall Street Journal)
The oil-and-gas giant RDS.A, -0.15% is facing shareholder pressure to develop its renewable business. Add in falling construction costs for such projects, and Shell has decided to join a handful of other oil companies aiming to leverage their experience drilling under punishing conditions at sea.
Asian stocks lower in light trading after Christmas (Associated Press)
Stock markets in Japan and China declined Monday in light trading after Christmas with most other Asian markets closed.
The world of gold about to change? (Value Walk)
When you look at the price of gold in 2016 you see that the level we have today 1130 USD/oz is only a little bit higher than January’s 1050 USD/oz. Jumping to conclusions we may say that this year was very calm but the reality is far from it.
The Scariest Forecast For Treasury Bulls (Zero Hedge)
With Trump's border tax adjustment looking increasingly likely, the stock market – as JPM has warned in recent days – is starting to fade the relentless Trumponomic, hope-driven rally since election day instead focusing on the details inside the president-elect's proposed plans.
Bespoke's Country Trading Range Screen – Back To Oversold (Bespoke Investment Group, Seeking Alpha)
With markets closed today, it's a good time to provide an update of our country ETF trading range screen that shows where global equity markets stand heading into the final trading week of the year. In the screen, the dot represents where each ETF is currently trading within its range, while the tail end represents where it was trading one week ago.
My Biggest Regret In Life: Going to College (Forbes)
I wasted five years of my life going to college, and it’s my biggest regret in life. For me, college was a waste of time, a waste of energy, a waste of money, and a waste of potential.
Companies
How JPMorgan could not save Italy's problem bank (Reuters)
On the morning of July 29, former Italian Industry Minister Corrado Passera was traveling in a high-speed train toward the medieval city of Siena, racing to meet the directors of the world's oldest bank to present them with a rescue plan.
Toshiba Drops on Reports of Nuclear Unit’s $4.3 Billion Loss (Bloomberg)
Toshiba Corp. posted its biggest decline since May 2015 after reports that it may book a loss of as much as 500 billion yen ($4.3 billion) on its U.S. nuclear operations.
Technology
Consumer Reports has released its Annual Owner Satisfaction Survey, and the publication has extracted a brand ranking from the results.
Apple's first AI paper shows it's ready to play with other kids (CNet)
The most important part of Apple publishing its first academic paper on AI is not necessarily the methods it uses to better teach artificial intelligence systems, but the fact that it published the paper at all.
Samsung's Gear VR browser gets improved WebVR content support (Engadget)
One of the best reasons to (still) consider a Galaxy S7 smartphone is the Gear VR headset support, and with Google's Daydream a looming rival, Samsung wants to keep things that way.
This iPhone 7 case has one of the coolest features I’ve ever seen (Insider Picks)
Most of the time, when you pick a phone case, you have to pick between style, size, and safety.
Because I have a bigger phone, I end up going for a slim case, leaving my phone vulnerable.
A 7-Step Plan for Generating Leads With Facebook Ads (Social Media Examiner)
Facebook ads are a great way to build a database of people who are interested in what you offer, because the reach and targeting options are exceptional.
NASA is taking a closer look at the ocean with a giant laser in the sky (Digital Trends)
A giant laser in the sky is helping us better understand our oceans. It’s known as the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP), and it’s a NASA instrument housed aboard the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite launched a decade ago in 2006.
How I finally ditched Verizon and switched to Google Project Fi (Venture Beat)
Back in the fall of 2015, I signed up for Project Fi on a phone I was reviewing at the time, the LG-built Nexus 5X. Rather than ending my two-year Verizon contract early and transferring my main phone number to Project Fi, I opted to create a new phone number, because I still had my Motorola Moto X from 2014.
Watch this smartphone-assisted robot beat the pants off of humans in air hockey (Tech Crunch)
It’s the holidays and that means it’s time to watch robots cream humans in bouts of skill. The latest example of robotics winning over a meatbag? This amazing air-hockey robot powered by a smartphone, Arduino board and a plotter-like robotic arm.
Politics
Israel's Foreign Ministry has reportedly suspended all working ties with 12 of the UN Security Council countries that voted to pass a resolution urging Israel to halt building settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
Why President-Elect Donald Trump Stopped Taking CIA Security Briefings (Forbes)
Saying it's because he's "smart," president-elect Donald Trump has decided not to take the traditional daily intelligence briefings given by the CIA and other intelligence agencies about threats foreign and domestic. Could be he has an even better reason. Cartoon by Shannon Wheeler.
President Obama thanks U.S. troops in Hawaii (The Wall Street Journal)
MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII—President Barack Obama on Sunday visited U.S. troops stationed near where he is vacationing over the holidays, thanking them for their service and saying it would be his last time addressing them while in office.
Obama Says He'd Have Beat Trump; Trump Says, 'No Way!' (Newsweek)
U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast on Monday that he would have won most Americans' support if he had been able to run against Donald Trump for a third term.
New Egyptian Law Gives President Authority to Pick a Media Regulator (Newsweek)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will pick a chairman and members of a new media council under a law passed on Monday, giving the body the power to fine or suspend publications and broadcasters and give or revoke licences for foreign media.
Donald Trump and his Cabinet Will Trade on Inside Information as President (The Huffington Post)
Actually, I don’t know that Donald Trump will take advantage of the inside information he will have access to as president, but no one knows that he won’t. And the president has access to a massive amount of inside information.
China Is Going to Start Imposing Punitive Taxes on Heavy Polluters (Fortune)
China has passed a landmark environmental protection law that will hit land, water, and air polluters with penalty taxes when it comes into effect in January 2018.
3 ways Trump could bring back manufacturing jobs (Vox)
Donald Trump won the White House promising to bring back manufacturing jobs. Now that he’s going to actually be president, he has to figure out how to make good on that promise.
Is Anyone Actually a Scientist? (Slate)
My favorite Trumpism is “nobody really knows.” He says it all the time. Did Russia interfere in the U.S. presidential election? “Nobody really knows.” How big is ISIS? “Nobody really knows.” Why did President George W. Bush invade Iraq? “Nobody really knows.”
Republicans have a massive plan to overhaul the tax code — here's how it would work (Associated Press)
Congressional Republicans are planning a massive overhaul of the nation's tax system, a heavy political lift that could ultimately affect families at every income level and businesses of every size.
Health and Biotech
A Neuroscientist Explains How He Found Out Meth Is Almost Identical to Adderall (Vice)
The long subway ride from DC's airport to Silver Spring was unusually pleasant. It had been about an hour since I had taken a low dose of methamphetamine. It was my 40th birthday—October 30, 2006—and I was headed to a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-sponsored meeting.
Life on the Home Planet
The Next Frontier: Space Miners are the Universe's Future Tycoons (NBC News)
In 2009, a collection of astronauts, academics, and aerospace industrialists convened to review NASA's present and future plans for manned space flight. Informally dubbed the "Augustine Commission," the more-stuffily named Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee determined that our ultimate goal ought to be nothing less than "to chart a path for human expansion into the solar system."
Taiwan says Chinese carrier heading towards Hainan (Reuters)
A group of Chinese warships led by the country's sole aircraft carrier is heading towards China's southern island province of Hainan through the South China Sea, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, in what Beijing describes as a routine drill.
These are the 12 largest nuclear detonations in history (Business Insider)
Since the first nuclear test on 15 July 1945, there have been over 2,051 other nuclear weapons tests around the world.
Human error led to Colombia soccer plane crash: authorities (Reuters)
Errors by the pilot, airline and Bolivian regulators are to blame for a plane crash in Colombia that killed 71 people last month, including most of Brazil's Chapecoense soccer team, Colombia aviation authorities said on Monday.
Homo Obnoxious: Is Toxic Masculinity Really Taking Over the Country? (Alternet)
It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this. We were said to be approaching the demise of a certain type of swaggering, predatory masculinity: let’s call him Homo Obnoxious.
