Financial Markets and Economy
Bitcoin is still storming higher (Business Insider)
Bitcoin's incredible rally continues on Wednesday, up close to 3% against the dollar in early trade in London.
No Happy New Year in China as Currency, Liquidity Fears Loom (Bloomberg)
The first day of 2017 is when an annual $50,000 quota to convert the yuan into foreign exchange resets, stoking concern there will be a rush to sell the local currency.
Hong Kong Stocks Climb Most in a Month as Banks, Tencent Rally (Bloomberg)
Hong Kong stocks rose, with the benchmark gauge gaining the most in a month, as banks led a rally by Chinese companies after a technical indicator signaled recent losses were excessive.
Hedge Funds Still Positioned Short on U.S. Stocks (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg’s Dani Burger discusses the reemergence of hedge fund bulls, the Dow’s push to 20,000 and holiday sales for retailers. She speaks on “Bloomberg Markets.”
London's housebuyers are fleeing the capital at the fastest rate in a decade (Business Insider)
Housebuyers in the capital are fleeing at the fastest rate for 10 years, according to new research by estate agents Hamptons.
These big economies suffered self-inflicted wounds in 2016 (CNN Money)
Three of the world's top 10 economies are ending the year in worse shape than they started. And they've only got themselves to blame.
Are Singapore's Defaults the Canary in the Mine? (Bloomberg)
Singapore’s commodities-related defaults could turn out to be the canary in the mine. Despite a modest rebound in resource prices, restructuring specialists including KPMG and Hogan Lovells Lee & Lee see more Asia-Pacific commodities and shipping companies being pushed into delinquency. Bloomberg's Sophie Kamaruddin has more on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia."
One of Britain's biggest housebuilders issued a profit warning — and shares are falling (Business Insider)
Shares in FTSE 250-listed housebuilder Bovis are crumbling after the company dropped a profit warning early on Wednesday morning.
Vietnam Defies Asia Slowdown as Economic Growth Holds Above 6% (Bloomberg)
Vietnam’s economy expanded more than 6 percent for a second year, defying a regional slowdown to remain one of the world’s best performers as manufacturing surged.
CEO pay has risen 82% in 13 years but companies have only returned 1% in 'economic profit' (Business Insider)
Pay for corporate chief executives has increased by 82% in the past 13 years, but the average company generated less than 1% return for investors, according to a report by the CFA Institute.
The Free-Market Case for Climate Science (Bloomberg)
Are you someone who has faith in the power of free markets? Then you should naturally accept the evidence that human activity is bringing about climate change.
Japan's Industrial Output Rises Most in Five Months (Bloomberg)
Japan’s industrial output rose the most in five months in November as export volumes rebounded sharply, pointing to an expected economic expansion in the fourth quarter.
Bloomberg Intelligence: The Yuan Impact in 2017 (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg Intelligence analysts discuss how the yuan's depreciation may impact the hotel, property and retail industries as well as the Chinese economy in 2017.
Abu Dhabi to Permit Short Selling in Attempt to Boost Liquidity (Bloomberg)
Abu Dhabi is poised to introduce services facilitating short-selling next year as it seeks to boost trading volume and attract foreign investors to the illiquid market.
Why China's Economy May Be a Bit Weaker in 2017 (Bloomberg)
Wang Tao, UBS head of China economic research, discusses the prospects for China's economy in 2017 with Bloomberg's Rishaad Salamat on "Bloomberg Markets."
O’Donnell: 3% Target on 10-Year Yield May Be Conservative (Bloomberg)
Citigroup Global Markets Managing Director Bill O'Donnell discusses the bond market and his outlook for rates in 2017. He speaks with Vonnie Quinn on “Bloomberg Markets.”
Goldman Sachs’ Place in Trump’s World (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg’s Dakin Campbell discusses Goldman’s pivot to Trump and why the investment bank is starting to live up to its former nickname, “Government Sachs.”
Outlook 2017: Trump inauguration to bring major US oil policy changes (S&P Global Platts)
An unprecedented presidential election, court battles over hydraulic fracturing and oil pipelines, Arctic drilling plans and additional Renewable Fuel Standard drama rounded out the top five US oil policy stories of 2016.
Japan’s trade surplus at near six-year high (Value Walk)
With all the industry activity rising in October and the past week’s all-industry and trade reports pointing to encouraging trends, Q4 is set to clock yet another quarter of positive GDP growth, opines Daiwa Capital Markets.
Companies
Toshiba Falls by Daily Limit as Nuclear Unit Faces Writedown (Bloomberg)
Toshiba Corp. fell by its daily limit after saying Tuesday it may have to write down the value of an acquisition made by U.S. unit Westinghouse Electric by billions of dollars.
Qualcomm Fined $853 Million by South Korean Antitrust Agency (Bloomberg)
South Korea’s antitrust regulator slapped a record 1.03 trillion won ($853 million) fine on Qualcomm Inc. for violating antitrust laws, the latest in a string of government actions that threaten the U.S. chipmaker’s most profitable business.
Technology
Apple has published its first AI research paper (Business Insider)
The world's most valuable company has traditionally kept its AI research private but earlier this month Ruslan Salakhutdinov, director of AI research at Apple, made a pledge to start being more open.
Facebook's Safety Check feature helped promote a fake news story about a Bangkok explosion (Business Insider)
This time, the social network helped publicise an incorrect news story claiming that Bangkok had been "rock[ed]" by an explosion, promoting the report using its Safety Check feature — a tool that allows users to publicly mark themselves safe in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack.
T-Mobile rolls out update that kills Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (CNet)
T-Mobile is the first major carrier to push an update to remaining Samsung Galaxy Note 7 handsets that will prevent the phone battery from charging.
Ford unveils sleeker self-driving Fusion (Bloomberg)
The company unveiled on Wednesday an updated version of its autonomous car Fusion. The automaker sees the latest iteration as a significant step toward its goal of putting self-driving vehicles on roads by 2021.
Augmented reality set to overtake VR as new apps go live (New Scientist)
You’re at work, flipping through emails that hang in mid-air. Graphs, text messages and pictures pop up on your desk, then disappear. Bored, you sit back and watch a jellyfish bob across the ceiling.
Nano-sized discs teach your body to fight cancer (Engadget)
In the future, getting customized cancer treatments might just be a matter of injecting virtually invisible discs into into your body. University of Michigan scientists have had early success testing 10nm "nanodiscs" that teach your body to kill cancer cells.
How To Use Safe Mode In Android (Digital Trends)
Safe mode can help you to track down the causes of problems you may be having with your smartphone. When you boot your phone into Safe mode, it doesn’t run any third-party apps installed on your device.
Politics
The Age of Incompetence (Project Syndicate)
BERKELEY – On January 20, 2017, US President-elect Donald Trump will take office having received almost three million fewer votes than his opponent; and he will work with a Republican Senate majority whose members won 13 million fewer votes than their Democratic opponents.
Donald Trump’s Path To 300 House Votes On Infrastructure Runs Through The Black Caucus (The Huffington Post)
Donald Trump opponents have been urging Democrats since the day after the election to offer the incoming president nothing but across-the-board resistance to his agenda. Anything else, the argument goes, is tantamount to an endorsement of racism, misogyny and Islamophobia.
A guide to the most powerful jobs in the Trump administration — and the people filling them (Vox)
The vice presidency is a strange office, lacking practically any formal powers despite its symbolic importance and high public profile.
Israel postpones vote on new East Jerusalem homes before Kerry speech (Reuters)
Israel pulled back from approving hundreds of new homes for Israelis in annexed East Jerusalem on Wednesday before a speech in which the U.S. Secretary of State was to give further voice to international opposition to settlement building.
Mexico eyes border, migration as leverage in talks with Trump (Reuters)
Mexico aims to defend free trade with the United States by using border security and immigration policy to gain leverage in talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump after he takes office next month, senior officials say.
Health and Biotech
Scientists track gene parts controlling the embryo's early growth (Engadget)
Techniques like CRISPR and even experimental methods like programmable bacteria can be used to edit genes, but knowing which genes to edit is crucial.
Life on the Home Planet
US Raises No Objection Over China Aircraft Carrier Drill (Bloomberg)
The United States says China has the right to sail in international waters after a Chinese aircraft carrier cruised past Taiwan and into the contested South China Sea.
An American airline wins the right to weigh passengers on its Samoan route (The Economist)
ONE of Gulliver’s stranger flying experiences came in 2011, when he was preparing to board a domestic flight from Panama City to the beaches of Bocas del Toro. An airline employee motioned to a scale, and Gulliver dutifully placed his bag on it. “No,” she said, and in a conversation combining her broken English with his broken Spanish, communicated that, in fact, he himself was the item she wanted to weigh.
‘Rogue One’ Rakes In $96.1M Over Holiday Weekend (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw discusses the success of “Rogue One” at the box office and the general drop in ticket sales in 2016.
China plans on being the first country to land a probe on the far side of the Moon (Science Alert)
Chinese officials have announced an ambitious plan to land a probe on the far side of the Moon in 2018, adding that they also plan on launching the country’s first Mars-bound probe by 2020.
Scientists plan on contacting the closest Earth-like exoplanet to our Solar System (Science Alert)
The team is putting together a plan to build or buy a powerful deep-space transmitter, and is now figuring out what our message should be – after all, we don't want to make a bad first impression.
