Financial Markets and Economy
Pending home sales drop to 10-month low in November (Reuters)
Contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes fell in November to their lowest level in nearly a year, a sign rising interest rates could be weighing on the housing market, the National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday.
House Flipping Makes a Comeback as Home Prices Rise (The Wall Street Journal)
House flipping, a potent symbol of the real-estate market’s excess in the run-up to the financial crisis, is once again becoming hot, fueled by a combination of skyrocketing home prices, venture-backed startups and Wall Street cash.
Data Scientists Making Millions Vie With Fund Managers Over Pay (Bloomberg)
Portfolio managers at hedge funds have another thing to worry about: the $2 million data scientist.
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.
U.S. Stocks Drop as Real Estate, Raw-Material Shares Lead Losses (Bloomberg)
The benchmark gauge lost 0.8 percent to 2,249.92 at 4 p.m. in New York, the biggest one-day decline since Oct. 11. Trading volume was about 40 percent lower than the average of the past month.
Asia Stocks Follow U.S. Lower as Yen Strengthens: Markets Wrap (Bloomberg)
Asian stocks followed U.S. equities lower and the yen climbed as investors prepared to close out a volatile year for financial markets. Oil dropped from its highest close in 17 months.
The IPO market is in the dumps, and all the tax cuts in the world won’t help (Market Watch)
On paper, hotel-booking site Trivago’s U.S. initial public offering was a solid deal: The German company is pretty big (657.4 million euros, or $687.0 million in revenue through the first nine months of this year), getting profitable (18.3 million euros, or $19.1 million, in earnings before non-cash expenses, interest and taxes) and even growing decently, if less than spectacularly, with sales up 12%.
The Land of a Thousand Teardowns (The Wall Street Journal)
Seven years ago, Rob Fisher realized there was a huge disconnect between what home buyers were looking for in Northern Virginia and what was available.
The World’s Richest Made $237 Billion This Year (Bloomberg)
In a year when populist voters reshaped power and politics across Europe and the U.S., the world’s wealthiest people are ending 2016 with $237 billion more than they had at the start.
STOCKS DROP: Here's what you need to know (Business Insider)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its steepest drop in two weeks on Wednesday, pushing the index further away from the 20,000 milestone. It rallied to within 19 points of the record level in early trading before sliding into the market close.
Let’s call this the no-fault stock market (Market Watch)
While most growth stocks have fallen out of favor, the averages themselves are stubbornly clinging to recent highs. Volume has dried up, indicating a lack of worrisome profit-taking despite the substantial gains booked in November and December.
China’s Money Market Pain Is About to Get Worse (Bloomberg)
The benchmark seven-day repurchase rate will average 2.65 percent in the first quarter, up from 2.46 percent in the current period and the highest since the start of 2015, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 24 bond traders, investors and analysts.
China Would Outlast U.S. in Trade War, Billion-Dollar Fund Says (Bloomberg)
China would outlast the U.S. in a trade war, which is a “distinct possibility” next year after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, a commentator wrote in the $1 billion Pine River China Fund’s investor letter.
Why Declining Productivity Is a Critical Problem for the U.S. Economy (Spreaker)
A weekly podcast with Dr. Frank Newport, Gallup Editor-in-Chief that ensures the collective wisdom of the people is used in appropriate ways to help leaders and elected representatives make better decisions.
Here’s more proof investors are flipping from mutual funds to ETFs (Market Watch)
One of the biggest market themes of 2016 was the continued dominance of passive investing over active, but that shift is tied to another pivotal change in how people invest: the continuing rotation out of mutual funds and into exchange-traded funds.
Year End Outlook: Will Investors Get Hustled By The Pros In 2017? (Value Walk)
That was the word Jackie Gleason used to characterize the proposed reprisal of ‘Minnesota Fats’ in The Color of Money, 1986’s sequel to The Hustler. Chances are Paul Newman himself, who had at least 36 script conferences with the screenwriter, didn’t take offense to Gleason’s rebuff.
The top 20% account for 40% of consumer spending (Sam Ro)
NAR: Pending Home Sales Index decreased 2.5% in November, down 0.4% year-over-year (Calculated Risk)
The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, declined 2.5 percent to 107.3 in November from 110.0 in October. After last month's decrease in activity, the index is now 0.4 percent below last November (107.7) and is at its lowest reading since January (105.4).
Pending Home Sales Tumble As Surging Mortgage Rates Paralyze Housing Market (Zero Hedge)
One month ago, even before the recent surge in mortgage rates to the highest level since April 2014 we noted that pending home sales had stalled, rising a barely positive 0.2%,, and well below expected, a number which we predicted was set for much more pain in the months ago.
Companies
Delta Drops Boeing Dreamliner Order Acquired With Northwest (Bloomberg)
Delta Air Lines Inc. scrapped an order for 18 Boeing Co. widebody Dreamliner jets valued at $4 billion at list prices, a commitment that was inherited with the company’s 2008 merger with Northwest Airlines.
Sears and Kmart are closing more stores — see if your store is on the list (Business Insider)
Sears just announced a fresh round of store closures.
The company told employees on Tuesday that it will close 30 Sears and Kmart stores in early 2017, half a dozen employees told Business Insider.
Trump declares victory: Sprint will create 5,000 U.S. jobs (CNN Money)
Sprint confirmed the news in a statement saying the telecom company would "create or bring back to America" 5,000 jobs, mostly in customer care and sales. The announcement comes only a month after Trump helped get Carrier to keep 800 jobs in Indiana.
Kate Spade & Co. Explores Sale (The Wall Street Journal)
High-end handbag and apparel maker Kate Spade & Co. is exploring a sale of the company, according to people familiar with the matter, after coming under pressure from an activist shareholder.
Ford Pitches Tax Breaks to Bolster Year-End Truck Sales (The Wall Street Journal)
Buy a truck and write it off.
That’s the message Ford Motor Co. is sending to small-business owners in an effort to bolster demand for its most profitable products in the final days of 2016.
Technology
These 9 stores have AirPods in stock (Apple 3.0)
Every other Apple Store in the world is out.
As of 7 a.m. this morning, AirPods were available for sale only in nine European cities—four in Germany, five in Italy. Click here for the latest update.
This breathalyzer can diagnose 17 different diseases (Business Insider)
In an ideal world, a medical mystery could be solved with a device that quickly and cheaply takes a noninvasive sample and reports back with whatever condition a patient is suffering from — a real life "Star Trek" medical tricorder of sorts.
Twitter releases 360-degree video streaming on Periscope (CNet)
The social network released the feature Wednesday, with the catch being that while everyone can watch videos in 360, only a group of "select partners" — likely celebrities and influencers — are able to stream in 360 for now.
Tesla's Autopilot predicts a crash freakishly early (Science Alert)
There's been a fair amount of controversy over Tesla's Autopilot feature, so if you've got your doubts about the capabilities of assisted driving technology when it comes to preventing accidents, it's worth taking a look at this.
Elon Musk Hints Tesla's New Superchargers Might Be Insanely Fast (Digital Trends)
Tesla’s new Superchargers might be so insanely fast that topping off a tank of gas will look slow in comparison.
In a Twitter exchange, Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased that the new Supercharger V3 will be coming soon, and that it will make the old V2 Superchargers look like child’s play.
Oculus now owns an eye-tracking company (Engadget)
Google isn't the only company trying to figure out eye-tracking for virtual reality — Oculus VR is on the case too. The Facebook-backed VR company has confirmed that it recently acquired Danish startup The Eye Tribe, a firm best known for creating software developer kits that bring gaze-based controls to smartphones, tablets and PCs.
Politics
Trump tax reforms could depend on little-known 'scoring' panel (Reuters)
President-elect Donald Trump's goal of overhauling the U.S. tax code in 2017 will depend partly on the work of an obscure congressional committee tasked with estimating how much future economic growth will result from tax cuts.
5 totally ridiculous Republican reversals in 2016 the GOP hopes you’ll forget about (Alternet)
With the election over and Republicans occupying all branches of government, as well as controlling most state legislatures, it’s easy to forget that just a few short months ago the Republican Party seemed to be collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions.
Obama bests Trump in Gallup’s ‘most admired’ poll (Politico)
President Barack Obama topped Gallup’s annual list of the men Americans most admire, while Hillary Clinton was named the country’s most admired woman for the 15th year in a row.
U.S. set to announce response to Russian election hacking: sources (Reuters)
The Obama administration plans to announce on Thursday a series of retaliatory measures against Russia for hacking into U.S. political institutions and individuals and leaking information in an effort to help President-elect Donald Trump and other Republican candidates, two U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
Economists say Trump delivered hope (Politico)
Economists say Donald Trump is right to credit himself for sending consumer confidence to a 15-year high this month as Americans reported a rosy outlook for job creation, business growth and the stock market.
Trump: Don’t Blame Russia For Hacking; Blame Computers For Making Life Complicated (The Huffington Post)
President-elect Donald Trump is less than enthusiastic about some senators’ suggestion that Russia ? and perhaps even Vladimir Putin himself ? should be sanctioned for interfering in the U.S. elections, telling reporters Wednesday that it’s time people move on.
Health and Biotech
Pharma's Pricing Troubles Will Get Worse in 2017 (Bloomberg)
The defining story of the past year in biopharma has been drug pricing, as much as the industry might wish otherwise.
Breast cancer drug rejected for NHS use on cost-benefit grounds (The Guardian)
A breast cancer drug that costs £90,000 a year per patient has been turned down for use by the NHS on financial grounds, triggering an outcry from patients groups who say it prolongs the lives of people seriously ill with the disease.
We finally have an effective Ebola vaccine. The war on the disease is about to change. (Vox)
It took a major Ebola epidemic that led to more than 11,000 deaths, but we now finally have a successful Ebola vaccine candidate in development. If approved, the vaccine would vastly reduce the likelihood of ever seeing another major Ebola outbreak.
Life on the Home Planet
Watch a US-led coalition airstrike destroy part of ISIS' oil network near the Iraq-Syria border (Business Insider)
While fighting in western Syria seems to have turned in favor of dictator Bashar Assad and his allies in Iran and Russia, US-led coalition strikes on ISIS continue in the eastern part of the country.
The wind was so bad when this plane landed it was forced to return to the sky (Business Insider)
The wind at Leeds Bradford Airport in Scotland was so strong on December 26, 2016 that the pilot of this plane was forced to abort the landing — after the plane had already touched down.
Actress Debbie Reynolds dies of a stroke, a day after daughter (Reuters)
Debbie Reynolds, a leading lady in Hollywood musicals and comedies in the 1950s and 1960s, including "Singin' in the Rain," died on Wednesday, her son said, just one day after the death of her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher.
The Universe is losing dark matter, and researchers have finally measured how much (Science Alert)
Researchers from Russia have, for the first time, been able to measure the amount of dark matter the Universe has lost since the Big Bang some 13.7 billion years ago, and calculate that as much as 5 percent of dark matter could have deteriorated.
