Financial Markets and Economy
Crude Oil Halts Four-Week Gain as OPEC Cuts Yet to Be Verified (Bloomberg)
Oil headed for its first weekly decline since December as traders waited for proof that OPEC and other producers would follow through on promises to cut production.
Europe’s Biggest Fund Manager Says U.S. Stock Bulls Got It Wrong (Bloomberg)
Amundi SA, Europe’s largest money manager, says investors who have driven U.S. stock markets to record highs in expectation of fiscal stimulus from the Trump administration may be in for a surprise.
Dollar Gives Up Earlier Gain Versus Yen Before U.S. Long Weekend (Bloomberg)
The dollar headed for its biggest weekly decline against the yen since July after erasing gains from moderate bargain-hunting earlier Friday.
Dollar recaptures lost ground after loses linked to Trump conference (Market Watch)
The dollar regained some ground against rival currencies during Asia trade Friday, with dip-buying kicking in after the greenback’s retreat following President-elect Donald Trump’s news conference on Wednesday in the U.S.
Income inequality is hitting British men hard (Business Insider)
Four times more men in low-paid jobs now work part-time compared with 20 years ago, driving inequality, according to a new study.
Asian Stocks Drop From 3-Month High as Samsung Drags Tech Shares (Bloomberg)
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell less than 0.1 percent as of 4:27 p.m. in Hong Kong, ending a four-day rising streak and capping the weekly gain at 1.6 percent. Samsung Electronics slid the most in two months, while Seven & i Holdings Co. surged the most in three years after quarterly profit beat estimates.
Retail sales rise on strong auto demand (Reuters)
Jan 13 U.S. retail sales rose solidly in December amid strong demand for automobiles, providing further evidence that the economy ended the fourth quarter with momentum and is poised for stronger growth this year.
Hong Kong’s Stocks Post Longest Weekly Advance in Five Months (Bloomberg)
Hong Kong stocks rose, with the benchmark index posting its third weekly gain, as energy companies advanced after oil rallied and investors speculated China will press ahead with reforms to make state-owned enterprises more efficient.
Oil higher after Saudi Arabia cuts output, China imports rise (Market Watch)
Crude prices edged up in early Friday trade following reports that major producers have started cutting production as pledged, strengthening views the global oil glut was ebbing.
BANK OF ENGLAND OFFICIAL: Unemployment could defy Brexit and stay at record lows for years (Business Insider)
Michael Saunders, one of the Bank of England's most senior policymakers, said that the UK's unemployment rate could stay below 5% for an extended period, defying warnings that Brexit could push joblessness significantly higher.
Why this winner of a retail stock will keep on delivering (Market Watch)
It’s also a day that could see the Dow finally hit 20,000, as Friday the 13th is often luckier-than-average for stocks. A little help from big bank earnings this morning wouldn’t go amiss either.
Euro on Longest Winning Streak Versus Dollar Since 2014: Chart (Bloomberg)
The euro headed for a fourth weekly advance versus the dollar, its longest winning streak since 2014. The shared currency is strengthening as investors pare bets that President-elect Donald Trump’s victory will spur growth and inflation.
Bank of America beats on the bottom line, misses on the top (Business Insider)
Fourth-quarter bank earnings kicked off on Friday with Bank of America, which reported earnings per share of $0.40 on revenue of $20.22 billion.
Gold heads for 2% weekly gain as dollar wobbles (Market Watch)
Gold prices slipped Friday even as the dollar wobbled, pulling back from seven-week highs and a push above $1,200 for the yellow metal earlier this week.
BARCLAYS: 'Markets may have taken the wrong lessons from Donald Trump and Brexit' (Business Insider)
Barclays believes traders and finance firms have "thrown the baby out with the bathwater" in the wake of Trump and Brexit, and are now overestimating the populist risk in the French election.
Buying a house is becoming even more unaffordable for first-time buyers (Business Insider)
House prices in the UK are now so high that the majority of first-time buyers end up paying stamp duty on their properties, making the first step on the housing ladder even harder to reach.
This week’s Mutual Funds and ETF stories (Market Watch)
Age is a virtue, as several time-tested mutual funds can attest.
These closed-end stock funds were around when Herbert Hoover was president. They survived the Great Depression and every other major financial event since.
Oil Erases Saudi Jawbone Gains Amid China Glut Concerns (Zero Hedge)
Oil prices rallied the last couple of days on the heels of Saudi jawboning about just how much they cut production, after concerns on US shale production surging.
Companies
Nintendo stock is taking a beating after unveiling its newest console (Business Insider)
Shares in Nintendo are down almost 6% at in trading on the Japanese markets after officially unveiling the details of its newest console, the $299 Nintendo Switch, at the time of writing.
Lowe’s to Cut Thousands of Store Workers, Shuffle Jobs (The Wall Street Journal)
Lowe’s Cos. is cutting thousands of workers and shuffling the jobs of thousands more, according to people familiar with the matter, as the home-improvement retailer tries to adapt to shifting shopping habits.
JPMorgan results trump estimates as election stimulates trading (Reuters)
JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), the No. 1 U.S. bank by assets, reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue on Friday, helped by a surge in investor activity related to the U.S. presidential election.
Technology
Tesla Unveils Pricing Structure for Supercharging Stations (Bloomberg)
Tesla Motors Inc. said it will charge new customers fees to use its Supercharging stations if they exceed an annual limit, detailing its price structure to help pay for the expansion of its network of stations.
Google turns Toontastic into a 3D storytelling app (Engadget)
Google Education has launched a 3D version of Toontastic, almost two years after Mountain View bought the company that created it. The new Toontastic stays true to the original version: it's still a storybook app, except now kids can work with 3D characters and environments.
How to protect yourself from the biggest threat to safety and security online (Business Insider)
Yasmin Green is the head of research and development at Alphabet think tank Jigsaw. Green says phishing is the most common way people get hacked. Here's how to protect yourself.
A software update will solve those MacBook Pro battery issues (Engadget)
Apple's latest MacBook Pros got plenty of mixed reviews, but the bugs with the laptop's battery life estimates were a bad ending to a tough year for Cupertino. Although Apple figured the machines would get a respectable a 10 hour battery life, independent tests from Consumer Reports showed wildly different results ranging from less than four hours to almost 20 hours, causing the group to pull their recommendation for the first time.
Nissan’s first European self-driving car trials begin on London roads next month (Tech Crunch)
Nissan will start testing a version of its electric Leaf car with autonomous driving capabilities in London next month, kicking off its first European trials on public roads, Reuters reports. The Japanese carmaker also recently announced that it would be building two new vehicles in the UK, where it makes around a third of the total volume of vehicles produced overall.
Politics
Early Thursday morning, Senate Republicans kicked off what is expected to be a long, winding process of repealing the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare law better known as Obamacare.
Donald Trump’s Transition Gets ‘Historically Low’ Marks (The Huffington Post)
APPROVAL FOR TRUMP’S TRANSITION SINKS – Lydia Saad: “Gallup polling conducted two weeks before Inauguration Day, President-elect Donald Trump continues to garner historically low approval for his transition performance, with 51% of Americans disapproving of how he is handling the presidential transition and 44% approving.
Obama’s shift on Cuban immigrants could put Trump in a bind (Politico)
President Barack Obama is ending the decades-old wet foot, dry foot policy for Cuban immigrants, the White House announced on Thursday, a major shift in the U.S. approach to the island nation and one that could also put President-elect Donald Trump in a bind.
Trump blames 'both Democrats and Republicans' for allegations (Reuters)
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday accused his political opponents, "both Democrats and Republicans," for putting together a dossier of unverified claims linking him to Russia and said the document was probably released by intelligence agencies.
Mexican President: Donald Trump’s Border Wall Is ‘Against Our Dignity’ (The Huffington Post)
Trump has repeatedly promised that Mexico will pay for a wall on its border with the U.S. in order to keep undocumented immigrants out. On Wednesday, Trump clarified that the United States would begin building the wall immediately and force its southern neighbor to “reimburse us.”
Health and Biotech
Scientists are genetically engineering Salmonella to destroy brain tumours (Science Alert)
Salmonella is commonly linked to fevers and food poisoning, and generally speaking, it isn't good news at all for your body. But scientists have come up with an exception: a genetically engineered form of Salmonella bacteria that can eat away at cancer tumours.
Life on the Home Planet
The aftermath of Chile's Valparaíso fire – in pictures (The Guardian)
Hundreds were evacuated as flames raged across Chile’s port city on 2 January. The fires hit poorer communities in wooden houses worst and left many without homes.
California's iconic 'tunnel tree' has finally fallen (Science Alert)
Made famous for the car tunnel carved into its trunk more than 100 years ago, California's giant sequoia tree, known affectionately as the Pioneer Cabin Tree, has fallen.
Mice turn into killers when brain circuit is triggered by laser (New Scientist)
Inside every mouse lurks a natural-born killer. Researchers have identified the brain region that controls hunting, and have found a way to switch it on and off.
Iraqi forces reach second Mosul bridge, enter university complex: military (Reuters)
Iraqi special forces stormed the Mosul University complex in the city's northeast on Friday and pushed Islamic State further back to reach another bridge across the Tigris river, the military said.
