Financial Markets and Economy
One brutal table from McKinsey shows how miserable banking is right now (Business Insider)
The report is focused primarily on the challenges posed by low economic growth, the low-interest-rate policies that tend to go with it, and the digitization of banking.
For the Bank of Japan, a Tightening Squeeze (The Wall Street Journal)
One of central banking’s most aggressive easers—the Bank of Japan—may soon have to think about tightening for the first time since 2007.
After the worst start to a year ever, the stock market surged to new highs in 2016.
All the major indexes rebounded to records and defied the doomsday forecasts that preceded events like Brexit and President-elect Donald Trump's election.
Indian Stocks Retreat on Rising Oil Ahead of U.S. Fed Meeting (Bloomberg)
Indian stocks fell, with the benchmark gauge snapping a two-day gain, as a surge in oil prices raised concern that inflation will accelerate.
Real Estate Stocks Drag Europe Shares Down While Oil Firms Rise (Bloomberg)
A rise in energy producers wasn’t enough to lift the European stock market, with real estate companies leading declines amid a bond selloff, while Chinese equities slumped the most in six months.
Hedge fund titan Carl Icahn says the stock market's rally following President-elect Donald Trump's victory may have gone too far.
Market 'paradigm shift' may be under way, but more volatility likely: BIS (Reuters)
Financial markets have been remarkably resilient to rising bond yields and sudden shift in outlook following last month's shock U.S. election result, but the sheer scale of uncertainties ahead means the adjustment will be "bumpy", the BIS said on Sunday.
Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day (Bloomberg)
Oil surges on production deal, global bonds are selling off, and will Trump appoint Tillerson as secretary of state? Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.
Monte dei Paschi to press ahead with last-ditch private capital increase (Reuters)
Italy's third biggest lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena said on Sunday it would press ahead with a last-ditch plan to raise 5 billion euros on the market by year-end after the European Central Bank refused to give it more time to recapitalize.
What The FOMC Says May Be More Important Than What It Does (Marc Chandler, Seeking Alpha)
Provided that the Federal Reserve delivers the widely tipped and expected 25 bps hike in the fed funds target range, the key to investors' reaction will be a function of the FOMC statement and forecasts.
Blockchain Lures Central Banks as Danes Consider Minting E-Krone (Bloomberg)
In Denmark, the wardens of cash are now looking into producing a virtual currency instead, which they predict will make crime harder and oversight easier. The Danes aren’t alone. Britain and Sweden are blazing a trail in Europe. Singapore and Canada have already tested blockchain-based currency systems for Internet payments.
Chart o’ the Day: Factor Performance By Year Quilt (The Reformed Broker)
Josh here – it was a good year for value and a great year for high beta. Low volatility, the darling of the first half (according to fund flow data), has underperformed substantially.
Non-Opec Oil Producers To Cut Output 558,000 Barrels A Day (Associated Press)
OPEC has persuaded 11 non-members to cut oil production, a move aimed at draining a worldwide oil glut and boosting low prices that have squeezed government finances in Russia and Saudi Arabia.
F-35 Is a Massive Win for Lockheed Martin Stock (Fool.com)
Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) F-35 stealth fighter jet is a marvel of technology. It could also do marvelous things for Lockheed Martin's stock.
Investor Greed Could Hurt Your Retirement (Zachary Scheidt, Seeking Alpha)
U.S. stocks are hitting new highs, and that's leading to a significant amount of investor greed.
According to CNN's Fear & Greed Index, investors are now operating from an "extreme greed" perspective.
On climate change and the economy, we're trapped in an idiotic netherworld (The Guardian)
The news that Australia economy went backwards in the September quarter was greeted with alarm by politicians and then used as a reason to push their policy barrow. And most of the barrows were piled high with coal.
Corporate debt levels are at levels last seen during the dotcom bubble (TheFelderReport.com)
During the first quarter of 2000, the dotcom bubble famously peaked after setting a new record high for corporate equity valuations. Today, we haven’t quite matched that record in terms of equities, though, by some measures, we are very close.
10 Great Financial Collapses in History (Food Recipes Qia)
Apparently we’ve been living in some horrific financial crisis for over a year now, and the news simply won’t let you forget about it. You would almost think it was the end of the world, as if this kind of thing is unique to our times and to modern economies, and that it’s a problem nobody has had to deal with before.
Companies
JPMorgan Traders Back Risky Property Deals as Bank Shows Caution (Bloomberg)
A group of traders in JPMorgan’s investment bank has expanded from selling commercial mortgage-backed securities to underwriting loans that are unsuitable for bonds, such as those for big construction projects, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Time Inc. Faces Choice of Sale or Reinvention as Digital Power (Bloomberg)
Time Inc. is facing one of its most critical decisions since the magazine publisher was founded by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden in 1922.
Technology
Tech executives from some of the top tech companies in the world will meet with president-elect Donald Trump in New York on Wednesday, according to reports from Recode and The Wall Street Journal.
Trump team takes swipe at US intel groups over Russian hacking (CNet)
The debate about alleged Russian efforts to hack the US presidential election got more intense Friday.
Citing unnamed sources, two major US newspapers reported that intelligence agencies think there's little doubt Russia worked toward a victory for Republican Donald Trump.
Honda invests in Southeast Asia-based Uber rival Grab (Tech Crunch)
Southeast Asia’s Grab, a ride-sharing rival to Uber, has welcomed a new backer after Honda announced a strategic, undisclosed investment in the company today.
Engineers have achieved Wi-Fi using 10,000 times less power (Science Alert)
Wi-Fi is amazing, but there's no denying that all those hours of Netflix binging and scrolling Facebook can be a real energy suck, rapidly draining your phone's battery life.
How Amazon Lightsail makes AWS more accessible (Venture Beat)
On November 30, public cloud infrastructure provider Amazon Web Services (AWS) introduced Amazon Lightsail, a service that gives you quick access to a virtual private server (VPS).
Nanotechnology discovery could lead to low-power night vision (Engadget)
Night vision technology is essential on the modern battlefield but is not without its shortcomings. Conventional night vision goggles (NVGs) have been compared to looking "through toilet paper tubes" on account of their drastically diminished peripheral view.
Quadcopter Crashes Into Wedding Guests, Wedding Guests Sue (Digital Trends)
Two guests at a New Hampshire wedding recently filed a negligence lawsuit against groom Barry Billcliff and wedding planning firm Searles Castle after a quadcopter smashed into their faces during the event.
Politics
Trump Links C.I.A. Reports on Russia to Democrats’ Shame Over Election (NY Times)
President-elect Donald J. Trump said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that he did not believe American intelligence assessments that Russia had intervened to help his candidacy, casting blame for the reports on Democrats, who he said were embarrassed about losing to him.
Trump denies CIA report that Russia intervened to help him win election (The Washington Post)
President-elect Donald Trump said he does not believe the CIA’s conclusion that Russia intervened in the election to help him win, attributing the assessment to Democrats who supported Hillary Clinton and claiming repeatedly that the U.S. intelligence community has “no idea” what might have happened.
Trump's Favorite For State An Accomplished Exec (Associated Press)
President-elect Donald Trump has found an accomplished American executive in Rex Tillerson, a supporter of free trade, international law and an expansive U.S. presence in the Middle East.
Atomic agency leader warns of disaster if Trump tears up Iran deal (The Guardian)
Hans Blix, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has claimed it would be disastrous for the world if the US tore up the Iran nuclear agreement, but warned that the president-elect, Donald Trump, would be unlikely to heed advice from the British government on the benefits of the deal.
The GOP unveils a 'permanent save' for Social Security — with massive benefit cuts (Los Angeles Times)
Amid all the hand-wringing over Republican plans to eviscerate Medicare and Medicaid and repeal the Affordable Care Act, it shouldn't be overlooked that the GOP has the knives out for Social Security too.
Bipartisan Anger Grows Over Russian Interference Into U.S. Election (The Huffington Post)
A growing number of senators on both sides of the aisle are calling for investigations into Russian involvement in the U.S. election process.
Trump says reports Russia helped him in U.S. election are 'ridiculous' (Reuters)
President-elect Donald Trump rejected as "ridiculous" U.S. intelligence reports that Russia intervened in the presidential election on his behalf through targeted hacking, putting him at odds with top lawmakers who vowed to investigate the findings.Senate Quietly Passes The "Countering Disinformation And Propaganda Act".
Senate Quietly Passes The "Countering Disinformation And Propaganda Act" (Zero Hedge)
While we wait to see if and when the Senate will pass (and president will sign) Bill "H.R. 6393, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017", which was passed by the House at the end of November with an overwhelming majority and which seeks to crack down on websites suspected of conducting Russian propaganda and calling for the US government to "counter active measures by Russia to exert covert influence … carried out in coordination with, or at the behest of, political leaders or the security services of the Russian Federation and the role of the Russian Federation has been hidden or not acknowledged publicly,” another, perhaps even more dangerous and limiting to civil rights and freedom of speech bill passed on December 8.
Donald Trump has a handy scapegoat when economic clouds appear (The Guardian)
US president-elect Donald Trump is known for boasting: “The beauty of me is that I am very rich.” It’s a comment that he hoped underline his independence from corporate lobbying and his prowess at making money.
Alec Baldwin took the night off from playing Donald Trump on SNL this week, but the show made sure to provide an exciting guest to fill his shoes.
Health and Biotech
The 3 Fastest-Growing Drug Classes Over the Next 5 Years (Fool.com)
If you've picked up a prescription from the pharmacy recently, you probably don't need any reminding that prescription drugs can be expensive.
We now have more evidence that fat fuels cancer's spread (Science Alert)
Scientists have found that the cells responsible for spreading cancer around the bodies of mice have a big weakness – they need certain fats to fuel their growth.
Life on the Home Planet
Suicide bomber in Yemen kills at least 48 soldiers, officials there say (The Washington Post)
SANAA, Yemen — A suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside a military base in the southern city of Aden on Saturday, killing at least 48 soldiers and injuring dozens more, Yemeni officials said.
The world's largest armies from antiquity to the present (Business Insider)
The graphic gives an understanding of the just how mobilized the human race was during World War II — and shows how the size of the wold's largest armies has shrunk over time as interstate warfare becomes less common and technology surpasses sheer manpower in military importance.
Disney's 'Moana' wins box office for third straight weekend (Business Insider)
The latest Disney animated movie, "Moana," continues to dominate the domestic box office as it took in an estimated $18.8 million to top sales for a third consecutive weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Japan protests over China's complaint about fighter jets (Reuters)
Japan said on Monday it had protested to China over a Chinese complaint that Japanese fighter jets had engaged in "dangerous and unprofessional" behavior when they scrambled at the weekend as Chinese aircraft flew near Japanese islands.
Syrian army in 'final stages' of Aleppo offensive (Reuters)
The Syrian army and its allies are in the "final stages" of recapturing Aleppo after a sudden advance that has pushed rebels to the brink of collapse in a shrinking enclave, a Syrian general said on Monday.
