Today's Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• Russia Bond Yields Surge to 5-Year High as Rate Pressure Mounts. Russia’s borrowing costs jumped to a five-year high as the tumbling ruble sparked speculation the central bank will raise interest rates as early as this week to stem the depreciation. The yield on 10-year local-currency bonds rose 60 basis points to 12.67 percent at 7:26 p.m. in Moscow and the ruble lost 2.3 percent to 53.75 per dollar. Shares of Mail.ru Group tumbled to a record in London after UBS Group AG downgraded the internet company amid growing concern that an economic slowdown will curtail corporate earnings next year. Pipemaker OAO TMK’s dollar bonds fell further past levels deemed as distressed.
• Russia's Ruble Disaster in One Chart.
• Emerging-Markets Currencies Tumble to Decade-Low on Dollar, Oil. Nothing’s going right for emerging-market currencies these days. Oil prices are falling the most in six years, undermining exchange rates of energy producers from Latin America to Russia, just as slowing growth in China and a tumbling yen weigh on currencies across Asia. And surging demand for the dollar, the result of speculation that U.S. interest rates will rise, is adding to the woes of developing-nation currencies. An index tracking 20 key exchange rates has fallen to levels last seen more than a decade ago, down 10.2 percent this year and headed for the biggest annual slide since 2008.
• Economists Wrong-Footed by Investment Drop at Japanese Companies. Differences between how Japan’s finance ministry and cabinet office assess corporate investments caught economists off-guard today, resulting in gross domestic product forecasts that missed their mark. Economists last week started narrowing their estimates for the size of Japan’s economic contraction in the third quarter, trimming their figures following the finance ministry’s release of data showing investment by companies rose in the three months through September. The statistics used by the cabinet office that fed into updated GDP numbers today showed business spending dropping 0.4 percent. 
• Europe Stocks Drop From 7-Year High as Sika, Energy Shares Slump. A plunge in construction and energy companies sent European stocks down after a four-week rally. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.7 percent to 348.61 at the close of trading in London after a 1.1 percent gain last week propelled it to its highest level since January 2008. Sika AG tumbled a record 22 percent today and Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA also fell as a hostile bid by Europe’s biggest supplier of building materials sparked a management revolt at the Swiss company. Oil and gas producers reached a three-year low. The DAX Index dropped 0.7 percent from an all-time high after a report showed German industrial production climbed less than forecast. 
• Copper Declines on Concern China Metals Demand Will Wane. Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange dropped 0.7 percent to $6,405 a metric ton ($2.91 a pound) at 5:02 p.m. local time. Prices fell for the fourth time in five sessions.
• Paulson Comeback Reverses as Event Fund Drops 27% in Year. John Paulson’s lousy 2014 is getting worse. The billionaire’s firm posted a 27 percent year-to-date loss in its event-driven fund after a 3.1 percent decline in November, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Paulson Recovery Fund has declined 14 percent this year and a version of the event-driven strategy that can buy new share issues such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) has fallen 17 percent.

ZeroHedge:

• Stocks Suffer Mini Flash Crash Just As 4th Hindenburg Omen Spotted. (graph)
• Energy Bond Risk Soars To Fresh Record High As Stocks Slump To 20-Month Lows. (graph)
• Oil Crash Comes Home To Roost: ConocoPhillips(COP) To Slash 2015 CapEx By 20%.
• Hedge Funds Most Long The S&P500, Most Short The 10 Year In Six Months, Still Long Crude. (graph)
• Job Market Growth Hovers Near 2-Year Lows, Fed's Labor Market Index Shows. (graph)
• McDonalds(MCD) Implodes, Reports Worst US Sales In Over A Decade. (graph)
• Oil Prices Collapse To New Cycle Lows, Canada Heavy Tumbles Under $50. (graph)

Business Insider:

• The Northeast Is About To Get Hit With Another Major Snowstorm. 
• Three Nightmare Economic Scenarios That Could Trigger Recession In 2015.
• Elizabeth Warren Supporters Are Preparing For War Against Wall Street.

Telegraph:

• Six triggers that could renew a eurozone crisis in 2015. Tensions in the eurozone's largest economies could pull the region apart next year, as a number of political risks could bubble over according to Nordea. 
• Tumbling euro not enough to save Germany’s factories. German industrial production data has failed to match the expectations of analysts, as the country faces lower growth next year.