Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Dow Stops Short of 20,000 in Worst Week for Banks Since Election. (video) What began as a record-setting streak for U.S. stocks fizzled as the week progressed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average approaching and ultimately falling short of 20,000, as the biggest driver of the post-election rally declined. Financial firms decreased for the first time since Donald Trump’s presidential victory, ending a five-week advance in which the group propelled benchmark indexes to records. The S&P 500 Index lost 0.1 percent to end at 2,258.07, while the Dow average climbed within 0.45 percent of 20,000 before ending at 19,843.41, a gain of 0.4 percent for the five days.
• China Must Curb Speculation Amid Bubble, Top Official Says. China must do more to deflate a property bubble that expanded this year by "strictly" controlling speculation while also stepping up the fight to rein in excessive corporate borrowing, a top economic official said a day after leaders announced plans for next year. "We need to give a higher priority to preventing and controlling financial risks," Yang Weimin, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic Affairs, said Saturday at a forum in Beijing. "We need to defuse a flurry of risks, contain asset bubbles, and improve oversight to ensure there won’t be a systemic financial risk."
• China Bonds in Worst Week in Two Years as Fed Adds to Stresses. China’s sovereign bonds posted the biggest weekly decline in two years, reeling from the fallout of hawkish Federal Reserve comments, yuan depreciation pressures and waning liquidity. The 10-year sovereign yield surged 25 basis points this week, the most since December 2014, to 3.35 percent on Friday. The one-year yield jumped 50 basis points, while the five-year rose 27 basis points. The yuan, which fell to an eight-year low, is heading for the biggest weekly decline in a month. The debt market selloff caught investors by surprise, with Bocom International Holdings Co. flagging the risk of further declines and Commonwealth Bank of Australia saying it’s hard to see a reversal of fortunes even in the mid-term. While the Fed’s indications of quicker tightening fueled fears of faster fund outflows and ignited a record one-day yield jump Thursday, Chinese bonds have been under pressure in recent weeks from a government-driven effort to reduce leverage.
• Disney’s(DIS) ‘Rogue One’ Reaps $71.1 Million in Two Days:
• Icy Weather Snarls Holiday Travel for Thousands of U.S. Fliers.

Wall Street Journal:

• Aleppo Awaits Evacuations After Apparent Cease-Fire Deal is Brokered. Agreement would allow ‘humanitarian cases’ to leave two government-held Shiite villages.
• China to Return Seized U.S. Underwater Drone. Agreement ends brief standoff, as China shows increasing resistance to U.S. maritime surveillance in region.
• Turkey Bus Blast Kills 13 Soldiers, Leaves Dozens Injured. Latest attack comes a week after 37 policemen and seven civilians were killed outside an Istanbul soccer stadium.
• Facebook’s(FB) Fake Fix for Fake News. Liberal fact-checkers are not the way to ensure a more informed public.

Barron's:

• Had bullish commentary on (BAC), (GOOGL), (CFG), (NVDA), (AMD),(TGT), (HUM), (VZ), (ORCL).
• Had bearish commentary on (DIN).

Fox News:

• Michelle Obama's suggestion Trump is end of 'hope' for America gets pushback. (video)

Zero Hedge:

• Trump Slams Chinese Seizure Of US Drone, Calls It "Unprecedented Act".
• China Responds: Will Return Stolen Drone, "Regrets US Hype".
• Global Debt, Equity Markets Lose $1 Trillion In Value As Hawkish Fed Spooks Traders. (graph)
• A Lowly New High - What Happens Next? (graph)
• China Orders Shut Down Of 1,200 Factories After Smog "Red Alert" Declared In Beijing.
• Trump Picks Fiscal Conservative Hawk Mulvaney As Budget Director.
• "Sorry, Not Sorry" - Neither The Media Nor Their Owners Are Going To Change.
• "When Everyone Is Sure They Know What's Going To Happen, They're Wrong".
• Six Steps Trump Can Take Toward Better Monetary Policy.
• How We Ended Up Here: A Brief History Of "Fake News", And The Role Of FaceBook.
• BuzzFeed And The NYDN: Click-Bait Headlines, False Stories, And Virtually Nonexistent Retractions.
• 2016 Facts And Figures Quiz.
• Central Banker Sees "Scary" 2017.
• George Soros Is Funding Facebook's(FB) "Third-Party Fact Checking" Organization Targeting "Fake News".
• "Dash-For-Trash" At Its Most Extreme Since DotCom Peak... (graph)
• Weekend Reading: Copious Cognitions.
• Stocks Suffer Worst Week Since Election As Banks, Bullion, & Bonds Sink. (graph)

Business Insider:

• Trump has a chance to 'drain the swamp' at the Federal Reserve.
• Rents are finally dropping in New York City, and a bubble might be about to pop.
• Here's what you can do to help besieged, war-torn Aleppo, Syria.
• OBAMA: 'I feel responsible' for Syria.
• 'Reagan would roll over in his grave' — President Obama blasts Republicans who approve of Putin. (video)
• Americans haven't had this much credit card debt since the eve of the financial crisis.