Bloomberg:
- China Becomes One of the Top 5 U.S. Patent Recipients for the First Time. Chinese companies have increased the number of U.S. patents they’ve received by tenfold in less than 10 years, another sign that the world’s second-largest economy is succeeding in its strategy to transform from Silicon Valley’s factory to a powerhouse of research. Chinese inventors received 11,241 U.S. patents last year, a 28 percent increase over the same period in 2016, according to a report released Tuesday by IFI Claims Patent Services, a unit of Fairview Research LLC. That propels the nation into the top five recipients for the first time, behind the U.S., Japan, Korea and Germany, but ahead of Taiwan.
- Global Bond Risk Falls to 2007-Low. (video) The cost to buy protection for investment-grade bonds in North America, Europe and Asia ex-Japan fell to a decade-low this month amid investor optimism about lower U.S. taxes and a broadening global economic recovery. The prospect of rating upgrades outnumbering downgrades globally this year and next is higher than at any time since the financial crisis, Fitch Ratings said in a report this week. Credit quality may start to weaken beyond that as ultra-supportive monetary policies are phased out and rising interest rates start to affect funding costs and asset quality, it said. Investors have money to put to work in the New Year and are encouraged by the stability in the major bond markets around the world, said Steve Wang, senior credit analyst at Citic CLSA Securities in Hong Kong.
- Treasury Yields Are Surging and Bond Traders Are Starting to Get Nervous. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed to the highest level in more than nine months, leading Bill Gross at Janus Henderson Group to declare a bond bear market just ahead of a deluge of sovereign debt sales.
Wall Street Journal:
- North Korea to Send Delegation to Winter Olympics, Refuses to Discuss Weapons. South Korea pursues diplomatic dialogue in first face-to-face talks with North in two years.
- Despite Setbacks, Drugmakers Have Plans to Fight Alzheimer’s. Pharmaceutical industry, scientists keep pursuing treatments, with some focusing on earlier intervention.
- Mohammed bin Salman’s Next Saudi Challenge: Curtailing Ultraconservative Islam. Crown prince’s overhaul includes a crackdown on religious fundamentalists who exercised rigid control; woman drivers and music concerts.
- Republicans Scale Down Agenda for Safety-Net Programs, Health Law. Lawmakers likely to focus their efforts on funding the government, debt limit and immigration.
MarketWatch.com:
CNBC:
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