Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Dramatic Appeals for Civilian Lives as Syrian Forces Poise to Take Aleppo. (video) Syrian rebels reached a cease-fire deal to evacuate from eastern Aleppo in an effective surrender on Tuesday, as Russia declared all military action had stopped and the Syrian government had assumed control of the former rebel enclave. The dramatic developments, which appeared to restore the remainder of what was once Syria's largest city to President Bashar Assad's forces after months of heavy fighting and a crippling siege, followed reports of mass killings by government forces closing in on the final few blocks still held by the rebels. Individuals in Aleppo have tweeted what are being called "final messages" using the hashtag #SaveAleppo:
- Japan Corporate Sentiment Rises for 1st Time in Six Quarters. (video) Sentiment among large manufacturers rose to 10 from 6 three months ago (est.10), according to the Tankan survey released by the Bank of Japan Wednesday.
- Even Car Sales Have Been Hit by India’s Chaotic Cash Clampdown. Industrywide demand for passenger vehicles in India will be depressed for a few months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unprecedented cash clampdown, according to senior executives at Tata Motors Ltd. and Honda Motor Co. The cash crunch after scrapping of old high-denomination banknotes has hurt consumer sentiment and is expected to continue through March, Mayank Pareek, president of passenger vehicle business at Tata Motors, said in an interview. Customers who have deferred purchases may come back in a few months depending on the economy, Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice president at Honda’s India auto unit, said without elaborating.
- Asia Stocks Rise to 1-Month High as Fed Day Dawns; Dollar Steady.
A gauge of Asian shares rose toward a one-month high and Chinese index
futures signaled gains after both the S&P 500 Index and the Dow
Jones Industrial Average rocketed to new records. With bets on a U.S.
rate increase Wednesday wedged at 100 percent, the dollar held in
position versus major peers, while ceding ground to the Korean won and
the Malaysian ringgit. Government bonds maintained their advance as
Treasuries continued to range trade. U.S. crude fell from a 17-month
high before an update on inventories. Copper fell as rising stockpiles
take the sheen off industrial metals. Consumer stocks and utilities
pushed the MSCI Asia Pacific Index up .2% as of 9:57 am Tokyo time,
headed for its highest close since Nov. 1, even as Japan's Topix
fluctuated, holding around its highest level this year.
Wall Street Journal:
- Deals With Putin Helped Fuel Rise of Rex Tillerson at Exxon. Oil CEO chosen to be Trump’s secretary of state has ties with Russian leader, others with strained relations with U.S. Rex Tillerson was propelled to the top of Exxon Mobil Corp. partly by negotiating a deal with Vladimir Putin to kick-start an oil project in Russia’s Far East, one of a series of agreements between the pair stretching back to 1999.
- Marco Rubio Joins Other GOP Senators Voicing Concern Over Rex Tillerson. Some question secretary of state nominee’s dealings with Russia.
- After China’s Hubris, It’s Trump’s Turn. Once confident U.S. was in decline, Beijing finds itself with a weak economic hand.
- Aleppo Cease-Fire Clears Way to Evacuate Rebel-Held Areas of Syrian City. Deal brokered by Russia and Turkey, as residents report atrocities by regime’s forces in devastated parts of city.
- Stock Rally, Fed Tightening Plans Will Confront Rising Short-Term Funding Costs. If not matched by quicker growth, funding costs could start to weigh on the economy.
Fox News:
Zero Hedge:
- Do State Revenue Trends Indicate That A Recession Is Imminent?
- Oil Tumbles After Big Surprise Crude, Gasoline Build.
- Mysterious Military Plane Circles Above Manhattan; Residents Puzzled. (pic)
- New Hedge Fund "2 & 20" Model Trades Purely On Anonymously Submitted Ideas.
- VIX Up, Stocks Up, Bonds Up... Fed Up! (graph)
- 'All anyone ever wanted was to be treated no better than animals': Syrians lose hope as Aleppo falls.
- Wells Fargo(WFC) failed its 'living will' test a second time and is on the brink of sanctions.
- Trump's choice for Secretary of State called the trade agreement Trump regularly roasts a 'promising development'.
- There's a new risk to stocks.
- A timeline of Rex Tillerson's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- UN: US, others wringing their hands while 'hellish suffering' plays out in Aleppo.
- ‘A Complete Meltdown of Humanity’: Aleppo Civilians Reported Killed as They Flee. Fighting in the besieged eastern districts of Aleppo stopped on Tuesday, a Russian official said, just hours after the United Nations said it had received credible reports that forces loyal to the Syrian government were gunning down civilians trying to flee and killing residents in their homes.
Reuters:
Telegraph:- Gundlach: U.S. 10-year Treasury yield above 3 percent will harm stocks, housing. A U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield above 3 percent will harm the stock-market rally and housing market, said Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of DoubleLine Capital, on Tuesday. "I think above 3 percent is a problem," Gundlach told Reuters. "If the 10-year goes above 3 percent, you would also have to say unequivocally you have seen the end of the bond bull market." On an investor webcast late Tuesday, Gundlach reiterated that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration will be "bond unfriendly" and investors should brace for a 6 percent 10-year Treasury yield within four to five years.
news.com.au:
Night Trading
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
8:30 am EST
Night Trading
- Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.5% on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 114.75 -4.75 basis points.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 36.25 unch.
- Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 70.37 +.03%.
- S&P 500 futures -.07%.
- NASDAQ 100 futures +.02%.
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
- (JOY)/.16
- (PIR)/.13
- (APOG)/.77
8:30 am EST
- Advance Retail Sales MoM for November are estimated to rise +.3% versus a +.8% gain in October.
- Retail Sales Ex Auto MoM for November are estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.8% gain in October.
- Retail Sales Ex Auto and Gas for November are estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.6% gain in October.
- PPI Final Demand MoM for November is estimated to rise +.1% versus unch. in October.
- PPI Ex Food and Energy MoM for November is estimated to rise .2% versus a -.2% decline in October.
- Industrial Production MoM for November is estimated to fall -.3% versus unch. in October.
- Manufacturing Production for November is estimated to fall -.2% versus a +.2% gain in October.
- Capacity Utilization for November is estimated to fall to 75.1% versus 75.3% in October.
- Business Inventories for October are estimated to fall by -.1% versus a +.1% gain in September.
- Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory decline of -1,354,360 barrels versus a -2,389,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to rise by +1,901,090 barrels versus a +3,425,000 barrel gain the prior week. Distillate supplies are estimated to rise by +988,550 barrels versus a +2,501,000 barrel gain the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to rise by +.46% versus a +.6% gain prior.
- The FOMC is expected to raise the benchmark Fed Funds rate from .25-.5% to .5-.75%.
- FOMC Summary of Economic projections.
- None of note
- The Fed's Yellen speaking, Eurozone Industrial Production report, Australian Unemployment report, OPEC Monthly Update, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Report, BMO Healthcare Conference, (GE) Outlook Meeting and the (UTX) Outlook Conference Call could also impact trading today.