- Yellen, Trump on the Same Page, for Now (WSJ)
- Bond Rout Deepens After Fed Move (WSJ)
- Dollar Climbs to Strongest Since 2003 on Fed Path; Bonds Drop (BBG)
- Trump’s $6 Billion Cabinet: Mostly Men, Mostly White and Not Much Government Experience (BBG)
- Trump’s Foreign Partners Expect to Benefit (WSJ)
- Targeting U.S. automaker signals possible China retaliation over Trump talk (Reuters)
- Chinese ambassador to U.S.: Sovereignty not a ‘bargaining chip’ (Reuters)
- Italy ready to recapitalise ailing banks with 15 billion euros: (Reuters)
- China Halts Trading in Key Bond Futures (WSJ)
- Inside the BOJ, rate hikes are back on the radar. Really (Reuters)
- Assad’s Choice: Fight Rebels but Give Way to ISIS (WSJ)
- OPEC Threatened by a Tiny Oklahoma Town (BBG)
- Russia says talks with U.S. over Aleppo suspended (Reuters)
- Tokyo Regains Costliest City for Expats Title as London Drops (BBG)
- SNB Joins Draghi in Warning of Dread for Politics Next Year (BBG)
- Google extends conservative outreach as Trump calls tech meeting (Reuters)
- Iran sanctions extension act to become law without Obama’s signature: White House (Reuters)
- Stolen Yahoo Data Includes Government Employee Information (BBG)
- $2 Billion Gulfport Buy Shows Drillers Thirsting for Next Play (BBG)
- Average Credit Card Debt: $16K. Total Debt: $133K. Where Do You Fit In? (BBG)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson has decided to question Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally to determine whether he breached the Conflict of Interest Act when he attended Liberal Party cash-for-access fundraisers with corporate executives wanting favors from the federal government. https://tgam.ca/2h3yVcG
** The federal Liberal government will bow to a recommendation of a Senate committee that is reviewing legislation to end gender-based discrimination in the Indian Act by asking the Quebec Superior Court – which said the act had to be corrected by early February – for an extension to allow more time for consultation. https://tgam.ca/2gMxHqg
** A plan to lift Stelco Inc out of creditor protection is backed by the Ontario government and one of the steel maker’s union locals, but another union local, the city of Hamilton and a former president of the company oppose the proposal. https://tgam.ca/2hzDN9T
NATIONAL POST
** Canada is committing to public consultations on a potential free trade deal with China, and government officials from both countries are set to hold a first meeting early in 2017. http://bit.ly/2gCAPzK
** In a surprising move Wednesday, Evernote said it will be updating its privacy policy next month to allow employees to physically see data users upload to its service. http://bit.ly/2hwHPmk
** The Canadian federal government hopes its corporate governance bill will improve gender diversity on corporate boards, but won’t rule out quotas if the problem persists, innovation minister Navdeep Bains said Wednesday. http://bit.ly/2hohvdB
FT
– Spanish Healthcare group Grifols is buying the nucleic acid testing unit of Hologic for $1.85 billion. Deal includes a plant in San Diego along with development rights and licenses to patents and access to product manufacturers.
– New York Stock Exchange agreed to buy the National Stock Exchange. It also agreed to keep the National Stock exchange open. The deal will give the exchanges operator a fourth U.S. exchange licence and one that would be distinct from NYSE, NYSE MKT and Arca.
– Struggling internet giant Yahoo said hackers stole personal data on more than a billion users in 2013. This announcement comes after the summer’s disclosure of another intrusion in 2014 that affected 500 million Yahoo accounts.
– Darren Woods, former head of its refining and transport operations, was appointed as Exxon Mobil’s new chief executive, following the retirement of Rex Tillerson who has been picked by Donald Trump to be his secretary of state.
– Uber has been ordered by California highways regulator to pull its self-driving cars off the roads of San Francisco while it obtains the required permit, less than a day after it began the pilot in its hometown
NYT
– Yahoo Inc, already reeling from its September disclosure that 500 million user accounts had been hacked in 2014, disclosed Wednesday that a different attack in 2013 compromised more than 1 billion accounts. The two attacks are the largest known security breaches of one company’s computer network. http://nyti.ms/2hQbcMV
– The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate Wednesday for just the second time since the financial crisis of 2008, saying the American economy is expanding at a healthy pace and setting itself up as a counterweight to President-elect Donald Trump’s push for considerably faster growth. http://nyti.ms/2hvQwNM
– President-elect Donald Trump met with Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com Inc and Timothy Cook of Apple Inc, among other tech leaders, in a surprisingly genial gathering. http://nyti.ms/2gNeRO3
– Fox News named Kevin Lord as the new head of human resources in the aftermath of a sexual harassment scandal that led to the ousting of the network’s chairman and exposed a culture of inappropriate behavior toward women. http://nyti.ms/2hQc6ZZ
– Exxon Mobil Corp wasted no time in announcing on Wednesday that Darren Woods, the company president, would succeed Rex Tillerson as chairman and chief executive now that Tillerson has been nominated to head the State Department. http://nyti.ms/2hHyclh
– Warner Bros streamlined its film operation on Wednesday, consolidating filmmaking power under Toby Emmerich and parting ways with Greg Silverman, a move that comes after a highly profitable but creatively inconsistent stretch for the studio. http://nyti.ms/2hvStd2
– Uber made a big splash in its hometown on Wednesday when it started offering self-driving car service to passengers here, making San Francisco the second city in the world where the ride-hailing company provides autonomous vehicles for public use. http://nyti.ms/2hyatAP
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson has decided to question Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally to determine whether he breached the Conflict of Interest Act when he attended Liberal Party cash-for-access fundraisers with corporate executives wanting favors from the federal government. https://tgam.ca/2h3yVcG
** The federal Liberal government will bow to a recommendation of a Senate committee that is reviewing legislation to end gender-based discrimination in the Indian Act by asking the Quebec Superior Court – which said the act had to be corrected by early February – for an extension to allow more time for consultation. https://tgam.ca/2gMxHqg
** A plan to lift Stelco Inc out of creditor protection is backed by the Ontario government and one of the steel maker’s union locals, but another union local, the city of Hamilton and a former president of the company oppose the proposal. https://tgam.ca/2hzDN9T
NATIONAL POST
** Canada is committing to public consultations on a potential free trade deal with China, and government officials from both countries are set to hold a first meeting early in 2017. http://bit.ly/2gCAPzK
** In a surprising move Wednesday, Evernote said it will be updating its privacy policy next month to allow employees to physically see data users upload to its service. http://bit.ly/2hwHPmk
** The Canadian federal government hopes its corporate governance bill will improve gender diversity on corporate boards, but won’t rule out quotas if the problem persists, innovation minister Navdeep Bains said Wednesday. http://bit.ly/2hohvdB
Britain
The Times
* Twenty-First Century Fox Inc is expected today to make a formal offer to buy Sky Plc in an 18.5 billion pounds ($23.17 billion) takeover. http://bit.ly/2hH1dO7
* Mortgage lending dipped in October for home movers, first-time buyers and buy-to-let landlords, according to the Council for Mortgage Lenders. The Council said a total of 10.5 billion pounds ($13.15 billion) had been lent in October. This was 11 percent lower than October last year. http://bit.ly/2hGTxeO
The Guardian
* The Danish firm Lego is to raise its prices in Britain by 5 percent next year as it becomes the latest manufacturer to respond to the plunging pound after the UK voted to leave the EU. http://bit.ly/2hGUync
* The maximum compensation someone can receive if an investment company goes bust could be increased from its current 50,000 pounds ($62,610.00) to as much as 1 million pounds ($1.25 million), Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority has suggested. http://bit.ly/2hGWD2p
The Telegraph
* It is vital to fight for the City London in the Brexit negotiations, and the government should not be ashamed to stand up for Britain’s banking expertise, a committee of Lords has announced. http://bit.ly/2hGQeUV
* The London Stock Exchange Group Plc has said it will “constructively engage” with European regulators after they homed in on derivatives clearing as the focus of their probe into the firm’s planned merger with Deutsche Boerse. http://bit.ly/2hGVojs
Sky News
* A strike by drivers who deliver goods for Argos Resources Ltd has been called off just a day after it was announced. http://bit.ly/2hGTgsd
* The architect of impending reforms to the BBC’s governance, David Clementi, is among a crop of candidates vying to become the broadcaster’s next chairman. http://bit.ly/2hGVzeI
The Independent
* British Airways cabin crew have voted in favour of strikes which could severely impact flights at Heathrow airport over Christmas. http://ind.pn/2hGVHuY
* Conditions at a JD Sports Fashion Plc’s warehouse are “worse than a prison” and staff are threatened with being sacked just for sitting down, according to allegations made in a Channel 4 News film. http://ind.pn/2hGNmYa
Centinel2012 