- North Korea, South Korea agree to hold military talks (Reuters), resolve issues through dialogue (Reuters)
- North Korea Strikes Deal to Join Winter Olympics, Commits to Military Talks (WSJ)
- Oil hits highest since May 2015 above $68 on tighter market (Reuters)
- As Economy Strengthens, Fed Ponders New Approach (NYT)
- Intel CEO Comments Indicate Chip Issue May Cause Bigger Slowdown (BBG)
- Wall Street’s Euphoria May Spell Trouble for Stocks (BBG)
- Hedge Funds’ Best Year Since 2013 Not as Great as It Sounds (BBG)
- Microsoft halts some AMD chip Meltdown patches after PCs freeze (Reuters)
- Silicon Valley Reconsiders the iPhone Era It Created (WSJ)
- Bitcoin’s 43% Arbitrage Trade Is a Lot Tougher Than It Looks (Bloomberg)
- East China Sea oil tanker burns for third day as winds, high waves lash rescuers (Reuters)
- France Probes Apple on Claim iPhones Are Designed to Die (BBG)
- Target’s holiday sales rise 3.4 percent, boosts profit forecast (Reuters)
- Wall Street’s Rising Euphoria May Spell Trouble for Stock Market (BBG)
- How Allergan Continues to Make Drug Prices Insane (BBG)
- Talks with rebels in no-man’s land as Russia eyes post-war role in Syria (Reuters)
- Huawei, Seen as Possible Spy Threat, Boomed Despite U.S. Warnings (WSJ)
- SpaceX-Launched U.S. Military Satellite Appears Lost (BBG)
- Trump Power Plan Rejected by Federal Energy Regulators (WSJ)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– Apple Inc defended its record of providing parental controls and other protections for children who use its iPhones and other devices, after a pair of prominent investors, Jana Partners LLC and Calstrs, called on the tech giant to take more steps to curb the ill effects of smartphones. on.wsj.com/2qJcfHY
– Leucadia National Corp is exploring a sale of part or all of its stake in its National Beef Packing Co unit, one of the biggest U.S. meat-processing companies. on.wsj.com/2qJngcc
– President Donald Trump told a gathering of farmers Monday that he is seeking a better trade deal with Canada and Mexico that will benefit both the agricultural industry and manufacturing, but he didn’t reiterate previous warnings on withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement. on.wsj.com/2qHgK5V
– AT&T Inc has walked away from a deal to sell smartphones made by Chinese electronics giant Huawei Technologies Co. on.wsj.com/2qLmDPv
– Facebook Inc and Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi Corp are teaming up to launch a virtual-reality headset in China that would give the American tech giant a toehold in a growing market where its main business has long been blocked. on.wsj.com/2qI0eCv
FT
Altice announced an organisational shake-up on Monday which would see a spin-off of its U.S. business, Altice USA, and its European operations would be restructured into three units. The telecoms and cable group also said $1.5 billion cash dividend would be paid immediately before separation with plans for a $2 billion share buyback to follow.
The European Central Bank sold its entire holding of bonds from scandal-hit South African retailer Steinhoff International last week, data showed on Monday, booking steep losses to offload debt from the company that is facing multiple probes into its accounting practices.
Britain’s financial watchdog fined a former Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc trader Neil Danziger 250,000 pounds ($339,125.00) for his role in the Libor-rigging scandal and barred him from working in any regulated financial activity.
Facebook Inc’s Oculus is teaming up with smartphone maker Xiaomi (IPO-XMGP.HK) to launch its new mobile virtual-reality headset in China, giving the social media giant a foothold in a market where most of its internet services are barred.
NYT
– The popular electronic toymaker VTech Electronics agreed to pay $650,000 to settle charges that it had collected digital data on children without parents’ permission and failed to keep that information secure from hackers, the Federal Trade Commission said Monday. nyti.ms/2CRI6vA
– Conde Nast has picked Samantha Barry to be the next editor in chief of Glamour. She will be first person with an exclusively digital and television background to lead a Conde Nast magazine. nyti.ms/2CW6gFi
– Federal regulators on Monday rejected a proposal by Energy Secretary Rick Perry to subsidize struggling coal and nuclear plants, in a major blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to revive America’s declining coal industry. nyti.ms/2CW0UKn
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** The federal ethics commissioner has dismissed opposition accusations that Bill Morneau benefited from insider trading, but has yet to rule on whether the finance minister was in a conflict of interest when he introduced pension legislation. tgam.ca/2AHT3tV
** Ontario is investigating reports of businesses that have allegedly violated workplace rules after the hike to the minimum wage, and the province’s Labour Minister says he’s hiring up to 175 new inspectors to enforce the law. tgam.ca/2maiK0R
** Loblaw Companies Ltd offer of free $25 gift cards to make amends for fixing bread prices over 14 years is “a misleading and deceitful public relations” campaign designed to benefit the grocer, says a complainant seeking to launch a class-action lawsuit against the retailer. tgam.ca/2qKRgnV
NATIONAL POST
** In an email, the Department of National Defence told Postmedia the decision to hold off on the $20 million military spending. Construction on the vessels, at Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver, is supposed to start this year, but the project’s timing now appears uncertain. bit.ly/2CWTxSU
Britain
The Times
– Jaguar Land Rover has launched an attack on the government, claiming that ministers’ “demonisation of diesel” was undermining the UK’s largest carmaker. bit.ly/2mgwJmJ
– Justine Greening quit in protest at her demotion from education secretary last night as a reshuffle laid bare UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s lack of authority and revived questions over the competence of her administration. bit.ly/2mfsiJ0
The Guardian
– Britain’s manufacturers are more upbeat about the state of the global economy than at any time since 2014 and believe demand from overseas will sustain their businesses through another year of Brexit uncertainty, a survey by manufacturers’ organisation EEF and the insurance firm AIG has shown.
– UK house prices fell unexpectedly in December, their first fall in six months, according to Halifax. The average price of a home fell by 0.6 percent to 225,021 pounds ($305,353.50) in December. bit.ly/2mhhyJZ
The Telegraph
– Travel companies are hoping the UK Government will move swiftly on its planned crack down against bogus sickness claims as new data showed a fifth of holidaymakers had been approached about trying to get compensation. bit.ly/2mfUcnY
– High street retailers faced a dismal end to 2017 despite Black Friday efforts as inflation-hit households cut back on overall spending and shopped online, figures from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG have revealed. bit.ly/2mgAys5
Sky News
– Vauxhall is to cut a further 250 jobs at its plant in Cheshire as it slashes production of the Astra. The carmaker, sold to Peugeot SA owner PSA by General Motors Co last year, said the losses would be on top of 400 redundancies announced in October. bit.ly/2mgBaxT
– Bailiffs have been unleashed in the UK on almost 41,000 companies struggling to pay higher business rates since last year’s controversial revaluation, an investigation by ratings adviser Altus Group has claimed. bit.ly/2meYEDt
The Independent
– Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell failed to provide information about the firm’s pension schemes to investigators after it collapsed into administration with the loss of thousands of jobs, a UK court heard. ind.pn/2mgdrhr
– A former Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc trader has been fined 250,000 pounds ($339,250.00) and banned from regulated trading by the City watchdog over his role in the Libor-rigging scandal. ind.pn/2mfrYJV
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