- Oil soars on OPEC hopes, dollar renews its surge (Reuters)
- Oil Rallies on OPEC Optimism, Spurring Gains in Energy Producers (BBG)
- Saudis say to take ‘big hit’ on oil output for OPEC deal, Iran can freeze (Reuters)
- Leaner and meaner: U.S. shale greater threat to OPEC after oil price war (Reuters)
- an the U.S. Become an Energy Superpower in 2017? (BBG)
- RBS Fails Toughest-Ever BOE Stress Test, Boosts Capital Plan (RBS)
- Romney heaps praise on Trump after dinner (Reuters)
- Trump announces December 15 news conference to discuss leaving business (Reuters)
- U.S. to Forgive at Least $108 Billion in Student Debt in Coming Years (WSJ)
- Euro-Area Inflation Accelerates Before Key ECB Decision on QE (BBG)
- GM’s Ready to Lose $9,000 a Pop Chasing the E-Car Boom (BBG)
- Bank of England sees global financial risks after Trump victory (Reuters)
- President Obama: ‘Michelle will never run for office’ (Rolling Stone)
- Air France Workers Get Suspended Jail Terms in Torn-Shirt Case (WSJ)
- Italy: The Next Stop on Populism’s Global March (WSJ)
- Philip Morris CEO looks towards phasing out cigarettes (Reuters)
- Manhattan Home Resellers Slow Deals With Dreams of 40% Returns (BBG)
- CIA’s Brennan says tearing up Iran deal would be ‘folly’ (Reuters)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
– President-elect Donald Trump will name long-time banker and former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary, turning to a campaign loyalist and fundraiser for the incoming administration’s top economic cabinet post, a transition official said Tuesday. http://on.wsj.com/2fK56fO
– Residents of Chapeco, Brazil, struggle with news that a plane crash has decimated their soccer team, Chapecoense, a scrappy bunch of no-names, who clawed their way into the top ranks of Brazilian soccer, and were preparing for the biggest match of their lives. http://on.wsj.com/2guv8oO
– At least three people died in the wildfires raging in Gatlinburg, Tenn., and at least 14 people were transported to hospitals with fire-related injuries, according to city officials. http://on.wsj.com/2fKcEPq
– Wilbur Ross Jr., who has been picked as the next commerce secretary, will be tasked with trying to bring home manufacturing jobs that have fled overseas, a key plank of President-elect Donald Trump’s trade agenda. http://on.wsj.com/2gId7mc
– Carrier Corp has agreed to keep in Indiana roughly half of the 2,100 jobs it had planned to shift to Mexico, after a lobbying effort from the incoming Trump administration. http://on.wsj.com/2fAD76W
– U.S. home prices have climbed back above the record reached more than a decade ago, bringing to a close the worst period for the housing market since the Great Depression and stoking optimism for a more sustainable expansion. http://on.wsj.com/2fHPZ6z
– Corporate profits continued to rebound in the third quarter alongside solid growth in the broader U.S. economy. Compared with a year earlier, after-tax profits rose 5.2 percent in the third quarter, the first annual increase since late 2014. http://on.wsj.com/2gEnAPE
– In tapping Rep. Tom Price and Medicaid consultant Seema Verma for top health positions, President-elect Donald Trump has signaled that he intends to put conservative health-policy goals at the forefront of his administration. http://on.wsj.com/2gGsH1Q
– Altice USA, the fourth largest U.S. cable operator, said it plans to convert its entire network into an ultrafast fiber-to-the-home network capable of 10 gigabits-per-second speeds within the next five years, a bold plan that takes aim at the company’s fierce rival, Verizon Communications Inc’s Fios. http://on.wsj.com/2gHlq34
FT
Co-operative Energy has been chosen to supply customers of bankrupt GB Energy, British energy regulator Ofgem said. Ofgem said the company will honour all outstanding credit balances for present and past customers.
German industrial gases group Linde has received a fresh approach from U.S. rival Praxair for a merger of equals and its executive board is reviewing the proposal. The two parties abandoned talks in September to create a $60 billion-plus market leader after failing to agree on where important functions would be located and who would occupy key positions.
Sky Plc said it would enter the UK mobile market with a SIM-only deal that allows data allowances to roll over each month, and offers free calls to the 11 million British households that take its TV services. It was “time to shake up” the mobile market, particularly in data, where many customers paid for more than they used because they were worried about exceeding their allowance, the pay-TV group said on Tuesday.
Britain’s telecoms regulator will go to the European Commission to try to force BT Group Plc to legally separate Openreach, the division that supplies broadband to millions of homes and businesses, in a major reform aimed at spurring investment in the country’s ageing network.
South Korea said on Tuesday it plans to disallow sales of two Nissan Motor Co Ltd, one BMW AG and three Porsche AG car models after finding errors in certification documents for the car makers’ imported models.
NYT
– Steven Mnuchin, a financier with deep roots on Wall Street and in Hollywood, is expected to be named Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary as soon as Wednesday. http://nyti.ms/2gikMuK
– Uber, at the European Court of Justice, defended itself by asserting that it was helping to bolster Europe’s digital economy, in a long-awaited hearing to decide how the ride-hailing service should be able to operate across the region. Uber’s legal challenge in Europe represents a direct attack on how Uber operates in the region. http://nyti.ms/2giot3x
– President-elect Donald Trump proposed that Americans who protest government policies by burning the flag could lose their citizenship – meaning, among other things, their right to vote – as punishment. http://nyti.ms/2giounT
– Intel, Delphi Automotive and Mobileye plan to collaborate in an alliance in which Intel will provide specialized computer chips to Delphi, an auto supplier, and Mobileye, which specializes in vision systems that have been used in some of the autonomous-driving systems made by Tesla. Delphi and Mobileye would begin using the Core i7 Intel chip, and later would use a more powerful and unnamed processor to be unveiled in a few weeks. http://nyti.ms/2gipfgE
– – President-elect Donald Trump and Mike Pence, Indiana’s governor and the vice president-elect, plan to appear at Carrier’s Indianapolis factory on Thursday to announce a deal with the company to keep roughly 1,000 jobs in the state. http://nyti.ms/2gii1JF
– In a decision that will prompt showdowns with environmentalists, indigenous groups and some political allies, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau approved the expansion of a pipeline linking the oil sands in Alberta to a tanker port in British Columbia. http://nyti.ms/2gijq2M
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** The federal government has approved two major crude oil pipelines, including the controversial expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain line to Vancouver. Ottawa will also impose a moratorium on crude oil tankers off the northerly coast of British Columbia. (https://tgam.ca/2fCpGDB)
** Canadians have increasingly been spending more to visit Cuba as resorts switched pricing to U.S. dollars in preparation for a flood of American tourists. (https://tgam.ca/2fCoPCF)
** Executives from Air Miles parent company LoyaltyOne Inc, one of Canada’s largest loyalty program companies, went to Queen’s Park on Tuesday to state their objection to a bill that would deny them the right to have points in their programs expire in Ontario. (https://tgam.ca/2gIWjeH)
** Donald Trump is taking direct aim at Barack Obama’s legacy as he assembles an administration team bent on rolling back some of his signature reforms in health care, immigration and more. (https://tgam.ca/2fCcGOd)
NATIONAL POST
** Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced approvals for two major export pipelines Tuesday, while dismissing a third pipeline and imposing a ban on oil tanker traffic on the northern section of British Columbia’s coast. (http://bit.ly/2gIZzqG)
** Amazon Inc remains tight-lipped about its plans to launch its video streaming service in Canada, but local players anticipate the deep-pocketed competitor will enter the market by the end of the week. (http://bit.ly/2gIUizr)
** Foreign home ownership levels have nudged their way up in Vancouver despite a tax brought in by the provincial government which adds an extra 15 percent to the purchase price for any overseas buyers. (http://bit.ly/2gIYejM)
Britain
The Times
* Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski has cast doubt on Brexit ever happening, saying that Britain should stay in the European Union as long as possible. http://bit.ly/2gDKQkz
* German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered a terse message to British Prime Minister Theresa May that she would not help Britain by agreeing on specific issues, even ones supported by Germany. http://bit.ly/2gDRves
The Guardian
* A mining company, Scotgold Resources Ltd, hoping to open the only underground goldmine in the Scottish Highlands has sold its first gold in the form of 11 commemorative coins. http://bit.ly/2fOpzU2
* British regulator Ofcom has chosen Co-operative Energy – a company that last month paid out 1.8 million pounds ($2.25 million) in compensation to customers – to take over the supply GB Energy’s gas and electricity customers. http://bit.ly/2gGQFeo
The Telegraph
* Motorists could see the price of foreign cars jump by 1,500 pounds if Britain fails to agree a deal on trade tariffs when it leaves the European Union, warned Gareth Jones, president of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. http://bit.ly/2gGrA36
* Sky Plc has launched its attack on the mobile market, hoping to convince millions of its pay-TV customers to defect from their current provider with the offer of unlimited free calls and texts. http://bit.ly/2fAv3Dp
Sky News
* Hauts-de-France, the northern part of France encompassing Calais and Lille, is calling on British businesses to consider using it as a foothold inside the European Union after Brexit. http://bit.ly/2fOBcdD
* One of Britain’s leading industrialists, George Buckley, has emerged as a surprise candidate to lead Tata, the giant Indian conglomerate that is among the UK’s largest inward investors. http://bit.ly/2gCzrkP
The Independent
* British regulator Ofcom says it will file plans to force BT Group to set the broadband infrastructure provider up as a legally separate entity with the European Commission as talks over a voluntary deal drag on. http://ind.pn/2gRIQpm
via http://ift.tt/2gjWhgJ Tyler Durden