- U.S. agency gives quiet nod to light oil exports (Reuters)
- China’s Stocks Fall to Pare Biggest Monthly Advance Since 2007 (BBG)
- The Cartel: How BP Used a Secret Chat Room for Insider Tips (BBG)
- BRICs Busted as Stocks Diverge Most on Record on Outlook (BBG)
- Petrobras deadline prompts some bondholders to push for default (Reuters)
- AirAsia Captain at His Happiest When Flying, Family Says (BBG)
- UK housing crisis: brick stocks hit record low (Telegraph)
- Kremlin critic Navalny given suspended sentence, brother jailed (Reuters)
- Court Filing Illuminates Morgan Stanley Role in Lending (NYT)
- Twitter Co-Founder Williams Sells $28M in Stock (Barrons)
- Microsoft may be creating entirely new browser with Windows 10 (CNet)
- Representative Grimm to step down following guilty plea (Reuters)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
* The disappearance of AirAsia's Flight 8501 is the third aviation disaster this year to strike a region where air traffic has grown spectacularly to become the world's biggest market, posing new challenges to safety regulators, airlines and governments. (http://on.wsj.com/1EDtlHn)
* The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant ended more than four decades of electricity production on Monday, moving to full retirement amid growing competition from cheap natural gas from the shale boom. (http://on.wsj.com/13G6BFm)
* Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is now officially the world's most valuable tech startup, worth $46 billion-the exclamation point on a year of extraordinary valuations. (http://on.wsj.com/1JYVp8d)
* Pension funds, endowments and wealthy individuals that invest with private equity are finding it increasingly hard to get into the most sought-after funds, according to data and industry participants. (http://on.wsj.com/1twcIZn)
* New York-based Shake Shack Inc filed for an initial public offering Monday, the latest dining chain seeking to capitalize on healthy investor demand for companies that cater to consumers. Shake Shack filed to raise as much as $100 million, though that is a placeholder amount that could change. (http://on.wsj.com/1BklZCz)
FT
Google's email service Gmail was blocked in China for the fourth day, marking an escalation of disruptions that have plagued the webmail service for about half a year now. Google, in a statement said that "there's nothing technically wrong on our end."
U.S. newspaper Washington Post has been approached to license the software it developed to run its website. Its clients may include regional and local newspapers, whose readers are receivers of free digital products from the Post.
E-cigarettes, which are used as an alternative to tobacco cigarettes, have outpaced sports drinks as the fastest-growing product in UK supermarkets this year, according to data released by Nielsen.
Britain-based defence contractor BAE Systems said it is in discussions to sell its anti-tax evasion software, NetReveal to some central European countries. After its success in Slovakia, where the software helped collect 500 million euros ($607.95 million) in tax receipts within first six months of its installation, the company has met with officials from Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary to sell the technology.
NYT
* Emails and documents filed in court provide a look at theextent to which Morgan Stanley influenced New Century's push into riskier mortgages in the run-up to the financial crisis. (http://nyti.ms/1JYW7Ch)
* China has been grappling with a slowing economy, fallingproperty prices and increasingly tight financing conditions. Butthe country's stock markets have been surging, thanks in largepart to regular investors. (http://nyti.ms/1BfZpLv)
* At least 42 people are known to have died in crasheslinked to General Motors defective ignition switch, andboth the company and federal safety regulators have come underfire for allowing the danger to linger for more than a decade.But the experience of some accident victims and their familiesshows that other opportunities to raise public alarm bells -through the legal system - were also lost. (http://nyti.ms/1xuBaM8)
* As the search for AirAsia's Flight 8501 off thecoast of Indonesia entered its third day, aviation experts saidthe difficulty in locating the wreckage underscored thelimitations in how planes are tracked, and showed how little haschanged since the last disappearance. (http://nyti.ms/1y2WQi7)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** TransCanada Corp is girding for a scrap with corporate rivals over plans to ship western oil to Canada's East Coast ahead of regulatory hearings expected to begin next year. Eastern distributors, including Ontario's Union Gas Ltd , Enbridge Gas Distribution and Gaz Metro in Quebec, have said TransCanada's Energy East project would jack up costs and potentially curtail natural gas deliveries in the provinces during times of peak demand. (http://bit.ly/13Q09Mn)
** Crude oil skidded to a five-and-a-half-year low as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries showed no sign it would step in to rescue prices. In Canada, energy companies that have recently reduced their 2015 capital expenditure budgets by double-digit percentages will likely have to claw back spending again if prices remain in the current range for much longer. (http://bit.ly/172Gw5K)
** An Ontario court has dismissed a set of appeals from four families that sought to have provincial legislation related to the approvals of large-scale wind farms declared unconstitutional. In a decision released on Monday, a panel of three Divisional Court judges ruled against the claims of the families who were concerned about the potential health effects of living as close as 500 meters to the turbines. (http://bit.ly/1D3Ox4G)
NATIONAL POST
** Civeo Corp, a major U.S. camp provider, cited falling oil prices and canceled projects for its decision to layoff a third of its staff in Canada and close two of its lodges near Fort McMurray on Monday, a move that reflects a slowdown in Alberta's once red-hot labor market. (http://bit.ly/1vDMW0C)
** The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is concerned about terrorists getting their hands on off-the-shelf drones to target critical infrastructure and VIPs, internal documents show. An intelligence assessment titled Extremist Exploitation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles says there have been more than a dozen alleged plots around the world to use remote-piloted aircraft to carry explosives or chemical and biological agents. None of the plots succeeded. (http://bit.ly/1D3Qy0L)
** Stefan Baraslievski, the Canadian man shot by customs officers in Detroit, had been planning his "suicide by cop" for at least week, United States court documents reveal. Baraslievski bought a BB gun, painted it black and rushed toward officers pointing it at them, hoping to force their hand, the documents said. (http://bit.ly/1x03KTU)
** After deciding it would be too expensive to rebuild a 103-year-old dam built in one of the most collapse-prone areas of Canada, British Columbia's power utility has settled on a controversial plan: Bracing for a disastrous flood. Since early December, BC Hydro has been busily transforming the area surrounding its Jordan River dam into a flood-ready no-man's-land. (http://bit.ly/1EEgx3o)
Britian
The Times
RAIL CHIEFS 'SHOULD FACE THE SACK' OVER CHRISTMAS CHAOS
Rail bosses should be sacked after tens of thousands of passengers endured a weekend of misery because of delayed engineering work and signal failures, a senior Tory MP said yesterday. (http://thetim.es/1zs9xOU)
XIAOMI VALUATION HITS $45 BLN IN FOUR YEARS
The brand may be unknown to smartphone addicts in Britain but Chinese phone maker Xiaomi has emerged as the most likely company to knock the iPhone off its perch after a funding round valued the 4-year-old business at a staggering $45 billion. (http://thetim.es/1xtYxCu)
The Guardian
TALKTALK MOVES TO RELIEVE TESCO OF LOSS-MAKING BLINKBOX VENTURE
Telecoms group TalkTalk has entered the race to buy Tesco PLC's loss-making video streaming service Blinkbox. Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis is thought to be keen to offload the business, which was among investments made by his predecessor Philip Clarke in a push, which included the launch of the Hudl tablet, to embrace the digital age. (http://bit.ly/1zNflYp)
CITY LINK PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM HOPES TO RECOVER 20 MLN STG DESPITE JOB LOSSES
The private equity firm behind City Link expects to recover 20 million stg from the collapsed parcel carrier as it was confirmed thousands of employees would lose their jobs on New Year's Eve. (http://bit.ly/1y2nnfB)
The Telegraph
BANKS NOT YET 'COMPLETELY SAFE' SAYS MERVYN KING
Banks have not completely recovered from the 2008 financial crisis but will not be responsible for the next crash, the former governor of the Bank of England predicted on Monday.
UK HOUSING CRISIS: BRICK STOCKS HIT RECORD LOW
Brick stocks in the UK have reached the lowest level on record as merger mania grips the sector. Stockpiles of the vital building blocks dipped to 323 million at the end of October, down almost a third from 500 million in 2012, after stocks of more than 1 billion were recorded in 2009, according to monthly reports from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, and the Office for National Statistics. (http://bit.ly/1JXrKMM)
Sky News
GLASGOW HEALTHCARE WORKER DIAGNOSED WITH EBOLA
A female healthcare worker who returned to Glasgow from Sierra Leone last night has been confirmed as having Ebola. The woman, possibly a nurse, returned to Scotland via Casablanca and London Heathrow, arriving into Glasgow Airport on a British Airways flight at around 11:30 p.m. (http://bit.ly/1AZWEzN)
JD WETHERSPOON 'TO CREATE 15,000 JOBS'
The pub chain JD Wetherspoon says it is to create 15,000 jobs over the next five years. The company, which already operates 930 pubs and employs 34,000 staff, said the new jobs would be the result of a 400 million stg investment including the opening of 200 new pubs across the UK and Ireland. (http://bit.ly/1tfwnHk)
The Independent
INVESTMENT IN UK TECH FIRMS SOARS TO 1.4 BLN POUNDS
UK-based tech companies attracted $2.1 billion in venture capital funding this year, compared to $1.1 billion in 2013, according to data compiled by CB Insights.
Fly On The Wall Pre-Market Buzz
ECONOMIC REPORTS
Domestic economic reports scheduled for today include:
S&P Case-Shiller 20-city house price index for October at 9:00--consensus up 0.4%
Consumer confidence index for December at 10:00--consensus 93.0
ANALYST RESEARCH
ARMOUR Residential (ARR) downgraded to Hold from Buy at MLV & Co.
Cnova (CNV) initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank
Cnova (CNV) initiated with an Overweight at JPMorgan
Gulfport Energy (GPOR) initiated with a Buy at Topeka
Hyperion Therapeutics (HPTX) initiated with a Buy at Brean Capital
Osiris (OSIR) initiated with a Buy at Brean Capital
Pernix Therapeutics (PTX) initiated with an Outperform at JMP Securities
QLogic (QLGC) initiated with a Buy at DA Davidson
Zogenix (ZGNX) initiated with a Buy at Brean Capital
COMPANY NEWS
Dendreon (DNDN) said debtors have determined not to select stalking horse bid
Civeo (CVEO) suspended its quarterly dividend
CSC (CSC) to pay $190M penalty in SEC accounting probe
Corvex said it has had talks with American Realty (ARCP) on adding a representative to board
Greg Maffei will continue as President, CEO of Liberty Media (LMCA), Liberty Interactive (LVNTA)
EARNINGS
Camden Property (CPT) sees Q4 FFO 97c-$1.01, FY14 FFO $4.16-$4.20
Civeo Corp. (CVEO) sees Q4 revenue $200M-$210M, consensus $208.1M, sees Q1 revenue $160M- $175M , may not compare to consensus $227.95M. Civeo Corp. sees Q2 earnings sequentially lower, sees 2H15 earnings sequentially weaker, sees FY15 revenue $540M-$600M, consensus $817.2M
Bridgeline Digital (BLIN) reports Q4 EPS (8c), one estimate (6c)
NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES
Microsoft (MSFT) may be creating new web browser for Windows 10, CNet says
Petrobras (PBR) says pension fund may be involved in kickback scandal, Reuters reports
Xbox engineer Boyd Multerer leaving Microsoft (MSFT), Business Insider reports
Cybersecurity firm: Former Sony (SNE) worker involved in hack, Security Ledger says
Some Gmail (GOOG) users in China say access restored, WSJ reports
Twitter's (TWTR) former CEO Evan Williams, other insiders sell shares, Barron's reports