TOP STORIES:
New
York Times Warns "Budget Cuts Are Coming", Will Invest $5 Million To
Cover Trump - (www.zerohedge.com) And yet not
all was good news, because in the report was
a warning that budget cuts are coming, a notice which followed the newspaper's
announcement several weeks ago that it would rent out floors in its
headquarters to other companies to beef up its cash flow. To wit: Some of these
initiatives stem directly from consultations with the 2020 group; others result
from the realities of the media business in a period of rapid change. Nothing
can disguise the fact that the continued shift from print to digital demands a
somewhat smaller and more focused newsroom. There will be budget cuts this
year. We will lay out the specifics in the coming weeks and months. We
cannot pretend to be immune from financial pressures but we view this moment as
a necessary repositioning of The Times’s newsroom, not as a diminishment.
Nuclear Energy Sector Turns in Taxpayer-Sinkhole - (www.wolfstreet.com) When a utility
stock pays a dividend that yields 11 percent it is either an overlooked steal
or the equity of a company with big problems–and a dividend that’s soon to be
either eliminated or reduced. EDF, France’s state controlled nuclear energy
giant, looks more the latter than the former. But never underestimate the determination
of French politicians–right, left and center to protect and subsidize their
civilian nuclear power establishment. To understand this byzantine story of
French public and private partnerships, let’s start with EDF’s current stock
price. It’s priced in Paris this morning at about €9.60, slightly above the 52
week low. And down from a high of €28.78 more than two years ago.
US
companies rush to reprice debt as higher rates loom - (www.ft.com) US companies have rushed to renegotiate their
loans at the start of the year, taking advantage of strong investor demand for
debt that is more insulated against an expected rise in interest rates. January’s
re-pricing volume has already reached $41.6bn — the highest monthly volume
since January 2013 with a further two weeks before the month ends, according to
data from LCD, an offering of S&P Global Market Intelligence. The robust
activity reflects investors anticipating higher interest rates in the coming year
in light of forecasts of a stronger US economy under the incoming
administration of Donald Trump. That sets the stage for policy tightenings from
the Federal Reserve during 2017, which is likely to hurt holders of fixed
income debt.
Why
Obamacare's "20 Million" Number Is Fake - (www.zerohedge.com) The next time a defender of Obamacare
tries to take the moral high ground about the millions of people the law
has helped, ask them to define what “help” looks like. The Obama
administration claims 20 million more Americans today have health care due to
Obamacare. The reality is that when you look at the actual net gains over the
past two years since the program was fully implemented, the number is 14 million,
and of that, 11.8 million (84 percent) were people given the “gift” of
Medicaid. And new research shows that even fewer people will be left without
insurance after the repeal of Obamacare. Numbers are still being crunched, but
between statistics released by the Congressional Budget Office and one of the
infamous architects of Obamacare, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s
Jonathan Gruber, it’s estimated that anywhere from 2 to 7 million
people now on Medicaid would have qualified for the program even without
Obamacare. That further discredits the administration’s claim of 20 million
more Americans having health insurance because of Obamacare.
Britain's
May to call for national unity in major Brexit speech - (www.cnbc.com) Prime Minister
Theresa May will call on Britons to reject the acrimony of the Brexit referendum in a speech this week
that some newspapers have billed as setting the stage for a "hard"
exit from the European Union. Investors
will scrutinize May's speech on Tuesday for clues on whether she plans to
prioritize immigration controls and bilateral trade deals in a "hard
Brexit" that would see Britain leave the EU's single market and customs
union. May intends to launch by the end of March the formal process of
negotiating the terms of Britain's
exit from the EU, but has so far given very little away about what deal she
will be seeking, frustrating some investors, businesses and lawmakers.
Pound Drops on EU Concern, Australian Shares Gain: Markets Wrap - (www.bloomberg.com)
Trump says Brexit to be 'a great thing', wants quick trade deal with UK - (www.reuters.com)
World's eight richest as wealthy as half humanity, Oxfam tells Davos - (www.reuters.com)
Trump will soon be begging the Fed for QE4: Marc Faber - (www.cnbc.com)
Trump Slams NATO, Floats Russia Nuke Deal in European Interview - (www.bloomberg.com)
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