- Global Stocks Take Breather After Oil-Fueled Rally (WSJ)
- Junk Investors Evade the Trade (WSJ)
- How the Third Avenue Fund Melted Down (WSJ)
- Oil Traders Set to Pounce as U.S. Prepares to Lift Export Ban (BBG)
- JPMorgan Says Japan Inc. Must Prepare for Yen Below 100 a Dollar (BBG)
- U.S. air strikes hit targets in embattled Afghan district (Reuters)
- Malls Reel as Web Roars With Holiday Shopping (WSJ)
- Assad Government Willing to Join Syria Peace Talks in Geneva (BBG)
- Manhattan Luxury-Home Prices in a Slide, Defying Broader Market (BBG)
- Presidential Battle Fuels Republican Worries Over Senate (WSJ)
- Record highs predicted for bitcoin in 2016 as new supply halves (Reuters)
- Japan Approves Record Defense Budget as China's Presence Grows (BBG)
- Turkey’s Kurdish Cities Become War Zones (WSJ)
- Puerto Rico Electric Wins Debt-Restructuring Deal With Creditors (BBG)
- Western countries issue rare Christmas security alerts for Beijing (Reuters)
Bulletin Headline Digest
WSJ
- The Obama administration pursued secret communications with elements of Syria's regime over several years in a failed attempt to limit violence and get President Bashar al-Assad to relinquish power, according to U.S. and Arab officials. (http://on.wsj.com/1IrMJdh)
- Brian Dooley, a New Hampshire Republican, represents the GOP's biggest fear: a voter who would rather stay home on Election Day than support the party's current front-runners. (http://on.wsj.com/1NDiwH5)
- Ahead of an expected lifting of sanctions, several U.S. corporate giants including personal-computer seller HP Inc and General Electric Inc's oil-services unit are actively exploring a market entry into Iran. (http://on.wsj.com/1NM5Qva)
- Turkey's stepped-up military campaign to crush Kurdish insurgents has reduced some urban neighborhoods in the southeast of the country to battle zones, raising fears the conflict could escalate and spread elsewhere in the country unless peace talks resume. (http://on.wsj.com/1QXCuP0)
FT
Russia has issued an international arrest warrant for Mikhail Khodorkovsky on suspicion of ordering a contract killing, investigators said on Wednesday, prompting the former oil tycoon to declare the Kremlin had gone mad.
Conservative Eurosceptics have accused Prime Minister David Cameron of deploying former Tory leaders William Hague and John Major to make the case for Britain staying in the EU.
Panmure Gordon said it expects a pre-tax loss of about 4.5 million pounds ($6.69 million) this year as a drop in equity issues and initial public offerings on Aim is taking its toll on the brokers advising these companies.
NYT
- The deadly landslide on Sunday in Shenzhen, in which a man-made mountain of dirt and construction debris collapsed, is exposing the weaknesses in China's rapid growth. (http://nyti.ms/1Vbnbmg)
- Explosions in Takata's airbags raised alarms at the highest levels of the airbag manufacturer and its biggest customer, Honda, more than five years ago, according to internal documents unsealed by a Florida court on Wednesday. (http://nyti.ms/1QNE33B)
- Some top banks - including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup - will not accept municipal identification cards as a primary ID, even though their federal regulators and some smaller banks have approved their use. (http://nyti.ms/1J65D9x)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** The Trudeau government is backing away from its already reduced promise to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year, raising further questions about the feasibility of one of the Liberal Party's signature election pledges. (http://bit.ly/1OMOcas)
** Canada's biggest pension funds are steering clear of the fossil-fuel divestment movement, saying they prefer to engage with companies and advocate for change from within. (http://bit.ly/1MxPrIZ)
NATIONAL POST
** Viewed through a rear-view mirror of economic data, Canada's growth prospects appear to be fading into the distance. Looking at October alone, output in gross domestic product was flat - disappointing, but not as bad as the out-and-out contraction of 0.5 percent seen in the previous month. (http://bit.ly/1NDUVFY)
** Female ministers in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet fielded fewer than half as many questions as their male colleagues in the House of Commons in December. Though Trudeau achieved a perfect gender balance by appointing 15 men and 15 women to his cabinet last month, a Citizen analysis of House transcripts shows that the men got far more talk-time during the few days of question period that took place. (http://bit.ly/1J6jTix)
Britain
The Times
Chris Sullivan, the banker who misled MPs, takes job at Santander
Chris Sullivan, the former deputy chief executive of RBS, was appointed head of Santander UK's corporate and commercial business last night, nearly a year after he stepped down early from taxpayer-backed RBS after having been forced to retract evidence he gave to the Treasury select committee. (http://thetim.es/1OjaJvd)
Europe's plain truth on tobacco packaging
An adviser to the European Court of Justice has backed rules to combat smoking by introducing plainer packaging. Juliane Kokott, the court's advocate-general, said that the 2014 rules on packaging, which the tobacco industry opposes, raised the visibility of health warnings and made them more effective. She said European Union nations were free to tighten the rules on packaging further, by moving towards plain packs with no logos. (http://thetim.es/1OMeTfB)
The Guardian
Duchy Originals forced to buy back shares from Prince Charles's charitable foundation
Prince Charles's Duchy Originals has been forced to buy back shares from his charitable foundation to avoid leaving the charity out of pocket after a change in the rules around Gift Aid. (http://bit.ly/1NDl8og)
Panmure Gordon faces full-year loss after corporate slowdown
Panmure Gordon, one of the City's oldest stockbroking and corporate advisory firms, has warned it faces a full-year loss after a drop in company deals and transactions. (http://bit.ly/1NDm242)
The Telegraph
AstraZeneca gout drug wins approval from regulators
AstraZeneca Plc has won approval for a new drug, Lesinurad, marketed under the brand name Zurampic, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be used in combination with existing medications to treat the underlying cause of gout. (http://bit.ly/1MxhY1t)
Sky News
Car Dealer Motorpoint Speeds Towards Float
British car retailer Motorpoint is working with bankers at Rothschild on a listing that is likely to take place in the second half of next year. (http://bit.ly/1Ojb9BO)
Scotland's Minimum Booze Price Plan Falters
The Scottish Government's bid to impose a minimum price for alcohol could breach EU guidelines, according to the European Court of Justice. It said the plan to charge 50 pence per unit of alcohol would be contrary to EU rules if there were other options, and urged Holyrood to consider alternative tax measures instead. (http://bit.ly/1OMe3zl)
The Independent
Facebook suspends The Blackcock Inn pub's profile over 'racist or offensive language'
A pub in the Brecon Beacons has had its Facebook page suspended for "racist or offensive language", apparently because of its name. The Blackcock Inn has been the local watering hole in Llanfihangel Talyllyn for 175 years and its owners said they have never had a problem with its name until now. (http://ind.pn/1QXOQGQ)