- David Bowie, musical legend behind Ziggy Stardust, dies at 69 from cancer (Reuters)
- With No Powerball Winners, Jackpot Grows to Estimated $1.3 Billion (ABC)
- Stock Gains Short-Lived as Chinese Volatility Hurts Oil, Metals (BBG)
- China's yuan spikes higher, but stocks tumble (Reuters)
- Yuan Loan Rates Soar in Hong Kong as PBOC Halts Currency's Slide (BBG)
- China stocks close down at lowest level since September (Reuters)
- Arch Coal Files for Bankruptcy (WSJ)
- Fed Eyes Margin Rules to Bolster Oversight (WSJ)
- China Rout Threatens to Spawn India Crisis, Top Banker Says (BBG)
- Italy's Berlusconi calls for elections, vows to oust Renzi (Reuters)
- Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders Even in Early Races, Poll Finds (WSJ)
- Hedge Fund King Ray Dalio's All Weather Fund Down 7% In 2015 (Forbes)
- Merkel cancels Davos trip as pressure rises over Cologne attacks (FT)
- Zuma Begins Fightback as South Africa's Rand Gets Hammered (BBG)
- Car Insurers Find Tracking Devices Are a Tough Sell (WSJ)
- Drug lord Guzman closer to U.S. trial as Mexico starts extradition process (Reuters)
- Banks in U.A.E. Seen Ready for Extended Slump After Drop in Oil (BBG)
- Oil Seen Heading to $20 by Morgan Stanley on Dollar Strength (BBG)
- Wall Street's Big Ax Seen Reaping Best Year-End Profit Since '06 (BBG)
- Meet 2016's Worst Economic Performers Flirting With Disaster (BBG)
- China Retreat From U.S. Bonds Prompts Shrugs Where Fear Reigned (BBG)
- General Motors to face trial over recalled ignition switch (Reuters)
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
- A consortium of investors including China National Chemical Corp agreed to buy KraussMaffei Group for 925 million euros ($1 billion) including debt in what could be the largest Chinese takeover of a German company ever. (http://on.wsj.com/1mP4WYL)
- Starboard Value LP wants Macy's Inc to find ways to unlock the value of its vast real-estate holdings, including its famous Herald Square store in New York.(http://on.wsj.com/1RhgT5Q)
- Mogujie.com, one of China's biggest fashion-focused e-commerce services, has agreed to take over a competitor to form a new company valued at roughly $2.5 billion, in the latest of a series of mergers among technology startups. The new company brings together Mogujie and rival Meilishuo.com, which is backed by social-network giant Tencent Holdings Ltd . (http://on.wsj.com/1ncw0Rv)
- As shoppers and investors abandon department stores, Kohls Corp is debating whether to take itself private or break up the company. (http://on.wsj.com/1mPay4k)
- Illumina Inc, seeking to build on its strength in DNA sequencing, is launching a new company that will develop and market a test to detect genetic evidence of cancer in the blood. The San Diego maker of gene-sequencing machines said Sunday it is forming the company, called Grail, with a group of other investors. (http://on.wsj.com/1OJ2zAR)
FT
Volkswagen AG has organised a new catalytic converter that could potentially fix the majority of cars in the United States affected by the diesel emissions scandal. The company has said up to 11 million vehicles worldwide had the software.
A survey has found that nine out of 10 small London-listed oil and gas companies are making losses. The survey consisted of 104 exploration and production companies listed on the London Stock Exchange's Aim market by Company Watch. The survey found that combined market value of the companies had dropped by 40 percent in the past year.
Talks over future of the UK's biggest steel plant are set to take place between its owner and union officials. The Community trade union said it would meet Tata Steel Ltd over Port Talbot steelworks, located in south Wales, which employs about 3,500 people.
NYT
- Illumina Inc, a maker of DNA sequencing machines, said it was forming a company to develop a type of blood test that would work for any kind of cancer, but some experts see risks involved. (http://nyti.ms/1RhoukE)
- On Monday, Bruin Sports Capital is expected to announce Courtside Ventures, a new $35 million venture investment firm to be based in Detroit and New York, that is meant to invest in nascent sports and media technology start-ups. (http://nyti.ms/1RvSVUN)
- Fifty years after Congress passed a law opening most government records to public scrutiny, the House is expected Tuesday to take up the most important open records overhaul since 2007. Majorities of both Republicans and Democrats are expected to support the legislation. (http://nyti.ms/1P1Hr4H)
- Princess Cristina of Spain is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, accused of tax fraud as part of a corruption case centered on money embezzled from public contracts that is bringing a member of the country's royal family to trial for the first time. (http://nyti.ms/1UIkNm2)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Suncor Energy Inc is under pressure to sweeten its C$4.3 billion ($3.05 billion) takeover bid for Canadian Oil Sands Ltd after failing to get enough support from its target's shareholders. (http://bit.ly/1ZW9x9b)
** Small oil and gas firms want the Canadian government to reconsider its pledge to cap the amount that employees can claim through stock-option income deductions. They say the change, if implemented, will be another blow to an industry already downtrodden by depressed crude oil and natural gas prices. (http://bit.ly/1ZWds63)
** Political and community leaders say the pepper spraying of Syrian refugees in Vancouver is an isolated incident that does not reflect Canadian values. "This is not the Canadian way," Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said in an interview on Sunday. (http://bit.ly/1ZWaeQ7)
NATIONAL POST
** George Jonas, a journalist, novelist and poet who fled the Soviet suppression of the 1956 Hungarian revolution for a new life in the West, has died aged 80. The cause was not specified; he had been ill for the past several years with Parkinsonism. (http://bit.ly/1IYrgJh)
Britain
The Times
- Heathrow has handed its owners 2.1 billion pounds ($3.05 billion) in dividends over the past four years but paid only 24 miliion pounds corporation tax in almost a decade. The revelation will stoke the controversy over how large companies are able to pay minimal tax bills. Facebook Inc, Google , Apple Inc and other multinationals have been accused of avoiding hundreds of millions of pounds in United Kingdom tax. (http://thetim.es/1mP8DNe)
- J Sainsbury Plc faces an uphill struggle to take over Argos and Homebase after several shareholders demanded more than 1.6 billion pounds for the high street empire. ( http://thetim.es/1mP8SYH)
The Guardian
- Britain's biggest supermarkets will reveal a slide in Christmas sales this week, underlining the pressure placed on the industry by changing shopping habits and the growth of discounters Aldi and Lidl. (http://bit.ly/1mP92zo)
The Telegraph
- The world's biggest producer of wind turbines, Vestas Wind Systems, has accused Britain of obstructing use of new technology that can slash costs, preventing the wind industry from offering one of the cheapest forms of energy without subsidies. (http://bit.ly/1mP98qJ)
Sky News
- Train drivers on the London Underground look set to strike in a long-running dispute over pay and plans for an all-night Tube service. The union which represents them, ASLEF, has told Sky News it expects to call for three days of action after a meeting on Monday. (http://bit.ly/1mPaemm)