U.S. President Barack Obama plays a shot to the 18th green as he finishes a round of golf with friends at the Mid-Pacific Country Club in Kailua, Hawaii.
KaloBios has filed for bankruptcy. The company formerly run by Martin Shkreli has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Reuters reports, KaloBios showed assets and liabilities both ranging between $1 million and $10 million, according to paperwork filed in US bankruptcy court. KaloBios hasn't traded since Thursday.
It looks like Carl Icahn has prevailed in the Pep Boys bidding war. According to Reuters, Bridgestone says it won't raise its $17 per share offer for Pep Boys, meaning activist investor Carl Icahn's $18.50 per share offer looks like the winner. Icahn will use Pep Boys to expand his footprint in the auto parts retail business by combining it with Auto Plus, a competitor he owns.
Bank of America will take a writedown on its Merrill Lynch securities. Bloomberg reports, Bank of America will take a $600 million writedown in the fourth quarter. The writedown will be related to the upcoming redemption of BofA's $2 billion worth of trust preferred securities stemming from its Merrill Lynch acquisition back in 2009. According to Bloomberg, the securities will no longer count towards regulatory capital starting in 2016.
Shorts are piling into Ferrari. It's getting expensive to short Ferrari stock now that almost all of the shares available to borrow have been lent out. Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of Research at S3, told Reuters, "No one can go and short a big block of stock right now. Right now, we're literally talking about dribs and drabs and the end piece of the pot roast." The stock is down about 8% since its October IPO.
Apple is paying Italy to settle a tax probe. Reuters reports, the tech giant has agreed to pay €318 million ($347 million) to Italy to settle allegations of tax fraud. Apple's Italian subsidy had reportedly been under investigation for failing to declare €1 billion ($1.3 billion) of income.
2015 was a record-setting year at the box office. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" capped off a record-setting year at the box office in North America. The sequel has brought in about $600 million on the continent, running 2015's bof office total over $11 billion, according to Rentrak data. The previous record was $10.9 billion, set in 2013, USA Today says. Aside from "Star Wars" other hits at the box office in 2015 included "American Sniper," "Fifty Shades of Grey" and "Jurassic World."
The IMF says 2016 growth will be "disappointing and uneven." International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde told German newspaper Handelsblatt, "In many countries the financial sector still has weaknesses and in emerging markets the financial risks are increasing." She continued, "All of that means global growth will be disappointing and uneven in 2016." Lagarde pointed to the lingering effects of the global financial crisis, as well as low productivity and unfavorable demographics as reasons for the disappointment, Reuters says.
The refugee crisis is costing Germany a lot of money. German states are expected to spend €17 billion ($18.7 billion) in 2016 as they continue to deal with the wave of refugees coming from Africa and the Middle East, according to a survey of finance ministries conducted by German newspaper Die Walt. That total is greater than the €15.3 billion the federal government has tasked to the crisis. A good portion of the money allotted will go towards building housing and medical care, in addition to giving refugees a stipend of €670 per month, Reuters reports.
Stock markets around the world are mixed. Overnight, Australia's ASX (+1%) paced the gains. In Europe, Germany's DAX (-0.6%) is the laggard. S&P 500 futures are down 3.50 points at 2069.25.
US economic data is light. Pending home sales will be released at 10 a.m. ET and crude oil inventories are due out at 10:30 a.m. ET. Treasury will auction $29 billion 7-year notes at 1 p.m. ET. The US 7-year yield is little changed at 2.11%.