James Hetfield (L) and Kirk Hammett of U.S. band Metallica perform at the Rock in Rio Music Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
A holiday season survival guide (JP Morgan Asset Management)
The holidays provide the chance to spend some quality time with your family. However, sometimes you might end up sitting next to someone with completely different political views.
In the event the discussion becomes too heated, JPMorgan suggests putting on music that everyone enjoys: Metallica, Taylor Swift, Aerosmith or Elvis.
In addition, the firm provides some "ammunition" for pushing back against your political opponents. When a progressive brings up the housing crisis, a conservative should counter with the role big government played in contributing to the problem. On the other end of the spectrum, when a conservative discusses wasteful government spending, a progressive should point out military spending. Click the link above for the entire list.
2016 could be a rough year (Lamensdorf)
Lamensdorf says there are a number of concerns for the stock market heading into 2016. High valuations and large amount of insider selling are just some of the headwinds the markets face. Additionally, sentiment shows investor complacency; breadth is flashing warning signs; liquidity is low and valuations are stretched. Lamensdorf notes, "We are also concerned about the ongoing correction in commodities and the widening of credit spreads."
China's currency closes at four-year low on weak trade data (Business Insider)
China's trade surplus narrowed to 343.1 billion yuan ($54.1 billion) in November. Exports slumped 3.7% compared with last year, and imports fell 5.6%. In response to the data, China's yuan slipped 0.2% to 6.4179 per dollar, finishing at its weakest level since August 2011.
Morgan Stanley is eliminating 1,200 jobs (Business Insider)
Bloomberg was first to report, Morgan Stanley will eliminate a total of 1,200 jobs, including 470 front-office fixed income and commodities jobs positions. The investment bank will also take a $150 million severance charge in the fourth quarter. An internal memo said, "This will result in businesses that are critically and credibly sized for the current market, while maintaining the ability to deliver for our clients across products and geographies." Roger Gilbert, a bond and loan market veteran who was head of high yield sales, was among those laid off by the firm, according to sources close to the situation.
A Fed rate hike probably won't lead to higher CD rates (Think Advisor)
Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com, told Think Advisor, CD yields are unlikely to rise along with Treasury yields once the Fed hikes rates. "This time a lot of banks don't have the incentive to boost CD yields… They're flush with deposits [because] the American investors is very risk-averse." According to McBride, banks will look to boost their own margins following a rate hike.