Updated throughout the day
December 18, 2015
U.S. stocks fell hard on Friday, sending the Dow to its lowest close since October. The Dow lost 2.1%, the S&P 500 fell 1.8%, and the Nasdaq dropped 1.6%. The Fed-induced euphoria is finished. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.197% from Thursday’s 2.236%, the second straight session that prices rose. Be ready for a short trading week next week. The New York Stock Exchange closes at 1 p.m. Thursday for Christmas Eve, and will reopen the following Monday. The Democrats will take the stage in New Hampshire Saturday night. This debate will likely be nowhere near as entertaining as the GOP debate in Las Vegas last week. Sorry guys. If the Dems don’t entertain you, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is now in theaters. The movie grossed $57 million from its opening Thursday night in the U.S. and Canada, breaking the previous Disney opening night record set by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2.”
Here’s what else you need to know:
Bernie Sanders’ campaign in trouble with DNC. Sanders’ access to the Democrat’s voter file has been suspended after a software glitch allowed the Sanders campaign to access Hillary Clinton’s internal voter data. Sanders’ access will be cut off until his campaign officials can prove they deleted the Clinton data. Sanders’ campaign rebutted, threatening to sue the DNC if it didn’t restore access. CNN, BuzzFeed
More Shkrelifreude for your Friday. Hated former-hedgie Martin Shkreli has resigned as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Chairman Ron Tilles will assume the role on an interim basis. Shkreli was arrested Thursday for securities fraud. In one example of his sketchy business practices, in 2010 Shkreli told an investor that his hedge fund had $35 million assets. The investor then gave Shkreli $1 million, and a month later another $250,000. In reality, MSMB Capital’s bank and brokerage accounts only held $700. Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed
U.K. will “fundamentally change” its relationship with the EU in 2016. Prime Minister David Cameron says he is a “step closer” to getting the reforms he wants after talking with EU leaders in Brussels. Cameron says a deal will happen next year. BBC
Blood in the bond market as fund withdrawals hit $13.1 billion. Fixed income investors withdrew money at the fastest pace since June 2013. Bank of America Merrill Lynch says in the last week, high yield funds outflows totaled $5.3 billion. No doubt the recent fiasco at Third Avenue Management’s Focused Credit Fund played a role in that. Bank-loan funds saw $1.8 billion in assets walk out the door — for the 19th time in 20 weeks. MarketWatch
The House passed a $1.15 trillion spending bill. The legislation also puts an end to a 40-year ban on oil exports. The Senate is expected to act Friday as well. Wall Street Journal (paywall)
CACI in lead to buy Lockheed Martin’s IT business. Defense contractor CACI is still interested in the deal as companies including Leidos Holdings and Engility Holdings drift away. Lockheed may still decide to spin off its IT business, which has annual revenues between $4.5 billion and $5 billion. Reuters
Mother Teresa to become a saint. Pope Francis ratified a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa after her death. A Brazilian man with multiple brain tumors was healed after family and friends prayed to Mother Teresa. She should be canonized in September. CNN
You won’t believe this…
More Americans died of overdoses in 2014 than ever before. More than 47,000 died of drug overdoses last year, almost 28,000 of which involved heroin, prescription painkillers, or other opioids. The states with the highest overdose deaths were West Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky, and Ohio. BuzzFeed
30% of Republicans want to bomb the city from Aladdin. Public Policy Polling found that supporters of Donald Trump were the most likely to back the bombing of Agrabah, the fictional city from the 1992 animated movie “Aladdin.” The Republicans in favor of the bombing say that national security threat from the city demands U.S. military intervention. The Hill
Photo: Star Wars