Good morning! Here's what you need to know.
- Markets in Asia were mostly up. The Nikkei was 0.03% higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.27%. Korea's Kospi index gained 0.15%. In Europe, London's FTSE was up 0.53%, while Germany's DAX was 0.77% higher. U.S. futures were pointing slightly lower.
- The Turkish Lira is getting creamed today, as a corruption scandal in Istanbul now appears to be lapping at Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's front door. Turkey's stock market is also off 4% on the day, and has lost 11% of its value over the past week or so. Plus, investors have dumped half a billion's worth of Turkish debt, according to Bloomberg. Prosecutors leading the probe, which is said to be driven by a U.S.-based imam and one-time Erdogan ally, now accuse the PM of obstructing justice. One ousted cabinet minister — there are now 10 — said Erdogan should resign. "Erdogan Bayraktar, environment and urban works minister and an associate of Erdogan for two decades, sent markets tumbling this week by calling for the premier to follow him in resigning. Bayraktar, whose son was detained in raids that began on Dec. 17, said before quitting that Erdogan approved construction projects that are under investigation, in an unprecedented breakdown in party unity,"Bloomberg's Selcan Hacaoglu and Onur Ant write.
- A powerful bomb ripped through central Beirut, killing five, including a former finance minister under former premier Saad Hariri, AP reports. Seventy more were wounded. "Lebanon has seen a wave of bombings over the past months as tensions rise over Syria's civil war. Hariri heads the main, Western-backed coalition in Lebanon which is engaged in bitter feuding with the militant Hezbollah group, which is allied to Syrian President Bashar Assad."
- Market optimism is now stratospheric, Cullen Roche writes. According to Investor Intelligence, is now in its fifth week of "danger territory," above 55% "This week’s Investor’s Intelligence survey was another sign of strong optimism as the bulls surged to 59.6%. This is fast approaching the 'danger zone' according to the survey. Levels above 60% are extremely rare and were last seen in October 2007 when the market peaked," Roche says.
- The latest economic data of Japan again showed mixed results, providing more evidence for doubters of Abenomics' efficacy. The manufacturing purchasing manager's index ticked .1 points higher to 55.2 month-over-month. The business conditions component saw the greatest jump since 2006. However, household spending was very weak. November Bank of Japan minutes showed some governors voicing concerns. "This may be indicative of a downward shift in growth, instead of merely a temporary slowdown," one said.
- Chinese state run media is urging retaliation over Abe's visit to a controversial shrine. "People are getting tired of such futile 'strong condemnations'," said an editorial in the Global Times, a paper that is close to the ruling Communist Party and often strike a nationalist tone. "China needs to take appropriate, even slightly excessive countermeasures" or else "be seen as a 'paper tiger'", it warned.
- Vehicle miles traveled saw the largest jump since the Great Recession, rising 2% YOY in October, meaning the economy may be shifting into a higher gear. Calculated Risk blog's Bill McBride comments, "The lack of growth in miles driven over the last 6 years is probably ... due to the lingering effects of the great recession (high unemployment rate and lack of wage growth), the aging of the overall population (over 55 drivers drive fewer miles) and changing driving habits of young drivers. With all these factors, it might take a few more years before we see a new peak in miles driven - but it appears miles driven are increasing again."
- The amount of metals being stored by banks and hedge funds in unregulated warehouses has surged, WSJ's Tatyana Shumsky reports, which could translate into more volatile prices. "Producers and consumers are bracing for potentially wild swings in metals prices as market participants have difficulty accurately gauging supplies of these metals. With no clear insight into how much metal is in the shadow system, setting prices will become increasingly difficult," she writes.
- Shares of little-known tech firm WPCS surged 20% to $1.81 on heavy volume in after-hours trading, Marketwatch said, after it announced the release of a new Bitcoin trading platform, the BTX. Bitcoin prices have now recovered to nearly $800 on the Mt. Gox exchange.
- It's the last trading week of the year — we get a stray Monday next week — and no major economic data will be released today save the latest oil and gas stocks report from the EIA.