Hints of progress emerge in US-China trade talks: Bloomberg
China’s presses ahead with efforts to decouple from the US dollar: CNBC
Industrial production for US fell more than expected in October: Reuters
Import prices continued to fall in October for US: MarketWatch
US retail sales rebounded in October: MW
NY Fed Mfg Index: slow growth continues in November: NY Fed
US Q4 GDP nowcasts weakened sharply via Atlanta Fed and NY Fed estimates
US economic growth slowed substantially in latest ADS Index profile: Philly Fed

● Willful: How We Choose What We Do
By Richard Robb
Summary via publisher (Yale University Press)
Why do we do the things we do? The classical view of economics is that we are rational individuals, making decisions with the intention of maximizing our preferences. Behaviorists, on the other hand, see us as relying on mental shortcuts and conforming to preexisting biases. Richard Robb argues that neither explanation accounts for those things that we do for their own sake, and without understanding these sorts of actions, our picture of decision-making is at best incomplete. Robb explains how these choices made seemingly without reason belong to a realm of behavior he identifies as “for-itself.”

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Tech has been a strong performer for most of the year, but in recent weeks its outperformance has accelerated over the rest of the major US equity sectors, based on a set of exchange traded funds.
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Washington braces for resumption of impeachment hearings today: The Hill
US and China close to a trade deal, says White House economic adviser: Reuters
Hong Kong falls into recession as protests continue: BBC
Global debt rose to a new record in the first half of 2019: CNBC
Solid gain for WalMart sales hint at healthy US consumer spending: WSJ
US equity bull market is longest on record, advises Leuthold Group: CNBC

Do you know what’s in your bond fund’s portfolio? A recent study finds that a surprisingly large number of funds are fudging the data. As a result, one or more of the bond mutual funds you own may be riskier than you think.

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First day of public impeachment hearing focuses on Ukraine: Reuters
US-China trade talks falter over farm products: WSJ
Fed’s Powell sees steady rates if economy remains on current path: CNBC
China’s economic growth continues to slow, new data shows: SCMP
Germany avoids a recession in Q3, just barely: CNBC
Japan’s economy barely grew in Q3: NY Times
Google plans to enter banking industry by offering checking accounts: The Verge
US core consumer inflation’s 1-year trend ticked down to +2.3% in October:

Has the tipping point for the value factor’s renaissance in US equities finally arrived? It has if we’re keeping score on a year-to-date basis with a set of representative exchange-traded funds. Proxies for the large-, mid- and small-cap corners show a common theme: value tops growth.

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Trump: more tariffs are coming without a China trade deal: Bloomberg
Trump’s top economic adviser hints at middle-class tax cut: CNBC
A viewer’s guide to the start of today’s public impeachment hearings: BBC
Will Supreme Court kill the DACA immigration program? Reuters
The US economy’s influence on voting preferences is fading: WSJ
Ukraine’s president is open to talks with Russia: NY Times
US small business owners remained optimistic in October: NFIB

Preliminary estimates of US economic activity for the fourth quarter are pointing to another downshift in growth, based on the median for a set of nowcasts compiled by The Capital Spectator. It’s still early in Q4 and so the projection should be viewed cautiously. But for now, it’s fair to say that the case appears weak for expecting output to stabilize, much less rebound.

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Trump may take a pass on rolling out new tariffs on auto imports: NY Times
US West Coast imports tumbled in October amid US-China trade war: WSJ
What will Trump say in speech today at the Economic Club of New York? Reuters
The world’s largest trade deal is set for signing in 2020–without the US: CNBC
Google is collecting a massive health database on US citizens: WSJ
German investors’ outlook improves in November: Reuters
The world’s wealthiest individuals are expecting a turbulent 2020: Bloomberg
Trump’s record on equity market returns vs previous presidents: Bloomberg