An upset victory for Dems in Alabama’s Senate race: The Hill
Federal Reserve on track to hike interest rates today: Reuters
Vote on final GOP tax bill expected next week: LA Times
US Sec. of State offers direct talks with N. Korea with no conditions: Reuters
UK loses jobs at fastest pace in two years: Bloomberg
Italy’s industrial output picking up speed: Bloomberg
Pension liability burdens for US states trending up: Fitch Ratings
US producer prices pop in Nov, suggesting inflation will rise: Reuters
If Trump fires Mueller, a constitutional crisis may follow: American Prospect
Nearly half of small US businesses in Nov expect stronger economy:  Haver

The year is winding down, which means that we’re knee-deep in newly minted 2018 investment outlooks. All the usual caveats apply, of course, but there’s a generous helping of perspective too. As an example, here’s a select sampling from recent publications that caught our eye:
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Today’s Senate election in Alabama will be widely watched: AP
Putin’s Mideast tour underscores Russia’s influence in the region: NY Times
Closing gaps in GOP tax plan remains a hurdle: Politico
US job openings slip in Oct as hiring heats up: USA Today
US Q4 GDP growth expected to accelerate: Now-casting.com

Global markets posted a varied set of performances for the five trading days through last week’s close. On the positive side, US stocks continued to rally, dispensing the best weekly return for the major asset classes, based on a set of ETFs. On the flip side, broadly defined commodities suffered the biggest weekly loss.
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US-Japan-S. Korea military drills aim to counter N. Korea Threat: NY Times
Southern California wildfires continue to wreak havoc: CNN
China’s inflation rate ticks lower in November: MNI
Bitcoin futures debut with a sharp increase: Reuters
Economists expect widespread rates hikes by central banks in 2018: Bloomberg
Payrolls in US rise 228,000 in November, beating expectations: Bloomberg
US wage growth still well below pre-2008-crisis rate: Paul Krugman
Investor optimism is unusually high: Heisenberg Report

● Blood Profits: How American Consumers Unwittingly Fund Terrorists
By Vanessa Neumann
Review via Kirkus Reviews
An alarming, and often alarmist, survey of how spending by consumers might support terrorist organizations and organized crime enterprises, especially drug cartels.
Neumann, the president of Asymmetrica, a consultant group that advises governments and corporations about combating illicit trade, refers to Venezuela, where she was born, to demonstrate how a leftist government takeover can become just as easily mired in corruption as a rightist one. Throughout the book, the author relies on examples from her personal life, her work as a consultant, research studies (from the United Nations and other sources), and her deeply felt ideology. She warns that terrorist groups and drug cartels have learned to join forces to assist each other in their lethal activities, and such an unholy partnership sometimes depends on the corruption of government officials.
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Private payrolls in the US continued to increase at a healthy pace in November, rising 221,000 from the previous month, the US Labor Department reports. The advance marks the second month of 200,000-plus growth. The year-over-year increase ticked up fractionally, suggesting that the labor market’s trend may be stabilizing after sliding for much of the year.
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Implementing Momentum: What Have We Learned?
Adrienne Ross (AQR Capital Management), et al.
December 2017
An abundance of academic evidence and theory exists on the efficacy and intuition behind momentum investing, yet a limited number of studies discuss the feasibility of running momentum portfolios in practice. And no study to date has directly analyzed implementation costs for a live momentum portfolio. As a result, many are still quick to dismiss momentum as difficult or costly to implement because of its high turnover. In this paper, we use seven years of live data to evaluate the implementability of momentum investing. We show that live momentum portfolios are capable of capturing the momentum premium, even after accounting for expenses, estimated trading costs, taxes, and other frictions associated with real-life portfolios.
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UK and EU announce breakthrough in Brexit negotiations: Reuters
Congress sends bill to Trump to avert gov’t shutdown: Bloomberg
China’s export growth beats expectations in November: RTT
IMF: rising bank debt poses “large risks” to China’s economy: BBC
Jobless claims in US fall for third week: Reuters
US job cuts jump 30% in Nov vs. year-earlier level: CG&C
Consumer credit for US rises in Oct by most in 11 months: MarketWatch
Wildfires rage across Southern California: Bloomberg

No one will confuse it with Bitcoin, but momentum is certainly red hot among US equity factor strategies, based on a set of ETFs. Stocks exhibiting relatively strong and persistent performance have outperformed for much of the year so far and the gap has widened in recent weeks.
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