China hacked the Treasury Dept

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Market Headlines

Markets stumbled into year-end as the Dow plunged 650 points, with all major indexes dropping in thin holiday trading.

The S&P 500 fell 1.07%, while the Nasdaq slumped 1.19%.
Tech stocks led the decline with Amazon falling 2.2%, Tesla dropping 2.8%, and Apple sliding 1.7%.

Treasury yields dropped, with the 10-year down 8 basis points and the 2-year down 7.

Oil hit a two-week high as natural gas futures surged 20%, marking the largest single-day gain since 2012.

Chinese hackers breached the Treasury Department, stealing unclassified documents in a “major incident.”

Markets will close on January 9th to mourn the death of former President Jimmy Carter.

Alts this week

What’s going on in the world of alternative assets? If you missed yesterday’s Alts Cafe, here’s the rundown:

A Nashville office tower sold at an 85% discount from 2019 as occupancy fell to 50%.
Instacart and Uber sued Seattle to block new worker protection laws.
Christie’s French furniture auction brought in $9.76 million
The global value of music copyright reached $45.5 billion in 2023, surpassing cinema box office revenue by 38%.
A medieval coin hoard of 2,584 silver coins from the Norman Conquest era sold for $5.6 million.

Make yourself heard

What should be America's response to Chinese hacking

Hit 'em back, proportional response

Do nothing, bide time

Hit them hard, teach them a lesson

Ideas, trends, and analysis

Credit card defaults hit 2008 levels, with banks writing off $46 billion in the first nine months of 2024.
US pending home sales rose 2.2% in November, reaching a 21-month high despite mortgage rates above 6%.
Brookings warned the eurozone risks “Japanification” without fiscal union reforms.

Fear and Greed Index

Winners and losers

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Earnings, upgrades, and acquisitions

No notable earnings this week.

Market movers

Boeing shares fell 2% after a Jeju Air 737-800 crash in South Korea killed 179 people.
Nvidia finalized its $700 million Run:ai acquisition, pledging to open-source the software.
Volkswagen's Cariad leaked location data of 800,000 vehicles across Europe.
The Madoff Victim Fund issued its final payout, returning $4.3 billion to 40,930 victims over ten distributions.
Intel cut 15,000 jobs in 2024, leading tech sector layoffs.

Global Perspectives

Venezuela freed 413 protesters arrested during July election demonstrations.
German officials accused Elon Musk of influencing its February election after endorsing the AfD.
The Biden administration sent $5.9 billion to Ukraine, including $2.5 billion in military aid and $3.4 billion in budget support.
The Taliban ordered the closure of NGOs employing women in Afghanistan.
Finnish investigators found a 60-mile drag mark near a damaged Baltic Sea cable.

Crypto

BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF hit $50 billion in assets within 11 months.
MicroStrategy added 2,138 BTC for $209 million, bringing total holdings to 446,400 BTC.
MoonPay gained MiCA approval, becoming one of the first major crypto payment providers cleared in the EU.
Hyperliquid launched native staking, with $344 million staked across 16 validators.

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Errata

A rare nova event is set to make T Coronae Borealis 1,585 times brighter.
Chefs crafted edible treats from Christmas trees, including pine needle tea and charred tree ash seasoning.
Scientists discovered a vampire hedgehog with fang-like teeth in the Greater Mekong.