“As goes January, so goes the market” — Trader Almanac
“The December Low Indicator” — “Forget all the noise you hear about the January Barometer; pay much more attention to the December low. That would be the lowest closing price for the Dow Jones Industrial Average during the month of December. If that low is violated during the first quarter of the New Year, watch out!” “— Lucien Hooper

1. First U.S. Crude Export Leaves Texas — the first oil tanker of freely traded American crude oil launched from the Port of Corpus Christi, marking the end of a long-standing U.S. ban put in place in the 1970s. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and NuStar Energy (NYSE:NS) loaded the tanker with crude pumped from Eagle Ford, skipping ahead of Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD). The buyer is Dutch oil-trading powerhouse Vitol Group. The company has a subsidiary that owns a refinery in Switzerland.
2. US Files Civil Suit Vs VW(OTCPK:VLKAY) — the U.S. Justice Department has finally filed a civil lawsuit against the automaker for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act by installing illegal defeat devices in nearly 600K vehicles. The German auto giant faces fines in excess of $90 bil or up to $37,500 per vehicle.
3. European Banks Poised for More Job Cuts In Asia — European banks are set to cut back equities trading and research teams in Asia, as global cost-cutting reaches a region where a drop in Chinese trading volumes and local competition have hit profits. Bankers and headhunters told Reuters that BNP Paribas (OTCQX:BNPQF), Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) and Barclays (NYSE:BCS) are among lenders likely to slash their workforce, setting the tone for a tough 2016. Ten of Europe’s largest banks already announced 130K job cuts since last June.
4. Pershing Square Leads Hedge Fund Industry Losses in 2015 — Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square ended 2015 with a major 20.5% loss, the worst year in its 11-year history, following a knockout 40% return in 2014. That put the closely watched activist investor into the same league as rival billionaire hedge fund manager David Einhorn, whose Greenlight Capital finished the year with a 20% drop.
5. U.S. Adds 292,000 New Jobs in December — the United States labor market gained almost 300,000 new jobs in December, capping off the fifth straight year in which employment grew by at least 2 million to power a steadily growing economy. Traders who bet on rate hikes using fed funds futures contracts now project greater-than-even odds of a March rate hike, according to CME FedWatch.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: