“Men who can be right and sit tight are uncommon” — Jesse Livermore

1. Google Moves into Home Automation — Google announced a $3.2 billion deal to buy smart thermostat and smoke alarm-maker Nest Labs Inc, led by the “godfather” of the iPod. The Nest acquisition gives Google a stepping stone into an important new market at a time when consumer appliances and Internet services are increasingly merging.
2. World Bank bullish about global prospects — the World Bank expects global economic growth to accelerate to 3.2% in 2014 from 2.4% in 2013, led by advanced economies that seem “to be finally turning the corner” following the financial crisis. In its Global Economic Prospects report, the bank also forecast that the U.S. will expand 2.8% this year vs 1.8% last year.
3. Alaska to provide $5.75B for LNG export project — Bloomberg, Alaska plans to jump-start a $45B natural gas export project by pitching in more than 10% of the cost and joining Exxon Mobil (XOM), BP (BP), ConocoPhillips (COP) and TransCanada (TRP) as an equity partner. The agreement between the state and the four companies outlines a framework in which Alaska would take as much as a 25 percent stake in a proposed gas processing plant, an 800-mile (1,287-kilometer) pipeline from Alaska’s North Slope and a liquefaction facility in the Kenai Peninsula. NatGas tanker Navigator Holdings (NVGS) and GasLog (GLOG) are two of the leaders in LNG shipper.
4. House approves $1.1 trillion measure to fund government through Sept 30, 2014 — Reuters, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a $1.1 trillion spending bill. As a next step, Congress will need to turn its attention to the $16.7T debt limit.
5. Luxury in China loses luster as the wealthy flee — Bloomberg, wealthy Chinese are likely to buy fewer luxury goods again in 2014 after the steepest cut-back on spending in at least five years. Overall spending by wealthy Chinese fell by 15 percent in 2013, the third consecutive year of decline. The shrinking ranks of wealthy residents in China has also reduced luxury spending. One in three so-called high net worth individuals have already left, or are planning to leave, the country, the report showed, mostly to seek better opportunities for their children’s education.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:

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