“Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack.” — John Bogle, founder of Vanguard

1. China and Russia Push For Free Trade in Asia-Pacific — China and Russia will push for a free-trade area in the Asia-Pacific region, China’s foreign ministry said after leaders of the two nations met during the APEC summit in Peru. The call for free trade in the region comes amid a protectionist mood in the U.S. following the election of Donald Trump, who is threatening to derail the TPP deal that excludes the world’s second-biggest economy
2. FDA Lifts Partial Clinical Hold on AstraZeneca H&N studies — U.S. officials have given a green light for two clinical trials testing AstraZeneca’s (NYSE:AZN) immunotherapy drug durvalumab in head and neck cancer to resume recruiting patients, lifting a hold imposed following cases of bleeding. News of the partial hold on the trials, imposed at the end of last month, had spooked investors since durvalumab is AstraZeneca’s most important pipeline medicine.
3. Stock Averages Hit Records & Dow Tops 19K — the four major U.S. stock market benchmarks again hit all-time highs, with the Dow closing above 19,000 for the first time, the S&P 500 also finishing above 2,200 for the first time, and the Russell 2000 ending higher for the 13th straight day. Treasury prices were little changed with the two-year yield finishing flat at 1.08% while the yield on the benchmark 10-year note slipped a basis point to 2.31%.
4. Black Friday Continues To Move Online — Black Friday isn’t as big as it once was due to earlier holiday deal hysteria, but it’s still a very significant day for retail. The National Retail Federation expects 137.4M Americans to hit stores at some point over the weekend, and around 74% of that population already went shopping on Thanksgiving Day. That’s about on par with last year’s figures as online sales become a bigger part of the holiday.

“I think to be in the upper echelon of successful traders requires an innate skill, a gift. It`s just like being a great violinist. But to be a competent trader and make money is a skill you can learn”. – Michael Marcus, Trader

1. Russian Ruble Registered the Biggest One-Day Fall Since 1998 As Oil Drops Below $70 — the ruble registered its steepest one-day fall since the Russian financial crisis of 1998 last Monday, plunging more than 6 percent against the dollar before recovering to losses of around 4 percent due to a drop in oil prices. Oil and gas account for about two thirds of Russia’s exports and half of federal budget revenues, making its economy and asset prices heavily dependent on global energy prices.
2. ‘Black Friday’ Fades as Weekend Retail Sales Sink — WSJ, Retail spending over this year’s four-day Thanksgiving weekend fell 11% to $50.9B according to the National Retail Federation, although total holiday sales through the end of the year are expected to rise 4.1%. The decline, the second annual drop in a row, comes as retailers, including Target (NYSE:TGT) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), offer their sales and promotions days or even weeks before the holiday weekend.
3. Cyber Monday sales start slower than Expected — Cyber Monday sales grew by much less than expected, according to data from IBM. Online retailers began their web promotions and sales during and even before the Thanksgiving weekend. Cyber Monday sales, which were projected to grow between 13%-15%, only reported an 8% rise.
4. U.S. Oil and Gas Well November Permits Tumble Nearly 40 Percent — Reuters, falling oil prices sparked a decline of almost 40% in new oil and gas well permits issued across the U.S. in November. A total of only 4,520 new well permits approved last month, down from 7,227 in October. New permits, which outline what drilling rigs will be doing 60-90 days in the future, showed heavy declines for the first time this year across the top three U.S. onshore fields: the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford and Bakken shale.
5. More Than $150 Billion of Oil Projects Face the Axe in 2015 — Reuters, Oslo-based research firm Rystad Energy stated that global oil and gas exploration projects worth more than $150B are likely to be put on hold next year as plunging oil prices render them un-economic. With rising costs of production and analysts forecasting oil to average $82.50 a barrel next year, around one third of the spending on a total of 800 oil and gas projects worth $500B, is unlikely to be approved.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: