FINANCIAL TIMES
-US trade representative Robert Lighthizer has been asked to return to his role as the president-elect begins building his cabinet team. Lighthizer had expressed interest in serving as Treasury secretary, but this position is likely to be offered to a financier, with contenders including hedge fund managers Scott Bessent and John Paulson. The possibility of an arch protectionist being reappointed to the pivotal trade role is likely to raise concerns in Beijing and among US trading allies, given his influence during Trump's trade wars during his first term. Trump had considered Lighthizer for commerce secretary, but Linda McMahon, the billionaire co-chair of Trump's presidential transition team, is most likely to be offered the job. Philadelphia congressman Brenda Boyle, the top Democrat on the influential House budget committee and senior member of the ways and means committee overseeing trade, expressed his welcomeness for Lighthizer's appointment.
-At Mar-a-Lago, the wealthy and soon-to-be powerful gathered for the election results at Donald Trump's fortress. Trump sat with Elon Musk, the billionaire technology executive, and Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Musk called the race "game, set and match" hours before the final outcome was announced. The next day, after Trump defeated Kamala Harris, Trump and Musk ate together on the terrace of the resort, wearing a T-shirt of astronauts walking on the moon with Mars in the distance. Musk wrote "Novus Ordo Seclorum," the Latin expression for "a new era is born." The jubilant scenes at Mar-a-Lago suggest that a second Trump presidency might differ from the first one, and how his new inner circle will be changed.
-Qatar has urged Hamas leaders to leave the country following pressure from Washington. The request was made around 10 days ago after discussions with US officials. Qatar has hosted Hamas's political office in Doha since 2012, when Syria's civil war forced it to leave its base in Damascus. Doha became a crucial interlocutor in hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas after the group's deadly attack on southern Israel in October 2023. Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed over 43,000 Palestinians. Qatar helped broker a deal to free over 100 Israeli hostages last year, but talks have since been deadlocked. A senior Biden administration official said that after the failure of repeated proposals to release hostages, Hamas's leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner.
-US stocks have had their best week in a year, thanks to a rally sparked by Donald Trump's election victory. The S&P 500 closed 0.4% higher in New York, gaining 4.7% over five days, its best performance since early November 2023. The broad-based bellwether pushed above 6,000 for the first time on Friday, peaking at 6,012.45. The market was boosted by a Trump victory and another jolt from the Federal Reserve this week. Wednesday's 2.5% jump was the S&P's best day in over two years. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter-point on Thursday. Sebastian Page, head of global multi-asset and chief investment officer at T Rowe Price, said there was an element of a relief rally following the election, as the market is expecting deregulation, lower taxes, and higher inflation.
-Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election has caused tensions in Canada, a close ally with a trading partnership worth $1.3T a year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Trump, stating that Canada and the US have the world's most successful partnership and are each other's largest trade partners. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland assured reporters in Ottawa that Canada would be fine despite the anxieties. Ottawa had first-hand experience of Trump's "America First" trade policy during his previous administration, where he insisted on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2017.
-Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election has caused tensions in Canada, a close ally with a trading partnership worth $1.3T a year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Trump, stating that Canada and the US have the world's most successful partnership and are each other's largest trade partners. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland assured reporters in Ottawa that Canada would be fine despite the anxieties. Ottawa had first-hand experience of Trump's "America First" trade policy during his previous administration, where he insisted on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2017.
-Paraguay's conservative president, Santiago Peña, is facing pressure from investors and diplomats to veto a bill that would increase government controls on non-profit organisations. Critics argue that the bill would target opponents of the ruling Colorado Party and its leader, Horacio Cartes, a former president who supports increased oversight of NGOs. Cartes has denied any wrongdoing and dismisses the accusations as politically motivated. The Colorado Party claims the law, which would require organizations to report funding and employee details, and allow authorities to temporarily shut down or block payments, is needed to prevent money laundering and foreign interference. The US imposed sanctions on Cartes in 2022 over corruption allegations.
-The UK has approved the construction of a multibillion-pound fighter jet with Italy and Japan, easing concerns that the project could be affected by the Labour government's strategic defense review. The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) was approved at a meeting on Tuesday, and a formal announcement is expected in the coming weeks. This comes as a relief to Italy and Japan, Britain's partners on GCAP, after Labour sparked fears that it could axe the project on cost grounds. Despite the importance of the program, armed forces minister Luke Pollard has said it would not be right for him to prejudge Labour's strategic defense review.
-Verizon's $20B acquisition of Frontier Communications is set to face a showdown at an investor meeting next week, as shareholders demand a 30% price increase. The acquisition by Canada-based BCE's of Ziply, a telco with a similar fibre network, has become a flashpoint. Frontier investors believe the Ziply deal's valuation metrics suggest a higher purchase price for Frontier, citing long-term growth prospects for fibre broadband service. Frontier's projected growth makes its shares worth more than $50 a share, far higher than the deal price of $38.50. Glendon Capital Management and Cerberus Capital Management are among the investors angling for a higher deal price. Ares Management, the company's single largest shareholder, has not indicated its vote and has hired boutique bank Houlihan Lokey to evaluate its options.
-Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz may be prepared to bring forward a confidence vote in his government, potentially leading to earlier snap elections in the Eurozone's largest economy. The opposition has urged the vote to be held as early as next week to avoid political uncertainty, allowing elections to be held in January. Scholz sacked finance minister Christian Lindner, leader of the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), marking the end of a long-running dispute within the coalition between the Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens and the FDP over economic policy. With the FDP pulling its ministers out of the cabinet, Scholz now heads an SPD-Green minority government. Scholz may be flexible on timing if the SPD and Greens can reach a deal with opposition parties to get some outstanding bills through parliament.
-President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to boost upstream production and lift a moratorium on licensing new liquefied natural gas export facilities. This move could give European industry a boost, as US natural gas production has reached record levels of 125B ft3 a day, up nearly half over the past decade. While rolling back royalties, compliance, and costs might give drillers an extra incentive, the uplift would be capped by the downward pressure on oil and gas prices. The temporary pause on new authorizations for LNG terminals affected earlier-stage projects, but a reversal would strengthen the prospects for more LNG supply in the medium term. This comes in the context of an LNG market preparing for a glut, with projects with 130 mtpa of capacity scheduled to come on stream between 2025 and 2027.
NEW YORK TIMES
-President-elect Donald Trump and Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, had a phone call on Wednesday. During the call, Trump handed the phone to Elon Musk, a billionaire who has played a key role in providing communications capability to Ukraine in its war with Russia. It is unclear whether the three men discussed any change in U.S. policy toward Ukraine in the wake of Trump's election. Musk was with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Florida, and the tone of the call was described as positive. A second person briefed on the call confirmed Musk's participation, which was reported earlier by Axios. A third person briefed on the call described it as a "good talk," with Zelensky calling Trump to congratulate him and thanking him for the communication assistance.
-Iranian agents have been accused of plotting to kill President-elect Donald Trump, according to a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. The allegation came in a complaint that claimed Masih Alinejad, a Brooklyn activist, had been the target of a second assassination attempt. The latest development is an alarming development for U.S. security officials, as it comes as Iranian plotters discussed a plan to assassinate Trump before his re-election as president. One of the plotters claimed to have been assigned in September to carry out the plan by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran. An Iranian operative was instructed to focus on surveilling and ultimately assassinating Trump, according to the criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.
-New York Governor Kathy Hochul is considering reviving a congestion pricing plan for New York City before President-elect Donald J. Trump has a chance to kill it, according to four people familiar with the matter. Hochul's move to salvage the contentious plan comes as she faces pressure from various corners, including a group that represents transit riders. She is planning to start an advertising blitz on Monday in support of the tolling program. The plan that Hochul, a Democrat, is now exploring differs slightly from the one she halted in June. She is trying to satisfy opponents who had complained about the $15 congestion-pricing toll that most motorists would have had to pay as well as supporters who want to reduce car traffic and fund mass transit improvements.
-A brush fire in Brooklyn's Prospect Park has drew nearly 100 firefighters, prompting officials to warn residents to stay away as they used drones to identify hot spots. The fire was first reported around 6:40 p.m., and no injuries were immediately reported. The Fire Department's commissioner, Robert S. Tucker, stated that every time the wind gusts up, an ember creates more fire, causing the fire to burn all night. The fire was first reported in the Nethermead area southeast of the dog beach, and no injuries had been reported as of 9:15 p.m. The department has not determined the cause of the fire, but fire marshals will investigate once it is contained. Officials warned residents to stay away from the park and close their windows due to the smoke. Commissioner Tucker said it was too difficult to evacuate the park due to the darkness and the movement of emergency equipment, creating a risk of inadvertent injury.
-President-elect Donald J. Trump's transition team for climate and the environment is considering relocating the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) out of Washington and other drastic changes. David Bernhardt, a former oil lobbyist who headed the Interior Department during the first Trump administration, and Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist who ran the EPA, are leading the charge in reshaping the agencies responsible for protecting the nation's air, water, climate, and public lands. Both are Washington insiders with years of experience in dismantling federal environmental protections. The transition team has already prepared executive orders and presidential proclamations on climate and energy, including withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement, eliminating every office in every agency working to end pollution that disproportionately affects poor communities, and shrinking the size of national monuments in the West to allow more drilling and mining on public lands. President Biden has made environmental justice a top priority, but this initiative will be scrapped.
-Senate Democrats are considering a major push to confirm as many of President Biden's judicial nominees as possible in the lame-duck session of Congress before their power to reshape the federal courts ends with the Republican takeover of the White House and the Senate in January. Democrats had hoped to hold onto the Senate and the White House, allowing them to continue their drive to counterbalance the 234 conservative-leaning judges, including three Supreme Court justices, who were confirmed during the first Trump administration. However, with the re-election of Donald J. Trump and Republicans winning control of the Senate, that possibility is now gone.
-San Francisco Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie announced in his first speech as mayor that he would declare a state of emergency on fentanyl on his first day in office. In brief, Lurie stated that he intended to shut down the open-air fentanyl markets that had proliferated in the city's Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods and had infuriated many residents. He stated that he would declare the emergency on his first day in office in January. Another man stands behind him holding a sign that says, "Lurie for Mayor."
-A semiabstract portrait of British mathematician Alan Turing, created by a humanoid robot powered by artificial intelligence, sold at auction for nearly $1.1M. The painting, created by Aidan Meller, a former gallerist living outside Oxford, England, was created by a team of nearly 30 people. The robot, named Ai-Da, is dressed like a woman with a bob haircut and is referred to as Ai-Da in honor of Ada Lovelace, the 19th-century mathematician recognized as the world's first computer programmer. The painting was offered as part of Sotheby's digital art sale and initially was estimated to sell for $120,000 to $180,000. It received more than 27 bids and was sold to an anonymous buyer from the United States. Meller said the proceeds from the sale of the painting, called "A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing," would help finance new improvements to Ai-Da's design.
-Stocks rose on Friday, marking the market's best week in over a year, and extending a rally that began with President-elect Donald Trump's election win. The S&P 500 rose almost 0.4% on Friday, its fourth consecutive daily increase, and briefly crossed above 6,000 points for the first time ever. For the week, the index gained 4.7%. The victory ushered in a relief rally typical in the immediate aftermath of a presidential election as the vote becomes clear. Stocks were also buoyed by investors' expectations of business-friendly policies under the Trump administration, including lighter regulation and tax cuts. The market's rally was triggered by President-elect Trump's victory and a quarter-point interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
NEW YORK POST
-The Kamala Harris campaign spent up to $20M on swing-state concerts before the election, causing concern that staff and vendors won't be paid amid reports of the campaign being in debt. Members of the defeated Harris team claim that the concerts had a ruinous effect on the Democratic campaign's coffers, with one planned performance by '90s alt-rock goddess Alanis Morissette being scrapped to save money. The seven swing-state concerts on election eve featured performances by Jon Bon Jovi in Detroit, Christina Aguilera in Las Vegas, Katy Perry in Pittsburgh, and Lady Gaga in Philadelphia. 2 Chainz joined Harris on November 2, three days before the election, for an eighth concert in Atlanta. Two sources said that Obama campaign alum Stephanie Cutter pushed the concert concept as a way to woo lower-propensity voters to the polls. While the performers donated their time and talent, the sets still required an immense commitment of manpower and financial resources.
-Iran instructed one of its agents, Farhad Shakeri, to stalk and assassinate former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election's final weeks, according to a bombshell criminal complaint unsealed by Manhattan federal prosecutors. The complaint charges Shakeri, who remains at large, with murder-for-hire, as well as two New York City men in separate assassination plots targeting a prominent Brooklyn journalist and two unidentified Jewish businesspeople. The Iranian official hinted at other Tehran-backed attempts to murder the former president when Shakeri told his handler that the Trump plot would "cost a 'huge' amount of money." The complaint states that the money was not an issue, as the Iranian government had already spent a lot of money on the plot.
-Mortgage rates remain high despite the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts and President Trump's pledges to cut homebuyers a break. After Trump's victory, 30-year fixed mortgage rates briefly surged before settling at 6.98%. This is bad news for house hunters who had hoped the Fed's recent interest rate cuts would ease mortgage rates, which surged during the pandemic due to government stimulus. Mortgages are more directly tied to 10-year treasury bond yields, which can cause inflation due to strong economic growth.
-Richard Farley, a partner at New York law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, is being considered as a potential candidate to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission for the Trump administration. Farley, a partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, has represented major banks and financial services companies, including Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and UBS, on major financing deals. He has also represented Cantor Fitzgerald in 2017 when it was selling shares in Sorrento Therapeutics. Cantor CEO Howard Lutnick is helping to lead Trump's transition team and is in charge of choosing personnel. Farley is also an old friend of Trump backer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is now angling for a cabinet position.