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According to KickassTorrents (KAT), which is now the world’s most popular website to download torrents, showed that the number of downloads for “The Interview” surpassed 1 million on early Friday. The tally includes copies which were later deleted due to copyright infringement claims but does not include downloads through other file-sharing services. The figure puts “The Interview” on track to become one of the most pirated movies of the year.

• Japan inflation slows to 14 month low, output slips (Reuters)
• Russia says ruble crisis over as reserves dive, inflation climbs (Reuters)
• Ruble rebounds sharply from lows as exporters sell dollars (Reuters)
• Xbox, PlayStation Networks Attacked, Hackers Claim Credit (BBG)
• Sony’s ‘The Interview’ Packs Theaters Without Violence (BBG)
• Oil edges above $60 as Libyan output slumps (Reuters)
• Shoppers’ Late Rush Gives Hope to Retailers (WSJ)
• Japan says close to deal with South Korea and U.S. on North Korea defense (Reuters)
• NYPD Arrests Seven for Threats After Slayings of Officers (BBG)

For years, we've been warning that the economics of the US 'shale revolution' were suspect. Namely, that they've only been made possible by the new era of 'expensive' oil (an average oil price of between $80-$100 per barrel). We've argued that many players in the shale industry simply wouldn't be able to operate profitably at lower prices. Well, with oil prices now suddenly sub-$60 per barrel, we're about to find out. Using the traditional corporate income statement, it is difficult to determine if shale drilling companies make money. There are a lot of moving parts, some deliberate obfuscation at some companies, and the massive decline rates make analysis difficult – since so much of reported profitability depends on assumptions made regarding depreciation and depletion. So, can shale oil be profitable? If so, at what price? And under what conditions?

"It was essential for our studio to release this movie, especially given the assault upon our business and our employees by those who wanted to stop free speech,"

SONY THE INTERVIEW TO STREAM FOR RENT AT 1:00 PM ET TODAY

"We chose the path of digital distribution first so as to reach as many people as possible on opening day, and we continue to seek other partners and platforms to further expand the release."

Back in July it was all everyone could talk about: who shot down Malaysian Airlines flight MH-17 flying over east Ukraine? A hurriedly-prepared official report (by Western authorites) quickly put the blame on Russia, ignoring any suggestion the downing may have been the result of a Ukraine fighter jet, and said the catastrophe was the result of a Russian-made missile shot by Russian separatists. Then the story promptly disappeared. Russia, however, continued digging, and overnight, Russia’s Investigative Committee says it has uncovered evidence Ukraine was involved in the crash citing a military defector from the Ukraine.

ConvergEx's Nick Colas quarterly review of “Off the grid” economic indicators tells a story somewhat less sanguine than the typical government data. Confidence is returning, yes. But consider just how low it got: the top 3 Google autofills for “I want to sell my …” featured “kidney” for the first 3 quarters of this year. It was replaced in the current quarter with “Laptop”. Progress, of a sort...

Say what you want about the gold price languishing below $1200 (or not, as the case may be, after this week), and say what you want about the technical picture or the “6,000-year bubble,” as Citi’s Willem Buiter recently termed it; but know this: gold is an insurance policy — not a trading vehicle — and the time to assess gold is when people have a sudden need for insurance. When that day comes - and believe me, it’s coming - the price will be the very last thing that matters. It will be purely and simply a matter of securing possession - bubble or not - and at any price. That price will NOT be $1200. A “run” on the gold “bank”  would undoubtedly lead to one of those Warren Buffett moments when a bunch of people are left standing naked on the shore. It is also a phenomenon which will begin quietly before suddenly exploding into life. If you listen very carefully, you can hear something happening...

Every year, David Collum writes a detailed "Year in Review" synopsis full of keen perspective and plenty of wit. This year's is no exception. "I have not seen a year in which so many risks - some truly existential - piled up so quickly. Each risk has its own, often unknown, probability of morphing into a destructive force. It feels like we’re in the final throes of a geopolitical Game of Tetris as financial and political authorities race to place the pieces correctly. But the acceleration is palpable. The proximate trigger for pain and ultimately a collapse can be small, as anyone who’s ever stepped barefoot on a Lego knows..."

"Most investors go about their job trying to identify ‘winners’. But more often than not, investing is about avoiding losers. Like successful gamblers at the racing track, an investor’s starting point should be to eliminate the assets that do not stand a chance, and then spread the rest of one’s capital amongst the remainder." So as the year draws to a close, it may be helpful if we recap the main questions confronting investors and the themes we strongly believe in, region by region.

• Icahn, Paulson Suffer Large Losses as Energy-Related Bets Sour (WSJ)
• Oil Investors Keep Betting Wrong on When Market Will Bottom (BBG)
• U.S. to sell final $1.25 billion shares of Ally Financial from bailout (Reuters)
• Ally Financial Gets Subpoena Related to Subprime Automotive Finance (WSJ)
• Russia's parliament rushes through bill boosting banking capital (Reuters)
• How a Memo Cost Big Banks $37 Billion (WSJ)
• ECB considers making weaker euro zone states bear more quantitative easing risk (Reuters)
• How the U.S. Could Retaliate Against North Korea (BBG)

"...so many still maintain that America is the greatest nation in the world.  They swear that America represents all that is good; freedom, democracy, merit based capitalism and the rights of the individual.  That is true America does represent such things.  However, it is fraudulent to consider our current nation America.  America was a concept that promoted all that is good.  And so it would seem that the nation in which they find themselves cannot be America.  Their nation today represents the will of the political class at all costs, period.  Their sole motivation is themselves.  Very different from America.  And so perhaps a renaming on the nation is required, at least until or if the people decide to take it back and reintroduce the world to the concept that is America for as discussed below you cannot destroy a concept and so there is hope to bring her back.  But until then we need a name for this geographic region and its new societal system... It seems"Neoconica" is most fitting."

Yeah, that's right! Don't feel bad if you didn't know that banks were some of the world's larget data companies. Hell, Bank managment doesn't even know this! Likely why they are getting hacked so much, no?

• Citigroup is pleased: Obama signs $1.1 trillion government spending bill (Reuters)
• Oil holds below $60 as OPEC, Russia keep pumping (Reuters)
• 5 Things to watch at the December Fed Meeting (WSJ)
• Russia Tries Emergency Steps for 2nd Day to Stem Ruble Rout (BBG)
• Ruble crisis could shake Putin's grip on power (Reuters)
• Apple Curbs Russia Sales as McDonald’s Lifts Prices (BBG)
• Traders Betting Russia’s Next Move Will Be to Sell Gold (BBG)
• China Warms to a More Flexible Yuan (WSJ)

• Ruble Sinks to 80 a Dollar Defying Surprise Russia Rate Increase (BBG)
• Oil slumps near $59 for first time since 2009 on oversupply (Reuters)
• Oil sinks, Russian moves fail to quell nerves (Reuters)
• Fed Seen Looking Past Low Inflation to Drop ‘Considerable Time (BBG)
• Students Among Dead as Pakistan Gunmen Kill 126 at Army School (BBG)
• Repsol to buy Talisman Energy for $13 billion (Reuters)
• Indonesia’s Rupiah Erases Decline After Central Bank Intervenes (BBG)
• Anti-Islam Rally Grows as Immigrant Backlash Hits Europe (BBG)
• Saudi Arabia is playing chicken with its oil (Reuters)

And just like that, the list of countries who want to repatriate their gold just increased by one more, because after Venezuela, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and rumors of Belgium, we now can add Austria to those nations for whom the "6000 year old barbarous relic bubble" is more than just "tradition."