- Crude sinks 4 percent as market braces for more Iranian oil (Reuters [20])
- Plunge in crude oil prices send stock futures sliding (Reuters [21])
- Oil Slides, Deepening Gloom in Stocks as Bond Buyers Celebrate (BBG [22])
- China Stocks Enter Bear Market, Erasing Gains From State Rescue (BBG [23])
- Goldman Says It Will Pay $5.1b in U.S. Mortgage Probe (CBS [24])
- Friendly no more: Trump, Cruz erupt in bitter fight at Republican debate (Reuters [25])
- China to expand coverage of advantaged import tax policies nationwide (Xinhua [26])
- Dollar in Best Run Since July on Haven Bid Even as Fed Odds Fall (BBG [27])
- China’s Haier to Buy GE Appliance Business for $5.4 Billion (WSJ [28])
- U.S. freight volume falls for first time in almost three years (Reuters [29])
- Obama Said to Plan Suspension of New U.S. Coal Leases (BBG [30])
- Apple May Be on Hook for $8 Billion in Taxes After Europe Probe (BBG [31])
- Switzerland: A Test Case for Currency Shock (WSJ [32])
- Is It Lights Out for Trudeau's `Sunny' Economic Ways in Canada? (BBG [33])
- Planned Parenthood files U.S. lawsuit against group behind secret videos (Reuters [34])
- Global Malaise Spurs U.S. Growth Worries (WSJ [35])
- Canyon Capital Tells Yahoo to Not Waste More Capital (Reuters [36])
- One person brain-dead after French drugs trial (AFP [37])
- Saudi Life With $30 Oil (BBG [38])
- Global Earnings Downgrades Haven't Been This Bad in Seven Years (BBG [39])
- Oregon occupiers ask public for supplies: get glitter, sex toys (Reuters [40])
Overnight Media Digest
WSJ
- General Electronics Co is near a deal to sell its appliance business to China's Haier Electronics Group Co Ltd for more than $4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, after GE's previous effort to sell the unit was blocked by antitrust regulators.(http://on.wsj.com/1J60QFg [41])
- Nike Inc has agreed to a $252 million deal with Ohio State University to extend its existing sponsorship by 15 years, escalating an arms race among sportswear makers and top sports schools. (http://on.wsj.com/1ORYBWD [42])
- The Obama administration is proposing to spend nearly $4 billion in a decade to accelerate the acceptance of driverless cars on U.S. roads and curb traffic fatalities and travel delays. (http://on.wsj.com/202Ib1q [43])
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc agreed to pay more than $5 billion to settle U.S. and state claims stemming from the sale of mortgage bonds heading into the financial crisis. (http://on.wsj.com/1Roux7c [44])
- BHP Billiton Ltd on Friday said it would take a roughly $7.2 billion pretax charge against its U.S. onshore energy assets, as the downturn in global oil-and-gas prices bites deeper into industry profits. (http://on.wsj.com/1Q9haX6 [45])
FT
Shares in Fiat Chrysler Automobiles were hit by reports of a U.S. lawsuit alleging the company had inflated sales figures. The shares of the automaker fell up to 10 percent and were suspended twice in Milan on Thursday.
Centrica, Britain's largest energy utility, is in the midst of getting ready a bid of more than 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion) for Viridian, a Northern Ireland power company. Centrica is likely to bid alone for Viridian after it was put up for sale by its owners, Bahrain-based Arcapita, which has set a deadline of Friday for first-round bids.
French automaker Renault SA had to issue a lengthy statement on Thursday after a French news agency reported that the company's offices had been raided as part of an investigation linked to the VW emissions scandal. Renault confirmed the raids on its offices by French anti-fraud investigators but also said that the government-appointed commission had yet to find any evidence of software-based defeat devices, which it said was "good news".
NYT
- Goldman Sachs Inc said on Thursday it had agreed to a civil settlement of up to $5 billion with federal prosecutors and regulators to resolve claims stemming from the marketing and selling of faulty mortgage securities to investors. (http://nyti.ms/1SRmEqk [46])
- The Obama administration will announce on Friday a halt to new coal mining leases on public lands as it considers an overhaul of the program that could lead to increased costs for energy companies and a slowdown in extraction, according to an administration official. (http://nyti.ms/1SRmKhz [47])
- The United States government on Thursday pledged to expedite regulatory guidelines for autonomous vehicles and invest in research to help bring them to market. (http://nyti.ms/1SRmPSx [48])
- The French government said on Thursday that tests on exhaust emissions of nearly two dozen cars made by Renault and other automakers had found that "several" of the cars violated the country's air-quality standards. (http://nyti.ms/1SRmVtp [49])
- The board of American Apparel, a struggling retailer that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, has rejected a takeover offer from investors aligned with the company's ousted founder, Dov Charney, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. (http://nyti.ms/1SRmZth [50])
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** China wants to forge a historic free-trade deal with Canada, but a senior Chinese official said this will require Canadian concessions on investment restrictions and a commitment to build an energy pipeline to the coast. (http://bit.ly/1Zp0V8Y [51])
** TransAlta Corp, the Alberta power generator, cut its quarterly dividend by more than a third to save money as it transitions toward gas and renewable power generation and away from coal. (http://bit.ly/1Zp1kYY [52])
** A first-aid drug that reverses the symptoms of an opioid overdose is expected to be available without a prescription in Canada by mid-March in response to an alarming spike in deaths linked to fentanyl. (http://bit.ly/1Zp08Fa [53])
NATIONAL POST
** The Investment Industry Association of Canada is calling on provincial securities regulators to scrap equity crowdfunding to help turn around the fortunes of the TSX Venture Exchange. (http://bit.ly/1Zp1IGY [54])
** An Ontario judge has ruled that so-called "tower dump" search warrants violate the constitutional and the privacy rights of Canadian cell phone customers. In an important legal ruling that limits the ability of Canadian police to investigate crime by tracking cell phone use, Justice John Sproat of the Ontario Superior Court says wireless phone companies do not have to provide investigators with usage and billing records for thousands of customers when police are only after a small group of suspects. (http://bit.ly/1Zp1UGa [55])
** Police pressure on a self-made crime group built by five gangster brothers continued as authorities seized a restaurant in Ontario and a nightclub in Quebec from the Alkhalil organization, claiming the businesses are the proceeds of crime. (http://bit.ly/1Zp1wYt [56])
Britain
The Times
- Tesco Plc has surprised the market with an unexpected rise in UK sales over Christmas, as evidence mounts that the challenge posed by the discounters may be easing. (http://thetim.es/1P3nIrx [57])
- BHP Billiton Plc's Brazilian joint venture faces a criminal investigation into the dam disaster that killed up to 19 people in November. Brazilian police said that Samarco, the mining company that BHP co-owns with Vale, was accused of environmental crimes relating to the tragedy. (http://thetim.es/2033os0 [58])
The Guardian
- HSBC Holdings Plc is trying to prevent publication of a report on how it complies with money-laundering rules imposed on it by the U.S. authorities in 2012, when it was fined a record $1.9 billion. The bank is arguing in United States courts that it could be left vulnerable to money laundering if the report is published. (http://bit.ly/2033qQL [59])
- Tax inspectors last month raided warehouses and seized more than 500,000 pounds ($721,050.00) of goods they suspect were illegally being offered to UK online shoppers at VAT-free prices. (http://bit.ly/2033z6E [60])
The Telegraph
- The Bank of England has voted to keep interest rates on hold over fears that Britain's economy remains vulnerable amid a fall in oil prices and a slowdown in China. (http://bit.ly/2033C29 [61])
- Fears that Renault SA could face its own emissions scandal similar to Volkswagen AG's "dieselgate" drove down shares in the French car-maker as much as 20 percent. (http://bit.ly/2033EqT [62])
Sky News
- Brown-Forman Corp is selling its Southern Comfort brand to a rival drinks maker as part of a $543.5 million deal. Brown-Forman said the brand, together with another liqueur called Tuaca, was being sold to Sazerac, a family-owned firm based in Louisiana. (http://bit.ly/2033JuI [63])
- Santander UK Plc is intensifying its plans to bid for more than 300 RBS branches of Royal Bank of Scotland in a reprise of a deal it walked away from more than three years ago. (http://bit.ly/2033TlK [64])
The Independent
- Research published by Energyhelpline claimed consumers are being over-charged by 3 billion pounds on their energy bills. The report showed that over the last two years, wholesale gas prices have dropped 51 percent while electricity prices have fallen 33 percent. (http://ind.pn/203494c [65])
- EOS, the producers of the balms that come in flavours such as vanilla mint, strawberry sorbet and summer fruit, have been accused of manufacturing products that can lead to cracked and bleeding lips as a result of allergic reactions. (http://ind.pn/2034cgA [66])