Monday's News Links

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Stocks Drop on Manchin Shock, Virus: Markets Wrap 

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Lira Slides After Erdogan Says Islam Demands Lower Rates

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Chile Assets Tumble After Left-Wing Boric’s Presidential Win

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Kaisa Shares Plunge in First Trading Since Default Declared

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Omicron Fears Ignite Market Selloff Just as Traders Clear Books

[Reuters] Oil prices slide as rapid Omicron spread dims fuel demand outlook

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] U.S. Economy Loses Fed, Fiscal Props After Powell-Manchin Pivots

[CNN] The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and the Omicron variant

[CNBC] Goldman cuts GDP forecast after Sen. Manchin says he won’t support Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ plan

[CNBC] Omicron casts a shadow over winter holidays as countries consider serious restrictions

[AP] Inflation squeezes holiday budgets for low-income shoppers

[Reuters] Analysis: After inflation, a bond supply shock may be next for markets

[CNBC] China’s central bank cuts a benchmark rate for the first time since the pandemic

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Property Stocks Tumble; China Backs Deals: Evergrande Update

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Chinese Banks Cut Borrowing Costs To Counter Economic Slowdown

[Reuters] Sinopharm COVID-19 booster weaker against Omicron - study

[Reuters] Pro-Beijing candidates sweep 'patriots'-only Hong Kong vote amid low turnout

[UK Guardian] Who is Gabriel Boric? The radical student leader who will be Chile’s next president

[Reuters] "I'm back" says Lula, vowing a broad alliance ahead of Brazil election

[Reuters] Global M&A activity smashes all-time records to top $5 trillion in 2021

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Europe’s Energy Prices Soar as a Deep Freeze Arrives

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Germany Picks Bundesbank Veteran Nagel as Central Bank Chief

[USAT] Himalayan glaciers melting at an ‘exceptional' rate because of global warming, study finds

[Bloomberg] Goldman Cuts U.S. GDP Forecast as Biden Economic Agenda in Doubt

[Bloomberg] China Offshore Bond Defaults Hit Record in December

[Bloomberg] El-Erian: Turkey Can’t Take Much More of Its Currency Crisis

[WSJ] Covid-19’s Omicron Variant Starts to Take Toll on Businesses

[WSJ] Hospitals Are Strained Even Before Omicron Hits

[WSJ] Inflation Hawk to Lead German Bundesbank

[FT] China easing fails to calm Evergrande jitters in property sector

[FT] Supply chains: companies shift from ‘just in time’ to ‘just in case’

[FT] The dangers of politicising ‘independent’ central banks

Sunday Evening Links

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Stocks, Crude Oil Drop Amid Omicron, Policy Risks: Markets Wrap

[AP] Omicron may sideline two leading drugs against COVID-19

[Axios] Omicron surge pushes elite colleges back into 2020 mode

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Europe Braces for Energy Crunch This Week as Deep Freeze Sets in

[Reuters] Chile leftist Boric leads in polarized presidential election

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Turkey’s Erdogan Says Islam Demands Lower Rates and So Does He

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Hawkish Fed, Dovish PBOC Diverge in New Phase of Pandemic Policy

[Yahoo/Bloomberg] Hong Kong Democrats Boycott Election Stage-Managed by Beijing

[NYT] Most of the World’s Vaccines Likely Won’t Prevent Infection From Omicron

[WSJ] Omicron Prompts New Covid-19 Restrictions

[FT] Chipmakers’ nightmare: will shortages give way to a supply glut?