Monday Morning Reads

Futures advance with stocks near highs

U.S. stock index futures are pointing to gains at the start of the week, with DJIA futures ahead by 112 points and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq up 0.4%. Depicting a bright spot in the American economy, consumer spending is basking in the limelight with Thanksgiving weekend shopping estimated near $30B. Twin manufacturing surveys from China also boosted sentiment, with growth picking up to a near three-year high due to recent government stimulus and slow-but-steady trade progress with the U.S.
Go deeper: More relief... Beijing's retaliation over HK bill didn't include trade.

AWS re:Invent

Thousands of technologists and business executives are descending on Las Vegas this week for one of the biggest tech conferences of the year: AWS re:Invent 2019. Keynotes will likely include numerous incremental additions to Amazon Web Services' (AMZN) product portfolio as rivals build up their own cloud offerings. In the past year, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has invested heavily in Azure with a string of acquisitions, IBM (NYSE:IBM) has switched focus with its mega Red Hat deal and Google is plowing so deeply into its cloud it's hurting Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) earnings.
Go deeper: Sometimes analysts can get too bearish and AMZN seems like a current example, says Michael Henage.

'Frozen II' nabs Thanksgiving record

The movie garnered $124M domestically over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, becoming the highest-grossing film ever for the holiday period in the U.S. Frozen II also brought in another $249M at the worldwide box office, resulting in a global tally of $738M. Anna, Elsa and the gang are set to propel the studio to more records, with the movie soon to become Disney's (NYSE:DIS) sixth to gross more than $1B globally this year.
Go deeper: Daniel Jones comments on Disney's Frozen success.

U.S. cements status as net oil exporter

Amid the shale boom and President Trump's drive for American energy independence, the U.S. has posted its first full month as a net exporter of crude oil and petroleum products since government records began in 1949. The nation exported 89K barrels a day more than it imported in September, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Analysts at Rystad Energy predict the U.S. is only months away from achieving total energy independence, citing surging oil and gas output, and the growth of renewables.
Go deeper: '3 Oil Stocks To Buy For 5%+ Dividend Yields And Growth' by Sure Dividend.

COP25 centers on carbon offset market

Delegates from nearly 200 countries are gathering in Madrid for COP25 - the first big climate meeting since the U.S. declared it would pull out of the Paris accord. On the menu is finding an agreement over the global carbon offset market and to encourage signatories to the Paris pact to submit bolder climate goals in 2020. Dozens of countries have already adopted targets for net zero emissions by 2050, but almost none have yet enacted specific policies to reach that objective.

Fiat, UAW reach tentative labor deal

Fiat Chrysler (NYSE:FCAU) has announced a tentative four-year labor contract with the United Auto Workers union as it looks to complete a $50B merger with Peugeot-owner PSA Group (OTCPK:PEUGF). The agreement includes $4.5B in new plant investments and 1,400 new jobs (adding to the $4.5B in investment and 6,500 jobs Fiat announced earlier this year). Other details weren't released, but they are expected to echo contracts the UAW already concluded with Ford (NYSE:F) and General Motors (NYSE:GM).

UPS employees busted in massive drug scheme

A group of UPS (NYSE:UPS) employees allegedly helped to import and traffic massive amounts of drugs and counterfeit vaping oils from Mexico during the past decade, the Washington Post reports. The scheme exploited a vulnerability in the company's distribution system, according to police, and at times involved moving thousands of pounds of marijuana and narcotics each week. Standard cardboard boxes were carefully routed through UPS's trucking and delivery systems, and obscured the origin and destination of drug shipments.

EU probes Google data collection

"The European Commission has sent out questionnaires as part of a preliminary investigation into Google's practices relating to Google's collection and use of data," the EU regulator told Reuters in an email. The probe relates to data from local search services, online advertising, online ad targeting services, login services, web browsers and others. European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager already handed out fines totaling more than €8B to Google (GOOG, GOOGL) in the last two years and has ordered the tech giant to change its business practices.

Facebook complies with 'fake news' law

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has added a "correction notice" to a post that Singapore authorities alleged contains false information, becoming the first tech company to comply with the territory's controversial "fake news" law. "As it is early days of the law coming into effect, we hope the Singapore government’s assurances that it will not impact free expression will lead to a measured and transparent approach to implementation," a Facebook spokesman said in a statement. The rule is the first to demand that Facebook publish corrections when directed to do so by the government.

What else is happening...

Oil advances on talk of supply cut extension.

DOJ probes Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) role in Danske (OTCPK:DNSKF) scandal.

Macau casino revenue tumbles 8.5% in November.

Hostess Brands (NASDAQ:TWNK) eats up Voortman Cookies for $320M.