STOCKS/ECONOMY
-Stock futures are lower after Thursday's 29-point gain for Dow, and just below breakeven closes for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Investors may be focusing a little more on overseas political turmoil today as corporate news slows to a trickle before the new year.
-The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond is at 4.61 percent.
-Gold is at the $2,641 per ounce level. Bitcoin is at the $96,400 level.
-Asian markets closed mixed today. The Nikkei rallied 1.8 percent higher, while the Hang Seng closed just below breakeven and the Shenzhen fell 0.1 percent. The Nikkei rally was connected to traders betting the Tokyo government will raise interest rates soon due to rising inflation.
-South Korea's Kospi index sold off by 1 percent as the nation's parliament has now voted to impeach the country's acting president less than a month after impeaching and ousting his predecessor.
OIL/ENERGY
-U.S. crude prices are up and back to the $70 a barrel level.
-Gasoline prices are down to $3.03 a gallon, national average.
GERMAN UNCERTAINTY
-Germany's president has dissolved the parliament and new nationwide elections have been called for February 23.
STREAMING SEASON
-Netflix's (NFLX) two live NFL game telecasts on Christmas Day averaged 24 million viewers, breaking a streaming record for NFL games. Netfliz shares are still down 2 percent in the premarket, but are still up about 90 percent for the year so far.
AI MANIA
-OpenAI is still a privately-held company, but the company is putting out a blog post saying it needs more funding and investment than it expected before it can turn a profit.
WEIGHT WARS
-Novo Nordisk (NVO) shares are recovering after they took a major hit last on slightly disappointing results for its new experimental weight lose drugs. Its shares are up 2 percent in the premarket, but are still down 40 percent from their June high.
PHARMA
-BioNTech (BNTX) has settled with the University of Pennsylvania and some other plaintiffs in a suit over royalties from its COVID-19 vaccine. Its shares are down about 1 percent in the premarket.
IN MEMORIAM
-Former Time Warner and Citigroup CEO Dick Parsons has died at age 76.
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