· European Stocks Drop as Greece’s ASE Tumbles After Vote Results (BBG)
· AirAsia Stock Drops Most Since 2011 After Flight Vanishes (BBG)
· Libya's NOC says firefighters had managed to extinguish the blaze at three of 6 burning oil tanks (BBG)
· Bomber kills 11 Shi'ite pilgrims north of Baghdad (Reuters)
· Hillary Clinton Faces Uphill Fight for White, Rural Vote (WSJ)
· Yen’s Slump Seen Longest Since Gold Standard Ended (BBG)
· The 94% Plunge That Shows Abenomics Losing Global Investors (BBG)
· Sony's 'The Interview' makes $18 million in opening weekend (Reuters)
· Xiaomi Becomes World’s Most Valuable Tech Startup (WSJ)
· Billionaire Milner Sees Xiaomi at $100 Billion (BBG)
· China Tackles First-World Quandary as $800 Billion Lending Freed (BBG)
· Lion Capital Is Said to Push American Apparel to Consider Sale (BBG)
*Overnight Media Digest*
WSJ
* Hillary Clinton's allies say she can bring white, working-class voters back to the Democrats if she runs in 2016, but many voters in Arkansas sound leery of the state's former first lady. (http://on.wsj.com/1A3tbUm)
* Search teams scoured waters off Indonesia's coast Monday after an AirAsia jetliner with 162 people on board vanished in a thicket of storm clouds the day before, kindling much of the same fear as the disappearance of Malaysia's Flight 370 only months earlier. (http://on.wsj.com/1y0lkIX)
* Regulators around the country are taking steps to patch a loophole that allows brokers who have been barred from the securities industry to sell insurance and other financial products. (http://on.wsj.com/1A3tj69)
* Facing pressure from investors and heightened scrutiny from federal regulators, some of the largest private-equity firms are giving up their claim to fees that generated hundreds of millions of dollars for them over the years. (http://on.wsj.com/1Ad0RjH)
* "The Interview" has been streamed or downloaded more than two million times since it became available last Wednesday, Sony Pictures said Sunday, boasting of high demand for the controversial comedy, which was released simultaneously online and in a few hundred theaters. (http://on.wsj.com/1tcOxcR)
FT
British courier and parcel firm City Link has been forced on the backfoot after it was revealed that taxpayers will pick up the redundancy bill for the 2760 workers who may lose their jobs.
Britain's railway regulator has decided to launch an official investigation into the disruption in train services caused by over-running engineering work by Network Rail on Christmas day.
Adam Cahan, Yahoo's senior vice-president of mobile said wearable devices like the soon-to-be-launched Apple Watch and others present a big opportunity for Yahoo in the coming time.
UTV Media, a Northern Irish radio and television broadcaster is launching the new UTV Ireland channel at a cost of 8 million euros ($9.75 million) that looks to intensify competition in the advertising market. The channel will begin broadcasting from the evening of January 1.
NYT
* Japanese technology company Mixi, once the dominant social network in its consummately internet-connected home market, is rewriting the ending to its story, thanks to a striking act of self-reinvention. Abandoned by most of its users and investors a year ago, Mixi has come storming back in a new field: mobile video gaming. (http://nyti.ms/1y0nzfj)
* On the New Year's Day, the digital scrapbook Pinterest will start selling ads to marketers, competing with Google , Twitter and Facebook for ad revenue from the biggest consumer brands. (http://nyti.ms/1CPe6Jo)
* Tex G. Hall, a tribal chief connected to the oil industry, has pushed profits on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. But charges of murder for hire against an associate and accusations of corruption have upended business as usual. (http://nyti.ms/1ru9p3H)
* The Sony Corp's PlayStation Network had connection problems for a fourth day since hackers attacked the video game network, and the company said on Sunday that service was gradually being restored. (http://nyti.ms/1vCsahS)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Canada Jetlines Ltd is aiming to launch jet service in the West in the summer of 2015 as it seeks to lure consumers away from planes with propellers. Vancouver-based Jetlines will target domestic routes where turboprops are flown, vowing to avoid competing head-to-head against Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd on flights where they offer jet service. (http://bit.ly/1vCA5vG)
** Film producer Judd Apatow is criticizing two Ontario entertainment venues for playing host to upcoming performances by Bill Cosby despite sex-assault allegations made against the comedian by several women. Apatow posted his concerns on Twitter, sending messages to Centre in the Square theatre in Kitchener and to Budweiser Gardens arena in London. (http://bit.ly/1AdoKHT)
** According to new rules announced by Employment Minister Jason Kenney in June, businesses have to get down to a maximum work force of 20 percent temporary foreign workers (TFW) by summer, and 10 percent by 2016. This could reduce the low-wage TFW work force "by 50 percent in the next three years," according to a government statement. In Fort McMurray, that policy carries a high cost - for businesses, workers, and consumers. (http://bit.ly/1vm2YLr)
NATIONAL POST
** Canada's junior stock market, S&P/TSX Venture composite index, is in crisis. Hundreds and hundreds of companies can't raise money, or do anything productive to create shareholder value, or get anyone to trade their stocks. The decline has come despite plenty of things that have propelled global equity markets in recent years and a big chunk of the blame can be laid on the volatile commodity price environment, as more than 70 percent of the stocks on the Venture are junior mining and energy companies. (http://bit.ly/1HUU66g)
** Boxing Day shooting at the Tanger Outlet Mall in Ottawa appears to be the result of infighting between members of the 'Crips' gang. On Saturday evening, investigators continued to pore over surveillance footage from mall security cameras, and were planning to speak with more witnesses throughout the evening. Officers had earlier arrested two men on Friday night, but they were later arrested without charge. (http://bit.ly/1BeWcft)
** Tennis player Eugenie Bouchard had a phenomenal year on the WTA tour, rising from 32 in the rankings to number 5 at one point before ending it at an impressive number 7. These exploits have earned her the Bouchard the Bobbie Rosenfeld award for the second year in a row. She is the first woman to win the award in consecutive years since speedskater Cindy Klassen in 2005 and 2006. (http://bit.ly/1xasEzS)
Britain
The Times
REGULATOR TO INVESTIGATE KING'S CROSS CLOSURE CHAOS
Network Rail had to close Finsbury Park station temporarily today as it struggled to cope with knock-on effects of delayed engineering work at King's Cross. (http://thetim.es/1xZS0lN)
TAXPAYER TO PAY OFF CITY LINK STAFF
About 2,000 employees of City Link, the delivery service which collapsed into administration on Christmas Day, will be laid off during the next few days after efforts to find a saviour for the business failed. (http://thetim.es/1tcnbDD)
The Guardian
TESCO MAY HAVE TO FIND 300 MLN POUNDS A YEAR TO PLUG PENSIONS HOLE
Tesco PLC, the embattled supermarket chain that lived through a nightmare two years, is facing additional financial pressure in 2015 when it must publish plans to plug a 3 billion stg hole in its multibillion-pound pension scheme. (http://bit.ly/1H8Moar)
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE PAYS OUT 2 MLN POUNDS TO SETTLE CADETS' SEXUAL ABUSE CLAIMS
The Ministry of Defence has paid out more than 2 million pounds in out-of-court settlements over the past three years as a result of claims of sexual abuse against young people within the ranks of the cadet forces. (http://bit.ly/1wVHRoF)
The Telegraph
UK BANKS IN TALKS OVER APPLE 'WAVE AND PAY'
Britain's top banks are in talks with Apple to introduce its iPhone "wave and pay" service, Apple Pay, to the high street in the first half of 2015. Negotiations between the Silicon Valley giant and at least one of the biggest banks have proved tricky, however, because of wrangling over the terms, including what data Apple will be able to access, according to sources. (http://bit.ly/1HT90dq)
'BIG FOUR' SUPERMARKETS FACE MORE PAIN OVER BUSINESS RATES
Britain's biggest supermarkets have been hit by increasingly disproportionate hikes in business rates that will spell more pain for the grocery giants next year as sales decline, new analysis shows. (http://bit.ly/1tsqKv3)
Sky News
BANK OF ENGLAND TO MONITOR SOCIAL NETWORKS
The Bank of England has set up a special taskforce to monitor the internet and social networks for early signs of Britain's economic ups and downs. (http://bit.ly/16VS36J)
ROYAL MAIL, DX SNUBBED CITY LINK RESCUE DEAL
Royal Mail PLC and DX Group held preliminary talks in recent weeks with KPMG, which was working for City Link's owner to identify possible buyers of the struggling company. (http://bit.ly/1A38lEm)
The Independent
UK WEATHER: 'COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR' TONIGHT AS FREEZING TEMPERATURES PLUMMET TO -10C
Temperatures are set to plunge over the next 24 hours with tonight forecast to be the coldest of the year so far with lows down to -10C and the likelihood of ice. Tonight is expected to beat the record of the current coldest night of the year, which was two days ago on 26 December in Braemar, Scotland, where the mercury hit -8.5C. The rest of the UK is also likely to experience the lowest temperatures on record for 2014. (http://ind.pn/1wun2eV)
*Fly On The Wall Pre-market Buzz*
ECONOMIC REPORTS
Domestic economic reports scheduled for today include:
Dallas Fed manufacturing activity index for December at 10:30-consensus 9
ANALYST RESEARCH
Upgrades
Gilead (GILD) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
Inphi (IPHI) upgraded to Strong Buy from Buy at Needham
Downgrades
Ambarella (AMBA) downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Needham
Cavium (CAVM) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham
M/A-COM (MTSI) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham
MaxLinear (MXL) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham
RF Micro Devices (RFMD) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham
Skyworks (SWKS) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham
TriQuint (TQNT) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham
Initiations
CDK Global (CDK) initiated with an Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
Halyard Health (HYH) initiated with an Outperform at JMP Securities
Mavenir Systems (MVNR) initiated with a Buy at Wunderlich
RigNet (RNET) initiated with a Neutral at Macquarie
Sonus (SONS) initiated with a Buy at Wunderlich
COMPANY NEWS
Sony (SNE) said in a blog post: "PlayStation Network is back online. As you probably know, PlayStation Network and some other gaming services were attacked over the holidays with artificially high levels of traffic designed to disrupt connectivity and online gameplay. This may have prevented your access to the network and its services over the last few days"
Microsoft (MSFT) said Xbox Live Core Services "up and running"
Roche (RHHBY) received FDA emergency use authorization for LightMix test
Twitter (TWTR) said some users are currently having trouble signing in to twitter and said its engineers are currently working to resolve the issue
EARNINGS
China Xiniya Fashion (XNY) reports Q3 EPS (59c), compared to 2c a year ago
NEWSPAPERS/WEBSITES
Google's (GOOG) Gmail blocked in China, WSJ reports
Liberia reporting "dozens" of new Ebola cases, AP reports
American Apparel (APP) urged by Lion Capital to consider sale, WSJ reports
Yahoo (YHOO) sees opportunity in expansion of wearables and mobile growth, FT reports
Cisco (CSCO) holders should stay in, Barron's says
Morgan Stanley (MS) shares could still climb higher, Barron's says
Seagate (STX), Facebook (FB), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX) could do well in FY15, Barron's says
Investors should buy GM (GM), Ford (F) instead of CarMax (KMX), Barron's says
SYNDICATE
Speed Commerce (SPDC) files $100M mixed securities shelf, 25.6M shares for holders
Reported by Zero Hedge 15 minutes ago.