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A roundup of what The Globe and Mail’s market strategist Scott Barlow is reading today on the Web

The S&P 500 was set to open three-quarters of a percentage point lower Friday morning after weak economic data in China and Europe was released,

“Euro zone business ended the year on a weak note, expanding at the slowest pace in over four years as new order growth all but dried up, hurt by trade tensions and violent protests in France, a survey showed … [In China,] November retail sales grew at the weakest pace since 2003 and industrial output rose the least in nearly three years, underlining risks to the economy as Beijing works to defuse a trade dispute with the United States.”

“Weak economic data send world stocks tumbling” – Reuters

“@C_Barraud 🇨🇳 #China | Yesterday, Central Bank Governor Yi Gang noted that there is increasing downward pressure on the economy which was confirmed by stats this morning: Growth in retail sales slowed to +8.1% YoY in Nov. (the weakest reading since June 2003)” – Twitter

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A Goldman Sachs report “A PM’s Guide to Avoiding Credit Complacency” outlined ways investors can protect themselves from potential 2019 upheavals in debt markets,

“We still see signs of complacency around upcoming debt maturities and rising borrowing costs. Focus on names expected to outspend their cash flow (such as UNFI, CNX & UNP) and those that will need to roll debt or raise cash through other means in order to hit spending forecasts (e.g. RAD & CPB) … With Asset classes generally down across the board, pension assets are expected to post their worst performance since the financial crisis. However, the move up in the discount rate will likely even more than offset that headwind suggesting funded statuses should improve.”

Canadian investors would do well to heed Goldman’s warnings about companies where spending is set to exceed cash flow and where refinancing is set to occur.

“@SBarlow_ROB “pension assets are expected to post their worst performance since the financial crisis” – GS ‘ – (research excerpt) Twitter

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U.S. equity funds saw huge outflows last week, partially explaining market volatility,

“ Funds that invest in US equities suffered $27.7bn in outflows for the week ending December 12, the biggest withdrawal since $33bn was pulled out during the turmoil earlier this year, according to data from EPFR Global.”

“US equity funds suffer big outflows” – Financial Times (paywall)

“US leveraged loan funds just saw the biggest outflows on record” – Bloomberg

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Wired magazine published a really, really unflattering feature on Elon Musk,

“When he arrived, Musk began marching through the factory. He walked along the assembly line, red-faced and urgent, interrogating workers he encountered, telling them that at Tesla excellence was a passing grade, and they were failing; that they weren’t smart enough to be working on these problems; that they were endangering the company, according to someone who observed him… One manager had a name for these outbursts—Elon’s rage firings—and had forbidden subordinates from walking too close to Musk’s desk at the Gigafactory.”

“Dr. Elon & Mr. Musk: Life Inside Tesla's Production Hell” – Wired

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Tweet of the Day:

Diversion: “The 25 Best Television Episodes of 2018” – The Atlantic

Newsletter: “Eleven top stock picks for the defensive investor” – Globe Investor

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