📈Buffett Finally Reacts (🧪): After a decade of building a massive cash reserve, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has put some of it to work. Berkshire has reached a deal to buy Occidental Petroleum Corp’s OxyChem for $9.7 billion in cash. OxyChem makes basic chemicals such as chlorine and sodium hydroxide.

📈Nothing to Report: The BLS was set to release the September Jobs Report Friday. BUT, with the federal government going almost entirely dark, no new data will be available until funding resumes. Without official data, private estimates suggest 62,000 new jobs, 12,000 jobs lost in government roles, and the unemployment rate holds steady at 4.3%

📈Safer Than Risk-Free: Two corporate bonds with AAA credit ratings have lower yields than comparable U.S. Treasuries in a phenomenon known as a “negative spread”. It’s unusual since corporate bonds are less liquid and companies are more likely to default than the government. Analysts cite a mix of factors: none of which involve fears of a U.S. default.

📈Cold Feet In Mumbai: Global investors are dumping Indian stocks at a record pace. Foreign funds have pulled ~$17 billion USD from Indian equities this year, on pace for what could be the largest foreign outflow in history. The dent in India’s appeal is a mix of U.S. tariffs (the highest in Asia), slow earnings growth, and expensive valuations.

🌎Uncle Sam’s Sick Leave: The U.S. government has shut down after Republicans and Democrats couldn’t agree on a budget deal to fund operations for the new fiscal year. 40% of federal workers (~750,000 people) are on unpaid leave. Key services such as law enforcement, air traffic control and in-hospital medical care continue without pay.

🌎Read The Full Plan Here: The White House has a peace plan to end the conflict in Gaza. If accepted by Israel, Hamas will have to release the remaining hostages and give-up power over the Gaza strip. Netanyahu has accepted the proposal and Hamas has agreed in part, but says it seeks negotiations on a number of points.

🌎Going Red Pill: On Tuesday the U.S. government announced plans to launch a direct-to-manufacturer website for pharmaceuticals. Dubbed TrumpRx, drug prices would be negotiated at lower rates. The main proposed supplier, Pfizer $PFE ( ▲ 1.01% ) , would be exempt from Trump’s newest round of tariffs for 3 years.

🌎Mission Failed, We’ll Get ‘em Next Time: In a video posted on X, Israel’s Foreign Ministry assured viewers that “Greta and her friends are safe and healthy.” The message followed the interception of a 40-ship flotilla bound for Gaza, where activists had planned to deliver food. The flotilla’s crew denounced the seizure as an “act of piracy,” and vowed another flotilla would take up the mantle.

👔PE Scores Big With EA: In the largest leveraged buyout (LBO) of all time, EA will be taken private for $55 Bn, financed with ~$35 Bn of cash from a PE consortium and ~$20 Bn of debt from JP Morgan. Current EA shareholders will receive $210/stock, representing a 25% premium to pre-deal share price. Read the press release above (link).

👔Meta Paying Billions for Bandwidth: In its bid to make MetaAI relevant, Meta signed a deal with CoreWeave, leasing up to $14.2 Bn worth of computing power to develop and run their advanced AI models. This follows a similar deal inked with OpenAI last week, and furthering Meta’s plans to spend $72 Bn on AI this year.

👔BHP S-ore After China Ban: According to a Bloomberg report, China’s state-run iron-ore buyer has banned BHP iron-ore exports until trade negotiations resume. Often negotiated at a below-market rate, the impasse is sure to make a dent in Australia’s exports, 21% of which is iron ore.

👔Meta Introduces Inescapable Ad Targeting: All MetaAI data from December 16 will begin to be used to personalise ads for users of any Meta product. This includes the voice interactions with MetaAI when consumers use Ray-Ban’s Meta glasses. The only way to opt out? Don’t use MetaAI.

🤪Diddy’s Tips: Sean “Diddy” Combs, convicted of prostitution offenses earlier in the year, is one-year into a four-year sentence. In his spare time he has begun giving lessons to other inmates on positive thinking and business tips. According to jail officials, it’s a popular class.

🤪Whose Unpaid Intern Did This: Chaos erupted when two Delta aircraft collided on a taxiway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Both planes were moving quite slowly, with only one person reportedly injured. The crash was attributed to conflicting advice from air traffic control.

🤪AI Slop or Reality Bending Video?: Sora 2, OpenAI’s update to their image and video-generating AI model has been released via exclusive invite codes in the US and Canada. Some videos generated include ASMR featuring Winston Churchill (a must watch) and an American influencer attacked by a Cassowary.

🤪Fat Bear Week! Pt. 2: In our previous issue we announced it was Fat Bear Week! For continuity we felt honor-bound to share the winner of Fat Bear Week: “032 Chunk” a brown bear in Alaska's Katmai National Park (see his image above).