Why the stock market is headed for a swift recovery

In my four earlier ones, I covered why December was lousy and why stocks are on the right side of a swift V-shaped recovery. U.S. stocks have climbed more than 10 percent since the market close on Christmas Eve. Assuming December 24 remains the bottom, this correction ended later in a calendar year than any correction or bear market ever.

China's Economy Slows to the Weakest Pace Since 2009

The government's response with targeted stimulus measures is being tested by the standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump over trade at a time when the global expansion is already looking shakier. “Growth will improve from the second quarter onwards,” said Morgan Stanley's Chief China Economist Robin Xing in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong. Shares in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney climbed after the S&P 500 Index hit its highest since early December on Friday.

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  China's economy cools in fourth quarter, 2018 growth hits 28-year low

  Reuters
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  Asia stocks calm as China slows, awaits Brexit news

  Reuters

Health Savings Account Rules: 6 Little-Known HSA Tips That Will Save You Money

Health Savings Account Rules: 6 Little-Known HSA Tips That Will Save You Money

Chinese Drone Giant DJI Unearths $150 Million Losses From Fraud

SZ DJI Technology Co., which discovered the corruption in an internal probe, said it's fired multiple workers who inflated parts costs for personal gain, and contacted law enforcement. DJI, which employs 14,000 people around the globe, is the runaway leader in consumer drones with almost three-quarters of the market. The case exposes a lapse in internal controls at one of the country's best-known consumer technology giants, a symbol of the rising global reach of a clutch of fast-growing corporations based in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen.

How OPEC Is Helping U.S. Oil Reach a Tipping Point

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has published its first detailed monthly oil forecast for 2020 and it shows something that should strike fear into the hearts of OPEC ministers — from the fourth quarter, America will export more oil than it imports. This won't make the U.S. independent of the global supply chain. It doesn't mean that it will stop shipping in crude from the Middle East and Latin America, or bringing refined products from Europe and Asia.

Tesla will overrun traditional car companies because they still aren't moving fast enough

It took the worst corporate scandal in automotive history for Volkswagen to make the necessary decision to transform itself into an electric car company. The world's largest car maker will spend $50 billion over the next five years to develop 50 new electric models, an increase from six today, and produce 1 million electric cars by 2025. This radical reinvention is exactly what is needed to stave off a challenge from Tesla (TSLA) and a band of upstarts from California and China that are building for an electric future.

'Radical savers' shred trader for backing Suze Orman on needing $5 million to retire

But one thing he said really rattled Reddit's “FIRE” board, where half a million subscribers gather to share their thoughts on the “financial independence, retire early” strategy that's become a hot-button topic for millennials. Here's what set them off: 'Suze Orman was criticized as being elitist and out-of-touch for suggesting that you might need $5 million to $10 million to retire at 35. But she's not wrong under her framework, which is that in retirement, you want to live well, not poorly.

Berkshire's lithium venture may supply U.S. automakers, including Tesla: FT

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has signed an agreement to allow extraction of lithium from its geothermal wells in California, a project that could offer U.S. carmakers and battery producers a secure supply of the metal, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The venture has been in talks to supply Tesla Inc with lithium, a component for batteries to power electric cars, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the company. Berkshire Hathaway's geothermal wells could produce up to 90,000 tonnes of lithium a year worth $1.5 billion at current prices, the report said, citing a fundraising document.

5 ways to avoid becoming a failed retiree

Then we talked about community festivals where she could show her work and sell it. Most of the festivals required an entrance fee, so she did a lot of research and entered a couple, to try it out. She sold several paintings and even got a couple of custom orders.

Jack Bogle's counter-intuitive lesson on American excellence: Don't chase it

Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, who died this week at the age of 89, has been rightly celebrated as one of the most important innovators in the history of capitalism, upending Wall Street retail brokerage and the mutual fund industry. Bogle's winning bet that the average market return would beat most active managers includes an important, if counter-intuitive lesson about success: the path to it does not always mean you have to spend more, or stretch. If Vanguard Group founder Jack Bogle, who died this week at the age of 89, represented the pinnacle of American success, his success is one that includes a counter-intuitive lesson.

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  Jack Bogle was the greatest investor who never managed money

  MarketWatch
• Jack Bogle's last warning to the investment industry: "Don't forget the little guy you serve"

  CNBC

Asia Stocks Rise on Trade Hopes, China Data: Markets Wrap

Shares in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney climbed after the S&P 500 Index hit its highest since early December on Friday. Spurring the gains was optimism around the next round of U.S.-China trade talks at month-end and data from China that alleviated concerns of a continued deterioration in China's slowing economy. Not all was sunny on Monday, however, with S&P 500 futures dipping and the yen strengthening after Bloomberg reported that the two sides are making little progress on the key issue of intellectual property protection.

Tesla Gets Green Light to Start Delivering Model 3 in Europe

Tesla Inc. was cleared to begin delivering its Model 3 sedans across Europe, according to Dutch vehicle authority RDW. Deliveries should start in February and, as happened in the U.S., the first sales in Europe will be for the Model 3 Long Range Battery variant, according to Tesla.

Libya's Oil Future Depends On This Huge Oil Field

There is no respite for Libya on its bumpy road to recover crude oil production to the levels of 2011, when the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi plunged the country into a deep division between the east and west and an incessant strife for control over its vital oil industry. A military operation launched this week could shape the fate of Libya's oil production and exports for months and possibly years to come. Barely a day had passed since the African OPEC member won exemption from the new OPEC+ production cuts in early December, when its largest oil field, Sharara, was shut down, after armed militia claiming attachment to the local Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) seized control and demanded ransom to re-open it.

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  Oil rises to 2019 highs on strong China demand despite economic slowdown

  Reuters
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  How OPEC Is Helping U.S. Oil Reach a Tipping Point

  Bloomberg

China slump squeezes workers, hammers consumer spending

The downturn is squeezing urban workers and entrepreneurs the ruling Communist Party is counting on to help transform China from a low-wage factory into a prosperous consumer market. Headline economic numbers still look healthy. Growth in 2019 is forecast at more than 6 percent, down only slightly from about 6.5 percent last year.

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  China's economy cools in the fourth quarter, 2018 growth hits 28-year low

  Reuters
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  Global Markets: Asia stocks calm as China slows, awaits Brexit news

  Reuters