Trump taps former rival Ben Carson to be housing secretary

President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Ben Carson to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Trump’s transition team said Monday morning. Carson ran against Trump in the Republican presidential primaries, and is a retired neurosurgeon. Last month, Carson’s business manager and close friend Armstrong Williams told the Hill that Carson informed Trump he wasn’t interested in the position. “Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience, he’s never run a federal agency,” Williams told the Hill.

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Italian bond yields jump back above 2% after ‘no’ vote

Borrowing costs in Italy jumped on Monday after voters rejected Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s proposals for constitutional reforms. Renzi said he will officially resign on Monday, which some worry will put to put the populist and eurosceptic 5 Star Movement on a path to more power and lead Italy out of the eurozone. The yield on 10-year Italian government rose 11 basis points to 2.020% in early Monday trade. To cope with the immediate market volatility, the European Central Bank could temporarily tilt its bond buying toward more Italian debt, analysts said. The ECB meets on Thursday.

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S&P raises Prologis’s rating to ‘A-‘ on solid performance

S&P Global Ratings on Friday raised Prologis Inc.’s rating to A- from BBB+, citing its diversified real estate portfolio and potential for rent growth. “Prologis’ financial policies have supported debt reduction, and we think this approach will continue,” said S&P Global in a statement. The outlook on the rating is stable. Prologis is a real estate investment trust headquartered in San Francisco.

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Zendesk shares fall after exec resignations announced

Shares of Zendesk Inc. fell in the extended session Friday after the cloud-based software company announced the departure of a pair of its executives. Zendesk shares declined 5.5% to $20 after hours. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the company said that Amanda Klein, senior vice president of Go to Market Strategy was resigning as of Dec. 30, and Marcus Bragg, senior vice president of worldwide sales, would leave Dec. 7 to pursue another position.

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Trump risks dispute with China after call with Taiwan president: report

President-elect Donald Trump is risking a major diplomatic dispute with China after speaking on the phone Friday with the president of Taiwan, the Financial Times reported. The telephone call between Trump and Tsai Ying-wen is believed to be the first between a U.S. president and a Taiwanese leader since the two cut diplomatic ties in 1979. China regards the island as a renegade province. The FT said the Trump transition team did not respond to its requests for comment.

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Ford CEO says company still moving production to Mexico: WSJ

Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Mark Fields said the car maker still plans to move production of Focus sedans to Mexico despite criticism from President-elect Donald Trump, according to an interview with The Wall Street Journal Friday. Such move will mean no loss of U.S. jobs and is expected for 2018, Fields told the newspaper. The Michigan plant would produce more profitable, larger vehicles. Fields said in September the move was aimed at “reinventing” Ford’s small-vehicle business and at cutting costs. Trump said earlier Friday companies moving jobs abroad would face “consequences.” Shares of Ford were up 0.1% in the extended session after ending the regular trading day down 1.5%.

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S&P 500, Nasdaq finish higher but snap 3-week winning streak

U.S. stocks finished mostly higher on Friday but weekly losses for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index suggested that an aggressive postelection rally might be running out of steam. Both indexes snapped three-week winning streaks. The S&P 500 index gained 0.9 point, or less than 0.1%, to 2,192.00, as investors favored safety plays like real estate, up 1.2%, utilities, up 0.9% and consumer staples, up 0.7%. The broad-market index ended the week 1% lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 21.30 points, or 0.1%, to 19,170.63, as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. led the benchmark lower, though it ended the week up 0.1%, its fourth consecutive weekly rise. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 4.55 points, or 0.1%, to 5,255.65, but finished down 2.7% on the week. Earlier, the Labor Department reported sanguine jobs growth numbers for November, which helped support stocks. U.S. stocks’ momentum faded this week as a blistering rally that sent benchmarks to a series of record highs cooled. Treasury yields moved lower on Friday, with the 10-year [s:TMUBMUSD10Y] down 5.6 basis points at 2.395%, but finished higher for a fourth straight week.

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S&P 500, Nasdaq finish higher but snap 3-week winning streak

U.S. stocks finished mostly higher on Friday but weekly losses for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index suggested that an aggressive postelection rally might be running out of steam. Both indexes snapped three-week winning streaks. The S&P 500 index gained 0.9 point, or less than 0.1%, to 2,192.00, as investors favored safety plays like real estate, up 1.2%, utilities, up 0.9% and consumer staples, up 0.7%. The broad-market index ended the week 1% lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 21.30 points, or 0.1%, to 19,170.63, as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. led the benchmark lower, though it ended the week up 0.1%, its fourth consecutive weekly rise. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 4.55 points, or 0.1%, to 5,255.65, but finished down 2.7% on the week. Earlier, the Labor Department reported sanguine jobs growth numbers for November, which helped support stocks. U.S. stocks’ momentum faded this week as a blistering rally that sent benchmarks to a series of record highs cooled. Treasury yields moved lower on Friday, with the 10-year [s:TMUBMUSD10Y] down 5.6 basis points at 2.395%, but finished higher for a fourth straight week.

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Gundlach’s DoubleLine sees worst outflows since 2014 ‘taper tantrum’

DoubleLine Capital on Friday said its funds had collectively posted a net outflow of $990.5 million in November, the first month that share redemptions exceeded subscriptions since January 2014, during the Federal Reserve’s so-called “taper tantrum.” Tracking the trend of the overall market, the fund’s bond portfolios saw particular outflows, with the DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund – the firm’s largest fund by assets, with $59.2 billion – seeing $1.4 billion in outflows over the month, the third largest monthly outflows in the fund’s history. Bonds saw heavy selling in November, especially after the election of Donald Trump, with investors expecting the President-elect’s proposals to lead to higher interest rates and inflation. November was the worst month for Treasurys since December 2009, with yields on the 10-year rising more than 50 basis points in the month. The $1.7 billion DoubleLine Shiller Enhanced CAPE fund, DoubleLine’s biggest equities fund, saw $171.7 million in inflows over November. Stocks rallied following the election, with investors betting that Trump’s policies would lead to accelerated levels of growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 4.5% since the election while the S&P 500 is up 2.4%.

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Gold futures gain for the session, slip lower for the week

Gold futures settled higher Friday, with a retreat in the U.S. dollar and weakness in Treasury yields boosting the metal’s investment appeal. February gold rose $8.40, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,177.80 an ounce for the session. For the week, prices lost less than 0.1% from the $1,178.40 settlement of the most-active December contract a week ago.

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