Major Bessent Win: U.S. Multinationals Exempt from Global Minimum Tax

U.S. multinationals exempt from global minimum tax

xAI raises $20 billion

Feds probe California for fraud

The updated deal waters down the Biden-era accord aimed at curbing profit-shifting to low-tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, after Trump criticized it as infringing on U.S. sovereignty and threatened retaliatory measures.

OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann hailed the revision as a "landmark" enhancing tax certainty, while U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called it a "historic victory" preserving American competitiveness.

The exemption follows the rollback of a congressional "revenge tax" provision and reflects Cormann's alignment with Trump, who backed his 2021 appointment.

Tax transparency advocates sharply criticized the changes, warning they undermine nearly a decade of progress against corporate tax avoidance.

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Trump announced that Venezuela's interim authorities will immediately transfer 30 to 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the U.S., to be sold at market prices with proceeds benefiting both nations. (FOX)

Economists anticipate a robust December U.S. jobs report with 155,000 nonfarm payroll additions and the unemployment rate falling to 4.3%, the strongest headline gain in months. (INV)

Rubio assured lawmakers in a closed briefing that Trump seeks to acquire Greenland through purchase from Denmark, downplaying any military action. (WSJ)

Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran called for interest-rate cuts exceeding 100 basis points in 2026, arguing that current policy is constraining economic growth. (BBG)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Comcast trades at a steep discount, with a forward P/E of just 6.8 versus the communications industry's 16.5 average, offering a nearly 5% dividend yield, according to MarketBeat. (MB)

Vontobel Asset Management’s Markus Hansen recommended luxury stocks such as Richemont, Ferrari, and Formula One Group, citing resilient high-end consumer spending. (BNN)

Motley Fool predicts Realty Income (5.6% yield), Simon Property Group (4.7% yield), and Public Storage (4.6% yield) will be the five largest REIT dividend payers in 2026. (MF)

UBS upgraded Brinker International to Buy citing robust same-store sales momentum and earnings potential, while naming Dutch Bros as a top pick for its strong growth prospects in a recovering restaurant sector. (INV)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Hilton terminated its franchise agreement with a Hampton Inn owner in Lakeville, Minnesota, after staff were filmed denying service to DHS agents, despite the owner's earlier apology. (FBN)

Discord confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering, working with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. (BBG)

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he is "perfectly fine" with California's proposed billionaire wealth tax, amid a potential exodus from the state. (FOR)

McDonald's faces a class-action lawsuit alleging its McRib sandwich misleads consumers by not containing actual rib meat. (LC)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: Trump is set to meet with top U.S. oil executives on Friday to discuss investments in revitalizing Venezuela's oil sector. (AX)

The Trump administration is eyeing Venezuela's vast critical minerals reserves to counter China's dominance. (POL)

China purchased additional U.S. soybeans totaling around 600,000 tons, pushing overall imports near 10 million tons and fulfilling most of a 12 million-ton pledge. (RTS)

Trump Media is soliciting proposals from red states only to host the world's first commercial-scale fusion power plant. (NYP)

Morgan Stanley raised its gold price forecast to $4,800 per ounce by the fourth quarter of 2026, citing sustained central bank buying. (INV)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: A bipartisan crypto market-structure bill is slated for a Senate Banking Committee markup no later than January 15. (PUN)

Morgan Stanley filed with the SEC to launch its own spot Bitcoin and Solana ETFs. (TB)

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded nearly $700 million in net inflows on Monday, the largest daily total since early October. (BM)

Galaxy Digital forecasts that up to $83 trillion in Baby Boomer wealth transferring to younger people could funnel unprecedented capital into crypto markets. (CN)

Investors included chipmaker Nvidia, Cisco Investments, and longstanding Musk backers such as Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity, Qatar Investment Authority, Abu Dhabi's MGX, and Baron Capital Group.

Nvidia and Cisco serve as both investors and strategic partners, supplying hardware for xAI's infrastructure.

The round reflects soaring 2025 valuations in AI, following OpenAI's $500 billion share sale and Anthropic's approximately $350 billion mark.

xAI, which merged with Musk's social platform X in March, is expanding data centers in Memphis using natural gas turbines.

⭐ Editor’s Pick: A Wall Street Journal report reveals how Google regained momentum in the AI race, edging ahead of OpenAI with superior Gemini models that outperform ChatGPT in key benchmarks. (WSJ)

Chinese authorities are reviewing Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus—a Chinese-founded firm relocated to Singapore—for potential violations of technology export controls. (FT)

Stanford Medicine unveiled SleepFM, an AI model that analyzes one night's sleep data to accurately predict risks for over 100 diseases—including cancers, heart, and neurological conditions. (SM)

Smart whiteboard maker Vibe unveiled Vibe Bot at CES 2026, a desktop AI agent with a rotating screen, 4K camera, and advanced microphones that serves as a webcam and note-taker. (VER)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: At CES 2026, Nvidia introduced new open AI models like Cosmos and Isaac GR00T to speed up building smarter robots for factories, cars, and humanoid uses. (AIB)

LG Electronics unveiled its "Affectionate Intelligence" vision at CES 2026, featuring the CLOiD home robot aimed at creating zero-labor households. (LG)

Mobileye agreed to acquire Israeli humanoid robot startup Mentee Robotics for $900 million in cash and stock. (BBG)

Former Apple engineers launched Lyte, a startup developing a "visual brain" integrating advanced sensors for safer, more perceptive humanoid and mobile robots. (LAT)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: The U.S. Army revealed images of its M1E3 Abrams prototype, a lighter next-generation tank with hybrid-electric power to improve speed and fuel efficiency. (TWZ)

Congress proposed a $24.4 billion budget for NASA in fiscal 2026, rejecting Trump's requested $18.8 billion that would have imposed deep cuts. (SP)

China's Norinco showcased its truck-mounted Hurricane 3000 high-power microwave weapon, capable of neutralizing drone swarms beyond 2 miles, farther than similar U.S. systems. (NGD)

Ukraine's General Cherry deployed the AIR SPEED, a high-speed interceptor drone reaching 150 miles per hour, to the frontlines for effectively neutralizing Russian reconnaissance UAVs. (DP)

⭐ Editor’s Pick: AI evaluation startup LMArena raised $150 million in Series A funding at a $1.7 billion valuation, led by Felicis. (SA)

Quantum computing startup Photonic raised $180 million in a funding round led by Planet First Partners. (SPQ)

News startup Semafor raised $30 million in a new funding round, valuing the company at $330 million. (WSJ)

Trump posted on Truth Social that California is "more corrupt than Minnesota," launching the probe amid longstanding concerns over $32.6 billion in pandemic unemployment fraud, $24 billion spent on homelessness since 2019, and $16 billion tied to the stalled high-speed rail project.

The move builds on a December HHS freeze of child-care funds to Minnesota over a multibillion-dollar scandal.

Newsom initially said "bring it on" to any legitimate fraud inquiry and offered to partner if evidence surfaces, while criticizing Trump for wasting funds on border enforcement.

His office later dismissed the probe as the work of a "deranged, habitual liar," highlighting Newsom's efforts to block over $125 billion in fraud and touting arrests of offenders.

California faces ongoing fiscal pressures, including repeated multibillion-dollar deficits and criticism over ineffective spending on homelessness ($24 billion since 2019) and unfinished infrastructure.

⭐ Editor’s Pick: A Paris court convicted ten people for cyberbullying Brigitte Macron, raising concerns over free speech limits in shielding public figures from harassment. (RTN)

A federal judge ordered the ringleader of a $250 million Minnesota pandemic welfare fraud scheme to forfeit a Porsche, luxury watches, designer handbags purchased with misappropriated funds. (NYP)

More than half of Fortune 100 companies—63 in total—have altered or removed public-facing DEI language from their websites since Trump’s reelection. (HRB)

Ricky Gervais refused to back down from telling transgender jokes, affirming that comedy should push boundaries without fear of backlash. (GBN)