Links worth snacking on:
- Chart of the Week: The future of retail sales
- Video of the Week: SoulCycle's founders on why mistakes are like paying tuition
- Harvard Business Review: 10 charts from 2013 that change how we think
- Inc.: 1 great interview tip you never use
- Slate: 10 biggest tech flops of 2013
- The Atlantic: All the countries contributing ingredients to one jar of Nutella
- Businessweek: How puppies are growing the private jet industry
- Business Insider: Is the craft beer market a bubble?
- MailChimp: Our email distributor also makes cat hats?
We don't blame you for losing all your dignity on a SantaCon pub crawl, because Wall Street has been giving investors a good reason to drink. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.69%) fell four out of five days last week for its second straight weekly decline on stimulus worries. Now all eyes are on this week's big two-day Federal Reserve meeting. Will stimulus slow down or charge through the new year?
1. Plenty of fresh new CEOs
lululemon athletica (LULU 0.80%) has not looked good this year, following its see-through-pants problem and controversial comments from its founder, so it's trying a new yoga pose with Laurent Potdevin, the current Tom's Shoes CEO (and former Burton CEO), starting in January. Meanwhile, General Motors (GM 4.37%) is crashing through the glass gender barrier by introducing the first-ever woman to lead a major car company -- 33-year GM vet Mary Barra is calling the shots starting next month as well.
lululemon athletica (LULU 0.80%) has not looked good this year, following its see-through-pants problem and controversial comments from its founder, so it's trying a new yoga pose with Laurent Potdevin, the current Tom's Shoes CEO (and former Burton CEO), starting in January. Meanwhile, General Motors (GM 4.37%) is crashing through the glass gender barrier by introducing the first-ever woman to lead a major car company -- 33-year GM vet Mary Barra is calling the shots starting next month as well.
2. Mergers and acquisitions were everywhere
Super-sized food distributor Sysco (SYY -0.47%) is cooking up $3.5 billion to buy U.S. Foods. Word also leaked that Discovery Communications is trying to buy competitor Scripps Networks, owner of TV icons Food Network and HGTV. Meanwhile, after months of Justice Department delays, the biggest airline merger in history became official as the jumbo combo of American Airlines and United Airways made its debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker AAL and the name American Airlines Group (AAL -2.06%). And on Friday, Sprint hinted that it might make a move for T-Mobile in America.
3. Congress had a busy week
D.C.'s been busy like Santa's elves at the North Pole before Congress heads home for its holiday vacay. The House passed a bipartisan budget deal that will prevent a potential government shutdown in January by increasing Uncle Sam's allowance for two years -- and now the Senate just has to stamp its approval next week. In the meantime, five regulatory agencies approved "The Volcker Rule," which prevents banks from gambling with customers' deposits that are federally insured. It's been a festively lucrative habit for Wall Street, but the new policy will clamp down in 2015.
What MarketSnacks is checking out this week:
Super-sized food distributor Sysco (SYY -0.47%) is cooking up $3.5 billion to buy U.S. Foods. Word also leaked that Discovery Communications is trying to buy competitor Scripps Networks, owner of TV icons Food Network and HGTV. Meanwhile, after months of Justice Department delays, the biggest airline merger in history became official as the jumbo combo of American Airlines and United Airways made its debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker AAL and the name American Airlines Group (AAL -2.06%). And on Friday, Sprint hinted that it might make a move for T-Mobile in America.
3. Congress had a busy week
D.C.'s been busy like Santa's elves at the North Pole before Congress heads home for its holiday vacay. The House passed a bipartisan budget deal that will prevent a potential government shutdown in January by increasing Uncle Sam's allowance for two years -- and now the Senate just has to stamp its approval next week. In the meantime, five regulatory agencies approved "The Volcker Rule," which prevents banks from gambling with customers' deposits that are federally insured. It's been a festively lucrative habit for Wall Street, but the new policy will clamp down in 2015.
What MarketSnacks is checking out this week:
- Monday: "Empire State" Manufacturing Survey
- Tuesday: Two-day Federal Reserve meeting begins
- Wednesday: Big speech from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke
- Thursday: Weekly Jobless Claims, Existing Home Sales
- Friday: Another third-quarter GDP reading
