Following Donald Trump’s underdog election victory over Hillary Clinton to secure the White House, a lot of chatter was aimed at leaked emails which hurt the Clinton campaign. Rumors abounded that the Russian government interfered with the election by hacking Clinton’s emails and releasing those emails strategically to maximize the effect of the leak and help Trump win office. Now, those rumors have been verified by the government and President Obama has retaliated by issuing executive orders to grant more authority for sanctions against Russia. How will Russia respond? What can investors expect as a result?

Read The Capitalist’s Take Here

Read More at The Guardian

Read More at NY Times

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCORES SECOND-WORST SEASON SINCE 2006

If not for this past Monday night’s highly watched NFL game, The Walt Disney Co’s ESPN network would have had its smallest audience for Monday Night Football in 2016 since the 2006 season. The National Football League has been plagued all season by ratings downturns, forcing its TV partners to give free extra commercial time to advertisers to compensate for lower-than-promised ratings. Advertiser demand has remained high though, as NFL games still attract more viewers than almost everything else on television, according to the Nielsen ratings service.

Read More at Fortune Here

Read More at The Street Here

Read More at The Wrap Here

KATE SPADE COMMENCING FORMAL SALE PROCESS NEXT MONTH; EYES ON COACH?

Kate Spade & Co., which is exploring a sale of the handbag maker, plans to kick off a formal auction process next month, with interest from six possible bidders, according to a person familiar with the situation. The New York-based retailer is working with financial advisers on sale preparations, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the details aren’t public. The potential bidders for Kate Spade, which has a market value of about $2.3 billion, are mostly other retailers, the person said.

Read More at Bloomberg Here

Read More at Entrepreneur Here

Read More at MarketWatch Here

Closing Bell

– Thursday, December 29th

Markets Tick Down After Mixed Data, New Sanctions on Russia

Big Insider Trades

– Facebook, Inc. (FB) CPO Christopher Cox Sells $1.8m

-Vera Bradley, Inc. (VRA) Director Patricia Miller Buys $17m