One of the so-called FAANG stocks has confirmed investor faith in their outperformance – Netflix says it added a record. 8.3 million subscribers in total in the three months to December – the highest quarter gains in its history and exceeding its own forecasts.

Watch for the coming shakeout in lithium stocks after one of the industry’s biggest producers was given the green light to boost production, thereby ending a long stand-off with its government that has put a lid on output for more than two years.

Metals prices were mixed last week as China’s trade and production data revealed the world’s second biggest economy ended 2017 in fine fettle.

While the bulls remain in charge of oil market sentiment, reality is not far away as US production continues to rise in response to the surge in prices.

Stockmarkets in Asia, led by Australia, face a difficult start to the week with the US government’s partial shutdown to contend with.

US 4th quarter earnings season steps up this week with more than 80 S&P 500 companies due to unveil their updates.

A busy week for earnings, headlines from Davos, economic data and interest-rate decisions from the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank as well as US 4th quarter earnings reports, but the partial shutdown of the US government on Friday night will overshadow everything until it is sorted out.

China’s economy grew 6.9% last year the fastest since 2015 even as the government cracked down on excessive debt growth, cut surplus capacity in some industries and curbed production of steel and coal-fired electricity to cut pollution.

Australia’s jobs boom continued unabated in December, capping off the strongest 12 month period for more than a decade, according to the Labour Force data yesterday from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Looking at the 4th quarter performance China’s economy grew by 6.8% from the final quarter of 2016 – with services once again being the key driver – as activity in the economy showing signs of slowing (lower imports and export growth levels for instance).

The Aussie dollar briefly regained the 80 US cent mark overnight Wednesday, a six month high as the weakness in the US currency continued.

More pain for shareholders in the struggling US giant conglomerate, GE with a big new insurance cost revealed, more losses, a higher ongoing tax bill and the growing possibility of major break up of the the company which only a couple of years ago was America’s industrial icon.

The Chinese economy ended 2017 in far better shape than most forecasters believed possible a year ago judging by the December and 2017 trade figures.

US crude oil production is expected to surge to more than 11 million barrels a day (mb/d) by the end of next year (2019), according to the latest forecasts from the American government on Tuesday.

Price pressures were largely absent or well contained in China in 2017.

It’s roughly seven weeks to when Warren Buffett releases his annual letter to shareholders with Berkshire Hathaway’s 4th quarter and annual results, but the Sage of Omaha has made sure his latest missive will be examined more closely than ever by making his most definite move so far on succession.

German reinsurer Munich Re says that natural disasters last year (2017) cost the global insurance industry a record level of claims which give “a foretaste of what is to come” as the impact of climate change deepens and spreads.

The Australian government’s commodities forecaster again sees the price of iron ore falling 20% in 2018, as it did a year ago – but the outcome was very much different. It has become a common occurrence in recent years for a negative forecast from this body to start the year.

The much anticipated US 4th quarter earnings season kicks off this week with eight companies on the S&P 500 due to report results.

US dividends will become, for time for a while, big news this year as companies large and small work out what to do with gains and one off profits from the US tax law changes.

China’s foreign exchange reserves, a key measure closely watched by analysts, blew past all estimates to end 2017 higher than forecast.

The US Federal Reserve has a two day meeting down for the end of this month, but don’t expect any change in US interest rates after the slightly weaker figures for December and 2017. The weaker description is of course all relative to previous years, but a slowing trend in the great 9 year US economic rebound is now clear.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) was the surprise commodity star of 2017, topping gold, oil, copper, palladium and other metals.

2017 was the year of the stockmarket – as the Financial Times pointed out on the final weekend of the year, it was the best year since 2009 – and even the lacklustre Aussie market managed a 7% gain which was a four year best.

Christmas is on the way (a week today), but in Washington its all about the Trump tax package, and the economy, while in Europe Brexit still grabs headlines.

More than a billions of dollars of Australian retail assets look likely to become available next year after further fractures in the huge South African-based global retailer, Steinhoff International saw chairman Cristo Wiese quit last week and some of the world’s biggest banks emerge as having lent billions to the company and Mr Wiese.

Make no mistake, the November Labour Force report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) was one of the most solid we have seen for quite a while-more than the September report this year.

As widely expected Rupert Murdoch is selling most of his Fox company’s media assets to Walt Disney Co in a $US52.4 billion all paper deal.