The Market In 5 Minutes: Apple And China, Trump And Jerusalem, And Bitcoin

IN THE NEWS

FIS Astec Analytics released its latest weekly list of the most popular stocks among short sellers. This week’s list contains two popular movie theater chains and a high-profile 2017 IPO: Link

Elon Musk is spread pretty thin these days. The CEO of Tesla Inc TSLA, SpaceX and The Boring Company is pursuing multiple projects through each firm, but one market analyst is forecasting a consolidation: Link

Despite appeals and warnings from world leaders, President Donald Trump is poised to reverse decades of U.S. policy on Wednesday by declaring Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and beginning the process of moving the U.S. Embassy to the holy city, a step that threatens to spark unrest across the Middle East and undermine American efforts to forge a new peace plan: Link

Apple Inc AAPL is optimistic that some of its popular apps removed from its China App Store this year to comply with government requests will be reinstated, the U.S. tech giant’s Chief Executive Tim Cook said on Wednesday: Link

A faction of conservative Republicans is raising warnings about federal spending, two weeks after backing tax-cut legislation that would raise federal deficits by $1 trillion over the next decade: Link

Bitcoin surpassed $12,000 for the first time amid speculation that the widespread use of futures will help lead to digital currencies being viewed as a legitimate asset class for mainstream investors: Link

ECONOMIC DATA

• USA ADP Employment Change for Nov 190.0K vs 185.0K Est; Prior 235.0K
• USA Unit Labor Costs (QoQ) for Q3 -0.20% vs 0.20 Est; Prior 0.50%
• The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

ANALYST RATINGS

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Carnival CCL from Underweight to Equal-Weight
• RBC upgraded L3 Technologies LLL from Sector Perform to Outperform
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Patterson Co. PDCO from Equal-Weight to Underweight
• KeyBanc downgraded Toll Brothers TOL from Overweight to Sector Weight
• Mizuho downgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals IRWD from Buy to Neutral

This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.