1) New York Life Insurance is buying Cigna business, which sells life and disability insurance, for $6.3 billion dollars. This is just one of several which have bought into the group benefits business. Such businesses are attractive to insurers seeking to diversity, because the units are less capital intensive, don’t rely as much on investment income and also provide cash flow.

2) Auto makers Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA have agreed on a binding merger for $50 billion dollars, which paves the way to the creation of the world’s fourth largest automaker. The merger will create a cost savings of $4 billion dollars by combining technologies and through shared purchasing agreements.

3) There are more people being rejected for auto loans according to a Federal Reserve Bank report. Auto loan rejections spiked in October at 8.1% compared to 4.5% a year ago, while for a full year, rejections are up at 7.1% from 6.1% for 2018. A decade of easy auto credit has sparked concerns that U.S. households could be on the verge of another financing bubble. Other segment of consumer credit have reported fewer rejections of credit applications.

4) Stock market closings for – 18 DEC 19:

Dow                28,239.28    down    27.88
Nasdaq             8,827.74          up      4.38
S&P 500            3,191.14    down       1.38

10 Year Yield:    up   at    1.92%

Oil:    up   at    $60.84

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