#7. China allows US rice imports

Quite a big breakthrough in the relations between the world’s two biggest economies this week it seems. China has opened the door to imports of rice from the United States for the first time ever, Reuters reports. Analysts consider this a positive signal in what’s been a year marked by tensions and tit-for-tat tariffs.


#6. Tesla’s new board members

Tesla added two independent directors to its board this week. The appointment of Oracle founder, chairman and CTO Larry Ellison and Walgreens executive Kathleen Wilson-Thompson is part of a settlement with the US securities regulators over CEO Elon Musk’s infamous tweets about taking the company private, TechCrunch reports.

The pair joined the board as of December 27, their appointment comes after what has been quite a dramatic year for Tesla and Musk. The latter reached a settlement with the SEC in September meaning he had to step down as chairman of the board and pay a $20 million fine, according to the same TechCrunch article.


#5. US Treasury yield drops to 10-year low

On Friday, the yield on the benchmark 10-year notes fell to 2.71%, a level unseen since February, Bloomberg reports. With trading being thin, the 10-year rate has gained or lost more than five basis points every trading day this week on an intraday basis. 


#4. Is it all over for Sears?

It hasn’t just been a tough year for Tesla, it was a difficult one for Sears too. The iconic American chain of department stores seems to have reached the end of its road. If no bid comes for Sears’ assets and save the company, it will face liquidation and eventually cease to exist, Yahoo Finance reports.    


#3. Dell returns to stock market

For Dell, the year ended well. PC pioneer Michael Dell made his return to the stock market after leaving it in 2013 and Wall Street put a value of $34 billion on newly traded shares in his company, the Financial Times reports.

The listing on the New York Stock Exchange marks the end of a 5-year period of private ownership during which Mr. Dell and his private equity partner Silver Lake used financial engineering and heavy borrowing to revamp the company.


#2. No alien invasion in New York

Granted, this isn’t exactly a financial tweet. But since this is the last week of 2018 and things like this don’t happen a lot we listed it anyway. On Thursday night, a strange blue glow appeared over the New York skyline.

An alien invasion, some thought.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t. Instead, it turned out an electric transformer blew up in Queens, causing the New York sky to light up blue.


#1. Yen jumps

Despite soft domestic data and a decline in benchmark Japanese bond yields, the Yen jumped on Friday as investors sought protection against volatile stock moves, Reuters reports. The dollar dipped, following a dramatic week capped by big price swings.

The Japanese currency was up 0.56% against the dollar at 110.37 yen and the Swiss franc - another safe-haven currency, gained 0.25% at 0.9849, according to the same Reuters article.  


There you have it, the last week of 2018 all captured in Tweets. As always, we’ll continue to track Twitter and bring you the top financial micro-messages from the web. See you back here next Friday. In the meantime, have a lovely New Year's eve!


Source: www.scoopnest.com.