The holidays have snuck up on your editor once more and so it’s time to temporarily shutter the doors at the world headquarters of The Capital Spectator. We’ll be celebrating (with masks and social distancing, of course) for the rest of the week, returning with a Best of Book Bits on Saturday, Dec. 26, followed by the usual routine on Monday, Dec. 28. Stay safe, be merry and watch out for beta coefficients masquerading as cherries in your holiday punch. Happy Christmas!

The pickings remain slim for yield-seeking investors when sifting through the global markets. But cheer up: relative to inflation, the current payouts look reasonable and arguably attractive.

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* Trump raises doubts about Covid relief bill by asking for changes
* US hospitals struggling with rise of Covid-19 patients
* New Covid-19 strain in UK may have spread to Europe and US
* WHO chief scientist: herd immunity unlikely until late-2021
* EU-China investment deal hits snag after tweet by Biden aide
* Israel gov’t collapses, triggering new election–fourth in two years
* Record gain for US GDP in Q3 revised up slightly
* US existing home sales fell for first time in 5 months in November
* Cryptocurrency XRP tumbles 25% after SEC lawsuit against XRP-linked Ripple
* Manufacturing growth in mid-Atlantic states strengthened in December
* US Consumer Confidence Index drops to four-month low in December