HEALTHCARE: Bayer (BAYNGR: JrSub Ba1 neg/BB+/BB+) Equity up 5.5%

• A raft of US President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees are on Capitol Hill again today. Health Secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will meet Republican Senators for the first time.
• Trump named Richard Grenell his ‘special missions’ envoy, tasked with directing policy on Venezuela and North Korea.
• Congressional leaders are still working out the details of a Continuing Resolution to extend government funding, cutting it close to the December 20 deadline.
• Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said that health care could be targeted as the Trump administration looks to fund the extension of Trump’s first-term tax cuts.
• Trump’s Commerce Secretary nominee, Howard Lutnick, is bucking predictions that he would be less hawkish on trade than Trump's first-term USTR, Robert Lighthizer. Companies have stepped up a behind-the-scenes lobbying effort, suggesting that Trump's tariff threats are being taken as a credible risk to business.  
• Trump's transition team is expected to recommend a global tariff on battery components to stimulate the domestic US battery supply chain.
• US officials confirmed that the Biden administration has established direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that ousted former president Bashar al-Assad.
• Outgoing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has written a lengthy op-ed in Foreign Affairs magazine calling on Trump to “reverse the neglect of military strength.”
• Poll of the Day: Much of Trump's agenda gets a green light from voters, but Americans are sceptical of tariffs. 

Full article: US Daily Brief

• Chancellor Reeves has asked the OBR an updated Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) to be published on 26 March 2025.
• The forecast is normally published in March - but a little earlier in the month - and has historically been accompanied by tax changes or a full Budget.
• Labour has previously committed to only small changes being made outside of an annual Autumn Budget, so this year there may be fewer tweaks to fiscal policy than usual.
• Also, the DMO usually doesn't usually announce its funding plan for the upcoming fiscal year until this date, accompanying the EFO.
• The next investor / GEMM DMO consultations are due to be held on Monday 17 March (which is now a week and a half before the EFO is due to be published).
• It is quite possible that the DMO will therefore announce some tenders at the beginning of the 2025/26 fiscal year to give the market some time to digest the full calendar.
• It is also unclear if this means that the multi-year "Spending Review" that is due to conclude in the Spring will be announced on this day, or if that will be kept for a date later in the spring.

Full statement here.