Markets will be closed on Wednesday as we have a national day of mourning for Pres. George Bush.

The Canadian province of Alberta will cut oil production by almost 9%, or 325k barrels/day, to manage a pipeline bottleneck that has doubled the storage levels in the province. The U.S., though, is producing record output, which contributed to oil's ~22% plunge in November, and the influx of supply has put more pressure on OPEC and non-OPEC producers to curtail output in the coming year. (LPL)

 

The US debt-service ratio has declined from a 2007 peak of 13% to a current 9.8%; trends in quality, fixed rate debt, and delinquencies are all favorable. (GS)

 

Microsoft's market value at Friday's close was higher than Apple's, making it the world's most valuable company for the first time since 2002. (CNBC)

 

Amazon is testing cashierless checkout technology in bigger stores. The system tracks what shoppers pick from shelves and charges them automatically when they leave the store. (Wall Street Journal)

 

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Troy Reinhart.