Good morning. Joe Biden signs a sweeping pardon for his son Hunter in a major U-turn. Donald Trump sounds a currency warning to smaller nations. And your personal AI-powered Death Clock is ticking. Listen to the day’s top stories.

Joe and Hunter Biden on July 26, 2024.  Photographer: Bonnie Cash/UPI

Joe Biden pardoned his convicted son Hunter, saying the case against him was politically tinged, excessive and designed to “break” them. The sweeping pardon—which comes after he repeatedly pledged not to use executive powers to aid his son—covers any forthcoming legal challenges Hunter Biden may face. Donald Trump, who’s also pardoned people close to him and promised exoneration for the “J-6 hostages,” called it an “abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” 

Trump’s pick to head the FBI—loyalist Kash Patel—will get the “benefit of the doubt” if he’s formally nominated, but current director Chris Wray is unobjectionable, Republican lawmaker Mike Rounds said. Another nomination: Trump picked Charles Kushner for US ambassador to France, offering a prime diplomatic post to his son-in-law’s father. "We console ourselves as best we can,” a former French ambassador to the US wrote on X.

The dollar pushed higher against the euro as France’s budget crisis worsened before a key debate in parliament today. The country’s far-right National Rally toughened its stance, saying the party will topple the government unless there’s “a last-minute miracle,” while Finance Minister Antoine Armand countered that his administration won’t be blackmailed. Far from the domestic drama, President Emmanuel Macron landed in Riyadh for a two-day state visit, with fighter jets high on his agenda. 

Car industry crisis update: Today’s focus is on Jeep SUV maker Stellantis, reeling after the surprise resignation of CEO Carlos Tavares. The company is without clear leadership as sales slide in the US and strains the industry increase in Europe—witness the mass walkout by VW workers today in Germany. Further afield, another struggler (Nissan) is set to lose its chief financial officer in yet another executive change. 

ETFs investing in Bitcoin and Ether saw record monthly net inflows in November— $6.5 billion and $1.1 billion respectively—buoyed by Trump’s embrace of crypto. US Bitcoin funds now hold over 1 million tokens, about 5% of total supply. That increasing concentration of ownership among institutions and governments is making people nervous about volatility and potential risks.

A Fedex delivery person in Soho, New York City, on Black Friday. Photographer: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

How picky were you this year? Black Friday online sales hit a record $10.8 billion, Adobe data showed, as slowing in-store traffic showed American shoppers taking more time to deliberate.

• Consumers “really showed up”—e-commerce sales rose 14.6% from last year—after “waiting, nibbling here and there,” according to Mastercard.
• In-store sales grew just 0.7% as shoppers, burned out from years of high inflation, compared more often and waited to find the best possible bargains.
• Sky-high shipping fees are adding to retailers’ woes. They face the grim reality of longer-lasting peak-season surcharges on top of above-inflation increases in costs.

Banks are poised to lose billions of dollars to private credit rivals in coming years, Paul J. Davies writes. The evolution of finance—a result of the electronification of markets and regulatory changes—is well in train, and only Wall Street’s biggest lenders will be able to recover losses.

A person dressed as the Grim Reaper at a festival in Whitby, England. Photographer: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images

Death by AI. A new app is tapping life-expectancy studies covering 53 million people to give users a better prediction of the when they’ll die. Death Clock, which harnesses data on diet, exercise, stress and sleep, has been downloaded at least 125,000 times since launch. Despite its somewhat morbid tone–it displays a “fond farewell” death-day card featuring the Grim Reaper—the AI-powered app is catching on among people trying to live more healthily.

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