Be in the know. 16 key reads for Thursday…

  1. Alibaba Takes Major Step to Link Shopping to Main AI App (bloomberg)
  2. Alibaba Updates Its Qwen AI App. How It’s Following Microsoft and Alphabet. (barrons)
  3. Alibaba’s Qwen AI app hits 100 million users as upgrade broadens role in daily life (scmp)
  4. China’s Central Bank Lowers Rates on Structural Policy Tools (wsj)
  5. Hong Kong, China stocks to outpace US equities all year after quick start, analysts say (scmp)
  6. Exclusive: With $10 billion in dry powder, QXO is near next multi-billion deal (streetinsider)
  7. The housing market is at a turning point: the 3% mortgage era is fading (foxbusiness)
  8. Home Sales in December Jump 5.1%, Biggest Gain in Nearly 2 Years (wsj)
  9. Home Sales Hovered at Three-Decade Low in 2025. What’s Coming This Year. (barrons)
  10. Fed Governor Miran Says Deregulation Could Justifying Lowering Interest Rates (barrons)
  11. Philly Fed President Paulson Hints at More Interest-Rate Cuts in 2026 (barrons)
  12. US Retail Sales Rebound on Car Buying, Holiday-Season Sales (bloomberg)
  13. Disney to Unify Marketing Efforts Into New Centralized Unit (wsj)
  14. Dentsply Sirona and Patterson Dental renew U.S. distribution agreement (investing)
  15. US biotech sector poised for 2026 rebound as IPO interest revives (reuters)
  16. Bernstein lists Boeing as its best idea for 2026. Here is why (investing)