US MARKETS:

-S&P 500 futures up 0.2% to 2,610.50
-Brent futures up 0.7% to $60.70/bbl
-Gold spot little changed at $1,239.59
-U.S. Dollar Index down 0.2% to 97.23

GLOBAL NEWS:

Goldman Sachs blames it on the employees. Malaysia has filed the first criminal charges against the American bank in relation to the 1MDB scandal. Authorities alleged that Goldman misled investors when the bank knew that proceeds from 1MDB bond sales it arranged would be misappropriated, Bloomberg reports. The government is seeking fines well in excess of both the $2.7 billion of allegedly misused funds and the $600 million in fees received by Goldman on the deals. Goldman has blamed rogue employees for any wrongdoing in relation to 1MDB.

Carlyle is expected to buy StandardAero for more than $5 billion. Private equity firm Carlyle Group is close to a deal to acquire aviation services company StandardAero from Veritas Capital for more than $5 billion. The deal, which could be announced as early as this week according to Reuters, would come three years after Veritas acquired StandardAero from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Ltd (DAE) for $2.1 billion.

Johnson & Johnson will buy back up to 5 billion dollars of shares, Boeing up to 20 billion, 2 more than before, while increasing its coupon by 20%.

Siemens and Alstom want to succeed. Siemens Mobility and Alstom have offered to sell one of their high-speed train technologies to Brussels to obtain permission to merge. History does not tell whether it is the Pendolino of the French company or the Velaro Novo of Siemens that will bear the brunt of the operation. This concession would complement the sale of several signaling assets.

Tension running high. Nissan Hiroto Saikawa's CEO is expected to attend the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance meeting in Amsterdam on December 18-19, according to several rumors. A meeting that promises to be particularly explosive, with tension at its height since Carlos Ghosn's arrest in Japan.

Eiffage in the tunnel. The company takes a 5% stake in Getlink to be a long-term shareholder. The construction and concession group does not exclude strengthening its positions according to market conditions. The investment, €307.5 million, was financed from Eiffage's cash position. The largest shareholder of the former Tunnel is the Italian Atlantia, with 15.5% of the shares.

Endeavour under the European banner? Royal Dutch Shell would consider buying Endeavour Energy Resources for $8 billion, according to Bloomberg. Initially, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Chevron were also in the ranks, but they would have given up.

Moonves dismissed for serious misconduct. CBS Corporation is firing its CEO, Leslie Moonves, for serious misconduct, which means that the $120 million he was entitled to in the event of termination will not be paid to him. The leader had been accused of sexual harassment. The precise reason for the dismissal has not been specified. Moonves had refused to participate in the investigation.

Oracle reassures. The software company surpassed the consensus on its latest quarterly reports unveiled after yesterday, allowing it to make progress outside the session. In particular, the market appreciates Oracle's catch-up in the cloud, which has lagged a little behind its competitors so far.