Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Wednesday.

1. Former Facebook employees reportedly say the corporate culture is like a cult where you have to be happy all the time. More than a dozen former Facebook staffers spoke to CNBC, and put much of the blame on Facebook's biannual peer-review system, where employees are "stack-ranked" and assigned a grade by management.
2. A Motherboard investigation found US phone companies sell customers' data in real time, allowing bad actors to potentially track their location to within a few hundred metres. The investigation found data sold to firms like credit checkers can end up on the black market.
3. Mark Zuckerberg's New Year's resolution is to host public debates about the effects of tech on society. Every year Zuckerberg poses himself a challenge, and this year he pledged to talk with "leaders, experts, and people in our community from different fields," every few weeks.
4. Tim Cook appeared on "Mad Money" and repeated one of Steve Jobs' favorite sayings to defend Apple during its slump. Twice Cook repeated the phrase "it just works"— one of late Apple CEO Steve Jobs' mantras.
5. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says there's a chance the company may not IPO in 2019 after all. Khosrowshahi told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Tuesday that he and investors would be "disappointed" if there was no IPO but that "the company would be just fine."
6. Google made a heap of announcements about its AI-powered "Google Assistant" at CES. Among other things it showed off "Interpreter mode," letting people talk to each other in different language while the virtual assistant translates.
7. Google is moving in to a former Los Angeles shopping mall to open a massive new 584,000-square-foot office. Dubbed "One Westside," the offices will take up part of what is today the Westside Pavilion mall.
8. "Fortnite" made nearly half a billion dollars on just Apple devices in 2018, according to a new report. In December 2018 alone, the game reportedly made just under $70 million on Apple devices.
9. A gamer tried to go pro by pretending to be a woman in a scandal that exposed an ugly truth about esports."Overwatch" is one of the most successful esports titles in the world, with the Overwatch League and other events supporting more than 200 professional players.
10. Facebook cleared political ads for a British far-right group it banned just 8 months ago. Facebook allowed political ads for far-right British political group Britain First to run on its platform in December, which ran for several days in late December.

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• Exclusive: Leading industry groups are set to make urgent public interventions about the risk of a no-deal Brexit if MPs vote down Theresa May's deal next week.
• The Freight Transport Association is to demand a list of emergency "mini-deals" which the government must arrange with the EU before March 2019, covering truck permits, aviation and VAT.
• Another high-profile group is also planning an urgent statement, telling Business Insider: "If the deal falls next week we are in completely different territory and our response will reflect that."
• The Federation of Small Businesses calls on the prime minister to consider extending Article 50.
• There is growing panic among business and industry figures about the looming spectre of a no-deal Brexit.

LONDON — The UK's leading business and industry groups are set to make major public interventions on Brexit next week amid growing panic over the prospect of leaving the European Union without a deal.

Several of the country's biggest groups are preparing urgent statements for the likely event of Theresa May's Brexit deal with Brussels being voted down by MPs in the House of Commons next Tuesday.

Business and industry leaders are increasingly concerned about the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, despite new moves by MPs of all parties to deter the prime minister from contemplating it.

Business Insider has learnt that the Freight Transport Association — which represents UK logistic companies like those which carry goods from Dover to Europe — has prepared a list of emergency "mini-deals" which it will publicly call on the UK government to arrange with Brussels in order to limit the disruption of a no-deal scenario.

The FTA's highest-priority demands are permits for UK truck drivers to travel to the EU, measures to prevent planes being grounded, and the avoidance of changes to VAT rules which would be particularly costly for small businesses.

"The government cannot sleep until we have these things by March 2019," James Hookham, the FTA's Deputy Chief Executive, told Business Insider.

He added: "I'm not going to let the logistics industry take the fall for political indulgence. It'll be messy, expensive and not end well, and caused by people who suffer from ignorance or privilege. Or both."

Another of the country's biggest industry groups also confirmed it is planning a public intervention, with an insider telling BI: "If the deal falls next week we are in completely different territory and our response will reflect that."

It'll be messy, expensive and not end well, and caused by people who suffer from ignorance or privilege. Or both.

Other groups and trade associations are weighing up how they'll respond to the prime minister's deal being rejected.

A senior figure at another leading business group said that it was preparing for "the severity of the situation to increase significantly" next week. 

The UK business community is preparing to "rise up with their pitchforks" next week if MPs vote to reject the Withdrawal Agreement next week, another source said.

Craig Beaumont, Head of External Affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses, told BI that while the FSB had not yet prepared an official response, the government should consider delaying Brexit if May's deal falls on Tuesday. 

"Whatever happens next, we want to avoid a chaotic no-deal on March 29 and secure the transition that we asked for and won from both sides.  We can only get that with a deal," he told BI.

"So in that scenario, an extension of Article 50 should be considered so a deal can be found."

Virendra Sharma — Labour MP and supporter of anti-Brexit group Best For Britain — told BI: "I'm happy to say that businesses small and large across the country believe the prime minister's deal is dead already that’s why it’s time for a second referendum with remain as an option.

"The Tories used to be the party of business, now they are the party of national disaster."

The government declined Business Insider's request for comment.

MPs across the House of Commons are mobilising to try and block the government from leaving the EU without a deal. On Tuesday night, MPs voted by 303-296 for an amendment tabled by Labour MP Yvette Cooper which will block the Treasury carrying out basic tasks like changing tax levels if it pursues a no-deal Brexit.

It followed growing pressure from within May's Cabinet for her to rule out a no-deal.

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd told a meeting of May's Cabinet on Tuesday that history would take "a dim view" of the government if it allowed a no-deal Brexit to take place.

Business Secretary Greg Clark also became the first senior figure in May's government to signal that he would resign if a no-deal Brexit were pursued.

Clark told MPs on Tuesday that leaving without a deal "should not be contemplated."

"It is essential that we should be able to continue to trade," Clark said. "It's why I've always been clear, representing very strongly the views of small business and large business, that no-deal should not be contemplated."

The government has repeatedly reassured MPs, businesses and the general public that the UK will be prepared to leave the EU without a Withdrawal Agreement in March should the Article 50 clock run down.

Last week, the Department for Transport assessed how quickly 89 lorries could reach the port of Dover from a make-shift holding park in Kent, as part of efforts to prevent huge queues of vehicles at the border.

Despite the work taking place, there is increasing worry among business and industry that government departments are not equipped to address the myriad complications that would arise from leaving the EU without a deal.

"With every new minister comes an 'oh my god' moment where they get their brief and realise what they are dealing with," the FTA's Hookham told BI.

The mayor of Ostend, Belgium yesterday cast doubt over UK plans to create a ferry route between the east coast of England and Ostend, saying that it'll be "impossible" for the Belgian port to be ready in time for Brexit.

The plan was already under the spotlight after it emerged that the company hired by the UK government to oversee the new route owned no ships and had never operated a ferry service before.

SEE ALSO: Theresa May's officials discussed extending Article 50 to delay Brexit

DON'T MISS: Inside the People's Vote campaign's final push to stop Brexit

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• Employees at Goldman Sachs are worried that potential fines from the 1MDB scandal will eat into bonuses, a big part of trader compensation. 
• "They'll find any excuse to cut comp," said one trader in equities. Employees learn about their annual pay numbers next week. 
• But one analyst says the lower share price might actually help bonuses: "We’ll just get more shares in terms of compensation at the end of the year."

Goldman Sachs traders are wringing their hands ahead of this year's bonus season, one of the most emotional times on Wall Street.

The sudden prospect of billions of dollars in potential fines from the IMDB Malaysian sovereign wealth fund scandal has some traders worried that the bank has found a useful scapegoat to scrimp on bonuses. Employees will learn about their annual pay numbers next week. 

"They'll find any excuse to cut comp," said one trader in equities. Another said the possibility of the 1MDB scandal eating into employee compensation was definitely a worry, though predominantly among the more "pessimistic" at the bank. The traders were based in Goldman's New York and London offices. 

The 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund, or 1MDB, is one of the biggest financial scandals in history and the subject of corruption and money-laundering investigations in at least six countries. Goldman earned roughly $600 million in fees for raising $6.5 billion for the fund. Malaysia has said $2.7 billion of the proceeds of three 1MDB bonds was misappropriated, and is seeking "well in excess" of that amount in fines. The US Department of Justice, among other authorities, is also investigating. 

Regarding the 1MDB criminal charges, Goldman has said to Business Insider: "We believe these charges are misdirected, will vigorously defend them and look forward to the opportunity to present our case. The firm continues to cooperate with all authorities investigating these matters."

1MDB has dominated the Goldman headlines in the last few months. In November, the Justice Department unsealed an indictment and guilty plea by the banker at the center of the scandal, ex-Goldman partner Tim Leissner. That alerted insiders to the scale of the potential problem and spooked investors. Goldman's price has declined 26% percent since then. 

Read more: The bizarre story of 1MDB, the Goldman Sachs-backed Malaysian fund that turned into one of the biggest scandals in financial history

While 1MDB has hurt morale, according to insiders, the slumping stock price hasn't, according to Gregg Lemkau, co-head of Goldman’s investment banking division. Lemkau told CNBC in a December interview that he didn’t think the share price was affecting employee satisfaction, and even tried to put a positive spin on it.

Glass half full

“If you want to look at it as a glass half full, we’ll just get more shares in terms of compensation at the end of the year,” he said. Goldman partners famously made more than $3 billion on options granted in the depths of the financial crisis that later paid out when the stock price soared.  

Something similar could happen again, as long as comp dollars aren't shunted into the firm's legal reserves as insiders fear. Analysts have said Goldman may have to set aside $500 million to $1 billion or more for legal reserves in the next few quarters to prepare for the possibility of fines. 

A representative for Goldman Sachs declined to comment on the bonuses.

The bank does not disclose its total reserves. Through the first nine months, it set aside $328 million for litigation and regulatory proceedings, an increase of 83% from the prior year and still well short of its expected liability. Accounting rules require firms to set aside reserves for litigation only when it's got a clear line of sight to eventual fines or payments. 

Trading revenue is surging

Fines wouldn't be the only factor in determining bonuses, of course. Just how much Goldman employees might bring home also depends on the firm's performance — equities trading revenue rose 15% through the first nine months of 2018 compared to the prior year, while revenue from fixed-income trading surged 18%. The fourth quarter was a tough one on Wall Street amid an uptick in volatility. 

The worst-case scenario would be the dreaded "doughnut," or zero bonus, though it's unlikely that Goldman execs would blame the entirety of such a meager payout on the Malaysia scandal. 

The bank already earmarked $10.7 billion for paying compensation and benefits through the first nine months of 2018, a 10% increase over the prior year. Total revenue is up 16% during the same time period. 

Goldman executives will begin communicating figures for year-end bonuses and the reasoning behind the figures to partners on January 16 — the same day it reports earnings — and a day later to non-partners.

SEE ALSO: Wall Street bonus season is upon us — here's when the big banks will tell employees how much they'll be paid

SEE ALSO: High-flying investment bankers, reclusive billionaires, and 'The Wolf of Wall Street': a guide to the major players in Malaysia's 1MDB scandal

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• Apple is cutting iPhone production by 10% between January and March, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.
• It is reportedly the second time in two months that Apple has trimmed production plans.
• The revelation comes just a week after Apple shook global markets with its first earnings warning in nearly 17 years.

Apple is cutting its production plan for new iPhones by about 10% between January and March, the Nikkei Asian Review reported on Wednesday.

The company late last month asked its suppliers to produce fewer of its new iPhones than planned in the first quarter of 2019, Nikkei said, citing sources with knowledge of the request.

It said the planned production volume for new and old iPhones, including the XS Max, XS, and XR, will fall to between 40 million and 43 million units. This is down on the previous projection of 47 million to 48 million units.

Read more: Tim Cook repeats one of Steve Jobs’ favorite sayings to defend Apple during its slump: 'It just works'

It is the second time in two months that Apple has trimmed production plans, Nikkei said.

The revelation comes just a week after Apple shook global markets with its first earnings warning in nearly 17 years, in which it said revenue would be more than 7% lower than it expected.

Among a shopping list of reasons for the revised projection, Apple blamed weakness in the Chinese economy and US President Donald Trump's trade war.

Business Insider has contacted Apple for comment. The company did not respond to Nikkei's request for comment.

SEE ALSO: Apple just warned its holiday quarter was a huge miss, and the stock is getting crushed

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• Global stock market rally moves into fourth day amid reports of a positive end to trade talks between the US and China.
• Talks concluded on Wednesday, 24 hours after their scheduled ending.
• No official word has come from the talks yet, but one senior Chinese journalist reported that "the situation is quite positive."
• European and Asian stocks rose Wednesday, while futures point to a positive open in the US.
• Follow global markets live at Markets Insider.

Global markets continue their resurgence on Wednesday after trade talks between the US and China look to have ended on a positive note.

Three days of talks between Washington and Beijing wrapped up Wednesday morning, having initially been scheduled to finish Tuesday. No official word on any agreement between the sides has yet been announced, but signs are that a preliminary deal may have been agreed.

"Based on what I know, the situation is quite positive,"Hu Xijin, the editor in chief of the state run newspaper Global Times, said in a tweet just after 8.00 a.m. GMT (3.00 a.m. ET). "The two sides are still in consultation on the wording of the message, so the two versions can be coordinated."

Around an hour later there was no sign of an official communique.

Read more:The US and China are negotiating a trade war. But during the shutdown, Washington won't reveal how much impact it’s had.

Ted McKinney, the US Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs spoke during negotiations on Wednesday, and told reporters, referring to the talks: "I think they went just fine."

"It's been a good one for us," he added.

Optimism about a deal on trade has helped extend the stock market's rally into a fourth day, with major share indexes in both Europe and Asia climbing, and futures pointing to another positive day in the US, following on from 1% gains for all three major indexes Tuesday.

"Though not quite as giddy as on Tuesday – not yet, at least – building optimism for a trade deal between the US and China ensured another positive start on Wednesday morning," Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex said in a morning email.

Here's the scoreboard:

• In the first hour of trading in Europe, all major stock indexes were higher, with gains of as much as 1.1% for Germany's benchmark DAX Index.
• Elsewhere on the continent, stocks rose between 0.7% and 0.9%, with the Euro Stoxx 50 higher by 0.9%.
• European gains followed similar increases in Asia, where all Chinese indexes saw gains Wednesday. The Shanghai Composite, China's benchmark index, was up 0.7%, while the Shenzhen Composite was up 0.8%.
• Japanese stocks also saw a strong day with the Nikkei 225 up 1.1% at the close.
• In the US, futures markets pointed to another positive day, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all looking to open around 0.3% higher.

SEE ALSO: 'How much more American blood must we shed?': Trump addresses the nation amid government shutdown over border-wall funding

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NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape

Business Insider is hiring a paid fellow to write about tech from its London office. The fellowship starts in February and will run for six months. The successful candidate will work full-time (40 hours a week).

As a fellow, you can expect to be covering the world's biggest companies (think Apple, Google, and Facebook), the hottest startups, and the latest gadgets.

We are looking for someone:

• With excellent writing skills, who can work quickly and independently
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• Who is hungry to go above and beyond to find agenda-setting scoops
• Who is ready to write a mix of articles, including short posts, photo-based stories, and reported features

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• Cash was the best-performing asset last year, outperforming stocks, bonds, and commodities.
• After a brutal year for investors across those asset classes, some strategists have suggested cash is an increasingly attractive investment.
• So what exactly does "going to cash" mean? Here's what investors should know.

Cash was the best-performing asset of 2018. It reigned supreme among other investments like stocks, bonds, and commodities. Put another way, cash was the only major asset that posted positive returns last year, with a 1.9% rise, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

"A perfect storm hit equities in 4Q18 — high oil prices, a strong dollar and a shift upwards in the U.S. yield curve — which altered perceptions towards risk assets and encouraged investors into cash," Sean Darby, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, told clients in a report last week.

In other words, investments of all stripes were hit as a confluence of macroeconomic factors — at a late stage in the decade-old economic cycle — swelled and wreaked havoc on the market.

Now, strategists across Wall Street say cash is a more compelling investment as the global economy slows, US-China trade tensions persist, and as questions swirl around the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hiking path. Even banks doing their part to entice investors — Goldman Sachs is now offering online savings customers 2.25% on their accounts, compared to some of their competitors' near-zero rates.

But what exactly does "going to cash" mean? Surely it must involve more than just shoving your money under a mattress.

Typically, going to cash means removing money once invested in assets like stocks or bonds which are, theoretically, meant to grow your cash at a more attractive rate than if it were to simply sit in a savings account.

"Cash," on its own, simply means an asset in a portfolio that isn't invested at the moment. That could also mean cash takes the form of cash-equivalent assets, like money-market funds. It should be noted that while cash-equivalent securities are typically considered safe places to park cash, investors can still lose money. Here's a breakdown of some of those assets — traditionally defined as low-risk, low-return, but highly liquid vehicles — and what they all mean. 

• Money-market funds: These securities are like checking accounts that pay investors higher interest rates on their deposits. A money-market fund that Vanguard offers individual investors, for example, is $1 per share and is among the firm's most conservative investment options. Money-market funds saw massive inflows between October (roughly around the time when the stock market began its sell-off) through the end of last week, with investors pouring nearly $250 billion into them over that time, according to Deutsche Bank data. 
• US Treasury bills: These are US Treasury-issued debt securities lent in denominations of $1,000 to $5 million. They do not pay out interest like a Treasury bond, but the investor earns the yield — the difference between the price of purchase and the value at the time of redemption — on the bill when the asset reaches maturity. Macroeconomic factors like inflation, monetary policy, and investor demand impact T-bill prices, similarly to other debt obligations. 
• Commercial paper: This is a short-term, unsecured, corporation-issued debt instrument typically viewed as a liquid space, though one that's changed dramatically since the global financial crisis. Investors buy in for returns slightly higher than Treasury bills, while taking on, theoretically, relatively little credit risk. Maturities on commercial paper range up to 270 days, but average about 30 days, according to the Federal Reserve. The assets are typically lent in denominations of $100,000. They are widely viewed as having played a key role in the crisis of 2007 to 2009 as mortgage defaults rose.
• Short-term government bonds: Government bonds with short-dated maturities are debt obligations backed by a country's government and denominated in its currency. An example in the US would be a 2-year Treasury note. These assets are typically considered stable investments and "safe havens," but are subject to volatility from factors like auctions and changes in monetary policy and economic conditions. Deutsche Bank told clients last week that government bond funds — mostly short-term — saw a record $23 billion inflow in December alone.

Now read:

• WALL STREET WARNS: Get defensive, growth is slowing in nearly every corner of the world
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NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape

Many companies use the term artificial intelligence, or AI, as a way to generate excitement for their products and to present themselves as on the cutting edge of tech development.

But what exactly is artificial intelligence? What does it involve? And how will it help the development of future generations?

Find out the answers to these questions and more in AI 101, a brand new FREE report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, that describes how AI works and looks at its present and potential future applications.

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• Hedge funds are experts in shorting stocks, or bets that a stock will fall.
• To help traders have a better idea of the potential investing landmines, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has issued a list of stocks that markets are betting against the most.
• Most of the highly shorted stocks are from the discretionary and technology sectors.

Wall Street expects stock-market volatility to spike further in 2019.

And in a highly volatile market, it's even more important to steer clear of potential investing landmines.

To help traders have a better idea of the potential pitfalls to avoid, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has issued a list of stocks that markets are betting against the most. Most of the highly shorted stocks are from the discretionary and technology sectors.

Here are the 12 stocks that markets believe will fall, in ascending order of their short interest as a percentage of float.

TripAdvisor

Ticker: TRIP

Sector: Communication Services 

Campbell Soup

Ticker:CPB

Sector: Staples

Albemarle

Ticker: ALB

Sector: Materials 

• Beyoncé appears to have been spotted shopping in Target.
• A woman bearing a striking resemblance to the global superstar was papped by a fan in an LA branch of the store.
• It wouldn't be the first time Beyoncé has been seen in Target.

Beyoncé appears to have been papped by a fan while shopping at Target.

The mega-star, (or someone who looks extremely like her), was spotted browsing an LA branch of the department store.

Naturally, Queen Bey looked like she'd walked straight off the catwalk, dressed in a long-sleeved orange jumpsuit, cat-eye sunglasses, and with her hair in tumbling waves.

She was photographed by a fan named Monica while walking down the diaper aisle of a Target in the Westwood area of the city.

After Monica posted the photo on her Instagram account, it was swiftly shared across social media, with many people expressing their shock and amazement.

"Can't believe we shop at the same place," wrote one person.

"THE ONE DAY I DON’T GO TO TARGET!! ARE YOU SERIOUS?" added another fan.

Even Chrissy Teigen weighed in on the matter, offering to send Beyoncé some knives from her kitchenware collection sold in Target.

While it's possible the woman isn't in fact Beyoncé at all but merely a lookalike, this wouldn't be the first time the singer has been spotted in the store.

In December 2017, Beyoncé was seen shopping in a Target in San Clemente, California.

And in March 2018, the singer was back in another LA branch of the store, filling up her trolley with toys and art supplies.

She's also been known to frequent Target in her home state of Texas.

If it's good enough for Beyoncé...

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NOW WATCH: We tried the Costco food court and it totally blew us away

• Apple has reportedly hired Sandy Parakilas, a former Facebook employee who has become a prominent critic of the social network.
• It coincides with Apple CEO Tim Cook being strongly critical of Facebook and other companies, which rely on collecting user data.
• According to the Financial Times, Parakilas will join Apple's privacy team and work to ensure new products protect users' security and privacy.
• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already been angered by Cook's criticism of his company.

Apple has reportedly recruited a prominent Facebook critic to its security team, in an apparent bid to differentiate itself from other major tech firms on privacy.

According to the Financial Times, Apple has hired Sandy Parakilas, the former Facebook employee who blew the whistle on its privacy practices during the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018.

Parakilas was an operations manager for Facebook between 2011 and 2012. He spoke publicly last year about how covert data harvesting by third-party developers was routine, just as Facebook was under scrutiny for failing to police developer use of its platform.

He also gave evidence to the UK and EU parliaments hearing about the scandal. He told Business Insider at the time: "I have no intention of stopping until the company is doing all it needs to do to protect our elections."

Read more: 'I'm pretty sure Mark and Sheryl do not appreciate what I'm doing': Meet the whistleblower waging war on Facebook

Parakilas, according to the FT report, will now work at Apple's privacy team as a product manager. Specifically, he'll be part of the team that ensures new Apple products protect people's privacy and don't collect unnecessary amounts of data.

The hire would be Apple thumbing its nose at Facebook and Google, given both firms rely on collecting user data for their ad businesses. Chief executive Tim Cook has leaned into the narrative that Apple stands alone in Silicon Valley as the one company that fights for its users' security and privacy. From that position, he has taken shots at Facebook and Google's wider business models.

"We're not going to traffic in your personal life," Cook said in a March 2018 MSNBC interview. "Privacy to us is a human right. It's a civil liberty." Later in the year, he used a speech to attack rivals that hoard "industrial" quantities of data.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was reportedly so angered by these comments that he ordered employees to switch from iPhone to Android phones.

Parakilas is not simply a Facebook-employee-turned-critic either. He was previously chief strategy officer for the Center for Humane Technology, a collective of concerned tech insiders who are trying to raise the alarm about issues such as tech addiction and election interference. Hiring Parakilas sends a signal that Apple is taking these problems seriously.

Parakilas did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but an automated email confirms that he is no longer full-time at the Center of Humane Tech as of this month.

Business Insider has contacted Apple for comment.

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NOW WATCH: How Apple went from a $1 trillion company to losing over 20% of its share price in 3 months

Here is what you need to know.

1. US-China trade talks said to end on a high note. "I think they went just fine," Ted McKinney, the US under secretary of agriculture for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, told reporters.
2. Fitch warns the US's 'AAA' rating is in jeopardy. "If this shutdown continues to March 1 and the debt ceiling becomes a problem several months later, we may need to start thinking about the policy framework, the inability to pass a budget ... and whether all of that is consistent with triple-A," Fitch's global head of sovereign ratings, James McCormack, said Wednesday.
3. A Wall Street veteran says the US has avoided a recession for now. Jim Paulsen, the chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group, gives five trades he thinks will benefit from the strong stock-market rally he is expecting now that a recession has been avoided.
4. Here's what it means to 'go to cash.'Cash was the best-performing asset in 2018, but that doesn't mean everyone just put money under their mattress.
5. Apple is reportedly cutting iPhone production by 10%. The tech giant is planning to cut iPhone production, including of the XS Max, the XS, and the XR, to between 40 million and 43 million units, at some time between January and March, the Nikkei Asian Review reports.
6. Sears is getting one final chance to save itself from liquidation. Chairman Eddie Lampert's $4.4 billion takeover bid will be evaluated against others at an auction scheduled for Monday, a US bankruptcy judge ruled.
7. Goldman insiders are worried the 1MDB scandal will eat into their bonuses. The bank is facing the prospect of billions of dollars in fines related to the 1MDB scandal, and the more "pessimistic" employees at the bank think it could affect their bonus.
8. Stock markets around the world are gaining ground. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+2.27%) led the advance in Asia, and Britain's FTSE (+0.97%) is out front in Europe. The S&P 500 was set to open up 0.2% near 2,580.
9. Earnings reporting is light. Constellation Brands and Lennar report ahead of the opening bell, while Bed Bath & Beyond and KB Homes release their quarterly results after markets close.
10. The December FOMC minutes are coming. The minutes from the meeting of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee will cross the wires at 2 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is little changed near 2.73%.

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NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape

• The iconic Joshua Tree National Park has announced it will shut its gates at 8 a.m. on Thursday.
• The park has experienced vandalism and sanitation problems due to its lack of staff during the ongoing government shutdown.
• A park spokesman announced on Tuesday that Joshua Tree will be closed at least temporarily while staff try to get on top of the issues.
• The park attracts more than 2.8 million visitors annually.

   

The iconic Joshua Tree National Park in California has announced it will shut its gates at 8 a.m. Thursday due to vandalism of its famous plants and santitation problems caused by a drastic lack of staff during the ongoing government shutdown.

In a press release on Tuesday, National Park Service spokesman George Land said that Joshua Tree will be closed at least temporarily while staff try to get on top of the issues.

Campgrounds at the park closed to overnight visitors on January 2 when vault toilets almost hit capacity, while visitors "created new roads by driving off pavement and defaced the park’s namesake Joshua trees,"according to the LA Times.

Trash cans were also reportedly overflowing, while many visitors have been entering the park without paying the $30 fee.

Read more: Park rangers share fears of unemployment as national parks overflow with garbage during the government shutdown

While US national parks were not ordered to close during the budget shutdown between President Donald Trump and Democrats in the House of Representatives, which is now in its 19th day, volunteers have been tasked with picking up trash and cleaning toilets, Reuters reports.

Land added that "the communities near Joshua Tree National Park have provided significant assistance and support to the park" during the shutdown.

Joshua Tree, made up of a whopping 790,636 acres (1,235.4 sq miles or 3,199.6 square km), is located about 100 miles east of Los Angeles in the California desert.

Named after its Joshua trees, which are native to the Mojave Desert, it is popular for camping, hiking, rock climbing, birding, wildlife, as well as those interested in astronomy due to its dark night skies.

According to The Guardian, the park attracts more than 2.8 million visitors annually.

Joshua Tree has also carved a place in pop culture — it appeared on a 1972 Eagles album cover, and U2 even named their fifth studio album in 1987 "The Joshua Tree."

Land said: "Park officials are identifying the additional staff and resources needed to address immediate maintenance and sanitation issues and will utilize funds from the park fees to address those issues per the recently updated National Park Service contingency plan during a lapse in appropriations.

"While the vast majority of those who visit Joshua Tree National Park do so in a responsible manner, there have been incidents of new roads being created by motorists and the destruction of Joshua trees in recent days that have precipitated the closure."

He added that "park officials plan to restore accessibility to the park in addition to limited basic services in the coming days."

National Parks Service spokesman Mike Litterst later told the LA Times that staff are due to start cleanup at the park on Wednesday, with hopes of having "everything finished and access restored to the park by the end of the week."

Should the closure go ahead as planned on Thursday, however, countless staff will be left without work.

"I have 11 employees who are effectively going to be laid off as of Thursday," Seth Zaharias, co-owner of a company that leads rock climbing trips in the park, told The Guardian. "They are not going to work for the remainder of the shutdown."

However, Zaharias added that he still supports the closure of the park because of the vandalism, which, should it continue, could be "disastrous for our community."

Joshua Tree is not the only national park to be impacted by the shutdown.

Earlier this week, Yosemite National Park said on Twitter that some of its trails would be closed as of January 5 for "safety and human waste reasons."

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• Big Three ratings agency Fitch warned that the continuing government shutdown puts the US at risk of losing its "AAA" credit rating in the near future.
• James McCormack, Fitch's global head of sovereign ratings, made the warning at an event in London Wednesday.
• The US has only been downgraded by a major ratings agency once before, during the 2011 debt-ceiling crisis.

Fitch, one of the "Big Three" ratings agencies, has warned that the continued government shutdown puts the US at risk of losing its "AAA" credit rating in the near future.

Speaking in London Wednesday, James McCormack, Fitch's global head of sovereign ratings said that if the government shutdown continues long enough to push the US into hitting its debt ceiling, that could lead to a downgrade, something that has only happened once before.

"If this shutdown continues to March 1 and the debt ceiling becomes a problem several months later, we may need to start thinking about the policy framework, the inability to pass a budget ... And whether all of that is consistent with triple-A," he said.

The government shutdown entered its 19th day Wednesday, with seemingly no ending in sight, as Republicans and Democrats remain unable to find a compromise on funding for President Trump's proposed wall on the southern border.

Read more: Trump compares his border barrier to the walls of 'wealthy' politicians' homes

The first and only time the US received a downgrade from a major ratings agency was in 2011, when S&P downgraded the world's largest economy from a "AAA" rating to "AA+." At the time the US had just raised its debt ceiling, allowing trillions of dollars of additional government spending. The "AA+" remains in place to this day.

Fitch previously warned in early 2018 that it could downgrade the US credit rating, but did not do so.

SEE ALSO: Global stocks rally as China trade talks end on high note, while Trump reportedly aims to strike deal 'soon'

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• Artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and self-driving technology are helping the transportation and logistics industry finally transform by cutting costs, optimizing delivery routes, and automating mundane tasks.
• Startups will be the lynchpin of this transformation because they specifically target areas of need  with cutting-edge solutions.
• Business Insider Intelligence examined the top 5 startups within five key areas: digital freight services, warehouse robotics, AI for supply chain management, last-mile delivery robotics, and self-driving car software.

Transportation and logistics industries have operated largely the same way for decades. But the surge in e-commerce in the last several years, combined with consumers’ appetite for same-day delivery, has brought us to a tipping point.

Delivery companies are doing all they can to get orders to customers’ doors as quickly as possible, which has facilitated wholesale changes in how they operate.

Cutting-edge digital solutions (including digital freight services, warehouse robotics, AI for supply chain management, delivery robotics, and autonomous driving software) are forcing traditional delivery companies to either evolve or see their core businesses erode.

Transportation & Logistics Startups to Watch, a new report from Business Insider Intelligence, monitors the biggest change agents in the industry to offer unique insight into the development of the transportation and logistics space at large, and shows how traditional companies are adapting to their new environment.

Want to Learn More?

Business Insider Intelligence's Startups to Watch reports give a high-level overview of the funding trends for startups in a particular coverage area, as well as a list of key startups (by function, what they do, key news, and statistics). Businesses need to understand new competitive threats, technologies, and acquisition opportunities in order to thrive. These reports provide that contextual information in an easy-to-digest manner.

In full, the Transportation & Logistics Startups to Watch report dives into the top 25 companies - five startups across five key disruption areas - that are easing shipping burdens, improving order fulfillment efficiency, optimizing delivery, and automating processes.

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• A Saudi citizen who fled her family to seek asylum in Australia reportedly passed a UN refugee evaluation which means she can't be sent home. 
• Rahaf al-Qunun barricaded herself in a Bangkok hotel room, documented on a viral Twitter page. She says her family thinks of her as a slave, and will kill her for renouncing Islam.
• The UN's High Commissioner for Refugees granted her official refugee status on Wednesday, according to the Guardian and BBC.
• Refugee status means the UN thinks a person's fears are well-founded. International law means such people cannot be sent back to the place they are fleeing.
• Australia said it will now decide whether to grant al-Qunun asylum.

A Saudi teen who locked herself in a Bangkok hotel room to escape family who she says "consider me as property" has reportedly been judged to be a legitimate refugee by the UN. This would mean that she can't be sent back to them.

Rahaf al-Qunun, 18, flew to Thailand on Saturday from Kuwait, where her plan was to continue to Australia and lodge an asylum claim.

But she was intercepted by Thai authorities, who initially wanted to send her back to her family. al-Qunun says her family consider her a "slave", and would kill her if she were sent back, as punishment for renouncing Islam.

To avoid this, al-Qunun barricaded herself into a hotel room in Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport, and started tweeting about her situation. Her story went viral, and she was put under the protection of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

On Wednesday, Australia's Home Affairs Department confirmed to INSIDER that the UNHCR had referred al-Qunun to them "for consideration for refugee resettlement."

News outlets, including the Guardian and the BBC, reported that this followed al-Qunun being granted UN refugee status.

The UNHCR declined to confirm this to INSIDER, citing a policy of not commenting on individual cases.

Regardless of whether Australia takes her in, if al-Qunun has refugee status it means she is protected from being sent back.

Under rules agreed at the UN 1951 Refugee Convention, member states are banned from sending someone with refugee status back to the country they are fleeing.

Thailand, where al-Qunun now is, has not signed up to these rules. But the Thai government has also said that it wants to protect refugees, and immigration officials have said they do not intend to send al-Qunun back.

Read more: Why women like Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun flee Saudi Arabia, and what happens when they do

Regardless of whether Australia takes her in, if al-Qunun has refugee status, it means she is protected from being sent back.

al-Qunun's father and brother arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday and requested to see her, but she refused.

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• A hands-free robotic sex toy won an award for innovation at Las Vegas tech show CES, but later had the prize revoked.
• The Osé personal massager is startup Lora DiCarlo's first-ever product, and originally won the Robotics and Drone category.
• The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which judges the awards, claims the sex toy should never have been considered as it "does not fit into any of our existing product categories."
• In an open letter, the CEO of Lora DiCarlo accused the CTA, which organizes CES, of changing its story.
• She said it originally revoked the award on moral grounds, which she views as sexist considering that sex gadgets aimed at men are prominent at CES.

A robotic sex toy has had its innovation award revoked at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, prompting accusations of sexism.

The Osé personal massager was made by Lora DiCarlo, a firm which describes itself as "a woman-run start-up" that is "determined to change the face of pleasure products."

The company's first product, the Osé, is a hands-free sex toy. In an open letter, Lora DiCarlo's CEO Lora Haddock said the company submitted the Osé for the CES Innovation Awards — and won. But she said the victory was short-lived.

"My team rejoiced and celebrated," she wrote. "A month later our excitement and preparations were cut short when we were unexpectedly informed that the administrators at CES and CTA were rescinding our award and subsequently that we would not be allowed to showcase Osé, or even exhibit at CES 2019."

Read more: Apple trolled Google with a massive billboard at the world's biggest tech show, which it's not even attending

In a statement sent to The Guardian, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which is behind the awards and organizes CES, said the Osé "should not have been accepted for the Innovation Awards Program."

The product originally won in the Robotics and Drone category, but the CTA said it "does not fit into any of our existing product categories."

The CTA did not explain why Lora DiCarlo had been stopped from exhibiting at CES.

In her open letter, Haddock said the CTA kept changing its story, and that initially, it told Lora DiCarlo that the Osé had been disqualified on moral grounds, citing the following rule:

"Entries deemed by CTA in their sole discretion to be immoral, obscene, indecent, profane or not in keeping with CTA's image will be disqualified. CTA reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any entry at any time which, in CTA's opinion, endangers the safety or well being of any person, or fails to comply with these Official Rules."

Haddock accused CES of sexism, pointing to the fact that gadgets geared towards men's sexuality have become a fixture on the show floor. "A literal sex doll for men launched on the floor at CES in 2018 and a VR porn company exhibits there every year, allowing men to watch pornography in public as consumers walk by," she wrote. CES 2018 also featured a display of robotic stripper with CCTV cameras for heads.

"Clearly CTA has no issue allowing explicit male sexuality and pleasure to be ostentatiously on display. Other sex toys have exhibited at CES and some have even won awards, but apparently there is something different, something threatening about Osé, a product created by women to empower women," Haddock wrote.

She also took issue with the notion that the sex toy did not fit into the category it was entered for, calling the assertion "even more insulting and frankly ridiculous."

She pointed out that the Osé was developed in partnership with Oregon State University's robotics lab, adding that the Osé "is the subject of eight pending patents and counting for robotics, biomimicry, and engineering feats."

"Osé clearly fits the Robotics and Drone category — and CTA's own expert judges agree," she added.

Business Insider has contacted CES and Lora DiCarlo for comment.

SEE ALSO: The best robot we saw at CES 2019

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• When American Express launched its new American Express® Gold Card in October, it also introduced a special, limited-edition rose gold version of the card. 
• The new design — the regular version of the new Gold Card is a metallic gold — comes in addition to competitive rewards on restaurants and supermarkets in the US, airfare, and more.
• You can request the rose gold card if you're a new applicant, or currently hold AmEx's previous version of the card, the Premier Rewards Gold. 
• However, the rose gold version is only available until January 9.
• New cardholders can also get a unique, limited-time welcome bonus if they apply before the same date.
• Here's what you need to know about the AmEx Gold Card.

SEE ALSO: The AmEx Platinum is available to active duty servicemembers at no annual fee — but even with the fee, the credit card is a great value

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• A 29-year-old woman in Phoenix, Arizona, who had been in a vegetative state for more than 14 years suddenly gave birth to a boy last month.
• Police on Tuesday served a search warrant to obtain DNA samples from all employees at the woman's care facility.
• They are investigating a potential sexual assault. All indicators so far point to the birth being the result of rape or sexual assault.
• The woman's family said they are outraged, but that the baby boy would be "well cared for."

Police served a search warrant to obtain DNA samples from all male employees at a care facility in Phoenix, Arizona, after a female patient who had been in a vegetative state for more than 14 years suddenly gave birth last month, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The warrant is part of a sexual assault inquiry after a 29-year-old Native American woman at Hacienda HealthCare gave birth to a boy on December 29.

Hacienda HealthCare told the AP in a statement: "We will continue to cooperate with Phoenix Police and all other investigative agencies to uncover the facts in this deeply disturbing, but unprecedented situation."

Read more: Police are investigating a sexual assault after a woman who has been in a vegetative state for over a decade gave birth

The woman, who has not been named, was admitted to the facility after a near-drowning. She is a member of the San Carlos Apache tribe, whose reservation is 134 miles east of Phoenix, the AP said.

All indicators so far point to the birth being the result of rape or sexual assault.

A woman, claiming to be a former caregiver at Hacienda HealthCare, said on Monday that the staff at the facility are pretty much the only human contact the patient has, as her family only visits once every few months.

It's not clear whether staff members at the facility knew the patient was pregnant at all. Previous reports said that staff did not know that the patient was pregnant until she went into labor.

The woman's family is outraged at the "neglect of their daughter," their lawyer said in a Tuesday statement to the AP.

John Micheaels, the lawyer, added: "The family would like me to convey that the baby boy has been born into a loving family and will be well cared for."

Terry Rambler, the chairman of the woman's San Carlos Apache tribe, also said he was "deeply shocked and horrified" by the story.

"When you have a loved one committed to palliative care, when they are most vulnerable and dependent upon others, you trust their caretakers," Rambler said. "Sadly, one of her caretakers was not to be trusted and took advantage of her. It is my hope that justice will be served."

Investigators are trying to determine whether the woman suffered multiple sexual assaults, "including assaults on different parts of the body," according to ABC 15. It's unclear what evidence there is for this reported line of inquiry.

Hacienda Healthcare CEO Bill Timmons resigned on Monday. His resignation was "was accepted unanimously by the Hacienda Board of Directors,"the center's spokesman David Leibowitz told local news site Arizona Family in a statement.

• Read more about Hacienda Healthcare:
• Investigators are reportedly looking into whether the woman who gave birth in a vegetative state was assaulted multiple times
• At the Arizona nursing home where a woman gave birth in a vegetative state, an employee was fired in 2013 for making 'inappropriate, sexual' comments to patients
• The Arizona nursing facility where a woman gave birth in a vegetative state after presumably being raped had previously been cited for another complaint of inappropriate behavior

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• President Donald Trump instructed the White House budget office to look into using the Department of Defense's budget to build his desired border wall, Axios reported.
• Specifically, the office is said to be looking into using Pentagon funds without going through Congress.
• The news comes 19 days into a partial government shutdown as a result of a disagreement between Trump and Congressional Democrats on funding the $5 billion wall.

The White House is considering using the Pentagon budget to fund President Donald Trump's proposed $5 billion border wall between US and Mexico, according to Axios.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been looking into ways to secure funding for the wall without going through Congress, the news site reported, citing a source close to OMB Deputy Director Russ Vought.

Specifically, the OMB — under Trump's command — is looking into whether he can use Department of Defense money to fund the wall without requiring Congress' permission, Axios said.

It is "one of a couple of possibilities being seriously contemplated," the news site added.

Read more:Trump’s $5 billion border wall plan could wreak environmental havoc, causing rivers to flood and animals to become 'zombie species'

The the news comes 19 days into a partial federal government shutdown, which began on December 22 when Trump reached a stalemate with Congressional Democrats while trying to secure $5 billion of funding for his proposed wall along the US-Mexico border.

Trump addressed the nation during prime time TV Tuesday night, characterizing the state of the US-Mexico border as a "crisis" that only Congress can solve by building a physical wall.

Read more: 'How much more American blood must we shed?': Trump addresses the nation amid government shutdown over border-wall funding

The president has routinely blamed Congressional Democrats for refusing to fund the wall, which was the central pledge of his 2016 presidential campaign.

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