Big banks slump, the US is now a gas exporter and how to tell what’s going to kill you

This article is published in collaboration with The Financial Times.

Angela Merkel, German chancellor, has cancelled her regular trip to the global leaders’ gathering in Davos amid increasing pressure over the mass sexual assaults and robberies that took place in Cologne on New Year’s Eve.

Ms Merkel’s justice minister warned that the attackers identified as migrants were members of an organised crime network who co-ordinated using smartphones and social networks. (FT, NPR)

In the news

Big banks battered by China and oil The five-largest US investment banks are poised to report results in the next week and a half that show they generated less revenue from trading in the final three months of 2015 than in the troublesome third quarter. The latest set of weak figures underlines how structural challenges — such as the Volcker ban on proprietary trading and a shift towards electronic platforms — are weighing on investment banks. (FT)

Cameron aims for summer Brexit vote The British prime minister is confident he can reach a deal next month on the UK’s terms of membership in the EU, paving the way for a vote this summer on whether Britain will end its four-decade relationship with the bloc. (FT)

China claims ‘healthy’ financial system Regulators in China sought to reassure global markets that the country’s financial system is “largely stable and healthy” as investors braced for another week of turmoil. (FT)

Summon your car Tesla Model S cars can now leave the garage and greet owners at the front door, thanks to a new software update by the US carmaker. Company chief Elon Musk said the update was a “baby step” towards the cars being able to drive themselves across the country, summoned by an owner in another city. (FT)

The US is now a gas exporter A 290-metre tanker streaming slowly through the Gulf of Mexico is about to make history: when it docks on Tuesday at Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG plant in Louisiana it will mark the arrival of the US as a gas supplier to the world. It is a momentous event for energy markets, though the plunge in oil prices has rendered the economics of shipping gas from the US marginal. (FT)

It’s a big day for

Carmakers The auto industry — which had its best year for sales in 2015 — descends on Detroit for the North American International Auto Show. Look for a contrast between cutting-edge technologies such as all-electric vehicles and driverless cars on display alongside classic gas-guzzling pickups, which have seen a surge in sales amid low fuel prices. (FT)

Read our Weekahead section for more upcoming stories

Food for thought

The drug lord and the thespian In October, Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn met secretly with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, the Mexican drug lord who has twice escaped prison. In a candid interview for Rolling Stone magazine, Mr Guzmán for the first time admits his prominence in the drug trade , saying he supplies “more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world”. (Rolling Stone, FT)

The office prank is dead Lucy Kellaway on how millennials — abetted by increasingly rule-bound employers — have killed the workplace jape: “It is this aversion to pranks that defines millennials far more than any of their other supposed characteristics — entitlement, gadgets, laziness. My generation is entitled, loves gadgets and is lazy, too, but mine couldn’t resist a spoof email. Theirs can.” (FT)

Heed the fears of financial markets Because of China’s scale, its potential volatility and the limited room for conventional monetary manoeuvres, the global risk to domestic economic performance in the US, Europe and many emerging markets must not be understated, argues Lawrence Summers. “Policymakers should hope for the best and plan for the worst.” (FT)

How to tell what’s going to kill you Accident? Stroke? Cancer? Genetic disease? Murder? The latest US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compendium of how many Americans died the previous year show how exceptionally hardy human beings are. You can run the numbers yourself using a handy simulator. (The Atlantic)

Managing your money: keep it simple Experts offer their best, most concise financial advice. The group agrees on at least four things: have an emergency fund, index funds should make up the bulk of your portfolio, buy a home you can afford and don’t forget life insurance. Meanwhile, over at FT Money, a raft of experts — from John Kay to Paul Lewis — offer their 2016 financial advice, from giving up that daily coffee and cake to recalibrating your drawdown expectations. (NYT, FT)

Video of the day

Missing booksellers mystery rattles HK The widely held suspicion is that the five publishers have been taken to China by security forces. The FT’s Ben Bland says the lack of clarity about what happened is stoking fears about increased interference in Hong Kong affairs. (FT)

Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Author: FirstFT is the Financial Times’ editors curated free daily email of the top global stories from the FT and the best of the rest of the web.

Image: A man walks past buildings at the central business district of Singapore. REUTERS/Nicky Loh.