Oil prices spike on optimism OPEC will get its act together

Stocks started the day mostly higher as oil prices soared after the Saudi oil minister said OPEC was close to an agreement to cut production as producers meet in Vienna today.

Investors are also weighing a fresh batch of economic data. ADP and Moody’s Analytics reported that private companies added 216,000 jobs in November. That was well about the 165,000 that economists were expecting. This comes ahead of Friday’s closely-watched government jobs report. Separately, the Commerce Department said consumer spending rose 0.3% in October, while personal income gained 0.6%.

Trump’s picks for Treasury, Commerce

Donald Trump has selected Steve Mnuchin to serve as Treasury Secretary. He’s a former Goldman Sachs partner who left the firm to join the hedge fund world and to produce and finance Hollywood movies including the “X-men” franchise and “Avatar.” Most recently, he was the Trump campaign’s national finance chairman. And billionaire Wilbur Ross is Trump’s pick to run Commerce. How will these two men carry out Trump’s economic agenda?

Trump’s heat on Carrier pays off

President-elect Trump says he will go to Indiana tomorrow to make an announcement about Carrier, the air conditioner maker owned by United Technologies (UT). Carrier said in its own Tweet that it will keep roughly 1,000 jobs in the state after reaching a deal with Trump. That’s about half the jobs it had planned to move to Mexico, drawing criticism from Trump. Are there broader implications from this deal for American workers or is this a one-off?

Kellogg pulls adds from Breitbart

The cereal company Kellogg (K) has decided to pull advertising from the conservative website Breitbart. A Kellogg spokeswoman said the company works to make sure its ads do not appear on sites that “aren’t aligned with our values as a company.” Steve Bannon, one of Breitbart’s former top executives, will serve as Donald Trump’s chief White House strategist. Will Trump supporters make Kellogg think twice?