The Russian Central Bank raised interest rates to 17% overnight hoping to stem the fall of the Russian Ruble as the country’s main source of revenue, oil, dropped in price at historic rates. A glut in oil production has created a supply abundance worldwide. Since a debt default in 1998, the Russian economy has not been hit so hard. Interest rates were already high at 10.5% before the move that did not have the affect on the currency the central bank had hoped for. The currency remained soft in trading today. Interest rates were raised to encourage holders to keep their cash for additional future increases.

Crude oil dropped 4 percent on the day as investors got reports that oil stocks will remain high into the first quarter of next year. On the NYME January futures for oil fell to $63.05 a barrel or –4.2%. This is the lowest point in 5 years. Oil futures in London also fell at a similar pace. Analysts remain very bearish on crude oil as US drilling reports show large supply and the Japan economy continues to struggle.

Traders were hoping that the price declines would lead to less drilling rigs being established in the US but reports showed a continual increase in rigs. Meanwhile, Japan revised its GDP growth estimates lower and other countries were viewed to follow in the near future.

Many consumers have decided that deals presented on CyberMonday will be around longer or start earlier than one day and therefore have delayed making an immediate purchase, according to released reports. As shoppers returned to work, stores saw a 8.5% increase in CyberMonday sales compared to the same day in 2013. This is down compared to the 20.6% jump that consumers saw in 2013 over the prior year. Some see this as a maturing of the shopping habits of consumers during the Christmas season.

iPhone 6 will drive Apple Christmas sales to a healthy gain. KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that he predicts 71.5 million iPhone 6 sales in the fourth quarter of 2014. That is a large percentage gain (40%) over the same quarter last year and almost a doubling (82%) of the sales in the previous quarter.

Google CEO Larry Page sold 33 thousand shares for over $18 million last week in a disclosure statement to the SEC. He got 552.88 per share when he sold the Google stock and still owns a large number, 190 thousand worth over $105 million. The stock is currently near the 50 day moving average with a downward trend over the past 30 days. Their last quarter earnings missed consensus reports of $6.55 a share, coming in at $6.35 per share. Long term is hard to predict with the coming acquiring a number of companies and working to make its search business more profitable.

Google just signed a deal with NASA to rent the Moffit Federal Airfield in the South San Francisco Bay. The historic facility for the next 60 years will be used to advance Google’s space and robotics division, Planetary Ventures. In addition to the rent of $1.16 billion, they will invest $200 million into improvements. Hanger One, Two and Three have been used to store space and air craft. Hanger One is still the largest free standing structure in the world after almost 80 years. The main hanger will be used to advance Google’s space craft design and robots development.

Google stock has not seen much movement during 2014 even with revenue growth of 20% last quarter and earnings growth of 14% during the same time period compared to last year. But the company has moved into a leadership role in the new area that is set to explode in the coming 5 years, the Internet of Things (IoT). Smart homes are thought to take IoT on a annual growth rate of 67% in the next five years. This movement to a $2 billion unit industry will out pace the current darling, mobile devices. This relates to a $409 billion revenue market in 2019 from the current %61 billion market today. Google hopes to be the leader in this market while still focusing on its core search business.

Tech hungry investors should take a look at the robust TradeStation platform for their stock brokerage accounts. This trade platform offers 3rd party integration, tools that are very original, advanced monitoring, and great help support. The fees can get a little expense if you do not meet minimums, but overall a great platform/brokerage. At this time you can get 90 days of commission free trading when you sign-up.

Chipotle Mexican Grille Inc. which has outperformed all other members of the S&P 500 Restaurant Index so far, sees sales coming in soft next year. Growth has been near 15% for stores opened in the last year but going forward, the company predicts sales to grow closer to 5%. Analysts had thought a slow down in the 7.2% growth range was coming. So they did see this trend prior to the company discussing it today while reporting its most recent quarter.

The stock, ticker symbol CMG moved lower in after-hours trading. The stock has climbed 23% this year to date. Analyst are hoping the soft sales growth projection is the company being conservative at this time and the actual numbers will be better. Some till remain positive on the stock with Buy ratings. Strong growth in the past was attributed to the healthy nature of their meals and the ability of customers to customize their orders.

Cover via Amazon

Bill Gross, owner and co-chief investment officer for Pimco is in the  monthly Economical Times .  On this occasion he isn't attempting to clarify why increased rates of interest are ideal for investment and growth, but rather he's attempting to assist investors in deciding on foreign currency trading markets.  His point would be that the classic ideas of change rates do not make a difference very much nowadays, what is important will be the actions of core banking institutions with regards to quantitative easing.

Bill Gross is actually a bond industry celebrity: Following 4 decades of directing his way in the fixed income world and producing top-tier results for his shareholders, he continues to be Morningstar’s ruling “bond fund administrator of the decade.” The situation?