Good morning, friends and Fortune readers.
Happy Christmas Eve, for those of you celebrating. The stock market got an early Christmas present yesterday as the Dow topped 18,000 for the first time ever. Today, U.S. stock futures are pointing to another positive open and a sixth day of gains on Wall Street.
Here’s what else you need to know about.
1. Takata’s president steps aside
The ongoing Takata airbag scandal took another turn this morning as company president Stefan Stocker stepped aside and allowed chairman Shigehisa Takada to step in. The aim, according to the company, is to streamline and simplify the company’s response to the global safety crisis involving millions of vehicles carrying defective air bags. Takada, the grandson of Takata’s founder, will be taking a 50% pay cut.
2. The day ends in “y,” so Uber must be in trouble
Once again, Uber is getting heat from a local authority, this time in South Korea. The ride-sharing service’s CEO Travis Kalanick and the local unit of Uber have been indicted for violating local taxi laws. This represents just the latest in a series of legal struggles for Uber, although it hasn’t seemed to matter to the company’s funding. As Fortune‘s Dan Primack recently reported, the firm could bring in $5 billion in venture capital this year.
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3. Delivery wars
During the holiday season, few things are more important to the retail industry than delivering packages. Things could be getting hairy for some companies, though, as The Wall Street Journal is reporting that both UPS (UPS) and FedEx (FDX) are capping the number of shipments they can take from companies, aiming to avoid a repeat of last year’s delivery fiasco.
4. The show must go on, apparently
The never-ending saga that is Sony’s “The Interview” got its latest plot twist yesterday when the movie company announced plans to release the controversial film after all. Any theatre that wants to play the film on Christmas Day, despite threats from hackers, will be able to. If you’re thinking of catching the movie this week, we have a handy guide for you.
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5. The markets want to celebrate, too
Get your trades in early today. In honor of the Christmas holiday, the New York Stock Exchange closes at 1 p.m. ET, and the U.S. bond markets close at 2 p.m. ET. The markets will be closed tomorrow for Christmas Day, and will resume a normal schedule on Friday. From all of us at Fortune, happy holidays!
