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New York City may have seen the peak of the Covid-19 Omicron wave. There is optimism in world trade as activity is roaring and companies are making moves in international markets. 
Top news from SACCNY's community of members and beyond.
🇸🇪 DAGENSINDUSTRI | Skanska will build the new Portal North Bridge in New Jersey in a joint venture with Traylor Bros Inc. Skanska's part of the contract is worth $1.09 billion. It's Skanska's 5th largest construction order thus far, at the least since 2010, according to a company spokesperson. 
NYTIMES | The overall 2021 increase in the gross domestic product was the biggest in decades as the pandemic's effects eased. Continuing to rebound from the shocks of the pandemic, the U.S. economy expanded by 1.7 percent in the final three months of 2021, the Commerce Department announced in a statement. 
WSJ | Swedish battery maker Northvolt says it has created a lithium-ion battery cell, the first by a European company, and plans to ship it to companies to power electric vehicles next year. The market is currently dominated by Asian manufacturers, which have built or are building factories in Europe to supply batteries to car companies there, as demand for electric cars is soaring. 
REUTERS | The Norwegian and Swedish currencies will appreciate versus the Euro in 2022, overcoming strains posed by a recent resurgence of the corona virus pandemic. Swedbank sees the crown at 9.90 against the euro in 12 months, a rise from around 10.33 currently, while the median forecast among economists in the poll stood at 9.95.
WSJ | U.S. consumer demand for goods and an easing of supply-chain constraints drove a surge in imports during the holidays, pushing the trade deficit close to a record. The goods deficit increased in November to a record $99 billion as Americans shopped for clothing, toys, and cell phones the Commerce Department said in a statement.
🇸🇪 DAGENSINDUSTRI | SAS is now rated top ten in a ranking compiled by the independent aviation site Airline Ratings, which makes the assessment based on multiple parameters, including number of incidents, serious accidents, government investigations, security accidents, security measures around the corona virus and the condition of companies' aircraft fleet.
REUTERS | Ericsson has filed another set of patent infringement lawsuits against Apple in the latest salvo between the two companies over royalty payment for use of 5G wireless patents in iPhones. Both companies have already sued each other in the United States as negotiations failed over the renewal of a seven-year licensing contract for telecoms patents first struck in 2015.
BLOOMBERG | LDS Investments LP, a newly formed New York-based investment firm, is seeking to raise $1 billion to make bets on Nordic high-yield bonds, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The firm is founded by Simon Dobas, a former senior partner at Pareto Securities, and former Norges Bank Investment Management portfolio manager David Roll, both of whom are Swedish and current Gateway members.
More top picks for the Swedish-American business community.
🇸🇪 DAGENSINDUSTRI | An unemployment rate below 4 percent, signs of wage inflation in the U.S. labor market, and a hawkish protocol from the Fed's latest interest rate meeting are the main reasons behind Goldman Sachs adjustment of its forecast, now predicting four fed hikes in 2022. 
NYTIMES | Fewer people in the United States are being admitted to hospitals with the coronavirus than in previous weeks, suggesting that the record-breaking surge in hospitalizations driven by the Omicron variant could soon decline.
WSJ | Exxon Mobil Corp. said it has set a goal to reduce or offset greenhouse-gas emissions from its operations to zero by 2050, as investor and public pressure mounts on oil producers to respond to climate change.
REUTERS | New travelers to Sweden will no longer be required to show negative COVID test before entering the country. Travelers are no longer considered to pose a particular risk of affecting the spread of Omicron in Sweden, the Swedish government said in a statement.
NYTIMES | Microsoft will buy the powerhouse but troubled video game company Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion, betting that video games will become an increasingly central part of people's lives. The blockbuster acquisition will catapult the company into a leading spot in the $175 billion gaming industry.
BLOOMBERG | Swedish robot developer Furhat Robotics has bought Colorado-based Misty Robotics for an undisclosed sum to establish a base of operations in the U.S. Furhat Robotics says it will continue to support the Misty Robotics brand, including a partial integration of 'Furhat' and 'Misty' features to enhance future social robots.
NYTIMES | Democrats pushed forward on with what appeared to be a futile bid to enact voting rights protections over republican opposition, taking up legislation that they said was urgently needed to counter widespread balloting suppression efforts and laying out a plan to try to steer it around G.O.P. obstruction.
NYTIMES | Americans are able to request free rapid coronavirus tests from the federal government, but the tests will take seven to 12 days to arrive. The Biden administration's website to process the requests is up and running, the latest sign of its efforts to ramp up access to testing since the fast-spreading Omicron variant sent coronavirus counts soaring.
FORBES | Here are The Top Food Tech and Sustainability Predictions for 2022
If the word of 2021 was unpredictable, the word of 2022 is impermanence. From rising food prices to continued supply chain woes, decades-high inflation, worker shortages due to Covid and working conditions, and our climate, our food system is in crisis, McKinsey estimates that 73 million jobs will be eliminated due to automation by 2030, including the food production and manufacturing sectors.

CNBC | Bill Gates Climate Fund Plans to Mobilize $15 Billion into Clean Tech
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, a Bill Gates-backed private-public fund is preparing to invest in clean-tech projects worth as much as $15bn in the US, EU, and UK, aiming to subsidize technologies at scale to help countries reach net zero emissions. BEC, which has raised $1.5bn in private capital from philanthropies and companies, will invest in four key areas: direct air capture, green hydrogen, aviation fuel and energy storage technologies.

NYTIMES | U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Bounced Back Sharply in 2021
Emissions rose 6 percent last year after a record 10 percent decline in 2020, fueled by a rise in coal power and truck traffic as the U.S. economy rebounded from the pandemic. America's greenhouse gas emissions from energy and industry rose 6.2 percent in 2021 as the economy began recovering from pandemic lows and the nation's coal plants roared back to life.
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