It's jobs day, Iran denies downing plane, and Trump impeachment trial may get Pelosi green light. PayrollsThe Labor Department will deliver the last jobs report of the 2010s at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time this morning. It is forecast to show employers added 160,000 positions in December, well down from November's surprise 266,000 but pretty much bang on the average for the past ten years. Unemployment is expected to hold at 3.5% and the annual pace of wage gains to remain at 3.1%. Iran denialWestern governments say they have intelligence showing that a missile shot down the Boeing Co. 737-800 passenger jet that crashed in Iran on Wednesday. Authorities in Tehran have called on those governments to produce proof, with the head of the country's civil aviation organization saying Iran is certain that the flight wasn't shot down. While shares in Boeing rose yesterday as it seemed less likely that a technical fault caused the disaster, the problems with the grounded 737 Max came back to the fore with the release of internal company messages that described the plane as "designed by clowns, who in turn are supervised by monkeys." Impeachment trialHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi looks ready to drop her resistance to starting President Donald Trump's impeachment trial though she has yet to secure major concessions from Senate Republicans. Yesterday she said she would "soon" send the two articles of impeachment to the Senate, which some lawmakers took to mean within the coming days amid increasing frustration on both sides over the delay. Also in Washington yesterday the House voted to curb President Donald Trump's power to strike Iran in a mostly symbolic move that is unlikely to make it through the Senate. Markets quietAfter a busy week, global equities are much calmer this morning as investors await the U.S. jobs number. Overnight, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.5% while Japan's Topix index closed 0.4% higher. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index had gained 0.1% by 5:50 a.m. with Ryanair results lifting the travel sector. S&P 500 pre-payrolls futures pointed to another higher open, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 1.856% and gold continued its slide. Coming up…Today is also jobs day in Canada, with economists forecasting 25,000 new positions after November's surprise drop of over 70,000. The final reading of November wholesale inventories is published at 10:00 a.m. At midday the U.S. Department of Agriculture releases its latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates. The Baker Hughes rigcount is at 1:00 p.m. What we've been readingThis is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours. And finally, here's what Luke's interested in this morningThe story of the year in credit markets is the decline of more than 20 basis points in high-yield energy spreads, versus a narrowing of less than five basis points for ex-energy. That's despite West Texas Intermediate futures being down since the start of the year – making a stark contrast to the start of 2019, when oil futures posted their biggest annual gain since 2016, yet junk-rated energy bonds underperformed by 10 percentage points. Elevated U.S. corporate indebtedness is the biggest visible imbalance that threatens to serve as the catalyst that brings the record U.S. expansion to an end. It may be only mildly controversial to suggest that the market reaction to the U.S. airstrike against a top Iranian general helped reduce the vulnerability of the weakest link in the most susceptible sector by aiding refinancing opportunities -- or at the very least, providing a can-kicking opportunity for some of these firms. The window for junk issuers in the energy sector may have gotten a little wider thanks to the temporary fillip to crude prices, in the wake of rising U.S.-Iranian tensions. It helps that producers are actively hedging, too. Nearly all of the energy issuers that came to market this week will be paying out higher coupons for this fresh debt than on their existing obligations. That's the trade-off for pushing out the maturity wall further into the future. It's a bit like dealing with a blister on your foot if you've taken up running to improve your cardiovascular system. Sure, there's a persistent pain while you're awake, but it's now easier to sleep peacefully at night.  Like Bloomberg's Five Things? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. | 
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