5 things to start your day

[Bloomberg]( Senate leaders open new talks to resolve shutdown, China delegation to travel to U.S. ahead of trade meeting, and Theresa May’s finance minister hints he could walk out on her. Another push After the failure of two opposing bills to gain sufficient support in the Senate to end the government shutdown, [new negotiations]( between leaders on both sides of the aisle and the White House have begun, signalling the potential for a deal to [end the impasse](. President Donald Trump told reporters yesterday that while he wouldn’t be happy if a stopgap funding bill was passed without money for a border wall, he has “other alternatives” that he could use, a possible reference to [declaring an emergency]( in order to allocate funding without Congressional approval. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers today will [miss their second paycheck]( of the shutdown, with hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman suggesting the [same situation for Congress]( would lead to a rapid resolution of the standoff. Trade delegation A group including Chinese deputy ministers will [arrive in Washington on Monday]( to pave the way for the next round of trade talks between Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin from Jan. 30 to 31. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has downplayed expectations for a breakthrough, saying both sides were “[miles and miles]( from getting a resolution,” while emphasizing China and the U.S. are keen to make a deal. The latest sign the trade war is hurting global growth came in German business confidence this morning, which dropped to a near [three-year low](. Hammond warning U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond declined to rule [quitting the government in protest]( if the U.K. plunges out of the European Union with no deal in the next nine weeks. The House of Commons is trying to prevent that from happening in a [series of votes]( [scheduled for Jan. 29](, with pound traders bullish as they see the chances of a [no-deal Brexit]( fading. Away from the politics, companies are still struggling to get [contingency plans in place](. Markets rise Overnight, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.0 percent while Japan’s Topix index closed 0.9 percent higher as technology earnings boosted sentiment. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.7 percent higher at 5:50 a.m. Eastern Time, with few clear catalysts to explain the risk-on sentiment. S&P 500 futures also [pointed to gains at the open](, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 2.724 percent and gold was higher. Coming up… Today’s scheduled Durable Goods and New Home Sales numbers have fallen victim to the government shutdown. Which leaves the slate pretty clean, except for the Baker Hughes rig count which is due at 1:00 p.m., a number that oil investors will be closely watching as signs are pointing to an easing in the [relentless growth]( in shale oil production. That is not to say production is falling, with output this year expected to exceed [11.95 million barrels a day]( in 2019 – 23 years ahead of schedule. What we've been reading This is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours. - Millions of simulations show [Treasuries still a haven](, HSBC says. - Goldman and Morgan Stanley ask to [cancel trades]( after $41 billion flash crash. - China to join talks on [$25 trillion e-commerce market]( at last minute. - ECB presidential contenders play it cautious on [rate-hike chance](. - German [business sentiment]( falls to the lowest level in almost three years. - We’ll [always eat meat](. But more of it won’t be “meat”. - Big rise in [atmospheric CO2]( expected in 2019. And finally, here’s what Luke's interested in this morning If credit investors are supposedly smarter than their equity counterparts, then credit issuers must be the smartest of all. It’s a seller’s market: If you bring it to market, they will buy. Junk issuance, [slow]( to start the year and dry in December, is back with a vengeance. Bloomberg’s Gowri Gurumurthy notes that Tuesday was the busiest day for sales since August. Investors are [bullish again](. They especially like BBBs – the riskiest of investment grade – and early in 2019, these dogs of the high-grade debt market [are now its darlings](. Money managers like investment-grade debt so much that dealers no longer have any. “Estimates based on TRACE show that high grade dealer inventory levels have reached some of the lowest levels since at least 2015, or close to zero,” writes Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategist Yuri Seliger, who highlighted robust buying by foreigners. “Thus, the strong demand coupled with limited supply should continue to be supportive of spreads.'' The immense appetite for everything else shows the extent to which the reach for yield is back after a brief hiatus. Scarcity, in the low-inflation environment that dominates across developed nations, is much more a feature of financial assets with a decent yield than it is in the real economy. 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. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can't find anywhere else. [Learn more](. [FOLLOW US [Facebook Share]]( [Twitter Share]( [SEND TO A FRIEND [Share with a friend]]( You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Five Things newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022