The purchasing managers index for the U.S. manufacturing sector rose to 57.1 in December from 56.7 in November. That was the biggest improvement since September 2014.

Wyndham Destinations is buying the Travel + Leisure publication from Meredith Corp. for $100 million. In addition to its eponymous magazine, the combined company would have 18 resort, travel-club and lifestyle-travel brands. Wyndham Destinations, which spun off Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc. in 2018, plans to change its name to Travel + Leisure Co. and trade under the ticker symbol “TNL”.

The use of what are called blank-check companies, which go public with no assets and then merge with private companies, surged in 2020, raising a record $82.1 billion in 2020, up from $13.5 billion in 2019.

Although the FTSE Nareit Equity Lodging/Resorts Index surged in November following news of successful vaccine trials, it was still down 25% in 2020.