In miscellany this morning:

• We like standing desks for our backs and hips — but using one doesn’t qualify as exercise, and there’s no real research proving that sitting at work will kill you. (NYT)
• 4am starts and spinach smoothies: Da Vinci Code’s Dan Brown on how to write a bestseller. (Guardian)
• Four on the floor? Not for you. A Canadian province will phase out sales of non-electric cars by 2040. (Reuters)
• Pasta maker Barilla wants to sell you a Nutella knock-off and thinks you’ll buy it because it has no palm oil. (Reuters)

MUST-READ INTERVIEW: Fidelity’s Abigail Johnson (“most powerful woman in investing”) speaks to Bloomberg about cryptocurrencies, M&A and why her firm cut index fund fees to zero.

***
Tell us what you expect in 2019: Each year, we ask readers to weigh in on what they expect of the year ahead — whether they’re investing or hiring. What they expect the exchange rate to be. Whether interest rates are winds at their backs — or headwinds. You name it. We then share the results with everyone in a subsequent edition of Enterprise to help all of you plan for the new year. It won’t take more than a couple of minutes, but the insights help the entire community.

Take our 2019 poll in English. Or, if you prefer, take it in Arabic.
***