Financial Markets and Economy
Morgan Stanley Says Bonds Set to Surge in 2016 Year of the Bull (Bloomberg)
Morgan Stanley, one of the Wall Street banks that deals with the Federal Reserve, cut its Treasury yield forecasts for 2016 and said the central bank will wait until December before raising interest rates. Benchmark 10-year yields fell from a six-week high.
One economist thinks nailing the Fed's next move comes down to answering 3 questions right (Business Insider)
This week is all about the Federal Reserve.
A pullback for gold is on the way, says this chart (Market Watch)
Amid signs that the appetite for gold is reaching fever pitch, analysts are warning that a pullback for the commodity is around the corner.
The Effects of a Month of Negative Rates in Japan (Bloomberg)
The Bank of Japan shocked markets in January with negative rates. The policy had immediate effects on financial markets, even before it actually started on February 16.
U.S. Stocks Slip, Along With Oil Prices (Wall Street Journal)
U.S. stocks fell Monday, at the start of a week that will offer key clues to the course of monetary policy this year.
Wall St. Edges Lower as Energy Sector Struggles (NY Times)
Shares of Starwood Hotels rose 7.5 percent after a consortium led by the Anbang Insurance Group of China offered to buy the chain for $14 billion.
‘Buy-and-hold’ is alive and well, even as the stock market sags (Market Watch)
Buoyed by the worst start to a year in stock market history, supported by happy gold bugs, and with the backdrop of a volatile market that changes trends and directions more than a confused teenager, the message being spread now is that investors need to be more like traders to make money, and that stand-pat investors will be crushed by the next downturn.
Oil back below $40 as Iran dashes hopes for quick deal on output (Business Insider)
Oil fell around 3 percent on Monday after Iran dashed hopes of a coordinated production freeze any time soon, returning bearish sentiment to the market over a supply glut that has sent prices crashing.
Global benchmark Brent crude futuresfell back below $40 a barrel, trading at $39.20 at 1157 GMT, down $1.19 on Friday's close. Brent hit a 12-year low of $27.10 in January.
What the Fed Will and Won't Do This Week (Bloomberg View)
The Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week will be closely watched, particularly after the stimulative measures taken by theEuropean Central Bank last week.
The True Reason Psychology Is Central To Trading (Trader Feed)
Traders have an enduring interest in psychology because they recognize the degree to which success requires change. This occurs at two levels. First, most fundamentally, markets behave in ways that run counter to normal human biases and tendencies. If we simply follow our feelings and sell when markets look scariest and buy when they are most euphoric, we will lose money with alarming consistency. If we seek the comfort of the herd and buy when others are optimistic and sell when they are pessimistic, we similarly court negative returns. To trade markets successfully, we must wire ourselves as markets are wired–and that requires changes in how we think and feel.
What Would Breaking Up the Banks Even Look Like? (The Atlantic)
When regulators from around the world—including the U.S. and the E.U.—determined in 2008 that the banking system was terribly under-regulated, they all suggested a similar fix: Separate the departments involved in investment banking from those that deal with more run-of-the-mill insured deposit-taking. But recently there has been some back-sliding on such separation, and finance is still dominated by giant banks that mix the two.
The world's oldest bank could be bought out — and shares are going wild (Business Insider)
Shares in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena — the world's oldest bank, and the third largest lender in Italy — are going crazy on Monday after rumours that Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi is urging other banks to put in takeover bids.
There's Only One Buyer Keeping S&P 500's Bull Market Alive (Bloomberg)
Demand for U.S. shares among companies and individuals is diverging at a rate that may be without precedent, another sign of how crucial buybacks are in propping up the bull market as it enters its eighth year.
Putin's $50 Billion Oil Cache Gives Russia Luxury to Ignore ECB (Bloomberg)
Russian central bankers have fewer reasons to offer relief to their recession-wracked economy than you might think.
Ignored for Years, a Radical Economic Theory Is Gaining Converts (Bloomberg)
In an American election season that’s turned into a bonfire of the orthodoxies, one taboo survives pretty much intact: Budget deficits are dangerous.
Avoid the trap that has chomped the ‘crash is coming’ crowd (Market Watch)
The bulls have a spring in their step as this week kicks off. A four-week rally and a birthday party that didn’t end in tears can do that to you.
The secret to the current bull market — now aged 7 years, 5 days — has been “its ability to embrace and relish a chronic wall of worry,” writes Wells Capital Management’s Jim Paulsen in a note.
Gold Believers Scoff at Goldman Warning as Wagers on Rally Rise (Bloomberg)
There seems to be almost nothing that will deter this year’s newfound gold enthusiasm.
Stocks Rally Wins Fans as Central Banks in Focus; Oil Declines (Bloomberg)
Investors are gaining confidence that March’s rally in equities and credit markets has further to run.
Politics
Voting While Elderly (The Atlantic)
Desiline Victor waited for more than three hours in the punishing South Florida heat to vote in the 2012 presidential election. She was 102 years old then. Today, she’s 105 and plans to vote in the March 15 presidential primary.
Trump Switches Florida Rally to Ohio as Protests Shadow Events (Bloomberg Politics)
As protesters shadow campaign appearances by Donald Trump, the billionaire has shifted a planned Monday-night rally in south Florida to Ohio, where polls show Governor John Kasich may be pulling ahead days before the state’s primary election.
The Republican front-runner made a few other tweaks to his schedule this weekend that seem designed to tamp down emotions after violent protests erupted in Chicago on Friday night, forcing the cancellation of a large rally and resulting in several arrests.
Democrats’ Bills to Empower Puerto Rico Face Uphill Battle (NY Times)
Democrats in the Senate said they would introduce two bills on Monday to give Puerto Rico broad powers to shed some of its $72 billion of bonds while also giving its public workers’ pensions priority over the bonds.
Technology
Meet China's New Spy Plane (With An Austrian Body) (Popular Science)
The CSA-003 is China's newest Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) aircraft. Built by the China Electronic Technology Corporation's Avionics division, the CSA-003 is a family of special mission aircraft that include maritime patrol and oil spill response.
ELINT is a vital part of today's military activities and future battlefield. In addition to collecting intelligence on potential enemies' electronic activity, in a battlefield situation, it enables electronic and cyber attacks against enemy electronics through pinpointing their location and vulnerabilities.
Health and Life Sciences
Reinventing Yourself (NY Times)
Maybe you lost your job, or your interest in the job you’ve been doing. Maybe a divorce or death in the family has threatened your economic stability. Maybe you think you’re now too old or lack the training to switch to something more satisfying or remunerative.
I interviewed several people in similar circumstances who reinvented themselves, sometimes against considerable odds, other times in surprising ways.
Lessons From Abbott's Efforts To Develop A Stent That Absorbs Back Into Body (Forbes)
For more than a decade, Abbott Laboratories has worked to develop a stent made of bioabsorbable plastic that simply dissolves back into the bloodstream after its work opening an artery is done. This week, the new stent, called Absorb, will appear before an FDA advisory committee, which Abbott executives hope will lead to the company gaining approval to start selling the device in the United States later this year. It is already for sale in more than 100 countries, and has been used in roughly 125,000 patients worldwide.
Life on the Home Planet
Russia ready to cooperate with U.S.-led coalition in fight for Syria's Raqqa: Interfax (Reuters)
Russia is ready to coordinate its actions with the U.S.-led coalition in Syria to push the Islamic State group out of Raqqa, Interfax news agency quoted Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.
San Andreas Fault just released massive amounts of Carbon Monoxide and other poisonous gases into the air (Intellihub)
On Thursday, Feb. 25, between 4 and 6 p.m., there was a major rupture in the San Andreas Fault which released an enormous amount of toxic carbon monoxide (CO) and other gases, likesulfur dioxide, into the air that spread all along the West Coast, from California to Canada, according to Climate Science Educator Paul Beckwith, University of Ottawa.
Pictures of Mutated Japanese Plants Show Extreme Effects of Leaking Fukushima Radiation (Free Thought Project)
The fifth anniversary of the Fukushima disaster was on Friday, March 11. Since that fateful day in 2011, the Japanese government and the United States have continued to deny the lingering effects of this catastrophic event.
However, the 8,000 deaths and the mutated wildlife are proving hard to cover up — thanks to the power of social media.
