Financial Markets and Economy
Fed to sit tight on rates at March meet, hint at hikes to come (Reuters)
The Federal Reserve won't raise interest rates this week, but will likely make clear that as long as U.S. inflation and jobs continue to strengthen, economic weakness overseas won't stop rates from rising fairly soon.
The Koch Brothers Have Started a New Family Office to Quietly Invest Their Fortune (Bloomberg)
In the age of Rockefeller, Carnegie and Morgan, a young man named Hotze “Harry” Koch struck out for America to seek his fortune in the nation’s free-wheeling markets.
Oil prices ease over uncertain supply picture (Reuters)
Oil prices fell for a second day on Tuesday, as concerns emerged that a six-week rally may have fizzled after OPEC doused hopes for a speedy erosion of a global overhang of unwanted crude.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Monday demand for its crude would be less than previously thought in 2016 as supply from rivals proves more resilient to low prices, increasing excess supply in the market.
This pharmaceutical company got great news about its cancer-fighting drug and now the stock is up over 300% (Business Insider)
A small biopharmaceutical company just got great news on a new drug and the stock is up an absolutely staggering amount.
Global Stocks Fall as Commodities Drop (Wall Street Journal)
Falling commodities prices dragged down global stocks as investors waited for guidance from the Federal Reserve on the course of U.S. interest rates.
Near-Record Cash `Comfort' for Canada Oil Firms Amid Price Rout (Bloomberg)
Canada’s biggest oil producers are sitting on a near-record pile of cash, giving them the resources to keep investing and manage debt while weathering the worst price rout in a generation.
Wall St. Slumps in Early Trading (NY Times)
United States markets fell in early trading on Tuesday as falling commodity prices again pulled energy and materials companies lower. All major international markets also fell as investors awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s monthly meeting, which concludes Wednesday.
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.
A school of dissident economists wants to toss that one onto the flames, too.
What’s performing best? It’s a surprise clean sweep for these investing plays (Market Watch)
The first central bank up to bat this week didn’t exactly hit a home run, and there’s now a “heavy, soggy feel” to stocks, as IG’s Chris Weston puts it.
“It’s difficult to chase the market higher, despite that hollow feeling of missing out,” he says in a note. With the S&P up 4.5% this month and some overseas benchmarks up even more, most investors “will be sitting on their hands waiting to hear what the Fed have in store this week,” IG’s chief market strategist says.
Auto, power firms save millions swapping copper for aluminum (Business Insider)
Manufacturers are abandoning copper for its lighter and cheaper rival aluminum after a decade of technological innovation that is saving some companies hundreds of millions of dollars.
Japanese auto giant Toyota and Saudi's power company are among those making the switch while Sapa, a supplier of aluminum components, said it has seen a pickup in demand.
Big Money Gets On China's Lifeboats (Bloomberg Gadfly)
After a $1 trillion river of capital flowed out of China during 2015, the government has been working furiously to avert a flood.
Treasury yields mark 2nd day of declines after weak retail sales data (Market Watch)
Treasury yields extended declines on Tuesday after February retail sales came in weaker than expected a day before the Federal Reserve policy makers are expected to deliver a key policy statement.
Sales at U.S. retailers dipped in February after an even bigger drop in January, a sign that consumers haven’t ramped up spending despite steady job creation.
Bank of Japan Holds Fire on Stimulus, Negative Rate Unchanged (Bloomberg)
The Bank of Japan refrained from bolstering its record monetary stimulus as policy makers gauge the impact of the negative interest-rate strategy they adopted in January.
BOJ Move Backfires as 0.001% Deposits Lure Cash of Fund Managers (Bloomberg)
It’s a strange world when bank accounts earning almost no interest are one of the most attractive investments around.
Gold nears two-week low as central bank divergence dominates (Market Watch)
Gold fell for a third session on Tuesday—flirting with two-week lows and shaving some of this year’s 16% gain—after the Bank of Japan revived low-inflation concerns.
Gold futures for April delivery were down $9.40, or 0.8%, at $1,235.80 an ounce. May silver was down 17 cents, or 1.1%, to $15.36 an ounce.U.S. stock futures tipped lower in early action, tracking oil’s decline.
U.S. retail sales dip in February; prior month weak (Business Insider)
U.S. retail sales fell less than expected in February, but a sharp downward revision to January's sales could reignite concerns about the economy's growth prospects.
Honest Dollar and Dividend Stoppers (Bloomberg View)
Goldman Sachs is buying Honest Dollar, a retirement-savings robo-startup, and wouldn't it be funny if they rebranded the whole company after the new acquisition?
Cost-Cutting Shale Drillers Limit Potential for Oil Rally: Chart (Bloomberg)
Oil may struggle to rally past $50 a barrel this year because shale drillers in the U.S. will respond to higher prices by boosting activity, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. The rally in West Texas Intermediate crude faltered at about $60 in 2015 and efficiency gains mean shale is profitable at $45 to $55 this year, according to consultant Petromatrix GmbH.
Don’t be fooled by a bear-market rally in stocks (Market Watch)
If you want to know what a bear-market rally in stocks looks like, the past month has been a sterling example.
A huge number of short bets on Ocado went horribly wrong this morning (Business Insider)
Ocado stock popped up 7% this morning after the company reported stronger than expected sales. This is good news for the company, and good news for people (like me) who own Ocado shares.
U.S. Investors Have Capitulated on Europe at the Worst Possible Time (Bloomberg)
U.S. investors in European shares have capitulated at the worst possible time.
Politics
Trump’s Long Romance With Russia (Bloomberg View)
When Donald Trump talks about his desire to have good relations between the U.S. and Russia, it’s not a recent attraction. Trump’s attempts to expand his business and his brand there date back decades, and this history casts a shadow over his pro-Russian foreign policy. As a presidential candidate, he courts Putin's favor, extending the charm offensive intended to build the Trump real-estate empire.
Bernie's Rage Against the Machine (The Atlantic)
Whether he wins the Democratic Party nomination or not—and his chances are increasingly viable—the candidacy of Bernie Sanders has already won, by vastly enlarging America’s political conversation and possibilities.
Like Sanders himself, the significance of his campaign’s remarkable accomplishment should not be underestimated. Against the stultifying tidal wave of the Democratic Party establishment, a dismissive and persistently biased mainstream media, and a nearly 40-year party movement toward the center-right, Sanders has moved political mountains.
Republican Party gears up to fight Obama court nominee (Reuters)
The Republican Party on Monday stepped up its fight against any Supreme Court nominee put forward by President Barack Obama while the president's allies hit back against a conservative group's attack on a judge who had been considered for the job.
Technology
Apple fight could escalate with demand for 'source code' (Reuters)
The latest filing in the legal war between the planet’s most powerful government and its most valuable company gave one indication of how the high-stakes confrontation could escalate even further.
In what observers of the case called a carefully calibrated threat, the U.S. Justice Department last week suggested that it would be willing to demand that Apple turn over the "source code" that underlies its products as well as the so-called "signing key" that validates software as coming from Apple.
A Stupid Simple Router for Super Lazy People (Gizmodo)
Wi-fi routers suck. They’re universally ugly and hard to use. But Eero’s little internet pods are the opposite of that standard. While they may not be the very best in terms of performance, the Eero system fixes a lot of big problems that plague the wi-fi genre.
Health and Life Sciences
'Cold turkey' best way to quit smoking (BBC)
People who want to quit smoking are more likely to succeed if they go "cold turkey" by stopping abruptly, a study in Annals of Internal Medicine shows.
Volunteers who used this approach were 25% more likely to remain abstinent half a year from the date that they give up than smokers who tried to gradually wean themselves off instead.
Can Naps Make Up for Sleep Deficits? (NY Times)
No. Unfortunately, sleep does not work that way. Substituting periodic naps for one consolidated night of sleep creates severe sleep deprivation, said Dr. Daniel Buysse, a sleep expert and professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh.
Life on the Home Planet
The Rain That’s Saving the West Is Drowning the South (Wired)
The lower Mississippi River watershed is awash with rainwater. Houses flooded, roads washed away, and peoples’ lives in soggy ruin. The only logical thing to do is blame California.
Seriously. Sort of. The weather system that parked near the Lower Mississippi watershed arrived after a California drive-by.
Iran says missiles for self defense, tests do not violate nuclear deal (Reuters)
Iran's foreign minister said on Tuesday that its ballistic missiles were for self-defense and that recent tests condemned by the United States did not violate an historic nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers.
Speaking in Australia, Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the missiles tested last week would never be used in aggression.
New Tyrannosaur Species Reveals How the King of the Dinosaurs Won Its Crown (Scientific American)
Tyrannosaurus rex is an icon, a dinosaur known to nearly everyone on the planet. It doesn’t get much more awesome than a 13-meter long, seven-ton superpredator that could bite through the bones of its prey.
