Financial Markets and Economy
Fed officials talk themselves into a corner (Market Watch)
Nowhere in the Federal Reserve’s mandate is there any mention of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, one of the U.S. stock market’s main benchmarks. But don’t tell that to traders and investors, many of whom are convinced that the S&P 500 plays a dominant role in policy decisions.
Wall Street banks are undergoing an important shift with $62.2 billion they’ve spent on tech (Business Insider)
Big Wall Street banks, after spending massive amounts of money and time to get their old, creaking systems in better shape, are now trying to sell technology they've developed in-house to other companies.
Commodity and currency slump expose frailties of African economies (Reuters)
Slumping commodity prices have taken African currencies down with them, exposing the fundamental economic frailties of the world's poorest continent by driving up inflation in countries that import most of their manufactured goods.
Getting Back To Benjamin Graham: Value Stocks Gear Up For Rebound (Forbes)
Are value stocks making their long-awaited comeback?
It certainly seems that way. And it’s about time. U.S. value stocks have been lagging their growth (glamour is probably a better term for these pricier issues) counterparts–an historically long stretch of underperformance.
Return of the Undeserving Poor (NY Times)
When I was growing up, income inequality wasn’t yet a big issue, because the middle class was strong and the plutocracy fairly marginal. But there was a great deal of alarm over the troubles of the African-American community, where social disorder was on the rise even as explicit legal discrimination (although not de facto discrimination) was coming to an end. What was going on?
Asian Stocks Drop Before Fed on Commodity Selloff, Stronger Yen (Bloomberg)
Asian stocks fell before a Federal Reserve policy decision as a selloff in commodities weighed on material shares and a stronger yen hit Japanese exporters.
Corporate America's profit outlook keeps getting worse (Business Insider)
Much digital ink has been spilled over corporate earnings this year.
What Should Investors Expect From Cuba's Economy? (Forbes)
Ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2016 visit to Cuba a few major companies are already scrambling to negotiate deals to set up shop in the small island economy. A few of the big names that have expressed interest in Cuba are AT&T, Starwood Hotels and Marriot.
SolarCity: Show Me the Money (Fox Business)
Amazon.comhas a "check-in" period every few years as Wall Street tries to find out if the company can generate real cash flow. It appears the market may be doing the same thing with SolarCity lately, as shares have crumbled more than 60% from all-time highs in mid-2015.
Emerging-market currencies on the verge of first crucial test (Market Watch)
Emerging-market currencies have risen sharply since bottoming in mid-January as the number of Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes expected this year declined, robbing the dollar of momentum.
Stocks and dollar hold breath for Fed, oil bounces (Business Insider)
Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday while the dollar dithered as markets waited anxiously for the Federal Reserve to provide guidance on the risk of U.S. rate hikes this year.
Global Stock Gauge Testing Key Breakdown Level (Zero Hedge)
After rallying off major support for the past month, the Global Dow Index is testing its key January breakdown level.
Why Don’t Investors Stay True to Their Principles? Think Self-Deception (Think Advisor)
It can be remarkably difficult for investors—and advisors—to stay true to their stated investment principles over time. Whether an investor focuses on momentum investing, minimizing fees or using a valuation-driven approach, there are many pressures to stray—from the urge to chase returns, to getting caught up in fads, to running scared when the markets turn rough.
Back From the Dead: Interest-Rate Hikes Are Getting Priced in Again (Wall Street Journal)
The U.S. bond market is starting to think about something it hasn’t considered for months: rate increases.
Politics
Why, Exactly, Is Trump Driving Conservatives So Crazy? (NY Mag)
People get worked up during presidential campaigns. But the rise of Donald Trump has provoked conservative intellectuals to express their dismay in existential tones. Conservative writers have used terms like unmitigated, unalloyed, potentially unsalvageable disaster to describe a Trump nomination and have declared that they are “fighting for our movement’s existence.” Marco Rubio has made this kind of talk the lingua franca of his once relentlessly chummy campaign, warning that the Republican Party “would split apart” were Trump to prevail.
Obama knocks 'vulgar and divisive' presidential campaign (CNN)
President Barack Obama lamented a "vulgar and divisive" presidential campaign Tuesday, saying that GOP presidential candidates were setting bad examples for children and tarnishing the United States' reputation abroad.
A Fair Way to Choose a Republican Nominee (Bloomberg View)
Republicans have been talking about changing the rules for picking a presidential nominee at their national convention in Cleveland in July. Their best bet may be to go bold.
Right now, their options do not look good. Let’s assume that Donald Trump finishes the primaries with more delegates than any other candidate, but not a majority, and Senator Ted Cruz comes in second.
Technology
Sydney is Getting the Library of the Future (Gizmodo)
The city of Sydney is setting up a new library inside a building that looks, depending on who you ask, like a stack of plates, a spaceship taking off, or a cyborg hairdo. The library will occupy two floors, and will house a lot more than just books.
Google's DeepMind wins historic Go contest 4-1 (Wired)
DeepMind's AlphaGo artificial intelligence has won the final match of the Go series against world champion Lee Sedol.
During a week long competition in South Korea, the AI from the London-based company forced Go world champion Lee Se-dol to admit defeat in almost every match played.
Health and Life Sciences
C.D.C. Painkiller Guidelines Aim to Reduce Addiction Risk (NY Times)
In an effort to curb what many consider the worst public health drug crisis in decades, the federal government on Tuesday published the first national standards for prescription painkillers, recommending that doctors try ibuprofen and aspirin before prescribing the highly-addictive pills, and that they give most patients only a few days’ supply.
The Do's and Don'ts of Trusting Science (Bloomberg View)
It’s been a tough year for science. The American Statistical Association just issued a statement scolding scientists for misusing statistical analysis. Scientists continued to fight over an evaluation of 100 psychological studies, most of which could not be reproduced. Critics have cast doubt on a widely believed psychological theory of human willpower.
Life on the Home Planet
North Korea readying another nuclear bomb for test – Kim Jong-un (The Guardian)
Kim Jong-un has said North Korea will soon detonate another nuclear warhead and test launch ballistic missiles capable of carrying them, according to the official KCNA news agency.
Pope Francis Approves Sainthood for Mother Teresa (NY Times)
Pope Francis approved sainthood on Tuesday for Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun known as the “saint of the gutters” who founded a religious order dedicated to assisting the poorest of the poor.
