Financial Markets and Economy
US economic growth revised upward (BBC)
The US economy grew at an annualised rate of 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to official figures.
The US Commerce Department revised its fourth quarter GDP to upward from an initial estimate of 0.7%.
Can Stocks Cope With a Profits Pinch? (Wall Street Journal)
The squeeze is on for corporate profit margins, and it doesn’t look as if it is going to end soon. That doesn’t bode well for stocks.
The Commerce Department on Friday released fourth-quarter U.S. corporate profits figures. They didn’t look good.
The oil crash has created America's worst housing markets (Business Insider)
Most of the worst housing markets in America have one thing in common: oil.
Did central bankers make a secret deal to drive markets? This rumor says yes (Market Watch)
The dollar has taken a surprisingly big stumble in recent weeks, prompting traders to ask: What’s really driving the selloff? The answer some are coming up with smacks of conspiracy theory.
Rumors are flourishing that global policy makers made a secret deal at the G-20 meeting in Shanghai late last month. This “Shanghai Accord” to weaken the greenback was aimed at calming the financial markets, which had gotten off to an awful start to the new year, according to the chatter.
Starbucks Corporation vs. Dunkin' Brands Group? (Fox Business)
Coffee is a way of life in the U.S., and companies that cater to coffee drinkers have become extremely successful. Starbucks has revolutionized the coffeehouse industry, and it has become a worldwide giant with products ranging from raw coffee to home brewers and a variety of different types of food.
How a big bet on one bad stock broke a legendary mutual fund (Market Watch)
In the stock market, there are bad times — and then there is what the Sequoia Fund is going through.
Bad doesn’t even begin to describe the situation for Sequoia one of the most legendary mutual funds, which has seen its reputation torched by a bad bet on a controversial stock. The fund’s fall from grace culminated in the resignation of a co-manager after a 45-year career with Sequoia’s management company.
Chinese investors now own these 7 iconic New York City properties (Business Insider)
Despite a $13.6 billion bid by Marriott International, some industry insiders say Anbang Insurance Group may have enough capital to lock down a takeover offer for hospitality giant Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
How to Avoid the Problem of Short-Termism (Pragmatic Capitalism)
If I had to pinpoint the biggest problem for most asset allocators I would probably say short-termism. Short-termism is the tendency to judge financial markets in periods that are so short that it results in higher fees, higher taxes and lower average performance. We’ve become accustomed to judging the financial markets in quarterly or annual periods which contributes to this short-termism, but some context will show that this makes very little sense.
The Oxford and Cambridge Rowers Really Want to Work on Wall Street (Bloomberg)
Professional rowing offers little, if any, of the riches that dominate modern sports. So what do the competitors do after putting away the oars?
Deutsche Bank's Dire Warning On Global Trade: "The Currency War Is Futile" (Zero Hedge)
That’s from WTO chief economist Robert Koopman, and it’s a quote we’ve used on a number of occasions. Koopman is referring to the fact that for several years in a row, the rate of growth in global trade has lagged GDP growth. That’s a problem for two reasons: 1) GDP growth is hardly robust as it is, and 2) before the recent downturn, the last time trade growth underperformed the rate of economic expansion was two decades ago.
Goodbye, Super-Cheap Gas (Wall Street Journal)
The era of falling pump prices: It sure was nice while it lasted.
U.S. average gasoline prices climbed back above $2 a gallon on Thursday for the first time since early January, according to GasBuddy.com. The national average is now some 31 cents higher than a month earlier, a climb that has coincided with crude oil prices rebounding back toward $40 a barrel.
There’s Large Spread Between Large And Small (The Irrelevant Investor)
The S&P 500 always gets the majority of the attention and understandably so, as these 500 504 stocks comprise ~80% of the total U.S. market cap. But something interesting recently happened in the Russell 2000, which represents just ~8% of the total U.S. market cap. The Russell 2000 has made no progress over the past thirty months.
Hedge Funds Pumped Up Silicon Valley. Now They're Pulling Out (Bloomberg)
In recent months, venture capital firms and mutual funds have become choosier about which technology startups they’re prepared to back. Now hedge funds, after helping push valuations to dot-com-era heights, are getting more picky, too.
Why Investors Face Roller-Coaster Markets (Bloomberg View)
Risk assets such as stocks, corporate bonds and bank loans have been trading in a wide and volatile range, taking investors on a roller-coaster ride up and down, including most recently a rally of about 10 percent in U.S. equity markets.
Elon Musk Learning Hard Lessons in Energy Storage Market (Fox Business)
When Tesla Motors launched the Powerwall energy storage product last year, it was considered a product that would let people use electricity they generated and also have a stable backup source of power. Early indications are that the fast-cycling 7 kWh model is doing well (although volume details are scarce), with SolarCityand others starting to offer it along with their solar power systems. But the 10 kWh model that was meant as a backup energy source has been disappointing. And Tesla Motors has now quietly discontinued the product.
Forget the New iPhone. For Apple, It’s All About the Dollar. (NY Times)
Don’t obsess about the svelte new iPhone or the price cut for the AppleWatch.
What VCs Have to Say About the State of Venture Capital in 2016 (Inc.)
In the zoo that is Silicon Valley, the most popular exhibit is the unicorns. Billion-dollar companies feted by the press and the envy of every entrepreneur with an idea – the rarest of the rare, but nonetheless what comes to mind most when most people think of the innovation race.
Was This The Worst Economist Forecast Of All Time (Zero Hedge)
When it comes to predicting the future, there has traditionally been a stealthy contest between economists and weathermen as to who is the worst predictor of coming events. Lately, there was some confusion when economists – this includes central bankers and market "strategists" – tired of being humiliated in public for their terrible predictions, decided to become Monday Morning weathermen (ironically, none more so than those who competed with Groundhog Phil and lost) and blame their lack of foresight on the weather.
It's Not The Economy, Stupid; Barron's Admits "It's A Bullard Market" (Zero Hedge)
It appears the complete decoupling from economic reality of the so-called US equity 'market', combined with the collapse in a data-dependent Fed's credibility – topics we have extensively covered – has reached the mainstream.Barron's always-insightful Randy Forsyth exposes the ugly reality that this is a "Bullard" market and we are just living in it as the flip-flopping Fed head is "the most visible telltale of the shifting winds of Fed expectations.Investors navigating the choppy waters of the financial markets are forced to change tacks accordingly."
Politics
Why Donald Trump? (Five Thirty Eight)
The night before Super Tuesday I was on a plane from Oklahoma City to Cleveland, my hometown, when a thought struck me: I truly had no idea what was going on in America.
I’d been traveling a fair bit during the rush of primary season, and you start to feel unstuck when you do that. The moments of my days I would have otherwise spent doing soothingly banal things — grocery shopping, hand-washing delicates, pouring Drano into various plumbing orifices — I now spent alone in hotel rooms, contemplating the Donald Trump phenomenon.
Sanders Sweeps; Belgium Arrests Terror Suspect: Saturday Wrap (Bloomberg)
Senator Bernie Sanders won the Washington state and Alaska Democratic caucuses for the U.S. presidential race and was expected to win in Hawaii as well. The victories give him some claim to a boost in momentum though they won’t put much of a dent into Hillary Clinton’s lead in delegates.
An Impossible Choice Between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton (The Atlantic)
Donald Trump looks increasingly likely to be the Republican nominee for the White House. As he gains momentum, Trump has won a series of endorsements from high-profile Republicans. Former presidential rivals Chris Christie and Ben Carson made the calculation that it’s better to be with Trump than against him, and so have a growing number of Republican members of Congress.
Technology
I've been pleasantly surprised by the new iPad Pro (Business Insider)
I didn't expect to like the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
I wasn't that into its big brother, the 12.9-inch model that launched last fall, and I expected the 9.7-incher to be more of the same.
Microsoft has created Star Wars-style holographic communication (The Verge)
Microsoft sure seems to be having a ton of fun with HoloLens while the rest of us wait for it to stop being a research project and become a real thing that we can purchase and use. But in the meanwhile, those research projects are bonkers. The latest is called "Holoportation," a term that sounds ridiculously corny until you see it demonstrated, at which point the sci-fi terminology feels completely justified.
Drone scores a first by successfully delivering package in Nevada town (The Guardian)
A drone has successfully delivered a package to a residential location in a Nevadatown in what its maker and the state’s governor said on Friday was the first fully autonomous urban drone delivery in the US.
Matt Sweeney, chief executive of drone-maker Flirtey, said the six-rotor drone flew about a half-mile along a programmed delivery route on 10 March, then lowered the package outside a vacant residence in Hawthorne.
Health and Life Sciences
Fruits and Vegetables to Fight Cataracts (NY Times)
Here’s another reason to eat your fruits and veggies: You may reduce your risk of vision loss from cataracts.
Cataracts that cloud the lenses of the eye develop naturally with age, but a new study is one of the first to suggest that diet may play a greater role than genetics in their progression.
Life on the Home Planet
Thousands gather to pays respects at Brussels memorial (The Telegraph)
Thousands on Saturday continued to place candles and leave flowers and messages of solidarity at Brussels' Place de la Bourse for the victims ofTuesday's attacks.
The memorial comes as Belgium's interior minister appealed to residents not hold a rally for the victims on Sunday, saying police are too stretched with the investigation into the attacks.
The U.S. Population Is Swelling in Almost Every State (Bloomberg)
Does the subway/freeway/Shake Shack line feel a little more crowded than it did a year ago? It might not be all in your head: The population of the United States grew 0.79 percent in the past year, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
