Financial Markets and Economy
The Fed: As Fed goes silent, so too go chances of April rate hike (Market Watch)
The Federal Reserve begins its media blackout Tuesday, as always happens one week before it’s interest rate policy meeting.
Who Needs Buybacks? One S&P 500 Variant Just Rallied to a Record (Bloomberg)
The rallying U.S. stock market just pushed one version of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to an all-time high and has sent another within 2 points of its highest since July — all during earnings season, when the biggest buyer supposedly goes missing.
'Risk appetite' is back — here's what's happening in FX (Business Insider)
There are a few moves in FX as of 9:04 a.m. EST on Tuesday, April 19.
U.S. oil investors rush for protection at $35 as Doha talks collapse (Reuters)
U.S. crude oil investors piled on bearish option bets on Monday, fearing prices may retest 12-year lows as futures prices sank almost 7 percent after talks by major exporters collapsed without agreement, erasing hopes the worldwide glut in oil would be eased.
China Sovereign Fund to Seek Control of $8 Billion Yum Unit (Bloomberg)
China wants to get control of the most popular fast-food chain in the country.
In Bloom? (The Reformed Broker)
Are we going to break out for real this spring? Markets around the world seem to be in bloom. It’s hard to trust it, given how badly the last two “failed moves” ended – last August and this January-February were monumental corrections, notable for their lightning speed.
Treasury yields climb to April highs amid stock rally, hawkish Fed talk (Market Watch)
Treasury prices fell Tuesday for a second straight session, pushing yields to April highs, as a continuing rally in equity markets, which traded at 2016 highs, led investors to sell safe assets, such as government debt.
Hawkish comments by Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren, who late Monday said he was concerned that if interest rates stay low, the unemployment rate could fall sharply, also pushed yields higher.
Stocks are hitting new highs of the year (Business Insider)
The S&P 500 rose above 2,100 for the first time this year in early trading on Tuesday.
Investors can't get enough of Argentina's first bonds in 15 years (Business Insider)
Fifteen years after defaulting on more than $90 billion (£63 billion) of sovereign debt, Argentina has returned to the bond market.
Fear and anxiety are now driving this stock-market rally (Market Watch)
U.S. stocks are up 14.5% from their Feb 11 low, with the S&P 500 hovering a hair’s breadth away from the all-time high set nearly a year ago, all thanks to a pair of acronyms: FOMO and TINA.
FOMO is the “fear of missing out.” TINA stands for the notion that “there is no alternative” to equities right now.
Reserve Bank's Glenn Stevens shoots down 'helicopter money' desperados (AFR)
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens has slammed calls for central banks to directly pump cash into the pockets of households and governments to resurrect moribund global economic growth, warning that such "helicopter money" drops would be almost impossible to stop once they start.
Swedish Central Bank Gains Backing for Revised Inflation Target (Bloomberg)
The Riksbank may finally get what it wants after the country’s key economic players backed calls for Sweden’s central bank to be granted more time to reach its inflation target when aggressive interest cuts risk causing havoc to the economy.
Talks with creditors to resume but review up in the air as Athens rejects fresh austerity (Ekathimerini)
With talks set to resume on Tuesday with Greece’s international creditors, Athens said on Monday it has no intention of implementing austerity measures beyond the commitments it signed on to in the third bailout last July and plans to seek “allies” among European countries that believe now is not the time create political instability in Greece.
Early Warning Signs of Recession Flash Faintly in U.S. Jobs Data (Bloomberg)
As the economy again started off the year on a sour note, the glass-half-full crowd pointed to the strength of the U.S. jobs market as a reason not to worry. As long as payrolls are racking up monthly gains of 200,000 or more, the economy remains in fine fettle, or so the optimists would have it.
Iron Ore Powers Above $60 as Steel Rally in China Spurs Demand (Bloomberg)
Iron ore extended a rally above $60 a metric ton as steel prices in China surged amid a drawdown in product inventories, bolstering demand for the raw material as plants step up output in the top producer.
Saudi's Other Warning Makes Oil Traders Sweat After Doha Failure (Bloomberg)
After his comments thwarted supply negotiations in Doha, oil traders are weighing another implied warning from the Saudi deputy crown prince: the threat of an intensifying clash with Iran over market share.
Malaysia's 1MDB Bonds Rally as Fund Row Stokes Volatility (Bloomberg)
1Malaysia Development Bhd.’s bonds maturing in March 2023 rose, halting a three-day slide on concern the state investment company may default on its debt obligations after a spat with Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund.
Low ECB Rates Leave Germans Worried About Dwindling Savings (Bloomberg)
German pensioner Dorothea Dahm spent decades diligently putting away for retirement and never really worried about it — until European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s zero-interest rate policy hit her savings.
Politics
Trump candidacy: Where some fear to tread others see a path to victory (Reuters)
He’s a successful businessman making his first foray into politics. He wants to secure the southern border with Mexico and dump global trade deals. And like Donald Trump, he wants to be the Republican establishment's worst nightmare.
Trump orders new campaign hierarchy, spending plan (Politico)
In a shakeup that’s roiling Donald Trump's presidential campaign, the GOP front-runner told senior staffers at a Saturday meeting that he wants his recent hires Paul Manafort and Rick Wiley to take the reins in upcoming states, giving them a $20 million budget for key contests in May and June, according to three sources with knowledge of the meeting.
Hillary Clinton’s Lead Narrows Among Democratic Primary Voters, Poll Says (Wall Street Journal)
Sen. Bernie Sanders has all but eliminated Hillary Clinton’s polling lead among Democratic voters nationwide, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll has found, offering signs that she continues to struggle with the primary electorate at a time when she wanted to build strength for the general election.
Syrian government says Assad's future not up for discussion (Reuters)
The Syrian government's chief negotiator said President Bashar al-Assad's future was not up for discussion at peace talks, underlining the bleak prospects for reviving U.N.-led negotiations postponed by the opposition.
Technology
Magic Leap's Newest Project Is HoloLens Meets Google Glass (Popular Science)
Magic Leap, the Google-backed company that has big ideas for virtual and augmented reality, has revealed a new video today. Magic Leap, not to be confused with the folks that make Leap Motion, has unveiled a video of footage from the eyes of their new device. While there's no word on what the device is called or when we can expect it, what we do see is pretty freaking cool.
Robotic Snakes Are the Stuff of Undersea Nightmares (Gizmodo)
Introducing the Eelume robot, a self-propelled aquatic mechanical snake designed for subsea inspection and repair work.
We humans are ill-suited for work on the ocean floor. Robots, on the other hand, are perfect for the task—especially if they emulate something that actually lives in the sea.
Health and Life Sciences
Could cures for cancer lie hidden in the cloud? (BBC)
When Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie found out she carried a faulty variant of the BRCA1 gene, her doctors told her she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer.
Armed with this knowledge, she chose to undergo a double mastectomy in 2013 to reduce the risk to around 5%.
What A Toddler And Her Tumor Can Teach Us About Cancer Research? (Forbes)
The story of a 21-month-old eliaby in Florida named Carina, published in a medical journal today, provides an important reminder about cancer research — that we have to play a long game and not just get obsessed with the latest thing.
Life on the Home Planet
Unprecedented global warming as 2016 approaches 1.5 °C mark (New Scientist)
Global surface temperatures could get close to the 1.5 °C-above-preindustrial limit before the Paris climate agreement even comes into effect.
That’s alarming news, considering that the deal aspires to limit global warming to no more than this.
Crops in the tropics create phosphorus dilemma (Futurity)
One way to feed the globe’s growing population is to ramp up intensive farming in tropical regions, but doing so will require a lot of fertilizer—particularly phosphorus. This is not only because it is often present at very low levels in tropical soils, but also because many of these soils bind added phosphorus fertilizer, making it less available to crops.
A new study in Nature Plants estimates that intensifying farming on the world’s phosphorus (P) binding soils could annually sequester in soil 1 to 4 million metric tons of P fertilizer.
