Financial Markets and Economy
Global stocks, dollar stumble ahead of Fed, BOJ meetings (Reuters)
World stocks, the dollar and oil all fell modestly on Monday as investors locked in recent gains before central bank meetings in the United States and Japan this week.
U.S. Index Futures Are Little Changed After Weekly Stock Advance (Bloomberg)
U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, after two weeks of gains for the Standard & Poors 500 Index, as investors awaited earnings reports to gauge corporate health.
Fed Statement Could Offer Clues Toward June Rate Decision (Wall Street Journal)
Federal Reserve officials are unlikely to raise short-term interest rates at their meeting this week, but could drop hints about whether they might move at their next gathering in June.
Decades-Old Oil Reliance May Stymie Saudi Prince’s ‘Vision’ (Bloomberg)
Saudi Arabia’s plan for the post-hydrocarbon era will have to overcome habits developed over decades of relying on crude sales to fuel economic growth, create jobs and build infrastructure.
The end of oil as we know it (Business Insider)
Oil has crashed.
Don't Let Private Equity Keep California in the Dark (Bloomberg View)
Has California retreated from its effort to shed light on the ways in which private equity firms pay themselves, sometimes at the expense of the state's citizens? We'll know very soon.
11,000 jobs at risk as BHS teeters on brink (The Times)
The high street is braced for up to 11,000 job losses as BHS approaches collapse.
Administrators are expected to be appointed to the beleaguered department store chain this week, bringing to an end its 88 years of trading.
As Bond Yields Rise, Some Investors Fear Another False Dawn (Wall Street Journal)
As the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting committee prepares to meet on Tuesday, one signal suggests that investors believe the economy, and financial markets, may be finding a footing after a tumultuous start to the year.
The yen is bouncing back — here's what's happening in FX (Business Insider)
The Japanese yen is stronger by 0.5% at 111.13 per dollar as of 8:00 a.m. ET. The currency's rebound comes after it slumped to a three-week low on Friday, following a Bloomberg report that the BOJ may help banks lend by offering a negative rate on some loans.
U.S. Treasury Takes a Stand for Transparency (Bloomberg View)
In the aftermath of the “Panama Papers” scandal, the U.S. Treasury announced that it would put forward a long-shelved draft rule to compel U.S. banks to identify the people who use shell companies and similar corporate structures when they try to open accounts.
Oil Producers Lock In Once-Snubbed Prices (Wall Street Journal)
U.S. oil producers aren’t letting the rally go to waste.
It's Dangerous Out There in the Bond Market (Bloomberg)
Bond investors are taking bigger risks than ever before.
This chart explains everything that's wrong with the housing market (Business Insider)
Something is wrong with the housing market, and it's the opposite problem of the most recent housing crisis.
Shanghai CBRC Halts Banks' Business With 6 Property Agencies (Bloomberg)
China’s banking regulator in Shanghai is halting business between commercial banks and six real estate agencies for a month, the latest in a string of measures to contain risks in the housing market.
The Rise and Deadly Fall of Islamic State’s Oil Tycoon (Wall Street Journal)
Islamic State oil man Abu Sayyaf was riding high a year ago. With little industry experience, he had built a network of traders and wholesalers of Syrian oil that at one point helped triple energy revenues for his terrorist bosses.
Yellen's Scope for Summer Rate Hike Widens as ECB Signals a Hold (Bloomberg)
Mario Draghi has opened a door. Janet Yellen has to decide whether she wants to walk through.
Yieldcos enabled SunEdison's debt-fueled acquisition spree (Reuters)
At an early 2015 investor conference, SunEdison’s then-chief financial officer, Brian Wuebbels, trumpeted the profit potential in the solar developer’s relationship with a venture it had recently spun off.
Apple scooped up 40% of Silicon Valley's publicly traded profits last year (Business Insider)
The San Jose Mercury News has done its annual survey of Silicon Valley's top technology firms, and Apple tops most metrics for the fifth year in a row, beating out other giants such as Alphabet and Intel.
Xerox's revenue falls on lower printer sales (Reuters)
Xerox Corp reported a 4.2 percent fall in quarterly revenue, hurt by a strong dollar and lower sales of printers and copiers, sending its shares down 12 percent in morning trade.
Saudi investment fund will turn kingdom into a global player (Reuters)
Saudi Arabia's new investment fund will turn the world's top oil exporter into a global investment power, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a television interview on Monday.
Politics
China's Xi Shakes Up Rival Power Base Before Party Reshuffle (Bloomberg)
China’s Communist Party is considering further steps to curb the influence of the Communist Youth League, an organization that President Xi Jinping has criticized for being too aristocratic.
The league’s university may put an end to undergraduate admissions, according to a person familiar with the discussions, who asked not to be identified because the decision — a response to guidance from senior officials — is not final. That would leave it with post-graduate and training programs for up-and-coming cadres.
Ted Cruz and John Kasich Divide States in Bid to Stop Donald Trump (Wall Street Journal)
In an unprecedented last-ditch effort to stop Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, his two remaining rivals announced Sunday night they are divvying up the coming primary states to try to block the New York businessman’s path to the GOP nomination.
Technology
How To Fix Our Broken Internet (Popular Science)
In the wake of Edward Snowden’s NSA reveal, society has grappled with how to balance personal privacy 1 and public safety. Events like the mass terror attacks in San Bernardino, Brussels, and Paris have only raised the stakes.
Records of our daily lives now exist on our smartphones. That is why the prospect of a federally sanctioned iPhone hack—even a one-time occurrence under the argument of national security—could open a Pandora's box 2; it could threaten future technological rights and human rights.
How Wearable Tech Can Be Used for Social Good (PSFK)
The functionality of clothing continues to expand thanks to the concept of wearable technology. Not limited to one use or design, this realm continues to expand as more and more creatives explore what it means to create a connected garment. Many of these might even seem like average articles of clothing from the outside. The New School’s Parsons School of Design recently presented work at SXSW that focused specifically on wearable tech created for social good.
Health and Life Sciences
Reclassifying thyroid cancer and the willful misunderstanding of overdiagnosis (Science-Based Medicine)
If there’s one lesson that we here at Science-Based Medicine like to emphasize, it’s that practicing medicine and surgery is complicated. Part of the reason that it’s complicated is that for many diseases our understanding is incomplete, meaning that physicians have to apply existing science to their treatment as well as they can. The biology of cancer, in particular, can be vexing. Some cancers appear to progress relentlessly, meaning that it’s obvious that all of them must be treated. Others, particularly when detected in their very early stages through screening tests, have a variable and therefore difficult to predict clinical course if left untreated. Unfortunately, some people, such as Sayer Ji, don’t understand that.
Virus 'can cause brain damage in babies' (BBC)
More than 100 Australian babies were hospitalised with parechovirus in 2013 and 2014.
One year later, doctors found that many of these babies had developmental problems, according to a study by the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID).
Life on the Home Planet
A looming water crisis demands creative thinking (New Scientist)
It may have taken decades to develop the international will to tackle climate change, but at least everyone agreed on one thing from the outset: we all share the same atmosphere. When a global crisis in the making is masked by seemingly unconnected local problems, it’s even harder to muster a coordinated global response. Stand next to a river and it seems very much like a local resource. But transnational rivers blur the boundaries and global supply chains complicate them even further.
Killer Landslides: The Lasting Legacy of Nepal's Quake (Scientific American)
Kodari is a ghost town on an empty Nepalese highway that cuts through some of the steepest slopes of the Himalayas. One year after the magnitude-7.8 Gorkha earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people, the once-buzzing trade centre looks like a battlefield where armies of giants once waged war. The road is littered with rusting cars and trucks smashed into bizarre shapes. Massive boulders rest on the wreckage of homes.
