FInancial Markets and Economy
Investors Fleeing $9 Trillion of Negative Yields Fuel Bond Binge (Bloomberg)
Whether you’re a government or a company in Europe, the U.S. or Asia, it’s a great time to sell bonds. Around the world, bidders are snapping up almost anything with a yield.
Futures higher a day after consumer stocks-led rout (Business Insider)
U.S. stock index futures were higher on Thursday, a day after a rout led by consumer stocks led to the Dow post its biggest one-day drop in three months.
Wall Street's Dealmaking Goes From Boom to Bust in a Few Months (Bloomberg)
Wall Street bankers celebrated last year as mergers and acquisitions reached the highest level ever, topping even pre-crash 2007. This year M&A is hitting a more dubious record: Deals gone bust.
U.S. crude hits six-month high after IEA sees tighter supply (Reuters)
U.S. oil prices hit a six-month high on Thursday, supported by data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) showing tightening supply, in addition to a surprise drop in U.S. crude inventories.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude futures CLc1 were 58 cents higher at $46.81 at 1213 GMT, having earlier peaked at $46.92, their highest since Nov. 4.
Gold, silver prices tip lower as dollar, stocks gain (Market Watch)
Gold and silver futures are narrowly lower early Thursday, taking up their expected position opposite the slightly firmer dollar and U.S. stocks.
U.S. Index Futures Advance After Biggest S&P 500 Drop in a Month (Bloomberg)
U.S. index futures rose, tracking oil as the commodity traded near a six-month high, with stocks poised to rebound following the S&P 500’s steepest drop in a month.
Gold Fund Buying Frenzy Spurs Demand to Second-Highest Ever (Bloomberg)
Gold demand surged to the second-highest level ever as investors piled into funds, doubling investment in the metal.
The finance sector is awash in pain, which could well be gain for the US economy (Quartz)
All of the sudden, the smart money doesn’t seem so smart.
Initial jobless claims unexpectedly spike to the highest in 14 months (Business Insider)
Initial jobless claims jumped much more than expected last week, by 20,000 to 294,000.
Theranos Executive Sunny Balwani to Depart Amid Regulatory Probes (Wall Street Journal)
A top executive who helped build Theranos Inc. into a major blood-testing laboratory is leaving the company amid regulatory probes of the embattled Silicon Valley firm.
As equity returns, HELOC values rocket (Market Watch)
Home equity lines of credit jumped in the first quarter, RealtyTrac said. The dollar value was 34% higher than in the prior quarter, and 45% higher compared to a year ago.
Beaten-Up Hedge Fund Billionaires Reminisce About 'Golden Age' (Bloomberg)
Not even the encouraging words of a private equity titan could brighten the mood of some of the world’s top hedge fund managers.
The Japanese yen is slipping again — here's what's happening in FX (Business Insider)
The Japanese yen is lower for the third time in four days.
A fund manager made 18% betting on Argentina's revival (Business Insider)
Argentina's change of leadership and return to global capital markets has been a boon to fund managers betting on revival.
Outlook for oil brightens as output disruptions erode surplus (Reuters)
Unplanned disruptions to oil output could help run down a global overhang of unused crude this year, while demand will profit from growing gasoline consumption particularly in India and China, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday.
Noble Group Secures $3 Billion in Financing (Wall Street Journal)
Commodities trader Noble Group Ltd. said it had secured US$3 billion in financing, as it reported a nearly two-thirds drop in its first-quarter net profit.
Hong Kong first-quarter economic growth likely weakest in 4 years (Reuters)
Hong Kong's economy probably grew at its weakest annual pace in four years in the first quarter, hurt by China's slowdown, weak retail sales and falling asset prices.
Blackstone Is Pulling the Plug on Online Consumer Loans (Bloomberg)
Seven months after Blackstone Group LP said it planned to expand into online consumer lending, the firm is pulling back.
Nissan buying $2.2 billion controlling stake in scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors (Reuters)
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to buy a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corp, taking de facto control with a $2.2 billion bet that bails out its smaller, scandal-hit rival.
Politics
Philippines' Duterte Vows to Continue Aquino's Economic Policies (Bloomberg)
Presumptive Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will continue the macroeconomic policies of the outgoing administration of Benigno Aquino, according to an eight-point economic agenda released on Thursday that also prioritized tax reform, education and infrastructure spending, and fighting corruption.
Brazil's Rousseff undone by hubris, economic missteps (Reuters)
Minutes after taking her oath of office in 2011, President Dilma Rousseff stood before Congress and pledged to end the dirty back-room deals and kickback schemes at the heart of Brazilian politics.
Why Trump Looks Eerily Familiar to Germans (The Atlantic)
The fascination with Donald Trump is as intense in Berlin as in Boston or Boise. When I visited several German cities this week for talks about the U.S. election, questions about Trump from students, academics, young think-tankers, and journalists outnumbered questions about Hillary Clinton by about 10 to one.
Technology
Hyperloop One: Where do we go from here? (Mashable)
In the time it took for me to realize that the grit I was chewing on was Nevada desert dust, Hyperloop One’s open air propulsion system test was done.
It had taken far more time for company co-founder and executive chairman Shervin Pishevar to recite a favorite Teddy Roosevelt passage before the test than it had for the aluminum sled to speed up to 115 mph and then abruptly stop in a thrilling spray of sand.
China's Space Station Plans In Powerpoint: A Closer Look at Tiangong 3 (Popular Science)
The China Manned Space Agency released several Powerpoint slides showing a closer look at the Tiangong 3, China's planned space station. Scheduled to be commissioned in 2022, the Tiangong 3 will be regularly visited by Shenzhou manned space vessels, and automated Tianzhou resupply vehicles.
Health and Life Sciences
Shorter treatment 'will help tackle' TB (BBC)
The advice from the World Health Organization (WHO) should reduce treatment to around nine months.
Currently, it can take as long as two years – and many patients fail to complete what can be a burdensome course.
Life on the Home Planet
Turkish artillery, U.S. led coalition jets pound Islamic State in Syria (Reuters)
Turkish artillery pounded Islamic State targets in northern Syria overnight and the U.S.-led coalition carried out air strikes, killing 28 militants near a Turkish border town repeatedly hit by rocket fire, Turkish military sources said.
Satellite's ice vision is boosted (BBC)
The novel technique boosts the data about height changes that are gathered by radar instruments on satellites.
Known as swath altimetry, it permits researchers to see broader regions of the ice sheets in any one pass overhead, and at a much finer scale.
