Financial Markets and Economy
Wall Street banks see a painful summer for stocks ahead? (Market Watch)
If you gathered a group of stock analysts in a room, odds are each analysts would have a different view on the market.
One of the world's largest banking organizations just became a victim of fraud – again (Business Insider)
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has announced that it has become a victim of fraud for the second time in 2016.
U.S. stock futures seesaw as oil rally fades (Market Watch)
Wall Street was set for a choppy open on Tuesday, with stock futures struggling for direction as investors assess a faded rally in oil prices and wait for key inflation data.
Gold, it turns out, has a seasonal pattern of weakness (Market Watch)
Gold is in the middle of its six-month seasonally unfavorable period.
Deutsche Bank’s Woes May Be ‘Insurmountable,’ Berenberg Says (Bloomberg)
Deutsche Bank AG is stuck in a vicious circle as co-Chief Executive Officer John Cryan seeks to overhaul an impaired business that needs more capital, which the bank would struggle to raise if it tried to tap investors, according to Berenberg.
Gold, silver struggle to gain as dollar improves (Market Watch)
Gold and silver futures markets were locked in small trading ranges Tuesday, although trying for modest back-to-back gains, as the dollar steadied and as a rally in oil faded.
A Nation of Housing Haves and Have-Nots (Of Two Minds)
Geography charts the financial destiny of households, at least in terms of housing.
Slip in Oil Prices Curbs Global Stocks Rise (Wall Street Journal)
Global stocks mostly rose Tuesday but pared their steepest gains as oil prices retreated from 2016 highs.
Global jitters mean good times for defense stocks (Market Watch)
How time flies. It has been a year — May 18, 2015 — since stocks peaked, as measured by the S&P 500 SPX, +0.98% and since then the air has been leaking out of the balloon — or should I say bubble? We’re down about 2.5% since then, hardly catastrophic, but a lost year nonetheless.
Soros Fund Management doubles bet against the S&P 500 in first quarter (Reuters)
Billionaire investor George Soros, who has been warning that the 2008 financial crisis could be repeated due to China's economic slowdown, on Monday disclosed his doubled wager against the S&P 500 in the first quarter.
A new class of investor can now invest in startups (Market Watch)
A new class of investor is expected to emerge today.
That’s because starting today, any American adult can buy stock in startups and small businesses as the latest provision of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups, or JOBS Act, comes into effect.
This awesome infographic estimates the size of China's massive debt bomb (Business Insider)
The ramp up in Chinese debt accumulation has been a leading concern of investors for years. The average total debt of emerging market economies is 175% of GDP, and skyrocketing corporate non-financial debt has launched China far beyond that number.
Fed Minutes Likely to Reveal Debate on June or July Rate Hike (Bloomberg)
The Federal Reserve will shed more light this week on the risks of either raising interest rates amid global uncertainty or leaving them on hold again as the U.S. economic outlook improves.
Futures slightly lower after oil rally takes a breather (Business Insider)
U.S. stock index futures were slightly lower on Tuesday as oil prices steadied after touching a six-month high.
Xi Jinping’s Economy Gets Stuck in Theory Stage (Wall Street Journal)
A few days ago, Xi Jinping took to the People’s Daily to clear up a misunderstanding over the definition of his signature “supply-side” economic-reform policies.
Gamable EPS and Shares Buybacks (Wall Street Examiner)
EPS (Earnings per Share) is a corporate metric that is often pursued by the corporate managers and executives to increase their own payouts, and confused by investors for a signal of company health. As is well known (and we show this in our Risk & Resilience course), EPS is a ‘gamable’ metric – in other words, it can be easily manipulated by companies often at the expense of actual balance sheet quality.And I have written about this problem here on the blog for ages now.
Stop Calling Deals That Help CEOs Pillage with Impunity “Free Trade” (Wall Street Journal)
This is the second column in my series on the “Mankiw’s myths and Mankiw morality.” In the first column I showed that N. Gregory Mankiw’s own unprincipled principles of economics predicted that the financial system would be rigged by and for the financial CEOs.
Oil prices take a breather after hitting 2016 high (Market Watch)
Oil prices took a pause from their rally on Tuesday, falling back slightly from the 2016 highs they hit on Monday as some investors took profits.
Don’t Rush the Cheers for Eurozone Growth, Yet (Wall Street Examiner)
Remember record-busting 0.6% preliminary flash estimate of the first estimate GDP growth figure for Euro area released back in April? Well, it sort of was true, sort of…
Economy In Pictures: Weakness Continues (Real Investment Advice)
As we begin to wrap up the 2nd quarter of the year, I thought it was time to revisit the economy as the backdrop against expectations for stronger economic growth, rising inflationary pressures and an increase in interest rates and expectations.
Apple, Inc. Stock Is Undervalued (Fox Business)
On Monday, new SEC filings revealed billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway had invested just over $1 billion into Apple by the end of Q1. Berkshire's investment is notable, as Buffett's stock-picking skills are indisputably superior to any investor in history. But is the investment merited?
ETF Gold Holdings Rise At The Fastest Pace Since 2009 As Central Banker Credibility Plunges (Business Insider)
As Eric Peters explained a few days ago, by pushing prices to overvaluation and reducing yields on every investment asset, central banks have destroyed investors ability to create a portfolio that can withstand even the slightest economic disruption. Peters correctly describes it as "the most obvious disaster in finance."
Regulatory filings show which Valeant investors exited in first quarter (Reuters)
Some of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.'s most loyal supporters lost hope during the first quarter and either exited the embattled company or significantly cut back their stakes, regulatory filings released on Monday show.
Why Conventional Investors Are Getting Slaughtered (Wall Street Examiner)
Recently, legendary investor and philanthropist Stanley Druckenmiller made news when he said that investors should sell their stocks and buy gold. Lost in that message – with which I wholeheartedly agree – was another important point that Druckenmiller made in looking back at his career.
Sugar Industry Headed for a Shake-Up (Wall Street Journal)
Sweeping changes to the trade barriers governing the sugar industry are redrawing the map for one of the commodity world’s most protected markets.
IMF Proposes Eurozone Debt Relief for Greece Until 2040 (Wall Street Journal)
The International Monetary Fund is pressing the eurozone to let Greece skip paying interest or principal on bailout loans until 2040, say officials familiar with the talks.
Politics
Where The 2016 Candidates Stand On Key Tech Issues (Fast Company)
As the general election draws closer, hopefully more of us will begin looking closely at the candidates' policy positions that could become law after next January.
Several very important tech issues, including broadband access, net neutrality, and media conglomeration, are on the table this time around.
Technology
These Touchscreen Building Blocks Could Become Your Phone (Gizmodo)
Google’s modular smartphone may have been severely delayed, but other people have been thinking about different smartphone forms too. Like this cube-based device, which uses separate modules to build up unusually shaped mobile devices.
WhatsApp Must Speak German to Germans (Fortune)
Facebook’s WhatsApp has lost its appeal against a German court ruling that said it has to provide its terms and privacy policy in German for customers in that country.
WhatsApp got sued a couple years back by the Federation of German Consumer Associations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband, or VZBV), which claimed it was breaking consumer protection rules by insisting Germans must agree to English-language terms of service in order to use the messaging app.
Health and Life Sciences
Magic mushrooms 'promising' in depression (BBC)
A hallucinogenic chemical in magic mushrooms shows promise for people with untreatable depression, a short study on just 12 people hints.
Katrine Bosley's Race To Make Gene Editing A Medical Reality (Fast Company)
There’s no cure for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a retinal disease that results in severe vision loss at a young age. Its cause is well understood, though: a genetic mutation. If you could find a way to cut out that gene and replace it with a "clean" version, you could cure it. You might also be able to apply the same method to thousands of other diseases caused by gene mutations.
Life on the Home Planet
How Soil Microbes Fight Climate Change (Scientific American)
Around the globe, 2016 has been a dusty year. Just this month, massive dust storms enveloped Guazhou County in China, engulfing five-story buildings. Dust storms in Kuwait suspended oil exports, while another storm engulfed the Texas Panhandle. In January, red clouds of dust swept across Free State, South Africa, while scientists warned that the erosion of nutrient-rich topsoil threatened food security.
Reef fish get it on with other species at melting pot islands (New Scientis)
They were oceans apart for thousands of years, but now they are reunited. Fish from the Indian and Pacific Oceans that have become separate species are getting it on at island retreats, and having hybrid babies.
