Financial Markets and Economy
Oil Erases Brexit Selloff as U.S. Crude Supplies, Dollar Decline (Bloomberg)
Oil erased the two-day plunge that followed Britain’s vote to leave the European Union after U.S. crude inventories dropped for a sixth week while the dollar retreated against its peers.
Most banks get Fed clearance to lift dividends and increase stock buybacks (Market Watch)
The Federal Reserve gave the go-ahead to most banks to lift dividends and increase stock buybacks, a sign of the growing recognition the regulator has afforded the capital raised by the financial sector.
China just hinted it could increase fintech regulation (Business Insider)
Fintech companies in China could soon face some more hurdles.
China Investors Turn to Sovereign Debt Amid Company Defaults (Bloomberg)
There’s about to be a flight to quality in China’s bond market.
Fidelity Just Made Buying an Index Fund Vanguard-Cheap (Wall Street Journal)
Money manager Fidelity Investments plans to slash prices on more than two dozen funds that track stock and bond indexes, a big concession to an industry shift toward cheap products.
Kroger joins Walmart, Home Depot in Visa lawsuits (Business Insider)
Visa has been sued. Again.
Japan Exchange’s Stock Falls 40% for Worst Performer (Bloomberg)
Japan Exchange Group Inc., operator of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is having a year to forget, with its stock falling about 40 percent and trailing the almost 7 percent gain of the BI Global Security & Commodity Exchanges Valuation Peer Group.
Wall Street is buying itself (Business Insider)
That is, it is buying itself.
The Dodd-Frank stress tests, which measure whether financial institutions with more than $50 billion in US-based assets could survive a severe recession without infecting the rest of the economy, mandate that if a bank fails the firm is not allowed to return cash to shareholders in the form of dividend and buybacks.
Mobile wallets make moves in Asia (Business Insider)
Two major mobile wallet products expanded in Asia this week.
Brexit Panic Is Overblown; Charts Reveal Little New (Barron's)
First, let me say that I think there will be a period of gyrations and pain as global markets settle in with the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union. However, from what I have seen so far in the stock market and a few other economically attuned markets the Brexit panic is way overblown.
SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts – Down In the River To Pray (Jesse's Cafe Americain)
They'll never learn.
Politics
Yes, Trump's Flip-Flops Are Taking a Toll (Bloomberg View)
Many in the media seem to be having some difficulties comprehending just how badly Donald Trump is doing, and how unusual it is for the Republican Party to be so resistant to their own presidential nominee.
Why the Clinton-Obama Road Show Is Launching in a Different State (The Atlantic)
There are two simple ways to cut through the bluster and the spin to see how a presidential campaign is really feeling about its prospects at any given moment: You can follow the money, and you can follow the plane.
Technology
Ignore the Supercomputer Race (Bloomberg View)
A new list of the world's 500 fastest supercomputers suggests that China might be speeding past the U.S. in the race for technological supremacy. China now holds the two top spots, and placed a total of 167 machines on the list. The U.S. had only 165 on the list, with its fastest placing a very distant third.
That's leading some American commentators to wring their hands.
The rise of self-learning software (Recode)
Imagine it’s five minutes before a meeting. Your smartwatch, without prompting, sends you key points. While in the meeting, you take notes. Those notes are instantaneously absorbed by the system, then collated with relevant prior meetings, files and communications, in order to better prepare you for the next meeting.
Health and Life Sciences
These canned foods are the worst for BPA (Futurity)
A new study backs up concerns about exposure to the chemical Bisphenol A, or BPA, from food cans and jar lids.
The chemical can disrupt hormones and is linked to a range of health problems. California has listed BPA as a female reproductive toxicant, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has restricted its use in some products.
Life on the Home Planet
Prehistoric tombs may have doubled as star-gazing observatories (New Scientist)
Thousands of years before the invention of the telescope, prehistoric humans may have built underground observatories to espy faint stars. There may even be countless such structures hiding in plain sight in Europe, as they were also used as burial tombs.
The structures are known as “passage graves” – underground tombs that connect to the outside with a long, straight corridor.
Turkey Could Knock Out ISIS. Will It? (The Daily Beast)
Cleaning crews were still clearing the rubble and broken glass, and barriers proclaiming a “maintenance zone” blocked what had always been the main arrivals area, but just a half day after suicide bombers staged a major terror attack at Istanbul’s main airport, the crowds had returned and most flights were operating.
