Financial Markets and Economy
Oil Falls to Two-Month Low as U.S. Rig Count Rises, Dollar Firms (Bloomberg)
Crude fell to a two-month low as a strengthening dollar reduced investor appetite and the rising U.S. oil rig count signaled the output decline may slow.
Germany's Siemens embraces 'Project Optimism' in Brexit U-turn (Telegraph)
Europe’s largest industrial combine has vowed to press ahead with investment in Britain despite the vote to leave the EU, backing away deftly from earlier suggestions that Brexit would cause a painful freeze on new activities.
Hedge fund managers have the lamest excuses for why they stink right now (Business Insider)
Likely, you've heard that 2016 has been a miserable year for the hedge fund industry. The Masters of the Universe have been beaten down by volatile markets and low interest rates. Their clients are asking to have their fees reduced. Shops are shutting down.
U.S. Uninsured Rate Remains at Historical Low of 11.0% (Gallup)
In the second quarter of 2016, the uninsured rate among all U.S. adults remains at the trend low of 11.0% reached in the first quarter of this year. This is down from 11.9% in the fourth quarter of 2015, which was prior to when health plans purchased through government exchanges during the most recent open enrollment period took effect in early 2016.
Why investors shouldn’t fear buying into the S&P 500’s breakout (Market Watch)
Contrary to popular opinion, the S&P 500’s recent breakout to new highs should embolden investors, not scare them, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said.
There are 'treacherous waters' ahead for the market (Business Insider)
In the conventional investment perspective, risk-on assets (i.e. investments with higher risks and higher potential returns) such as stocks are on a see-saw with risk-off assets (investments with lower returns and lower risk, such as Treasury bonds).
Here's the Real Reason the Global Economy is Slowing Down (The Street)
Well before Brexit — which may or may not depress global economic growth — the global economy was slowing down. And that will continue, regardless of Brexit.
Future of Natural Gas Hinges on Stanching Methane Leaks (NY Times)
In the energy business, natural gas is supposed to be one of the good guys — the cleaner-burning fossil fuel that can help wean the world from dirty coal during the transition to a low-carbon future.
Canadian dollar weakens as oil slips, Bank of Canada eyed (Reuters)
The Canadian dollar weakened sharply against its U.S. counterpart on Monday as oil prices fell and global equities rose after Japan's prime minister won re-election and ordered fresh stimulus.
Alcoa second-quarter profit falls on low aluminum prices (Business Insider)
Metals company Alcoa Inc on Monday reported a lower quarterly net profit, citing a 10 percent decline in revenue due to lower prices for aluminum and alumina and plant operations that have been curtailed, closed or sold off.
Falling U.S. oil output not enticing enough for wary investors (The Globe and Mail)
Not even a sharp decline in U.S. oil production can convince investors that crude prices are ready to rebound.
Stubbornly high U.S. inventories and resurgent output from OPEC, Russia and Canada have prompted money managers to cut bets on rising prices to the lowest level in four months.
Goldman Sachs Warns Investors About 'Negative Growth Surprises' (Fortune)
As the S&P 500 Index surges to an all-time high and bonds rally slightly following Brexit, Goldman Sachs says it is time to be afraid, very afraid.
Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts – Stock Option Expiration This Friday (Jesse's Cafe Americain)
Since the mining stocks are some of the premier gainers for the Year-To-Date, I would expect them to be presenting some fat targets for shenanigans this week for the stock option expiration.
Fed’s Labor Market Conditions Index Falls For 6th Straight Month (Wall Street Examiner)
2016 has been one hell of a year for the labor market.
B.I.G. Tips – Analysts Negative Once Again Heading Into Earnings Season (Bespoke)
Earlier today, we posted a look at the number of companies set to report earnings by day during the upcoming earnings season, along with which stocks tend to exhibit the most volatility when they report earnings. The chart to the right shows a similar look at the pace of earnings for the upcoming reporting period but just includes S&P 500 names.
How do people really feel about the economy? (Brookings)
Political outsiders have had quite a good year in the United States (and elsewhere), and many pundits have attributed their success to voters’ profound dissatisfaction with the economy. Certainly there is plenty to be dissatisfied about, including growing inequality of income and wealth and stagnation in real wages.
Politics
Bernie Sanders Is Still Raising Too Much Money (The Atlantic)
It appears Bernie Sanders, he of the famed $27 donation, is still struggling to rein in over-eager donors. On Sunday, the Federal Elections Commission sent the Sanders campaign a list of contributors who may have donated more than $2,700, the maximum amount allowed for a primary campaign. It runs on for more than 1,000 pages.
Technology
The Superbook is a $99 laptop shell for your Android phone (The Verge)
The dream of turning your smartphone into a laptop will never die. From Motorola's Atrix to this crazy HP Windows Phone, there have been a number of companies that have tried (and largely failed) to build a smartphone that can be attached to a dock and turned into a laptop.
The weird world of giant batteries (The Week)
Come 2021, if all goes as planned, Los Angeles will have the biggest battery in the world.
It will be made up of 18,000 lithium-ion battery packs — each roughly the size of what you'd find in the Nissan Leaf — with a total capacity of 100 megawatts (MW). That's enough to power roughly 600,000 homes.
Health and Life Sciences
Pomegranate by-product boosts muscles and may fight ageing (New Scientist)
Urolithin A (UA) is a chemical by-product that is made by our bodies when we consume pomegranate juice, strawberries or walnuts. Johan Auwerx at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland and his team wanted to investigate whether these foods are as beneficial to health as some have suggested, so they decided to test the effects of UA in rodents and worms.
Does Soap Really Kill 99.9% of Germs? (Scientific American)
Eighty million. That’s the number of germs exchanged in a kiss. Ten to two hundred million. That’s the number of germs that are found on an average cell phone.
What is a clean freak to do? How can we possibly combat all of those germs?
Life on the Home Planet
How this photograph of a protester in Baton Rouge could come to symbolize a movement (Salon)
One-hundred and thirty-two protesters were arrested in Baton Rouge on Saturday and Sunday, but none quite so memorably as 28-year-old Ieshia Evans, thanks to a photograph by New Orleans-based photographer Jonathan Bachman.
