Financial Markets and Economy
Oil Halts Slide Near $45 as U.S. Crude Stockpiles Seen Declining (Bloomberg)
Oil held near $45 a barrel as U.S. industry data showed a drop in crude stockpiles, paring a surplus in the world’s largest fuel consumer.
Are Americans Finally Getting Smarter About Money? (Bloomberg)
Over the past decade, Americans got a crash course in money management. The financial crisis and the great recession offered a ton of lessons—the dangers of debt being a big one—while making it impossible to ignore the topic of finance.
U.S. Set to Seize $1 Billion in Assets Tied to Malaysian Fund 1MDB (Wall Street Journal)
Federal prosecutors are poised to launch one of the largest asset seizures in U.S. history as they step up their investigation into billions of dollars siphoned away from a Malaysian government investment fund, according to people familiar with the matter.
This indicator says the stock market’s latest funfest has gone too far (Market Watch)
It’s been a subdued last couple of sessions, though Dow futures are showing a bit more life this morning, springing up by about 60 points.
Less Than 1% Chance U.S. Yields Reach 1.1% (Bloomberg)
In the U.S. bond market, trying to call a bottom in yields has proven to be a veritable minefield for just about anyone who’s tried.
We think the North American oil market has turned (Business Insider)
Halliburton reported a second-quarter loss and lower revenues compared to the same time last year, and said it believes the North American oil market has turned around.
Another major bank thinks that Brexit will push the UK into a recession (Business Insider)
Another one of the world's biggest financial institutions has predicted that the uncertainty surrounding the UK's future following the vote to leave the European Union will push the country into recession by the end of 2016.
Dollar struggles amid a pullback for Tokyo stocks (Market Watch)
The yen rose slightly against its rival currencies, as investors bought the perceived safety of the Japanese currency following Tokyo stocks’ weakness after a six-day winning streak.
Inside the High-Profile Downfall of a $8 Billion Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
Long before Jacob Gottlieb was forced to unwind his Visium Asset Management last month amid insider trading allegations, red flags were emerging at the once $8 billion hedge fund.
New UK finance minister Hammond to face Brexit grilling at G20 (Reuters)
Britain's new finance minister Philip Hammond will this week face calls from anxious peers around the world to explain how his country can pull off a smooth exit from the European Union and minimize the damage to the fragile global economy.
S&P 500 Futures Signal Stock Gains as Microsoft Rises on Profit (Bloomberg)
U.S. index futures rose, after equities slipped from a record, as the earnings season spurred optimism corporate health is robust enough to support stock gains.
Politics
Trump's Convention Is Only About Clinton (Bloomberg View)
The theme of day two of the Republican convention was supposed to be "Make America Work Again." But there was barely a feint in that direction.
Instead, Tuesday night's speeches had two themes.
Trump could seek new law to purge government of Obama appointees (Reuters)
If he wins the presidency, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would seek to purge the federal government of officials appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama and could ask Congress to pass legislation making it easier to fire public workers, Trump ally, Chris Christie, said on Tuesday.
Technology
This Is What Your Future Virtual-Reality Office Will Be Like (Fast Company)
Say goodbye to Skype calls. Here are four ways VR technology is already shaping up to change the future of work.
The scene: An empty conference room, five years from now. You sit down at the table with your tablet and put on a pair of lightweight glasses.
First superatom molecules pave way for new breed of electronics (New Scientist)
Superatoms – clusters of atoms that have the power to mimic the properties of other elements – have been linked up to make molecules for the first time. These could be the building blocks for advanced magnetic materials and electronics.
Chemists began building superatoms when they discovered that certain arrangements of atoms can behave like scaled-up versions of a single atom of a different kind.
Health and Life Sciences
Chlamydia vaccine 'shows promise' (BBC)
Canadian scientists have developed a promising vaccine prototype against chlamydia, a study in mice suggests.
Life on the Home Planet
Turkey purges universities after failed coup (Nature)
More than a thousand Turkish university staff have been ordered to resign their faculty leadership positions — and others expect to be sacked — in the aftermath of the country’s failed coup on 15 July.
Infrastructure 'still faces flood risk' (BBC)
Britain's roads, bridges, railways, hospitals, electricity, gas, water and internet remain at risk from floods, a government review will admit.
