Financial Markets and Economy
Dollar Strikes Back as Jobs Data Revive Fading Divergence Trade (Bloomberg)
The latest display of strength in the U.S. labor market is breathing new life into the dollar divergence trade.
Sell everything? This stock-market rally dares you! (Market Watch)
Sell everything? That has been the recently intensifying mantra of a number of high-profile investors from DoubleLine Capital’s Jeff Gundlach to strategist at Goldman Sachs, who made a near throw-in-the-towel call earlier in the week.
Oil prices plummet amid continued oversupply, with no end in sight (The Guardian)
Oil may be a precious and dwindling resource but at the moment, at least, it looks like we just have too much of it. Crude-oil prices are now at their lowest since early April, hit by continued oversupply, concerns about global demand and negative price sentiment by oil-market participants. And that situation looks likely to continue in the near future.
Big Government Keeps Getting Smaller (Bloomberg View)
Among the many contributors to what was generally a gangbusters employment report Friday was the government sector, which added 38,000 jobs in July (30,000 of them in local government).
Why supermarkets want to sell you ugly fruits and vegetables (Market Watch)
Perfect-looking apples and potatoes have already enjoyed their moment in the sun — at least if food-waste activists have their way.
Several U.S. retailers have begun to sell “ugly” fruits and vegetables in response to customers’ concerns about produce that may be discarded when it doesn’t meet retailers’ standards.
Again at highs, stocks to take cues from consumer (Reuters)
A U.S. stock market that rose again to record highs on Friday on the back of a robust employment report will take its cues next week from a facet of the economy that also has shown signs of strength: the consumer.
Yay, Jobs! So Why Isn't the Economy Following? (Bloomberg View)
The U.S. job market turned in an impressive performance in July. Now if only the economy would catch up.
The latest jobs report suggests that worries about global growth and Britain's vote to leave the European Union didn't act as much of a drag on hiring in the U.S.
Pounds Biggest Bull Holds Nerve After BOE Boosts Stimulus (Bloomberg)
The pound’s biggest bull is keeping the faith.
Understanding, Prediction, and What Makes Discretionary Traders Successful (Trader Feed)
This post was written from Glacier National Park in Montana. Sometimes it takes a complete change of scenery to create a fresh mindset and renewed focus on what is essential–in life, as well as in trading. It's when we introduce novelty into our lives that we are most likely to achieve new insights.
Only in China: Companies Become Banks to Solve Financial Difficulties (The Epoch Times)
China is desperate to solve several problems it has due to its debt to GDP ratio being north of 300 percent. It may have found a pretty unconventional one by letting companies become banks, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Politics
Why Are Some Conservative Thinkers Falling for Trump? (The Atlantic)
Logically, Donald Trump should have less support among intellectuals than he had a year ago. That’s because over the past year, he has made statements that expose him as both ignorant of public policy and contemptuous of liberal-democratic norms. He has proposed banning Muslims from entering the United States, incited violence against protesters at his rallies, responded to The Washington Post’s critical coverage by warning that its owner is “getting away with murder” on his taxes and “we can’t let him get away with it,” declared a federal judge biased because he’s Mexican American, and twice revealed his unfamiliarity with the term nuclear triad.
The Company That Donald Trump Keeps (Bloomberg View)
With Donald Trump's skeletal presidential operation navigating rough waters, how might he steer his ship back on course? He could try taking his own advice and begin building relationships with respected, trustworthy advisers and fellow politicians.
Will the US elections be hacked? It's doubtful, but machines could be 'rigged' (The Guardian)
The fact that most election machines are not connected to the internet makes hacking unlikely, but the software itself could be vulnerable.
Technology
An industrial robot arm can perform intricate tattoos on human bodies (Quartz)
Robots have already made their way into commercial warehouses and can handle cleaning our dishes, but would you let an industrial robot arm tattoo you?
Pierre Emm and Johan da Silveira created Tatoué, an industrial robot arm that can autonomously perform intricate tattoos on humans.
Health and Life Sciences
When Diabetes Strikes, Get Moving to Lower Risk to Eyes (Medicine Net Daily)
People with diabetes who remain inactive may have higher odds for a vision-robbing eye condition, new research suggests.
Mathematicians Are Building a Unified Theory of Geometric Randomness (Wired)
Standard geometric objects can be described by simple rules — every straight line, for example, is just y = ax + b — and they stand in neat relation to each other: Connect two points to make a line, connect four line segments to make a square, connect six squares to make a cube.
Life on the Home Planet
There’s a scientific excuse for why summer makes you so lazy (Quartz)
As great as it feels to bury your jacket in the back the closet, break out the shorts, and plan weekend trips to the beach, there’s always a point in the deep summer where the heat starts to feel like too much.
Hot weather actually slows your body down. The hotter it is, the more energy you need to expend to keep yourself cool, which can mean activities you’re used to doing easily—whether it’s walking around outside or exercising at a certain intensity—take more effort.
Your air conditioner is making the heat wave worse (The Washington Post)
The heat wave that barbecued the Midwest this past week is pressure-cooking the East Coast this weekend. With temperatures and humidity indexes hitting triple digits, city dwellers have no choice but to keep thermostat settings low and energy consumption high. But we need air conditioning because we use air conditioning, and that circular logic is getting worse as global temperatures rise.
