Financial Markets and Economy
Bond Markets Big Illusion Revealed as U.S. Yields Turn Negative (Bloomberg)
For Kaoru Sekiai, getting steady returns for his pension clients in Japan used to be simple: buy U.S. Treasuries.
There will be 'no medal winners' in the stock market because everything is too expensive (Business Insider)
Goldman Sachs' David Kostin is not enthusiastic about the stock market right now.
"In the next three-months we expect negative price returns in Asia (-3%), Japan (-6%), US (-10%), and Europe (-11%)," said Kostin."
Dollar Gains Ground After Payrolls as Asian Futures Signal Gains (Bloomberg)
The dollar cemented its advance, while Asian index futures signaled gains, after U.S. jobs data both burnished sentiment toward the world’s biggest economy and bolstered bets on an interest-rate hike this year. Gold extended its losses as oil edged higher.
'They are hurting right now': The oil patch and has been decimated (Business Insider)
Oil prices have dropped over 20% since June.
Hedge funds have done a terrible job at picking stocks this year (Business Insider)
Hedge funds are not doing too hot in 2016.
Why China Can't Solve Its Debt Problem (Bloomberg View)
For a long time, there was a recurring stereotype about China's economy: If growth started to slow significantly, the argument went, prudent technocrats in Beijing could always prop it up with fiscal stimulus and keep the country's financial institutions afloat. Combined with optimistic official data about deficits, this argument sounded reassuring for a while.
World's Least Miserable Live in Asia, Thanks to Disinflation (Bloomberg)
The Land of Smiles really is the happiest place in the world, at least in terms of holding a job and keeping the rising cost of goods in check.
Why corporations are hiring even though U.S. growth stinks (Market Watch)
The official gauge of how fast the U.S. is growing has suffered a power outage of sorts but the economy is still generating lots of new jobs.
What the heck is going on?
The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires (Bloomberg)
The walls of Clarence Debelle’s Vancouver office on Canada’s west coast are lined with gifts from his real estate clients: jade and turtle dragon figurines; bottles of baijiu, a traditional Chinese alcohol; and enough special-edition Veuve Clicquot to fuel several high-end cocktail parties.
We are all Keynesians now, so let's get fiscal (Telegraph)
The Bank of England has done everything possible under the constraints of monetary orthodoxy to cushion the Brexit shock. It is now up to the British government to save the economy, and the sooner the better.
The recent stock market records are great news for Hillary Clinton (Business Insider)
In the past few weeks, we've seen huge moves on both the political and financial fronts.
U.S. Farmland Prices Fall $10 an Acre in First Drop Since 2009 (Bloomberg)
U.S. farmland values in 2016 dropped for just the second time in almost three decades after grain and soybean prices extended a slump, eroding grower profit and capping a decade-long boom when land costs jumped 65%.
Investors keep ignoring catastrophically disappointing Tesla earnings (Business Insider)
Tesla reported catastrophically disappointing second-quarter earnings last week, but in typical fashion, the market shrugged them off.
Should You Put Your Bitcoin in…a Bank? (Wall Street Journal)
As Bitfinex, the digital-currency exchange that suffered a hack this past week, struggles to reopen, a wider question is again being asked about bitcoin: Is it really a better mousetrap?
Apple should stop selling four-year-old computers (The Verge)
One thousand, five hundred and fourteen days. Or: four years, one month, and twenty-four days.
Control Your Ego, Listen to Your Emotions (TraderFeed)
A commonly encountered view in writings on trading psychology is that good decisions require that we tame our emotions through discipline and self-control. Many of those same writings talk about trusting your gut and not overthinking decisions. How we are to be open to our feel for markets and yet trade in an emotionless, zen-like state is left unanswered.
The S&P Is Now Set To Report Its Second Consecutive Annual Earnings Drop Since The Financial Crisis (Zero Hedge)
With 86% of the companies in the S&P 500 reporting earnings to date for Q2 2016, Q2 earnings season is almost over. 69% of companies have reported earnings above the mean estimate and 54% have reported sales above the mean estimate.
Politics
Democrats Are Hoping for a Wave (Bloomberg View)
In 1980, Democratic pollster Peter Hart warned Gaylord Nelson, Wisconsin's champion vote-getter as governor and senator, that he was going to lose. Hart saw a Republican wave coming. Ronald Reagan would defeat President Jimmy Carter and carry other GOP candidates to victory as well.
Election Update: Clinton’s Post-Convention Bump Is Holding Steady (Five Thirty Eight)
Hillary Clinton’s post-convention polling surge is showing no signs of fading. She leads Donald Trump, on average, by about 7 percentage points in national polls, and is an 83-percent favorite to win on Nov. 8, according to our polls-only model.
Technology
Human athletes are using training technology from the future to become more like robots (Quartz)
In an age when athletes have access to more advanced training techniques than ever before, the landscape of sports is entering a new realm. Today, it is not enough for an athlete to simply possess superior strength or talent. To rise above the competition, the modern athlete must train intelligently and use the most innovative techniques to outfox opponents. And technology can help with that.
China launches first mobile telecoms satellite from Beijing (BBC)
China has launched its first mobile telecommunications satellite.
The Tiantong-01 satellite will establish a mobile network serving China, the Middle East, Africa and other areas, the state run Xinhua news agency reported.
Health and Life Sciences
Watch a single neuron die from concussive impact (Futurity)
To learn how brain cells react to trauma, researchers are delivering concussive impacts to cell cultures and imaging the aftermath in real time.
The team used a custom-built laboratory device that can compress neurons inside 3D cell cultures while using a powerful microscope to continuously monitor changes in cell structure.
Life on the Home Planet
Inside the Crazy World of Olympic Pin Trading (Wired)
Athletes stroll through Olympic Park with them jangling in their pockets. Volunteers affix them to lanyards and swap them with journalists. A nattily dressed gentleman on my flight to Rio wore two dozen flamboyantly arrayed on his fedora.
