Financial Markets and Economy
All of the US's energy consumption in one giant graphic (Visual Capitalist)
Today’s graphic is special type of flow chart, called a Sankey diagram.
This particular one shows the total estimated energy consumption in the United States in 2015, and how energy flowed from source to the final destination. The graphic comes to us from theLawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Department of Energy.
A financial planner says most people don’t need to pay someone to manage their investments (Mom and Dad Money)
Last week I went to my friend’s bachelor party in Montreal.
As we were sitting together late night at the blackjack table, happily giving our money away to the dealer, the subject of making responsible financial decisions came up and he mentioned that he has a guy who manages his investments for him.
'An unsettled world': The CEOs of America's largest companies are worried about the economy (Business Insider)
If you were to listen to the managements and CEOs of some of the largest companies in the US, you would assume that the world is melting down.
Canada is nearing 'peak crazy in the housing market' (Business Insider)
Canada's housing market keeps getting hotter.
The Teranet and National Bank Composite House Price Index, which covers 11 cities, rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.4% month-over-month in July.
How oil prices are trapped in a vicious circle, in one chart (Market Watch)
Oil is on track for a sizable weekly gain, thanks in large part to Saudi Arabia sparking hopes for a production freeze.
But skeptics are pointing out that we’ve heard this song before.
Here Comes the Brexit-Era British Economy in Hard Numbers (Bloomberg)
Weaker demand, slower growth, faster inflation — that’s the U.K. economy that the Bank of England sees in its crystal ball after the nation voted for Brexit. Now the first hard numbers are on the way.
Amazon Takes Shot At Microsoft And IBM With Its Latest Analytics Service (Forbes)
Amazon Kinesis Analytics, announced at AWS Summit New York is the latest addition to the AWS Kinesis family of streaming services. This stream processing service, which plugs a significant gap in the AWS data services portfolio, enables customers to analyze streaming data in real time. With the introduction of this service, Amazon becomes a viable alternative to Azure Stream Analytics and IBM Streaming Analytics offerings.
The Bond Rally of a Lifetime (Mauldin Economics)
In 1981, as inflation and Treasury yields were screaming to new heights, good friend Gary Shilling had the audacity to announce, “We’re entering the bond rally of a lifetime.” He was right, as that bond rally is already 35 years old and I think it will see a few more birthdays. Gary’s with us today to assert that the rally is still underway – and to back up that assertion with a rather compelling case for Treasuries and for the “long bond” (the 30-year) in particular.
Abenomics Won't Work. And That's OK. (Bloomberg)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently announced plans for yet another round of aggressive economic stimulus. But it's doubtful that this new initiative will make much difference. The problem is that the policy objectives of so-called Abenomics are ill-conceived to begin with — and given demographic reality, they'll never work.
The Housing Bottom and Comparing Recoveries (Calculated Risk)
In early 2012 I wrote The Housing Bottom is Here and Housing: The Two Bottoms, I pointed out there are usually two bottoms for housing: the first for new home sales, housing starts and residential investment, and the second bottom is for house prices.
Venezuela must choose between capitalism and chaos (Mises Institute)
The role of the economist—to point out the unsuitability of central planning as a means to attain the level of welfare all countries seek—Mises characterized as a “thankless task, [as] most people are intolerant of any criticism of their social and economic tenets… [and] do not understand that the objections raised refer only to unsuitable methods and do not dispute the ultimate ends of their efforts” (Mises 1944, i).
One of the biggest warning signs of the financial crisis is flashing again — but this time is different (Business Insider)
One of the biggest warning signs of the Great Recession is starting to show its head again, but that doesn't mean everyone should panic.
Germany’s Midsize Manufacturers Outperform Its Industrial Giants (Harvard Business Review)
Stop for a minute and think of some of the most successful German companies. BMW and Siemens and Bayer might come to mind. But if you really want to learn from the best of German business, you’d be smart to turn your attention to companies named Rimowa, Jungbunzlauer, and Strama-MPS. They belong to a class of small-to-medium German enterprises that are outperforming the country’s top public companies.
Trillions in Murky Investments Could Rock China’s Economy (The New York Times)
A Shanghai investment firm is offering a fat return of up to 10 percent a year, handily beating both the local stock market and the paltry payouts from bank accounts. It requires a minimum deposit of about $15, making it accessible to just about anyone. Investors can pull out in as little as seven days. Best of all, the money is guaranteed.
Clinton Releases 2015 Tax Returns; Paid 34% Effective Federal Rate (The Wall Street Journal)
Hillary Clinton’s 2015 tax return showed a sharp drop in income as she launched her presidential campaign, along with a higher federal effective income-tax rate than any president since Gerald Ford, a sign of caution for a candidate facing intense scrutiny over her family’s finances.
Politics
Shock in the Kremlin as Putin fires chief of staff Sergei Ivanov (The Telegraph)
President Vladimir Putin has demoted one of his closest allies in a rare and dramatic shake-up of Russia’s top leadership.
After Verbal Missteps Trump Blames Others (AP News)
Donald Trump's claim Friday that he was merely being "sarcastic" in accusing President Barack Obama of establishing a terrorist group was his latest attempt to blame others for the uproar over what he says. It's an instinct that Trump's opponents say a president can't possess. Some Republicans seem to have the same concern.
McConnell: I may not be majority leader next year (Politico)
Mitch McConnell may not be leading the Senate majority next Congress, the Kentucky Republican acknowledged Thursday, hinting of the down-ballot effect Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump could have on Senate races.
Technology
Samsung turns IBM's brain-like chip into a digital eye (CNET)
IBM created a computer chip that works like a brain. Now, Samsung has used it to create a biologically inspired digital eye.
The IBM chip, called TrueNorth, is built of 4,096 tiny computing cores that form about a million digital brain cells and 256 million connections.
Will a Camera on Every Cop Make Everyone Safer? Taser Thinks So (Bloomberg)
On Aug. 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo., a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown. Several witnesses described the shooting—which wasn’t captured on video—as unprovoked. In the national furor over police violence that followed, one remedy found common support across much of the political spectrum: outfitting more cops with body-mounted cameras to deter misconduct and create a record of tragic encounters.
Today’s Tech Oligarchs Are Worse Than the Robber Barons (The Daily Beast)
A decade ago these guys—and they are mostly guys—were folk heroes, and for many people, they remain so. They represented everything traditional business, from Wall Street and Hollywood to the auto industry, in their pursuit of sure profits and golden parachutes, was not—hip, daring, risk-taking folk seeking to change the world for the better.
You won’t recognize the new world of digital payments without this report (BI Intelligence)
The modern smartphone is a remarkable device. A single device that fits in your pocket can do all the tasks that once required cameras, camcorders, GPS devices, watches, alarm clocks, calculators, and even TVs.
‘Millions’ of Volkswagen cars can be unlocked via hack (BBC News)
A sizeable proportion of 100 million Volkswagen Group cars sold since 1995 can be unlocked remotely by hackers, a team of researchers has said.
Health and Life Sciences
Not all memories really happened: What experts wish you knew about false memories (Scientific American)
“Every memory you have ever had is chock-full of errors. I would even go as far as saying that memory is largely an illusion.
Life on the Home Planet
More airline outages seen as carriers grapple with aging technology (Reuters)
Airlines will likely suffer more disruptions like the one that grounded about 2,000 Delta (DAL.N) flights this week because major carriers have not invested enough to overhaul reservations systems based on technology dating to the 1960s, airline industry and technology experts told Reuters.
Deliveroo's UK MD came out to face an angry mob of food delivery couriers — here's what happened (Business Insider)
Deliveroo's UK managing director stepped out of his office to address an angry mob of Deliveroo couriers on Thursday as they protested over the company's decision to change the way it pays its riders.
US Air Force’s plan to improve radio communications? Plasma bomb the atmosphere (Digital Trends)
Radio communication is a weak point for most military operations — it is often not long enough or strong enough to adequately meet soldiers' needs. The U.S. Air Force's "go big or go home" solution to improve their long-distance calls? Supercharge the atmosphere by detonating aerial plasma bombs attached to tiny satellites, reports New Scientist.
Sea Level Rise Could Put Millions Of U.S. Homes Underwater By 2100 (Think Progress)
Sea level rise may put nearly a trillion dollars of U.S. coastal homes underwater by the end of the century, a new real estate study has found.
Storm surges and higher tidal flows caused by climate change could gobble almost 1.9 million houses in hundreds of cities, according to a report by the real estate company Zillow.
