Financial Markets and Economy
China stocks jump to seven-month high on policy optimism; Hong Kong up (Reuters)
China stocks jumped to a seven-month high on Monday morning, led by property and financial shares, as investors intensified their bets that disappointing economic data for July would prod Beijing to unleash fresh stimulus.
Japan's economy is barely growing (CNN Money)
Japan's economy is growing — but only just.
The country managed meager GDP expansion of only 0.2% in the second quarter of this year, according to official data released Monday.
BHP Billiton Poised To Post Its Worst-Ever Financial Result (Forbes)
All eyes in the commodities world will be on BHP Billiton tomorrow, not because it’s the world’s biggest mining company, more because it is expected to post its biggest-ever loss.
Nike's stock falls behind rivals amid Rio Olympics (Reuters)
Nike has top billing among sports brands at the Rio Olympics, but a week into the Games, its stock is losing to Adidas and Under Armour (UA.N).
Panic? China Is Hoarding Cash At The Fastest Pace Since Lehman (Zero Hedge)
The last few months have seen trillions of dollars of fresh credit puked into existence in China to enable goal-seeked growth numbers to creep lower (as opposed to utterly collapse). The problem is… the Chinese are hoarding that cash at the fastest pace since Lehman as liquidity concerns flood through the nation.
Lack of investment, payment delays hamper Venezuela oil output (Reuters)
Venezuela, which holds the world's largest crude reserves, is on track to suffer its steepest annual oil output drop in 14 years as it suffers the effects of an economic crisis and years of under investment and mismanagement, according to data seen by Reuters and interviews with company sources and workers.
Head Of "World's Most Bearish Hedge Fund" Explains Why The VIX Is Now Broken (Zero Hedge)
Lately, the VIX has been acting rather strange. While on the surface, the volatility index has behaved much as expected, sliding to near all time lows while the S&P reached daily record highs, beneath the surface some unexplained movements have been observed.
Russia and Saudi Arabia are talking — and the price of oil jumped (Business Insider)
The price of oil jumped for a third consecutive day in early trading on Monday after some reassurance for the markets that oil's biggest players are working to try to stabilise the world's most important commodity.
S&P 500 Dregs Stage Uprising in Bull Market That Now Makes Sense (Bloomberg)
From last week’s confluence of record highs to rebounding growth stocks, there’s a lot to like in a market as hated as this one.
'Grumpy hold-outs' could sink Bitfinex recovery plan after Bitcoin theft (Reuters)
Crypto-currency exchange Bitfinex's plan to impose losses on all its trading clients for the theft by hackers of $72 million in Bitcoin rests on two flawed pillars, according to lawyers.
Japan's Economy Slows to Snail's Pace as Exports Falter (Associated Press)
Japan's economy barely grew in the April-June quarter, as weaker exports and business investment weighed on the faltering recovery.
Growth for the world's third-largest economy was flat on a quarterly basis, adding to pressure on the Bank of Japan to take further action to stimulate slack corporate spending.
Central bank injects 80.5b yuan into market (China Daily)
The People ' s Bank of China ( PBOC ) pumped 130 billion yuan into the money market via seven-day reverse repos, a process by which central banks purchase securities from banks with an agreement to sell them back in the future.
OPEC Could Still Tip Next Year’s Oil Deficit Into Surplus: Chart (Bloomberg)
The re-balancing of oversupplied oil markets is on track as demand climbs and U.S. shale production falters, according to the International Energy Agency. The world will face a 560,000 barrel-a-day supply deficit in 2017 if OPEC members pump at the same rate as this year, IEA data show. If Iran and Iraq add just some of the new capacity they’re planning, Libya recoups a fraction of the supplies lost to political conflict and Nigeria restarts oil fields halted by militant attacks, there’ll be an 810,000 barrel-a-day excess — a fourth year of oversupply.
Intel: Bright Dividend Growth Future And Still 21% Undervalued (Seeking Alpha)
Intel shares have been on fire over the past year, despite reporting what some consider to be very disappointing Q2 earnings.
The Numbers Behind Japan’s Sputtering Economy (The New York Times)
NAGOYA, Japan — Japan on Monday reported that its economy had expanded by the smallest of margins in the second quarter. The country has been struggling to ignite growth after years of slumping wages and prices. The currency has shot up this year, hurting crucial export industries. It’s the world’s third-largest economy. So what does it mean when it grows only a fraction of a percent in one quarter?
Why Hong Kong Shares Just Touched a 9-Month High (Reuters)
Hong Kong shares finished at a fresh nine-month high on Monday, as depressed global interest rates pushed some stock investors to hunt for yields in emerging markets.
Britain's vast national gamble on wind power may yet pay off (The Telegraph)
Wind power has few friends on the political Right. No other industry elicits such protest from the conservative press, Tory backbenchers, and free market economists.
Some European publics view economy on the rebound, but others remain negative (Pew Research Center)
Grand ole highway robbery: How debt collection firms line GOP pockets to scam with impunity (Salon)
Some corporations engage in such abusive consumer rip-offs that they’re just plain evil. But then there are some profiteers that dig even deeper into the dark void of their corporate souls to achieve the ultimate status: TRULY EVIL.
Macy's, Kohl's And Nordstrom's Earnings Reports Deliver Some Positive Surprises (Forbes)
Quite a day. Three major retailers announced second-quarter sales and earnings Thursday that showed improvements over the first quarter. While sales were still negative there was more momentum providing an encouraging outlook for the rest of the year. Initiatives that should help future growth were discussed. A consensus emerged that there will be an acceleration of sales in the fourth quarter.
The Big Pause You Should Take Before Co-Signing a Student Loan (The New York Times)
Chances are, it’s your child or grandchild, or perhaps a niece or nephew. You have unrelenting faith in this teenage freshman, or near certainty that graduate school will lead to a lifetime of gainful employment. And maybe you feel badly that the family has not been able to save enough to pay the bills outright.
Subaru might be quietly building a Tesla-killer (Business Insider)
Subaru, which is owned by Fuji Heavy Industries, plans to launch the vehicle within the next five years and base the car on the Forester or the company’s next Outback, according to the Japanese news site Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, which cited sources close to the matter.
China bank rally – liquidity or conviction? (Financial Times)
China's banks are unexpectedly outperforming the market even as concerns over the country's growth and its prospects remain in place. The FT's Jennifer Hughes asks whether the rally marks a turnround in sentiment, or simply another example of cheap money sloshing around the system.
Politics
Donald Trump Steps Up Attacks on the Media (The Wall Street Journal)
Beset by sagging poll numbers, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is stepping up his attacks on news organizations, suggesting that biased coverage is turning the election against him.
GOP Could Be Near Trump Breaking Point; Frustration Abounds (Talking Points Memo)
The Republican Party could be nearing a breaking point with Donald Trump.
As he skips from one gaffe to the next, GOP leaders in Washington and in the most competitive states have begun openly contemplating turning their backs on their party's presidential nominee to prevent what they fear will be wide-scale Republican losses on Election Day
Technology
Samsung T3 SSD review: A glass ceiling on cloud storage (The Next Web)
SSD is the future, but it’s an expensive purchase to make it today’s world. But prices are dropping, and external drives with deep storage are fast becoming something we all want on our desktops or in a travel bag.
KGI: Apple to introduce three new iPads in 2017 including a 10.5 inch iPad Pro, new ‘flexible OLED’ iPad for 2018Apple is going to shake up the iPad lineup in a big way in 2017, according to securities analyst KGI Ming-Chi Kuo. Next year, Apple will reportedly release three new iPads, a 12.9 inch iPad Pro 2, a low cost 9.7 inch iPad and — most interestingly — a new iPad Pro with a 10.5 inch display, a new screen size for Apple’s tablet range. With a diagonal increase of just 0.8 inches over the 9.7 inch iPad, its unclear at this stage what will justify the introduction of another SKU.
Samsung plugs IBM's brain-imitating chip into an advanced sensor (Engadget)
IBM's TrueNorth, a so-called "cognitive chip," remarkably resembles the human brain: its 4,096 cores combine to create about a million digital neurons and 256 million synapse connections.
Life on the Home Planet
The Olympic Committee could actually sue people who make GIFs — here’s what you need to know (Business Insider)
Before this year's Olympic Games began, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rained on a parade of internet fun by banning the creation of animated GIFs.
Pepsi Buys First '#Promoted Sticker' Campaign on Twitter (Advertising Age)
Twitter has introduced its first "#Promoted Stickers" campaign, with Pepsi as its inaugural customer. Starting Monday, Pepsi-themed stickers will be available for consumers to slap on their photos and tweet out.
White Christian America is dying (The Washington Post)
Robert P. Jones is the founding CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). His new book, “The End of White Christian America,” has been called“quite possibly the most illuminating text for this election year.” He kindly answered some questions about the book via email. Below is a lightly edited version.
China Could Soon Let Passengers Use Their Phones on Planes (Bloomberg Markets)
Millions of flyers in China may soon see their wish come true: authorities are considering lifting restrictions on the use of mobile phones on planes, paving the way for wider in-flight connectivity that is now available only in developed markets.
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.
Ryan Lochte and Three Teammates Robbed at Gunpoint (The New York Times)
RIO DE JANEIRO — Ryan Lochte, an Olympic gold medalist in swimming, and three of his United States teammates were held up at gunpoint here early Sunday, according to the United States Olympic Committee, heightening anxiety over violent crime in the host city of the Summer Games.
Dalian Atkinson dies after being Tasered in Telford by police (BBC News)
Police said the weapon was deployed at about 01:30 BST in Telford, Shropshire after officers were called to a report of concern for a man's safety.
