Financial Markets and Economy
Fischer Signals 2016 Rate Hike With Economy Nearing Fed Goals (Bloomberg)
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer signaled that a 2016 rate hike is still under consideration, saying the U.S. economy is already close to meeting the central bank’s goals and that growth will gain steam.
One move almost always sets off chaos in the currency market (Business Insider)
Nigeria finally did the painful thing everyone said that it had to do.
On June 20, it unpegged its currency, the naira, from the US dollar and promised to pursue a flexible exchange-rate system. And what happens next begins the story of why countries tie their currencies together and what can go wrong.
A top Wall Street strategist explains why everything about markets seems broken right now (Business Insider)
"The market is broken."
This sentiment has become more or less the received wisdom in the investing world over the last several years.
Energy-related CO2 emissions from natural gas surpass coal as fuel use patterns change (Energy Information Administration)
Energy-associated carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from natural gas are expected to surpass those from coal for the first time since 1972
Battle Of The Unicorns: Uber Says Lyft Is Worth Only $2 Billion, One Third Of Its Latest Valuation Round (Zero Hedge)
While Uber has no problem sitting at the top of the global unicorn pyramid, with a valuation of $68 billion as of June 2016, the "cab" company had some reflexively unpleasant words to say about the private market's attempts to value its key US competitor, Lyft, which as reported previously, has been trying to sell itself for the past several weeks.
MIT Spinoff to Market Breakthrough Batteries by 2017 (Fortune)
We’d all love our phones and tablets to have longer staying power, so announcements of new battery technology are often catnip for techheads. Unfortunately, actually bringing a new battery formulation to market is a uniquely complex manufacturing challenge, and plenty of laboratory breakthroughs never make it to the real world.
Goldman "Explains" Why Yellen Lost Credibility: "In Our View, The Fed Has Been Unlucky" (Zero Hedge)
While historically the Kansas Fed's Jackson Hole symposium has not lead to dramatic market moves (with the exception of 2010 when Ben Bernanke unveiled QE2), it has traditionally served as a springboard for the Fed to prepare the market for any major shifts in policy, such as the 2013 tapering of QE.
High wages flash recession warnings in Singapore (Reuters)
SaladStop owner Adrien Desbaillets has eased off on expansion plans for his organic food chain in Singapore because high wages are pressuring profit margins at a time when the affluent city state is grappling with low growth and slack global demand.
Analysis: Focus on VIX futures shorts hides the real story (Reuters)
Judging by the way hedge funds have been betting on Wall Street, they see U.S. stock market volatility remaining low, but it may not be that simple.
Philippines president threatens to pull country out of UN (Associated Press)
The Philippines’ brash-talking president threatened Sunday to withdraw his country from the United Nations and lashed out at U.S. police killings of black men in his latest outburst against critics of his anti-drug campaign, which has left hundreds of suspects dead.
23andMe's Consumer DNA Data Goldmine Is Starting To Pay Off (Fast Company)
After decades of inconclusive results, researchers backed by Pfizer and Massachusetts General Hospital revealed that they had identified several genetic markers associated with depression earlier this month. It was the largest study of its kind, using data from more than 120,000 people.
A Default Spree Is Coming… And It’s Going to Be Ugly (The Wall Street Examiner)
Junk bonds may be rallying but it has little to do with corporate credit quality, which just keeps deteriorating.
As of the end of August, 113 companies had defaulted on their debt in 2016, already matching the total number of defaults from 2015. The year-to-date default count was also 57% higher than a year earlier.
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Use the Berkshire Hathaway Wealth Model in Your Life (The Balance)
One of the least understood secrets behind the success of Berkshire Hathaway and its rise from an $8 stock in the 1960’s to more than $118,000 per share today, is that Warren Buffett focuses on two value “buckets” as he put it in a shareholder letter.
Japan Inc unenthused over Abe's stimulus, BOJ easing: Reuters poll (Reuters)
Japanese companies overwhelmingly say the government's latest stimulus will do little to boost the economy and the Bank of Japan should not ease further, a Reuters poll showed, a setback for policymakers' efforts to overcome deflation and stagnation.
Rent-to-Own Homes: A Win-Win for Landlords, a Risk for Struggling Tenants (NY Times)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Alex Szkaradek is a landlord who seems to have the best of both worlds.<p>Mr. Szkaradek, 36, collects rent, but he never has to pay for repairs on any of the more than 5,500 homes — many of them rundown — that his firm manages across the country.
Free money is not so funny anymore: Confessions of a (former) skeptic of basic income (Salon)
Getting a tire replaced seems easy to me. I’d just go to the nearest tire place and get it fixed. But Jayleene was living from paycheck to paycheck and didn’t have $110 to spare. She couldn’t get to work, and her boss fired her. She couldn’t make her rent and was soon out on the street — all because she needed $110 at the right time.
Our Society Is Sick, Our Economy Exploitive and our Politics Corrupt (The Wall Street Examiner)
Any society that tolerates this systemic exploitation and corruption as “business as usual” is not just sick–it’s hopeless.
In noting that our society is sick, our economy exploitive and our politics corrupt, I’m not saying anything you didn’t already know
Facebook can climb more than 20 percent on ad growth: Barron's (Reuters)
Facebook Inc stock has the potential to climb by more than 20 percent over the next year given the growing advertising revenue among its platforms, according to a Barron's report on Sunday.
Pricey U.S. stock valuations may warrant second look (Reuters)
Investors questioning whether record high U.S. stock prices mean it is time to bail out of equities should look beyond the elevated levels found in the widely used valuation tool, the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, experts say.
One “Think Tank” Claims $15 Federal Minimum Wage Equals 7 Million Job Losses (Confounded Interest)
The elections are only a couple of months away and the populist vote-getting mantras are on full display.
Take the minimum wage, for example. Hillary Clinton wants a FEDERAL minimum wage of $15 per hour. Sounds great, right?
Politics
Donald Trump casinos’ tax debt shrunk by $25 million after Chris Christie took office (NY Times)
By the time Chris Christie became governor of New Jersey, the state’s auditors and lawyers had been battling for several years to collect long-overdue taxes owed by the casinos founded by his friend Donald Trump.
The return of the unskewed polls: Data denial is in full throttle at Fox News (Salon)
The biggest laughing stock of the 2012 presidential election wasn’t Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan. In fact, compared with the current GOP nominee, the Romney-Ryan team ran a well-oiled, disciplined, respectable campaign. Though that’s not saying much, given how the bar’s been lowered to subterranean depths.
Global Economy Week Ahead: Jackson Hole Gathering, Eurozone PMI, Japan CPI (The Wall Street Journal)
Indicators from major economies are likely to affect the moods of central bankers set to return from vacation and possibly adjust monetary policy in the U.S., eurozone and Japan in the weeks ahead. In the U.S., Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen will speak at a high-profile retreat, and data on home sales are due. Europe is releasing business surveys, and Japan will publish inflation figures.
How voters view the country’s problems (Pew Research Center)
Voters view a number of issues as significant problems for the country. About half of registered voters (52%) say the gap between the rich and the poor is a “very big problem,” while nearly as many cite relations between racial and ethnic groups (48%) as a very big problem. Terrorism (46%) and crime (45%) also are considered very big problems by voters.
Technology
The Surprisingly Simple Chemistry In DuoSkin, Temporary Tattoos That Control Your Phone (Forbes)
This tattoo is temporary, but it’s permanently changed people’s impressions of wearable tech. Meet DuoSkin, an innovation from MIT’s Media Lab and Microsoft MSFT +0.00% Research.
‘Ben-Hur’ Remake Stumbles to Fifth Place in Box-Office Debut (Bloomberg)
Even an epic chariot race made with today’s computer technology couldn’t redeem “Ben-Hur.”
Health and Life Sciences
This Drug Could End America’s Painkiller Epidemic (Bloomberg)
So far, the fight against America’s opioid crisis has focused on treating addiction and curbing abuse. In February, President Barack Obama asked Congress for $1.1 billion to fund health care for addicts, and last month Congress allocated $181 million in grants for state programs.
Harvard Biologists Just Demonstrated the Most Extensive Reengineering of a Genome Yet (Singularity Hub)
Researchers at Harvard Medical School have “radically rewritten” the genome of bacteria E. coli. The team has replaced 7 of its 64 codons (3-letter sequences which correspond usually to a single animo acid.)
Life on the Home Planet
NBC sees even weaker ratings as Olympics near end (CNN Money)
NBC isn't exactly racing across the finish line in Rio.
The network's Summer Olympics ratings have been particularly weak in the final few days of competition.
The NSA hack proves Apple was right to fight the FBI (Business Insider)
After the unprecedented breach of hacking tools and exploits stolen from the US National Security Agency's elite hacking unit, some privacy advocates see it as clear vindication of Apple in its fight with the FBI earlier this year.
Usain Bolt and the Fastest Men in the World Since 1896 – on the Same Track (NY Times)
Usain Bolt’s historic third consecutive gold medal in the men’s 100-meter dash cemented his status as history’s greatest sprinter and the world’s fastest man. He edged out Justin Gatlin, an American, and Andre De Grasse, a Canadian, on his way to the gold.
‘Ben-Hur’ is Epic, Big-Budget Bust (The Wall Street Journal)
“Ben-Hur” didn’t have a prayer at the box office.
Hollywood’s latest big-budget attempt to fill multiplexes with faith-based moviegoers and general audiences floundered this weekend, collecting an estimated $11.4 million in fifth place in the U.S. and Canada.
This Luxury Cruise Liner Is On The Front Lines Of Climate Change (Think Progress)
This week, a massive, luxury cruise liner departed from Anchorage, Alaska, on the first leg of a 32-day cruise through the Northwest Passage.
Bill Gates on Business, Microsoft and Early Life (Value Walk)
An Interview with the richest man in the world (2016) Bill Gates. This interview questions Bill about his early life and reveals his early interest in computers and his ability to negotiate even as a teenager.
