Financial Markets and Economy
World’s Top Performing Fund Is Running Out of Good Stocks to Buy (Bloomberg)
The world’s best-performing stock fund is discovering the downside of success.
After producing a three-year return of 275 percent, more than any other equity fund with at least $500 million, managers of the DSP BlackRock Micro Cap Fund say bargains are disappearing in their market niche of Indian small-caps.
The bond market is 'sitting on the edge' (Business Insider)
Treasurys have been under pressure of late. After putting in a low of 1.36% on July 8, the benchmark 10-year yield has rallied more than 20 basis points to its current 1.58% as solid economic data and Janet Yellen's hawkish speech at Jackson Hole have traders pricing in the possibility of the next Federal Reserve interest-rate hike coming as soon as the Federal Open Market Committee's September meeting.
US exported 698,000 b/d of crude last week, new record: EIA (Platts, S&P Global)
While US crude supply continues to decline, the amount of oil the US is exporting continues to rise, the US Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.
China's State Firms Are Bigger Than Germany and That's a Problem (Benchmark, Bloomberg)
If China's bloated and inefficient state owned enterprises were a nation, they'd make up the world's fourth-biggest economy.
When Global Oil Prices Tanked, Shale Oil Production Didn't. Here's Why. (Forbes)
As global oil prices fell from more than $100 a barrel in July of 2014 to less than $30 a barrel in January of 2016, industry observers expected to see a precipitous drop in U.S. shale oil production.
Central Banks’ Waning Appetite Seen in Currencies, JPMorgan Says (Bloomberg)
Foreign-exchange traders are becoming convinced that monetary stimulus programs around the world have reached their limits in efforts to spark economic growth, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Stagnant Sales Mean U.S. Retailers May Lack Pricing Power (Bloomberg)
Checkout lines at most American retailers were noticeably shorter in July as sales stalled following one of the strongest quarters in years, indicating consumer spending will cool in the third quarter.
Eurodollar Futures, LIBOR, and the Oft-Obscured Consistency of Present vs Future Risks (Alhambra Investment Partners)
A eurodollar futures contract affords the buyer the opportunity to obtain a $1 million eurodollar deposit for a three-month term at the expiration and execution of the contract.
U.S. private payrolls rise solidly; pending home sales jump (Reuters)
U.S. private employers maintained a steady pace of hiring in August and contracts to buy previously owned homes surged in July, suggesting the economy was regaining sufficient momentum for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year.
Swiss central bank steps up stock buying spree (Reuters)
ZURICH, Aug 30 Switzerland's central bank now owns more publicly-traded shares in Facebook than Mark Zuckerberg, part of a mushrooming stock portfolio that is likely to grow yet further.
Global Supply Chains Paralyzed After World's 7th Largest Container Shipper Files Bankruptcy, Assets Frozen (Zero Hedge)
After years of relentless decline in the Baltic Dry index…
The Fed Is 'Yellen Wolf' And Will Not Hike In September (JP Research, Seeking Alpha)
Yellen stressed that another rate hike will depend on "the degree to which incoming data continues to confirm the Committee's outlook"
Salesforce Posts Narrow Earnings Beat, But Shares Plunge After-Hours On Full-Year Guidance (Forbes)
Salesforce reported a narrow beat in its earnings and revenue on Wednesday, but instead of the typical post-report pop it’s seen in recent quarters, shares of the CRM leader plunged in after-hours trading immediately following the news.
OPEC 2016 Export Revenue Lowest Since 2004, EIA Says: Chart (Bloomberg)
OPEC members’ net oil export revenue is forecast to fall to $337.9 billion this year, a drop of 16 percent from 2015 and 55 percent from 2014, according to EIA data.
The Challenge of Cutting Coal Dependence (NY Times)
It won’t be easy to get rid of coal.<p>Worried the nation might miss its 2020 target to drastically cut emissions of carbon dioxide, the German government proposed a steep levy last year on the most heavily polluting generators.
The trillion-dollar rise in U.S. student debt, explained in six charts (The Globe and Mail)
U.S. college and university graduates are swamped with debt – and the situation shows little sign of improving. Here are six charts that illustrate the country’s mounting student debt pile.
In U.S., Slim Majority Again Sees Unions as Helping Economy (Gallup)
A slim majority of Americans, 52%, say labor unions mostly help the U.S. economy, while 41% believe unions mostly hurt it.
Vancouver Real Estate Bubble Has Burst and Home Owners Are Panic Selling (Canadian Investor)
Vancouverites upset about being priced out of the housing market because of rising real estate prices fueled by foreign investors, are likely to be heard as the apparent bubble has just burst.
Japan invested their Social Security in the stock market. How did that turn out? (Daily Kos)
Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund, the world's biggest pension fund, began moving hundreds of billions of dollars from conservative and safe government bonds to riskier stocks in 2014.
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) isn’t “a business”; it’s a cash incinerator (Value Walk)
For August 2016 the fund was up approximately 6.8% net of all fees and expenses. By way of comparison, the S&P 500 was up approximately 0.1% while the Russell 2000 was up approximately 1.8%.
China Engages in 'Backdoor QE' as Monetary Policy Shifts, Says Jefferies (Bloomberg)
Blink and you might have missed it: The People's Bank of China's (PBOC) expansion of its lending facilities — aimed at injecting banking-sector liquidity and lowering borrowing costs for companies — is shoring up bank-demand for government bonds, a development analysts at Jefferies Group LLC have dubbed a form of backdoor quantitative easing (QE).
All the Action in Stocks Happened Below the Surface This August (Bloomberg)
Never mind the tepid move in U.S. equity benchmarks this month, there’s been plenty going on below the surface.
Politics
Brazil's Senate ousts Dilma Rousseff in impeachment vote (CNN)
Brazil's first female president is out of a job, but not barred from the ballot if she wants to run again.
The South American country's Senate voted 61-20 Wednesday to remove President Dilma Rousseff from office, finding her guilty of breaking budgetary laws in an impeachment trial.
Live Polls And Online Polls Tell Different Stories About The Election (FiveThirtyEight)
FiveThirtyEight generally takes an inclusive attitude towards polls. Our forecast models include polls from pollsters who use traditional methods, i.e., live interviewers. And we include surveys conducted with less tested techniques, such as interactive voice response (or “robopolls”) and online panels.
Mexican President Fact Checks Donald Trump To His Face, In Spanish (Think Progress)
Following a controversial and hastily thrown together bilateral meeting behind closed doors on Wednesday, GOP nominee Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto held a tense press conference in which they politely disagreed about immigration, trade, and jobs.
Mexicans Accuse President of ‘Historic Error’ in Welcoming Donald Trump (NY Times)
MEXICO CITY — If President Enrique Peña Nieto invited Donald J. Trump to visit Mexico for a dialogue in the interest of democracy, the message has fallen on deaf ears.
Technology
Samsung Galaxy Note7 shipments delayed amid reports of exploding batteries (Mashable Asia)
The well-reviewed Galaxy Note7 from Samsung has, unfortunately, run into a major technical problem that may taint its otherwise successful launch.
Banks urged to tighten security as hacks continue (CNN Money)
SWIFT, the messaging network that connects the world's banks, says it has identified new hacks targeting its members, and it is warning them to beef up security in the face of "ongoing attacks." It did not name the banks affected.
Facebook is eating the world (Columbia Journalism Review)
SOMETHING REALLY DRAMATIC is happening to our media landscape, the public sphere, and our journalism industry, almost without us noticing and certainly without the level of public examination and debate it deserves.
Millennials Continue To Buck Trends By Building Careers On Social Media (Forbes)
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram have become such staples of our everyday lives that we often forget how powerful they are.
Amazon and Wells Fargo have ended a partnership for discounted student loans after only six weeks (Reuters)
Wells Fargo and Amazon said they had ended a partnership to offer discounted student loans to the online retailer's "Prime Student" customers, about six weeks after announcing the deal.
Zuckerberg says Facebook will never be a media company—despite controlling the world’s media (Quartz)
Facebook may control much of the world’s media, but founder Mark Zuckerberg said it is not a media company and never will be.
Health and Life Sciences
Billions Of Dollars Of Vaccines Have Gone To Waste (Forbes)
Here’s a news flash. Vaccines have to actually reach people to work. In other words, if a vaccine never reaches a person, it cannot protect anyone from disease. And when the vaccine is not used, it goes to waste. You may think, isn’t this obvious? Sort of like, if a doughnut does not make it to your mouth, you cannot eat it?
Are There Other Intelligent Civilizations Out There? Two Views on the Fermi Paradox (Singularity Hub)
Scientists have now discovered a few thousand planets orbiting other stars and, based on these observations, believe there may be as many as 8.8 billion potentially habitable Earth-sized planets in the Milky Way alone.
This Is Some Very Bad News for Fast-Food Eaters (Fortune)
Fast-food eating may be worse for you than you even thought. It’s not just the calorie count or high saturated fats that are going to hurt you—it’s also the industrial chemicals.
5 Big Ideas From Singularity University’s 2016 Global Solutions Program (Singularity Hub)
Something big recently happened at Singularity University.
79 participants from 49 different countries graduated from Singularity University’s 10-week flagship Global Solutions Program (GSP).
Life on the Home Planet
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.
The NRA’s Favorite Gun ‘Academic’ Is A Fraud (Think Progress)
The United States seems to be in a perpetual cycle mourning mass shootings in the country. This year alone, there have already been 233 mass shootings, where four or more victims were shot, leaving 310 dead and 930 injured.
Buying a tiny house is a really bad idea, finance expert says. (Elle Decor)
When some people think "dream home," they automatically think "tiny house." If you're looking to downsize, a tiny house is charming, practical and affordable, so purchasing one seems like a no-brainer … or so we thought.
Inside Billionaire James Dyson's Reinvention Factory: From Vacuums To Hair Dryers And Now Batteries (Forbes)
DRESSED IN A BLUE POLKA-DOT OXFORD AND STRIPED REEBOK SNEAKERS, James Dyson abruptly veers off a paved path that cuts through his company’s 56-acre compound.
