Financial Markets and Economy
Yuan’s Big-Money Bears Killing Rallies Before They Take Hold (Bloomberg)
Yuan bears are turning rallies in the Chinese currency into increasingly short-lived affairs.
Cheap ECB Funding Ripples through Markets (The Wall Street Journal)
The European Central Bank’s new funding facility may have failed to boost credit in the eurozone, but a look at the covered-bond market shows its success at helping the financial sector in times of distress.
Stagnating median incomes despite economic growth: Explaining the divergence in 27 OECD countries (Vox)
With inequality rising and household incomes across developed countries stagnating, accurate monitoring of living standards cannot be achieved by relying on GDP per capita alone.
Here's the truth about the stock market in 16 charts (Business Insider)
As markets reporters, our most important responsibility is to provide readers with some helpful context for what's going on. This is particularly important during periods of heightened volatility like what we've been experiencing for the past few months.
Americans Fire Up Grills for Cheap Burgers as Beef Price Tumbles (Bloomberg)
With barbecue grills lighting up across the U.S. this holiday, you might make that cheeseburger a double.
G20 takes up global inequality challenge (Financial Times)
Even before the final communiqué is drafted for the annual G20 summit the leaders of the world’s largest economies already seemed to agree on their …
China's president: We should turn the G20 group into an action team — no more talk (Reuters)
HANGZHOU, China (Reuters) – The global economy is being threatened by rising protectionism and risks from highly leveraged financial markets, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the open of a two-day summit of leaders from G20 nations.
Bitcoin Surges Almost 10% On Heavy China Buying Amid G-20 Chatter (Zero Hedge)
After a month of extremely 'odd' stability in the price of virtual currency bitcoin, the G-20 meetings appear to have sparked a resurgence in buying from the Chinese as the dollar is down around 8% against Bitcoin in early Asian trading.
Home Sales Plunge: A Good Reason to Panic (Sputnik News)
Property sales volumes are plunging and some insiders are telling investors ‘not to panic.’ Is this a reason to panic? With the US and Canadian governments cracking down on anonymous all cash buyers and developers stuffed to the gills with ‘luxury’ condos to sell, it looks like the property markets could look set for a big fall.
San Francisco Finds Giving The Homeless Supportive Housing Costs Less Than Doing Nothing (Think Progress)
Putting the homeless in supportive housing, where they not only get a safe place to sleep but services that help them deal with any health or other issues, costs a lot up front. But San Francisco has found that once those in housing eventually get stabilized, it ends up costing less than it did to have them living on the streets or in shelters.
Airlines are charging a hidden fee that's increasing your plane ticket — and they won't say what it's for (Business Insider)
Few spend time analyzing the breakdown of a plane ticket.
Our modus operandi is to compare ticket prices, usually through a website like Expedia or Kayak, pick whichever deal we can manage to glean, and jet away.
Gain An Advantage by Ignoring Your Stocks (The Stock Market Blue Print)
If you’re an investor wanting to gain an advantage in the stock market, the best thing to do is ignore your stocks.
The Idle Army: America’s Unworking Men (The Wall Street Journal)
Labor Day is an appropriate moment to reflect on a quiet catastrophe: the collapse, over two generations, of work for American men. During the past half-century, work rates for U.S. males spiraled relentlessly downward.
G20 leaders meet in China (The Economist)
REPORTING on big international summits is often an exercise in drudgery. Debates about the agenda take place behind closed doors, weeks in advance of the actual meetings.
Eyes Shift to November and December (Mish Talk)
Following an unexpectedly weak ISM report, weak auto reports, and a weak jobs report on Friday, rate hike odds shifted from a decent possibility of two hikes by December to a roughly 50-50 chance of one hike in December.
Dreams of Wealth, Fears of Problems as Guyana Finds Oil (Associated Press)
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Sleepy Guyana has long been one of the hemisphere's poorest places, a sparsely populated nation on South America's northern shoulder that relies heavily on exports of sugar, rice and gold.
6 Perspectives on How Tech Is Transforming the Economy (Singularity Hub)
In early 2015, Singularity Hub ran a series of articles on the Future of Work. Sveta McShane kicked the series off by asking (and answering) the following question…
G-20 Leaders Challenged to Find Effective Plan to Reignite World Growth (The Wall Street Journal)
HANGZHOU, China—Pointed words over China’s steel overproduction crystallized a challenge for world leaders gathered here to come up with an effective plan to reignite world growth.
Politics
Hong Kong Votes in Test of China’s Influence Over Finance Hub (Bloomberg)
Hong Kong began voting Sunday in a legislative election that will test the appeal of a new wave of anti-China activists and set the stage for future political fights over Beijing’s control over the city.
Donald Trump made millions from Saudi Arabia, but trashes Hillary Clinton for Saudi donations to Clinton Foundation (Daily News)
Donald Trump has blasted Hillary Clinton for accepting money from Saudi Arabia through her foundation, but a Daily News investigation reveals he has padded his bank account with cash from the same country.
Hong Kongers 'thumb their noses at Beijing' with pro-independence votes (CNN)
Hong Kong (CNN)In a gesture of defiance to Beijing, Hong Kongers have elected a raft of young former pro-democracy protesters, including several who advocate for independence for the city from China.
Obama Meets Erdogan in Bid to Patch Up Differences With Turkey (NY Times)
HANGZHOU, China — President Obama sought on Sunday to heal a rift with Turkey, expressing his wholehearted support for its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the wake of the failed effort to oust him and promising America’s help in bringing the coup plotters to justice.
Congresswoman Will Introduce First-Ever Bill To Get Rid Of Salary Histories (Think Progress)
When Congress gets back from recess, one of the first items on Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s (D-DC) agenda will be salary histories.
May Expresses Doubts About Brexit Campaign’s Key Promises (Bloomberg)
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May expressed doubts about key promises made by those members of her Cabinet who campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union, including a points-based immigration system and leaving the single market.
The Big Lie About Donald Trump’s Tax Returns (Think Progress)
Mike Pence made news on NBC’s Meet The Press when he said that “Donald Trump and I are both going to release our tax returns.” Pence said that he would be releasing his returns in the next week and Trump would release his returns “at the completion of an audit.”
Merkel’s Party Beaten By Anti-Immigrant AfD In German State Election (Reuters)
BERLIN, Sept 4 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats fell to third place in a state election on Sunday behind the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, TV projections showed.
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.
Obama Plays Down Confrontation With China Over His Plane’s Stairs (NY Times)
HANGZHOU, China — When Air Force One taxied to a stop here on Saturday afternoon, American and Chinese officials had already engaged in a lengthy, heated dispute over the most mundane of issues: How would the president depart his plane?
Technology
Shields Up! New Device Promises to Ward Off Unwanted Drones (Bloomberg)
ApolloShield’s $30,000 box enters a market that includes anti-drone ray guns, cargo nets, and–yes–trained attack birds.
Apple is a clothing company (Medium)
The headline above came to me this morning after reading Walt Mossberg’s latest, titled The post-Jobs Apple has soared financially, but lacks a breakthrough product.
At IFA 2016, smart appliances and virtual reality take center stage (Mashable Asia)
BERLIN — Coming to Berlin for the 2016 IFA electronics trade show, we expected wearables, smart everything and virtual reality devices, and that's pretty much exactly what we got.
Health and Life Sciences
Like Video Games, Your Brain Has a Physics Engine That Simulates the World (Singularity Hub)
Picture this: you’re standing in front of a pile of glistening avocados at a grocery store. You snatch one up, put it in your cart, and wheel off dreaming of nachos and guacamole — a completely effortless interaction.
Artificial Intelligence Is Helping Doctors Find Breast Cancer Risk 30 Times Faster (Forbes)
The mammogram is one of medical science’s best tools for detecting breast cancer, but when the typically painful test reveals a potential problem, women frequently undergo breast biopsies for a closer look–a practice that’s all too often unnecessary, according to a group of artificial intelligence (AI) researchers, and which doctors may be able to significantly reduce thanks to a little insight from computers.
Report Shows How Many Asthma Attacks Are Caused By The Oil And Gas Industry (Think Progress)
New analysis from the Clean Air Task Force shows that by 2025 America’s children will experience 750,000 asthma attacks each summer that will be directly attributable to the oil and gas industry.
Life on the Home Planet
How to Succeed Professionally by Helping Others (The Atlantic)
Kat Cole started helping out early. Raised by a single mother of three who held three jobs to support the family, Cole entered the workforce as soon as it was legal. At 15, she started selling clothes at a mall.
10 facts about American workers (Pew Research Center)
More than 150 million Americans are part of the U.S. workforce, and many of them (but not all) will spend the Labor Day national holiday away from their desks, cash registers and workbenches.
Fascinating description of Roman naval weapons and tactics (Holy Kaw)
For many, the Roman Legions are pretty much synonymous with the Roman military. But many forget that there was a Roman Navy, which is every bit as fascinating as the Legions.
Response of Philippines President to Fatal Blast Raises Fears (NY Times)
MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of a “state of lawlessness” in the Philippines after a blast that left at least 14 dead raised fears on Saturday that it could lead to a curtailment of basic freedoms.
Hollywood’s Summer of Extremes: Megahits, Superflops and Little Else (NY Times)
LOS ANGELES — Sequel fatigue does not fully explain it. Nor does an overload of mega-budget event movies. A spate of terrible films? Yes, but that’s not entirely the explanation, either.
