Financial Markets and Economy
Asian Stocks Rally With Won, Bonds After Fed as Crude Oil Gains (Bloomberg)
Asian stocks rallied for a sixth day, South Korea’s won strengthened and regional bonds rose after the Federal Reserve damped the outlook for U.S. interest-rate increases.
Dollar Drops After Fed Holds; Yen Approaches 100, Won Jumps 1.7% (Bloomberg)
The dollar fell against all its major peers, extending a slide toward its biggest annual decline in seven years, after the Federal Reserve delayed raising interest rates again, saying more time was needed to assess U.S. economic conditions.
SEC charges hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman, Omega Advisers with insider trading (CNBC)
Billionaire Leon Cooperman and his Omega Advisors hedge fund were charged Wednesday with insider trading, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced.
Asian shares surge, dollar lags on slow-motion Fed (Reuters)
Asian shares surged on Thursday, taking their cue from Wall Street, after the Federal Reserve left U.S. interest rates unchanged and slowed the pace of future hikes, slugging the dollar and lifting commodity prices.
Divided Fed Holds Interest Rates Steady but Notes Improving Economy (NY Times)
WASHINGTON — A divided Federal Reserve, struggling to decide how soon to prune its economic stimulus campaign, said on Wednesday that it would wait at least a little longer.
Popular Quant Hedge Fund Strategy Is Suddenly Doing Terribly (Bloomberg)
Commodity trading advisers, the catch-all phrase for a breed of quantitative investors who use trends in asset prices and volatility as trading signals, posted some of the hedge fund industry’s worst losses in August — and it isn’t getting better.
Fed leaves interest rates alone; dials down 2016 forecast (CNN Money)
Fed leaders decided not to increase the bank's key interest rate on Wednesday at the conclusion of a two-day meeting. The decision was largely expected by economists and investors who bet there was very little chance of a move.
STOCKS SOAR AFTER FED HOLDS RATES: Here's what you need to know (Business Insider)
Stocks shot higher, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose to an all-time intraday high, after the Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged.
Fed Monetary Policy Is Being Held Hostage by Wall Street Banks (Wall Street On Parade)
While the U.S. Senate Banking Committee was taking testimony yesterday from the Chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo bank, John Stumpf, about his $19 million in pay last year and how Carrie Tolstedt was set to retire with $120 million from the bank, despite both of them presiding over the creation of two million bogus bank accounts and credit cards,
Trouble With The Curve: Japan's Central Bank Resorts To Yield Curve Control (Anthony B Sanders, Confounded Interest)
No, not the Clint Eastwood baseball flick with Amy Adams. This is about Japan’s Central Bank resorting to yield curve control.
First, Japan kept their policy balance rate at -0.100%.
Natural Gas Is Breaking Out (Ivanhoff Capital)
Natural gas futures are breaking out from a multi-week consolidation. There’s no technical resistance until $3.50. If you use a stop of 2.80, this gives you a more than 2:1 reward to risk ratio.
Divided Fed Holds Fire, Signals 2016 Rate Increase Still Likely (Bloomberg)
A divided Federal Reserve left its policy interest rate unchanged to await more evidence of progress toward its goals, while projecting that an increase is still likely by year-end.
Russia will not print money to cover budget shortfalls: PM (Reuters)
Russia will not start printing money to support economic growth and will not allow populism to dictate the budget, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev wrote in an article published on Thursday.
Alarm! Deutsche Banks Plunges To 11.28 (Banca Monta Dei Paschi Falls To 0.1872) (Anthony B Sanders, Confounded Interest)
It is not just Germany’s Deutsche Bank that is falling, but Italy’s problem child bank Banca Monte Dei Paschi Siena is falling almost in lockstep with Deutsche Bank.
With Fed on Hold, Southeast Asia Seen Diverging on Rate Policies (Bloomberg)
With the U.S. Federal Reserve holding off on raising interest rates, Southeast Asian central banks are tipped to take divergent approaches to monetary policy.
New IRS Rule Opens Tax Saving Strategy To Art Collectors (Forbes)
Art and collectibles are subject to a 28% long-term federal capital gains rate, compared to a top rate of 20% for stocks and other investments assets. Add on the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax and state and local income taxes, and a New York City collector can end up paying up to 44% on gains; a California collector could pay up to 45%.
Oil Sector, Investors React to SEC Probe of Exxon Over Climate Change (The Wall Street Journal)
The federal investigation of how Exxon Mobil Corp. values assets in a world of increasing climate change regulations elicited sharp reactions on Wednesday, with some investors seeing it as a tipping point in a campaign to get companies to disclose climate risks, and some oil industry leaders calling it a politically motivated attack.
Companies
Larry Ellison just spent an hour trashing Amazon's $10 billion cloud (Business Insider)
Larry Ellison used most of his hour-long keynote session slot at this week's Oracle Open World conference in San Francisco to trash Amazon and its $10 billion Amazon Web Services cloud computing platform.
Microsoft Plans $40 Billion Stock Buyback and Raises Dividend (The Wall Street Journal)
Microsoft Corp. announced plans to buy back up to $40 billion in stock and boost its dividend by 8%, the latest in a series of moves by the software giant to share a steady flood of cash with shareholders.
Wal-Mart Investors Can Sue as Group Over Mexican Bribe Claim (Bloomberg)
A judge allowed Wal-Mart Stores Inc. investors to bring fraud claims against the retailer as a group, clearing a hurdle in a lawsuit over bribes it allegedly paid to help open new stores in Mexico.
Bank of Japan’s Inflation Overshoot Deepens Policy Innovation (Bloomberg)
BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his colleagues adopted a pledge of "overshooting" their 2 percent inflation target, an idea floated by central bankers including Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans, but not formally adopted up to now.
Europe's investigation of Apple's taxes actually began in the US (Business Insider)
The European Union's probe into Apple's taxes was actually triggered by the US Senate.
That's according to EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager, who spoke at a panel at Columbia University Wednesday.
In Search for New CEO, Viacom Can Chase What it Lost: Creativity (Bloomberg)
For the first time in a decade, Viacom Inc. has an opportunity to put a creative executive in charge, one who can restore the luster of a once-great media company.
Accenture files patent for editable blockchain (BI Intelligence)
The consultancy giant has caused upset in the fintech community by file a patent for an editable blockchain that allows a central administrator to edit or delete information stored in a permissioned blockchain system, the Financial Times reports.
Politics
The First Fight Donald Trump Should Pick As President, According To Newt Gingrich (The Huffington Post)
This week, The New Yorker published a report hypothesizing what President Donald Trump’s first term in office might look like. Evan Osnos interviewed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who’s been advising the candidate on policy matters, about what to expect if Trump actually takes the White House.
Hillary Clinton has massive lead over Donald Trump in major national poll (Business Insider)
Hillary Clinton kept her large lead in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll Wednesday, holding a 6-point advantage over Donald Trump in a four-way race.
Who Hates Free Trade Treaties? Surprisingly, Not Voters (NY Times)
WASHINGTON — Few issues in this campaign cycle seem as toxic as trade: Both major-party presidential candidates oppose President Obama’s 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, and congressional leaders, having refused all year to vote on the trade accord until after the election, say they will not do so even then — potentially killing the largest regional trade pact in history.
Clinton Stresses Support for Disabled (NY Times)
Hillary Clinton called for more job opportunities for the disabled in a speech in Orlando, Fla., saying, “We’ve got to build an inclusive economy that welcomes people with disabilities.”
Donald Trump surges to leads over Hillary Clinton in 3 of his must-win battleground states (Business Insider)
Donald Trump topped Hillary Clinton in a slew of Fox News battleground state polls released on Wednesday, carrying a lead over his Democratic opponent in Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio.
Candidates, How Will You Support Job-Creating Entrepreneurs? (Forbes)
Since 2007, employment in women-owned businesses has increased by 18% since the recession, while employment in men-owned businesses has declined, according to The American Express OPEN 2016 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report.
Technology
Comcast will launch a cellphone service next year, executives say (The Washington Post)
Right now, most of us buy cellphone service from companies such as AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. But next year, consumers may start to see another option — from Comcast.
New Tesla software to prevent hot car deaths (CNN Money)
Tesla, the California-based electric car company, has added a feature to the latest version of its cars' operating software to help deal with at least some of these problems.
Scientists teach machines to hunt and kill humans — in Doom deathmatch mode (Tech Crunch)
You know how sometimes you look at a piece of research and think, “I suppose it’s an interesting technical problem, but isn’t teaching an AI to hunt and kill humans a pursuit fundamentally dangerous to the continued existence of mankind?”
APPLE Reportedly In Talks With Self-Balancing Motorcycle Startup Lit Motors (Digital Trends)
For nearly two years, hype surrounding Apple’s clandestine “Project Titan” has bubbled to the top of the automotive charts. The tech giant’s debut in the car world would have serious ramifications inside the transportation industry as well as outside it, but that anticipation was hushed slightly when the brand reportedly laid off dozens of employees and shifted its resources elsewhere.
Some Lenovo PCs can't run Linux (Engadget)
Lenovo just can't seem to avoid troubles with its PC firmware. Linux users are worried that some of Lenovo's PCs, such as variants of the Yoga 710 and Yoga 900, aren't allowing them to install their preferred operating system.
NETFLIX Is Aiming For Roughly 50 Percent Original Content Within The Next Few Years (Digital Trends)
With popular shows like the recent hit Stranger Things and Marvel’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and the upcoming Luke Cake, it may seem that Netflix is offering a ton of original content, but the company is not anywhere near where it wants to be.
Health and Biotech
This Anti-Acne Gel Now Costs Almost $10,000 Per Tube (Popular Science)
Acne-suffering teens better hope their parents bought in bulk if they use Aloquin gel to treat their skin. The company's new owner has raised the price by over 1,000 percent in the past year.
Zuckerberg, Chan Start $3 Billion Initiative to Cure Disease (Bloomberg)
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are pledging to spend more than $3 billion over the next decade to work on curing diseases.
Your Probiotics Won't Help Your Obesity (Popular Science)
Recent years have seen an increasing focus on the human microbiome, the ecology of bacteria that live within us. In particular, there has been an intense focus on how our gut fauna influence health conditions, namely obesity.
Gene-reading software to cut TB diagnosis from months to minutes (New Scientist)
A DOCTOR in Mumbai, India, puts a spit sample into a handheld device. It whirs away briefly, then a few minutes later a nearby laptop pings. The doctor checks the results to see exactly what kind of drug-resistant tuberculosis the person has, and the precise combination
Life on the Home Planet
Islamic State fired crude chemical weapons on US troops – Pentagon (The Guardian)
Islamic State forces have fired crude chemical weapons at US troops in Iraq, the Pentagon has confirmed, a startling disclosure that US officials promptly downplayed as resulting in no deaths or injuries.
NY Bombing Case Most High-Profile Since Boston Bombing (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal charges portraying Manhattan bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami as a man bent on murderous destruction set the stage for the most anticipated terror prosecution since the Boston Marathon bombing.
US Officials Claim ISIS Attacked US, Iraqi Troops With Mustard Gas (Zero Hedge)
Shortly after Russia's accusations that a US drone was coincidentally overhead when the UN convoy was struck, CNN reports that US officials are stating that ISIS is suspected of firing a shell with mustard agent that landed at the Qayarrah air base in Iraq Tuesday where US and Iraqi troops are operating.
Man shot and killed during protests in Charlotte (Associated Press)
Authorities tried to quell public anger and correct what they characterized as false information Wednesday as Charlotte dealt with a second night of violent protests, adding itself to the list of U.S. cities that have erupted in violence over the death of a black man at the hands of police.
9 Weird Things About The NYC And NJ Bombs That Will Make You Say Hmmmm… (DaisyLuther.com)
You know me – I’m not prone to conspiracy theories (cough). But, I noticed some weird things about the pressure cooker bomb attacks that took place in New York City and New Jersey this weekend and the subsequent arrest of the alleged perpetrator.
U.S. intelligence community reports warns of climate change's destabilizing effect (Mashable Asia)
The U.S. intelligence community on Wednesday released a new report finding that global warming is already acting as a destabilizing force worldwide, with more serious ramifications to come in the next two decades.
