Financial Markets and Economy
Here's where Citi thinks you should put your money over the next 12 months (Business Insider Australia)
Given rich asset valuations and heightened levels of uncertainty, it’s little wonder why many investors are cautious right now.
After such a stellar run, particularly for stocks and government bonds, investors are having to become far more selective as to where they park their money.
BAML's US equity clients sold almost everything last quarter (Business Insider)
If the chart below is anything to go by, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch’s (BAML’s) US equity clients spent most of last quarter with their fingers on the sell button.
The Bond Market Sees More Inflation Ahead (The Wall Street Journal)
The bond market might be offering some comfort to the Federal Reserve as it prepares to lift rates later this year. Market-implied measures of inflation expectations are rising, driven in part by climbing oil prices.
U.K.'s Biggest Retailer Announces New Goal After Promising Results (Reuters)
Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco said it would increase investment in its stores and distribution network to boost profitability over the next three years, after reporting first-half results at the top end of expectations.
Gold Bugs Are Watching the Wrong Central Bank (Bloomberg)
What the hell just happened to gold? The metal, which rarely moves more than 1 percent in a day, just slumped 3.3 percent to its lowest level since June's Brexit vote.
Oil hits highest since June on possible U.S. inventory drop (Reuters)
Oil rose towards $52 a barrel on Wednesday, hitting its highest since June, supported by an industry report that U.S. inventories probably fell for a fifth straight week and OPEC's deal to cut supply.
Deutsche Bank Brings Too-Big-to-Fail Quandary Home to Merkel (Bloomberg)
When it comes to speculation about German government support for Deutsche Bank AG, Chancellor Angela Merkel has no good answer.
After years spent leading the push for new European Union rules to contain banking crises without putting taxpayers on the hook, you might expect Merkel to rule out state aid for Deutsche Bank.
ECB "taper" talk hits stocks, sterling plumbs 31-year low (Reuters)
The prospect of the European Central Bank eventually winding down its bond-buying stimulus programme rattled investors on Wednesday, dragging stocks lower in Europe and Asia and pushing up government bond yields.
Corporate Profits Take Permanent Vacation In Caymans And Bermuda (The Two Way, NPR)
Tax avoidance has been in the news from Apple to Donald Trump. A new study by Citizens for Tax Justice looks at how widespread the the practice is.
The study looked at Fortune 500 companies and how they used tax haven subsidiaries to avoid paying taxes on their income in 2015. One of the practices that has become standard for big companies is to create subsidiaries in a country that has no corporate or income tax.
Stocks Lower On Expectation Of US Rate Hike, Dim Outlook (Associated Press)
EOUL, South Korea (AP) — Global stocks mostly fell on Wednesday as comments from Federal Reserve officials strengthened expectations of an interest rate increase this year and economic indicators showed muted growth in Europe.
China's Southern Megacities Roll Out Measures to Cool the Property Market (Reuters)
China’s southern megacities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen are the latest centers to impose new measures to cool their overheated real estate markets, including higher mortgage down payments and home purchase restrictions.
Lack of Doctors in East Africa Spells Opportunity for Investors (Next Billion)
In this monthly column called “The Indicator”, we take a economic or financial statistic from East Africa and break it down into bite-sized nuggets of knowledge for investors.
Gold Plunges Most Since 2013 (Dow Jones Newswires)
Gold prices notched their biggest decline in nearly three years, as a stronger dollar and signals that the Federal Reserve might be closer to raising interest rates this year drove investors out of the precious metal.
Yen Rallying to Record 75 Seen in Charts by Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
The yen’s first annual rally in five years is on course to push it to a record versus the dollar in a few years as the Bank of Japan refrains from adding monetary stimulus and fails to end deflation, according to hedge fund GCI Asset Management Inc.
China Shocker: A Quarter Of All Companies Can't Pay The Interest On Their Debt (Zero Hedge)
Almost exactly one year ago, we reported that as a result of the commodity crash of 2015, more than half of Chinese companies in the commodity sector did not generate enough cash flow to pay the interest on their debt.
Deutsche Bank's troubles could hurt unsuspecting ETF investors (Truewealth Publishing)
It’s a matter of time before someone gets hurt in the slow-motion collapse of Deutsche Bank, Europe’s largest bank. You need to be sure – even if you’re far away from Germany – that your money isn’t collateral damage.
Deutsche Bank Stock Slides On Report Management "Mulling A Capital Raise" (Zero Hedge)
Despite asserting numerous times that everything is awesome, Deutsche Bank is reportedly mulling a bonus freeze and more importantly a capital raise, according to German newsletter PLATOW Online.
Reuters Floats Disturbing Trial Balloon: "The ECB May Be Forced To Buy Stocks" (Zero Hedge)
Over the past two years, we have repeatedly cautioned that the biggest challenge facing the ECB as it expands its bond monetization is the ability to find sellers of private securities, i.e., a shortage of monetizable bonds, both government and now corporate.
ECB 'taper' talk hits stocks, sterling plumbs 31-year low (Reuters)
The prospect of the European Central Bank eventually winding down its bond-buying stimulus programme rattled investors on Wednesday, dragging stocks lower in Europe and Asia and pushing up government bond yields.
Gross Says He Shortened Duration on Europe After Taper News (Bloomberg)
Fund manager Bill Gross said he switched positions on European debt following a Bloomberg report that the European Central Bank will probably gradually wind down bond purchases before the conclusion of quantitative easing.
EU Readies Plan for Clearing Crisis, the New Too-Big-to-Fail (Bloomberg)
The European Union plans to give authorities sweeping powers to tackle ailing derivatives clearinghouses to prevent their failure from wreaking havoc throughout the financial system.
Companies
Disney's multibillion-dollar Shanghai park is off to a disappointing start (South China Morning Post)
Early visitor numbers to mainland China’s first Disneyland in Shanghai have been disappointing, according to experts, proving even the “happiest place on earth” isn’t immune to the whims of the tourism industry.
Yahoo Admits It Secretly Hacked All User Accounts For US Intelligence (Zero Hedge)
Just days after admitting that some 500 millions of its email accounts were hacked (allegedly Russians, of course), the Yahoo confessional continues as Reuters reports, somewhat stunningly that, Yahoo secretly built software to search all of its customers' incoming emails for US intel officials.
Twitter Is Expected to Field Bids This Week (The Wall Street Journal)
Twitter Inc. is expected to field bids this week, and Marc Benioff has been building a case to Salesforce.com Inc. investors and others that his company should be the buyer, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mercedes CEO: We will beat Tesla in less than 10 years (Business Insider)
Mercedes’ head said that the German automaker plans to overtake Tesla as the top premium electric car maker in less than 10 years.
Last week, Mercedes revealed its new electric car brand called EQ. It also unveiled its new Generation EQ concept car, which is a fully-electric SUV that will have a range of more than 300 miles per charge and go into production in 2019.
Apple is named the biggest corporate tax avoider in the US after booking $218 BILLION of profit offshore last year (Mail Online)
Apple has been named as the biggest corporate tax avoider in the United States after booking $218.55 billion (£171.6 billion) of profit offshore last year.
Politics
Who Won the Debate? Commentators Give Edge to Mike Pence (NY Times)
Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia on Tuesday repeatedly provoked Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana with criticism of his running mate, Donald J. Trump, trying to make him answer for some of Mr. Trump’s more provocative comments and contentious proposals as the men faced off in the sole vice-presidential debate.
Five takeaways from the vice presidential debate (The Hill)
The buttoned-up and supposedly boring vice presidential nominees turned in a ripper of a debate on Tuesday night, yet another fascinating twist in a wholly unpredictable presidential campaign.
Clinton: I don’t recall joking about droning Julian Assange (Politico)
Responding to unconfirmed allegations circulating on right-wing websites, Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that she does not remember ever joking about targeting the founder of WikiLeaks in a drone strike.
Technology
Google phones target Apple but could leave Samsung vulnerable (Reuters)
Google's product launch on Tuesday was as much a jab at Apple Inc's iPhone as a sales pitch for its new Pixel phones, with executives from the Mountain View internet search company taking shots at their competitor at every turn.
Everything Google Announced at Its Jam-Packed Event (NBC News)
Artificial intelligence took center stage at a Google event in San Francisco Tuesday, where the search and advertising giant unveiled a new virtual assistant and a host of new hardware.
Japan tests out 'self-driving chairs' that take the pain out of queuing (The Guardian)
Tokyo may be home to tens of thousands of great places to eat, yet many diners still have to wait patiently in line for a table at the most popular restaurants – until now.
Risks Growing to Telecom Operators' Defensive Models, Citi Says (Reuters)
Caught between regulators and competitive threats by Internet players, telecom operators globally face harsh choices that could upset their favored status with investors as defensive, dividend-rich stocks, Citi said on Wednesday.
The entry point for Apple TVs just went up (CNet)
Apple just discontinued the $69 third generation Apple TV. This leaves the $149 Apple TV 4 as the only new option for purchase on the Apple store (refurbished 3rd-gen units are still available for now).
Uber's self-driving cars are off to a rough start (Engadget)
Uber's autonomous ridesharing cars appear to be running into snags just a few weeks into their Pittsburgh test runs. Quartz has gathered multiple reports of the self-driving vehicles getting into accidents or otherwise having trouble, some more serious than others.
Pebble 2 review: An affordable smartwatch with a fitness bent (Engadget)
Pebble is in a tough spot. Once a pioneer in smartwatches, it now has to fight off competition from brands like Apple and Samsung, as well as more affordable devices, even ones that feel more like fitness trackers.
Health and Biotech
This "Just Add Water" Chemistry Kit Can Create On-Demand Drugs And Vaccines (Popular Science)
As humans explore the furthest edges of our own planet and others, the old ways of developing drugs won't work forever. Spending years creating a drug, testing it, manufacturing massive amounts of it, and then moving the temperature-sensitive medication over hundreds of miles is agonizingly cumbersome.
The bigger the yawn, the bigger the brain, scientists find (Stat News)
While every STAT story aims to stimulate your cortex, if this one falls short and makes you yawn, you can thank us anyway — at least if a study published Tuesday is right.
Life on the Home Planet
Hurricane Matthew devastates Haiti and heads towards Florida (New Scientist)
Hurricane Matthew is roaring towards the southern Bahamas after leaving widespread damage and human suffering in Haiti’s rural south-western peninsula where the hardest-hit area was cut off by flooding.
Victim Says Hastert 'A Monster' Protected By Child Abuse Law (Associated Press)
CHICAGO (AP) — A man who said Dennis Hastert sexually abused him decades ago told Illinois lawmakers Tuesday the former U.S. House speaker was "a monster" who was protected by the statute of limitations and wasn't appropriately punished.
Baghdad bridles at Turkey's military presence, warns of 'regional war' (Reuters)
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has warned Turkey that it risks triggering a regional war by keeping troops in Iraq, as each summoned the other's ambassador in a growing row.
France makes new push for Aleppo ceasefire (Reuters, The Globe and Mail)
France is to launch a new push for United Nations backing for a ceasefire in Syria that would allow aid into the city of Aleppo after some of the heaviest bombing of the
A SECOND fault line running parallel to San Andreas has just been identified (Science Alert)
Just days after a cluster of more than 200 small earthquakes shook the Salton Sea area of Southern California, scientists have found evidence of a second fault line that runs parallel to the massive San Andreas Fault – one of the state’s most dangerous fault lines.
