Financial Markets and Economy
Traders Seeking Floor on Bond Slide Anticipate ECB Remarks on QE (Bloomberg)
The October selloff in euro-area bonds is abating as traders prepare for hints from the European Central Bank about the future direction of its asset-purchase program.
Britain’s $1.8 Trillion Bond Market Ensnared in Brexit Battle (Bloomberg)
The prospect of a messy divorce between the U.K. and the European Union threatens to overwhelm support for nation’s bonds from the Bank of England’s asset purchases.
Deutsche Bank May Be Forced to Shrink U.S. Activities, Welt Says (Bloomberg)
Deutsche Bank AG may be forced to shrink its U.S. activities as part of a deal to settle litigation over residential mortgage-backed securities with the Department of Justice, German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported, citing an unidentified person familiar with the discussions.
Stock Market Magic Formula? (Value Walk)
"Get-rich-quick schemes just don't work. If they did, then everyone on the face of the earth would be a millionaire. This holds as true for stock market dealings as it does for any other form of business activity" J Paul Getty
Yellen’s Talk of Hot U.S. Economy Extends October Long-Bond Rout (Bloomberg)
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen may have just shattered the complacency among investors in the longest-dated U.S. sovereign debt.
Puerto Rico Governor Says Deficit Could Climb to $59 Billion (Bloomberg)
Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla said the island’s budget shortfalls will total as much as $59 billion over the next decade, underscoring the need to secure federal aid and reduce its debts.
Earnings Rumble On, Accompanied By CPI, Leading Indicators, Fed Speakers (Forbes)
A heaping plate of earnings is on the way this coming week, accompanied by Fed speeches and a smattering of data. Investors looking for news aren’t likely to go hungry, and may actually suffer indigestion from an information overload.
Saudi Arabia Burns Through Cash Subsidies, More Pain Ahead (Forbes)
Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader and the world’s largest oil exporter, has seen better days – much better days.
Its now infamous decision in November 2014 to abandon its role as swing producer and actually ramp up production as global oil supplies were increasing and prices were tanking has hurt itself as much or more than U.S. shale oil producers it wanted to drive out of the market.
Don’t Bother Listening to Economists’ Long-Term Forecasts (Bloomberg)
The Next Recession Is Coming. Big Deal.
Never mind the Wall Street Journal’s grim economic tidings: Barry Ritholtz says predictions of an economic slowdown in the next four years are a waste of print and pixels.
Visualizing America's $18 Trillion Economy (In 3 Stunning Maps) (Zero Hedge)
The United States has a $18 trillion economy, which makes it the world’s largest by GDP.
To show its tremendous size, we previously published a visualization of the global economy that carved the world’s economic production into slices based on each country’s contribution to GDP.
Companies
How Did Walmart Get Cleaner Stores and Higher Sales? It Paid Its People More (NY Times)
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — A couple of years ago, Walmart, which once built its entire branding around a big yellow smiley face, was creating more than its share of frowns.
Shoppers were fed up. They complained of dirty bathrooms, empty shelves, endless checkout lines and impossible-to-find employees.
How To Value American Express (Mark Bern, CFA, Seeking Alpha)
This is more than just a rhetorical question. It should be fundamental to each equity investment decision we make. My focus is on dividends since I am already of retirement age, having begun drawing my pension back in 2002. I retired early to allow myself the privilege of being involved in the raising of our two children.
Salesforce’s Marc Benioff denies Twitter acquisition: ‘Not the right fit’ (Venture Beat)
Twitter is currently out of companies interested in purchasing it, as Salesforce has bowed out after its chief executive Marc Benioff said that it “wasn’t the right fit for us.”
In an interview with the FT, Salesforce’s head put an end to speculation that the company would make a bid for Twitter, especially after many had stated that it would be a bad move for the enterprise company.
Politics
Entire US political system ‘under attack’ by Russian hacking, experts warn (The Guardian)
It could have been a cold war drama. The world watched this week as accusations and counter-accusations were thrown by the American and Russian governments about documents stolen during a hack of the Democratic National Committee and the email account of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta.
Donald Trump’s Barrage of Heated Rhetoric Has Little Precedent (NY Times)
WASHINGTON — There is a long tradition of presidential candidates ratcheting up their language when they are trailing in the closing weeks of an election.
But in the same fashion Donald J. Trump has broken with other political traditions, he is taking a longstanding rite of fall to new heights — or perhaps new lows.
Donald Trump’s epic meltdown, explained (Vox)
Speaking to supporters in West Palm Beach, Florida, early Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump outlined a truly wild conspiracy theory in which a shadowy international cabal of bankers and media tycoons, working in cahoots with the FBI, is working to deliver the election to Hillary Clinton. I promise you, this really happened.
There is huge public opposition to Theresa May's crackdown on foreign students (Business Insider)
Three-quarters of the British public would like to see the same or an increased number of international students in the UK, according to a new poll.
TheComRes poll for Universities UK also found that 91% of British adults believe that international students should be able to stay and work in the UK for a period of time after they have completed their study.
Trump Belittles Accusers As More Turn Up With Sordid Stories (Associated Press)
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Donald Trump acted out onstage an accuser's allegations and suggested another wasn't worthy of his attention the same day two more women came forward with years-old stories of unwanted sexual encounters with the Republican presidential nominee.
Technology
US bans Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones on flights (BBC News)
Passengers will not be able to take the phones on flights or in their luggage to and from the US from 16:00 GMT on Saturday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had previously advised against packing the phones in luggage.
Change these 8 iPhone settings for much stronger security (Mashable Asia)
Phone security isn't the most rock-and-roll topic to ponder, but with nefarious types getting more and more devious, it's something worth putting a bit of thought into.
We've got a checklist of eight easy ways you can increase your iPhone's security. While deploying every single option might be overkill, you can pick and choose a combo of options that suit you.
What is OLED and what can it do for your TV? (CNet)
OLED televisions offer exceptional images at exceptionally high prices.
What makes them different from the LCD TVs in most homes? How does their different nature make for better-looking images? Why are they so expensive? Answers to these questions and a bunch more you probably haven't thought of, below.
Here's A Robot That Will Mow Your Lawn, Rake Your Leaves, And Shovel Your Snow (Forbes)
Do you enjoy doing yard work? If so, this article is not for you. However, if mowing the grass, raking the leaves and especially shoveling snow aren’t leisure-time activities you look forward to, relief is on the horizon. A robot named Kobi will do all of these things for you because yard work is so last year.
Firefox users chalk up HTTPS encryption milestone (Tech Crunch)
A majority of Mozilla users were served encrypted pageloads for the first time yesterday, meaning their web browsing data was secured from snoopers and hackers while in transit.
Health and Biotech
Why private health insurers are losing money on the Affordable Care Act (EurekAlert)
The choice of young people to forgo health insurance combined with the high cost of providing care for the sickest Americans are together generating big losses for insurers participating in the Affordable Care Act's state insurance marketplaces.
Life on the Home Planet
The Great Barrier Reef is under severe stress – but not dead yet (The Guardian)
Reports of the death of the Great Barrier Reef have been greatly exaggerated, scientists have said, after the publication of an “obituary” for the vast coral ecosystem.
Countries Reach Landmark Deal to Limit Global Warming From Air Conditioners (TIME)
More than 170 countries agreed early Saturday morning to limit emissions of key climate change-causing pollutants found in air conditioners, a significant step in the international effort to keep global warming from reaching catastrophic levels.
Saudi-led Probe Team Says Wrong Information Behind Yemen Attack (Bloomberg)
The Saudi-led coalition’s air attack on a funeral in Yemen’s capital Sana’a that killed more than 100 people this month was caused by wrong information provided by the Yemeni army, the Saudi-led investigation team said.
This company is launching 50 satellites to photograph the entire world every day (The Next Web)
APIs – the things that let you pull information from one app to another – are the backbone of the software you use on a daily basis. But there’s no API for live data from satellites.
Three dead, dozen wounded in shooting at Los Angeles party (Reuters)
Three people were killed and a dozen wounded when gunfire erupted at a Los Angeles party overnight, a police spokesman said on Saturday.
The wounded were transported to hospitals, and two or three were in critical condition, the spokesman at the Los Angeles Police Department's Southwest Division said. One suspect may be in custody, he said.
