Financial Markets and Economy
Inflation Pickup Comes With Bad News for ECB (Bloomberg)
Euro-area inflation accelerated at the fastest pace in more than two years in October. But what looks like progress in stoking consumer prices actually contains some bad news for the European Central Bank.
Saudi Finance Minister Replaced With Capital Markets Head (Bloomberg)
A royal order published by the official Saudi Press Agency excused Ibrahim Al-Assaf from his post and replaced him with Mohammed Al-Jadaan, formerly head of the kingdom’s Capital Markets Authority. Al-Assaf was appointed a state minister and will remain a member of the cabinet.
The Long Term Outlook For Natural Gas (Forbes)
It is hard to overstate the impact of the shale gas revolution in the U.S. In 2005, U.S. natural gas production had dropped below 50 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), and it was widely believed that the U.S. was set to become a growing importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The Bank of England cannot keep interest levels low for much longer (The Telegraph)
On Thursday the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will announce its latest decision on interest rates. Not long ago, there was a good chance that they would cut rates from the current 0.25pc to perhaps 0.10pc.
Musk’s Sale of Clean-Air Credits May Have Marked Peak for Market (Bloomberg)
After Tesla Motors Inc. sold $139 million of zero-emission credits in the third quarter, Elon Musk complained that they should be worth more — if only California’s regulations were tougher. Instead, they may soon be worth less.
China's Biggest Banks Have Written Off $40 Billion in Bad Debt This Year (Fortune)
There appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel of China’s mounting debt problem, as the country’s five biggest banks reported a combined loss of 274 billion yuan (around US$40 billion) from writing off bad debts for the first nine months this year.
Inflation, Long Quiescent, Begins to Stir (The Wall Street Journal)
After being given up for dead, inflation is gradually coming back to life.
EU Kicks Off Corporate-Tax Overhaul (The Wall Street Journal)
Many companies doing business in the European Union could face big changes as the EU moves ahead with an effort to keep multinationals like Apple Inc. from taking advantage of discrepancies in tax codes across the 28-nation bloc.
South African rand soars as prosecutor drops charges against finance minister (Market Watch)
South Africa’s currency, the rand, soared on Monday after a national prosecutor dismissed fraud charges against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
A 40% Minimum Wage Hike Won't Save Venezuela From Starvation (Forbes)
Venezuela needs food, medicine, and other necessities. But it cannot produce them, because its production machine was broken by years of experimentation on the part of Bolivarian socialists and the like. American companies like Kimberly Clark that supplemented thatproduction machine have fled the country, chased by years of Anti-Americanism. And the oil money that could be used to import food is missing.
Here's what a bunch of analysis is saying about crude oil right now (Forex Analytix)
Macroeconomic Analysis:
Oil has had a rollercoaster ride since late 2014, dropping from over $100 per barrel to under $30.
US crude shipped to 22 countries over six-month period: EIA (S&P Global Platts)
The US exported an average of 657,000 b/d of crude oil to foreign markets in August, the second most exported in history, the US Energy Information Administration said Monday.
U.S. Treasury's Lew says inequality a fundamental threat to democracy (Reuters)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Monday warned that inequality presented a fundamental threat to democracy and free-market capitalism and cautioned against financial system complacency after it weathered the summer's initial "Brexit" shock.
Chinese Factories Could Soon Deliver a Price Shock to the World Economy (Fortune)
The so-called “world’s factory” may finally no longer be a source for products as cheap as they are today.
After a prolonged time of boosting demands by making production costs more competitive than its rivals, prices of “Made in China” goods could be on the verge of rising, even as global demand remains tepid.
Oil Stuck At $40 As China Slows, Saudi Debt Grows? (Barron's)
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s attempt to diversify revenue beyond oil — with more private-sector investment — will take many years to produce meaningful financial reward.
A 17-Year-Old Entrepreneur Summed Up Perfectly What So Many Companies Just Don't Get (Inc.)
Connor Blakley is an entrepreneur, a Fortune 500 consultant, and popular speaker who's delivered presentations on a range of topics including youth marketing,personal branding, and social media.
Q3 2016 Hedge Fund Letters (Value Walk)
Some funds make it very hard to get their hedge fund letters via security and/or who they send it to. Thankfully, we have reliable sources and readers who help us in this process. While most of the time we cannot post the full letter when we can we do so and when we cannot we do an analysis which would fall under fair use.
Immigrants Are Keeping America Young — And The Economy Growing (FiveThirtyEight)
No matter who wins next Tuesday’s election, the president who takes office next January will be among the oldest ever elected.
U.S. Trucking Companies Slash Fleets Amid "Tepid Shipping Demand" (Zero Hedge)
For months now we have been writing about the collapse of class 8 truck orders. For the month of September, net class 8 orders were down 16% YoY while LTM orders were down a staggering 41%.
Companies
Wells Fargo Agrees to Pay $50M to Settle Racketeering Lawsuit (Reuters)
Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $50 million to settle a racketeering lawsuit accusing it of overcharging hundreds of thousands of homeowners for appraisals ordered after they defaulted on their mortgage loans.
U.S. airlines lose bid to dismiss price-fixing lawsuit (Reuters)
A federal judge rejected a bid by the four largest U.S. airlines to dismiss nationwide antitrust litigation by passengers who accused them of conspiring to raise fares by keeping seating capacity artificially low.
27 startups in Asia that caught our eye (TechInAsia)
Here’s our newest round-up of the featured startups on our site this week. If you have startup tips or story suggestions, feel free to email us. Enjoy this week’s list!
Technology
Amazon's cloud is bigger than Microsoft, Google and IBM combined, researcher says (Business Insider)
Amazon Web Services is vastly overpowering its competition in the cloud computing market, says Synergy Research Group.
Stanphyl Capital Up 26% YTD Not Impressed With Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) Q3 “Profit” (Value Walk)
For October 2016 the fund was up approximately 6.1% net of all fees and expenses. By way of comparison, the S&P 500 was down 1.8% while the Russell 2000 was down approximately 4.8%. Year to date the fund is up approximately 26.2% net while the S&P 500 is up approximately 5.9% and the Russell 2000 is up approximately 6.2%.
Alibaba Doubles Down on Entertainment With $1.5 Billion Fund (Bloomberg)
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is stepping up investments in the entertainment industry with the formation of a new media group along with a fund of more than 10 billion yuan ($1.48 billion) for new projects.
Amazon without AWS? Online retailer would have posted big loss if not for booming cloud business (Geek Wire)
Imagine this scenario: Amazon posts a $286 million operating loss for the third quarter, its sixth losing quarter in 2.5 years. Frustrated investors call for CEO Jeff Bezos’ head and punish the company’s stock. Amazon defends its long-term strategy but acknowledges that it’s still investing significantly to expand its business, sacrificing short-term profits.
Could AI Soon Decide Who Gets A Bank Loan? (Bloomberg)
While it's difficult to predict what path the Artificial Intelligence industry will take one thing is for sure – the world's biggest tech giants are investing heavily in this. AI is also taking the banking industry by storm with fin-tech. One of Canada's largest banks, CIBC, just announced a deal to team with AI-enabled lender Borrowell to allow consumers to apply for small loans.
Google just disclosed a major Windows bug — and Microsoft isn’t happy (The Verge)
Today, Google’s Threat Analysis group disclosed a critical vulnerability in Windows in a public post on the company’s security blog. The bug itself is very specific — allowing attackers to escape from security sandboxes through a flaw in the win32k system — but it’s serious enough to be categorized as critical, and according to Google, it’s being actively exploited.
Google reveals what people really think about parts of North America (Business Insider)
Why is Pennsylvania so hilly, boring, liberal? Why is is Manitoba so humid and flat?
Reddit user Salem-Witch gathered the top Google Autocomplete suggestions for states and regions around North America.
Google Pixel Camera Flaw Angers Users (Forbes)
The Google Pixel’s camera is topping benchmarks and getting rave reviews, but some users have reported a problem with the hardware.
The problem, a perennial one for lens designers, is caused by lens flare.
This chart shows how the number of TV shows being made has exploded in the last few years (Business Insider)
Some say we are living in a "golden age" of television. That may or may not be true, but there's one thing that's certain: we're living under an absolute torrent of scripted shows.
Politics
F.B.I. Begins Review of Clinton Aide’s Emails (NY Times)
WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. on Monday began loading a trove of emails belonging to a top aide to Hillary Clinton into a special computer program that would allow bureau analysts to determine whether they contain classified information, law enforcement officials said.
Iceland’s Prime Minister Resigns, After Pirate Party Makes Strong Gains (NY Times)
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland’s prime minister announced on Sunday that he would resign, as the insurgent, anti-establishment Pirate Party capitalized on a wave of anger over corruption to come in second place in the country’s general election.
So much for the “upstanding” James Comey: The FBI director’s long career as preening partisan hack (Salon)
Unless you spent the weekend fishing on the Yukon River with your phone turned off, you have heard about Comeygate, the latest nuclear bomb to drop into this already explosive presidential race.
Got bank? Election could create flood of marijuana cash with no place to go (Reuters)
Although the sale of marijuana is a federal crime, the number of U.S. banks working with pot businesses, now sanctioned in many states, is growing, up 45 percent in the last year alone.
Still, marijuana merchants say there are not nearly enough banks willing to take their cash. So many dispensaries resort to stashing cash in storage units, back offices and armored vans.
Why Is the Foreign Policy Establishment Spoiling for More War? Look at TheirDonors. (The Nation)
Washington, DC, may be the only place in the world where people openly flaunt their pseudo-intellectuality by banding together, declaring themselves “think tanks,” and raising money from external interests, including foreign governments, to compile reports that advance policies inimical to the real-life concerns of the American people.
Was a Trump Server Communicating With Russia? (Slate)
The greatest miracle of the internet is that it exists—the second greatest is that it persists. Every so often we’re reminded that bad actors wield great skill and have little conscience about the harm they inflict on the world’s digital nervous system. They invent viruses, botnets, and sundry species of malware.
Clinton Maintains National Lead Over Trump Despite FBI Letter (NBC News)
Hillary Clinton's 6-point national lead over Donald Trump remains virtually unchanged since last week, even after FBI Director James Comey announced the discovery of emails that could be "pertinent" to the investigation of Clinton's use of a private email server.
When it comes to destroying evidence, Donald Trump shouldn’t talk (Alternet)
Donald Trump’s secret weapons are a paper shredder and a delete button. The white nationalist rhetoric and “lock her up” chants might have been getting all the attention, and Trump himself lost his mind with glee over FBI Director James Comey’s announcement of potential new Hillary Clinton emails, but the candidate and his companies have been conveniently destorying thousands of emails and paper documents as requested by prosecutors going back decades, a new investigation from Newsweek’s Kurt Eichenwald reveals.
Clinton campaign says Comey letter violates Justice Department protocols (Politifact)
Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager criticized FBI Director James Comey for sending a bombshell letter to Congress that the bureau is looking to examine new evidence relevant to Clinton’s email case.
Nielsen: Political Uncertainty the Elephant in the Room (Bloomberg)
Erik Nielsen, global chief economist at UniCredit Group, discusses the impact of political uncertainty and economic data on markets.
Health and Biotech
Researchers Take First Steps Toward A Preventative Alzheimer's Pill (Forbes)
A preventative Alzheimer’s pill is the ideal end game for researchers studying the disease from many angles. While we’re not yet close to the goal, new research shows a way that it may be possible, using an approach similar to what has worked for managing other chronic conditions.
3D-Printed Hyperelastic Bone Is Like Duct Tape For Bone Surgeons (Fastcoexist)
Hyperelastic bone is a new artificial biomaterial that can be 3D-printed and implanted into the body, where it will eventually be replaced by real bone. It’s flexible and has a shelf-life of around a year, but even better it's dead easy to use and doesn’t typically cause rejection by the host body.
Life on the Home Planet
Scientists Say We Underestimated How Much Sea Levels Have Risen (Popular Mechanics)
Scientists say in a new study that previous measurements of rising sea levels in the Northern Hemisphere in the 20th century were wrong—it's actually worse than we thought. They say we have been underestimating rising sea levels by 5 to 28 percent depending on the location in the world.
What Americans Fear Most: Corruption, Reptiles and Death (Bloomberg)
Are you a low-paid white Republican exurban man who identifies as Christian but would rather hang out most Sundays than go to church?
