Financial Markets and Economy
What to Watch at This Week’s Fed Meeting (The Wall Street Journal)
Federal Reserve officials are likely to leave short-term interest rates unchanged when they meet Tuesday and Wednesday, just a week before the U.S. presidential election, and indicate they remain on track to raise them in December. But how strongly will they signal their intentions? Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen isn’t scheduled to hold a press conference after the meeting, and officials aren’t releasing new economic projections.
Standard Chartered Shares Fall After Profit Misses Estimates (Bloomberg)
Standard Chartered Plc plunged the most since June after third-quarter profit missed analyst estimates on a drop in revenue at all four of its divisions, and executives said the economic environment remains challenging.
Auto Sales Slow as U.S. Eases From Peak to ‘Pretty Good’ Market (Bloomberg)
Automakers reported lower U.S. sales for October, reinforcing the idea the market may have plateaued at a healthy level that still supports the U.S. economy.
Factory activity in China just grew at its fastest pace in over two years (Business Insider Australia)
China’s official manufacturing and non-manufacturing purchasing managers indices (PMI) for October have just been released, and they’ve both beaten expectations.
Bank of Japan Stands Pat, Trims Inflation Forecasts (The Wall Street Journal)
TOKYO—The Bank of Japan has given up its starring role in Abenomics, for now.
After refitting its tool kit in September, the central bank opted Tuesday to leave policy unchanged, despite sharply cutting its inflation forecasts. And the bank doesn’t look likely to act in the coming months either as it backpedals to a less clear goal of maintaining “momentum” toward its 2% inflation target.
Here’s why the stock bull market is alive and well (Market Watch)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Contrarian analysis suggests the bull market remains alive and well.
That’s because a good portion of the market-timing community recently turned cautious, if not outright bearish—thereby going a long ways toward rebuilding the veritable Wall of Worry that bull markets like to climb.
Here's What to Expect From the Federal Reserve's Wednesday Announcement (Reuters)
The central bank has grown increasingly confident about raising interest rates, but…
The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but set the stage for a hike in December amid signs the economy is picking up steam.
Goldman Sachs Hires Nasdaq to Run Its Sigma X Dark Pool (Bloomberg)
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. hired exchange owner Nasdaq Inc. to run its Sigma X stock-trading system, outsourcing day-to-day operations of its dark pool following an industrywide regulatory crackdown and amid escalating costs.
Three of Fed’s Own Primary Dealers Warn Hikes on Hold Until 2017 (Bloomberg)
While none of the 23 banks that trade with the Fed expect a hike at the conclusion of Wednesday’s meeting, HSBC Holdings Plc, Royal Bank of Canada and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc remain steadfast that policy makers will choose to hold off on raising rates at the Fed’s Dec. 14 meeting as well.
Oil ends down but off lows, then slides on API report (Reuters)
Oil prices settled lower on Tuesday, then tumbled again after hours following a trade group's report of a U.S. crude inventory build nine times larger than forecast.
During regular trading hours, crude prices hit one-month lows before paring losses at settlement. Then the American Petroleum Institute (API) said crude stockpiles swelled 9.3 million barrels in the week to Oct. 28. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a build of 1 million barrels.
Asset Bubbles From Stocks to Bonds to Iron Ore Threaten China (The Wall Street Journal)
A succession of asset bubbles has formed in China, caused by a torrent of speculative money sloshing from stocks to bonds to commodities.
Big Data Unleashes Business Opportunity (Forbes)
Businesses have gone data crazy. You can’t blame them. Streaming, real-time data analysis promises to bring the type of predictability that cuts costs, solves problems and grows sales.
That seemed to be the unofficial theme of the Strata + Hadoop World conference held recently in New York.
The fascinating theory that 'The Economist' magazine covers are like cabbies offering share tips (Business Insider Australia)
The Economist magazine is known for many things, including thought-provoking covers on what’s happening in the global economy, markets and politics.
Aside from creating debate, those covers, according to Greg Marks and Brent Donnelly, analysts at Citibank, are also useful from another perspective: they’re often a contrarian indicator, pointing to a particular trend that’s been dominating financial markets that may be coming to an end.
Why Bank Stocks Have the Most to Lose in the U.S. Election (Bloomberg)
While strategists and pundits fall over each other predicting how the U.S. presidential race will play out in markets, the stock market itself has a clear-cut view on which industry is most at risk: the banks.
Companies
Shell's earnings beat Exxon as oil majors adapt to low prices (Reuters)
LONDON – Royal Dutch/Shell and BP on Tuesday joined peers in reporting higher than expected earnings by making further deep cuts in spending to cope with an oil price downturn now in its third year.
Fitbit: The Stock Falls and the Doubts Grow (Barron's Next)
The stock is down 66% in the last year, and a big group of investors are expecting the slide to continue.
Some 50% of Fitbit’s publicly available stock is now held short, according to data from S3 Partners. That means that half of Fitbit’s shares are effectively being held by investors counting on the stock to fall in the coming months.
Technology
Apple’s Secret Cash Management Strategy Just Got Outed (Reuters)
Now bankers in this country are fretting that Apple may shun their bond market.
Korean bankers are fretting that Apple may shun the country’s bond market after a local newspaper revealed that the secretive U.S. phone maker had recently attempted to invest some of its vast cash pile in a local bank deal.
Netflix, Amazon Take Divergent Paths to Reach Indian Audience (The Wall Street Journal)
As Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc. look to build up in India amid a global expansion, they are following two diverging scripts.
Ford Reaches Tentative Deal With Canadian Auto Workers’ Union (The Wall Street Journal)
The union representing Canada’s auto workers said early Tuesday it reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract with Ford Motor Co., avoiding a strike that threatened to disrupt production at factories that account for nearly 10% of the auto maker’s North American output.
Google launches Tango AR smartphone system (Tech Crunch)
After more than two years of tinkering and finessing, today Google finally officially launched its Tango smartphone augmented reality system to the masses.
The World's First Home Robotic Chef Can Cook Over 100 Meals (Forbes)
Apparently, having a home cooked meal from the kitchens of Thomas Keller, Alain Ducasse and Gordan Ramsay could become a reality. In 2018, Moley will launch the world’s first fully-automated and integrated intelligent cooking robot—a robotic kitchen that has unlimited access to chefs and their recipes worldwide. So not only can this robotic chef cook over 100 different meals for you, it will clean up after itself too!
Politics
Donald Trump’s great tax dodge: How the GOP nominee avoided paying millions in taxes (Salon)
New documents have surfaced showing that Donald Trump avoided financial ruin in the early 1990s through a controversial technique known as a “stock-for-debt swap,” according to a report by The New York Times on Monday.
Inside the Affordable Care Act’s Arizona Meltdown (The Wall Street Journal)
When Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces launched in fall 2013, Arizona seemed like a success. Eight insurers competed to sign up consumers, offering a wide variety of plans and some of the lowest premiums in the country.
Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street Fundraising Benefited From Loophole In Federal Anti-Corruption Rule (International Business Times)
Despite an anti-corruption rule that was designed to reduce the financial industry’s political power, top officials from the investment firm BlackRock hosted Hillary Clinton at campaign fundraisers earlier this year. The cash — which poured in through a loophole in the law — came in as BlackRock’s federal contracts to manage billions of dollars of retiree assets will be up for renewal during the next president’s term.
Clinton, Trump Prepare for Possibility of Election Overtime (Bloomberg)
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are arming up for a possible post-Election Day battle.
Clinton is assembling a voter protection program that has drawn thousands of lawyers agreeing to lend their time and expertise in battleground states, though the campaign isn’t saying exactly how many or where.
In rare move, China criticizes Trump plan to exit climate change pact (Reuters)
China on Tuesday rejected a plan by U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to back out of a global climate change pact, saying a wise political leader should make policy in line with global trends, a rare comment on a foreign election.
Clinton, Trump All but Tied as Enthusiasm Dips for Democratic Candidate (ABC News)
Strong enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton has ebbed since the renewal of the FBI’s email investigation.
While vote preferences have held essentially steady, she’s now a slim point behind Donald Trump — a first since May — in the latest ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates.
Democrats Say Pledge of Speedy Email Review Falls Short (The Wall Street Journal)
WASHINGTON—The Justice Department said in a letter to lawmakers Monday it would work with the FBI to resolve the Clinton email investigation as soon as possible, but the message appeared unlikely to tamp down the emotions surrounding the issue.
Investigating Donald Trump, F.B.I. Sees No Clear Link to Russia (NY Times)
WASHINGTON — For much of the summer, the F.B.I. pursued a widening investigation into a Russian role in the American presidential campaign. Agents scrutinized advisers close to Donald J. Trump, looked for financial connections with Russian financial figures, searched for those involved in hacking the computers of Democrats, and even chased a lead — which they ultimately came to doubt — about a possible secret channel of email communication from the Trump Organization to a Russian bank.
Trump Amps Up Criticism of Clinton (The Wall Street Journal)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is sharpening his case against Democrat Hillary Clinton and laying down stakes in Democratic-leaning states as renewed scrutiny of her emails buoys his campaign in the homestretch of the 2016 race.
In Ohio, a spelling error could cost you your vote (Reuters)
Voting is no easy task for Roland Gilbert. The 86-year-old retired Ohio lawyer, who is legally blind, completes his absentee ballot with help from a machine that magnifies the print.
Donald Trump Used Legally Dubious Method to Avoid Paying Taxes (NY Times)
Donald J. Trump proudly acknowledges he did not pay a dime in federal income taxes for years on end. He insists he merely exploited tax loopholes legally available to any billionaire — loopholes he says Hillary Clinton failed to close during her years in the United States Senate. “Why didn’t she ever try to change those laws so I couldn’t use them?” Mr. Trump asked during a campaign rally last month.
Election Offers Stark Choices on Supreme Court’s Future (The Wall Street Journal)
WASHINGTON—When Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump describe their ideal Supreme Court justice, they lay out strikingly different visions of how American law may develop for years to come after Election Day.
Health and Biotech
Why We're Right to Invest in Gilead Sciences Stock (Fool.com)
Pharmaceutical stocks across the board have seen far less enthusiasm recently than they deserve, and perhaps the least appreciated drugmaker at the moment is Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD). Its stock has given up nearly 30% of its value over the past year. After such a drop, shareholders and potential investors alike are right to wonder if the company represents a smart investment.
Life on the Home Planet
California Today: A New Target of Gun Control Advocates — Bullets (California Today)
Gavin Newsom, the lieutenant governor, says no. He’s developed the initiative that would push the state’s gun limits even further.
Under Proposition 63, ammunition purchasers would be treated similar to gun purchasers. Before a Californian could buy even a single bullet of any kind, he or she would need to pay a fee of up to $50 and wait up to 30 days to obtain a four-year permit.
Russia says resumption of Syria peace talks delayed indefinitely (Reuters)
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday a Western failure to rein in violent Islamists in Syria had indefinitely delayed the resumption of peace talks.
Shoigu said that rebels backed by Western governments had been attacking civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo, despite a pause in Russian and Syrian air attacks.
Why the World Is Better Than Ever—and Will Get Better Still (Singularity Hub)
If you read or watch the news, you’ll likely think the world is falling to pieces. Trends like terrorism, climate change, and a growing population straining the planet’s finite resources can easily lead you to think our world is in crisis.Russia says resumption of Syria peace talks delayed indefinitely.
Turkey could draft 'limited measure' on death penalty, PM says (Reuters)
Turkey could draft a "limited measure" to bring back the death penalty if a political compromise could be reached on the issue, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday.
Following the July failed coup, crowds have repeatedly called for the re-introduction of capital punishment and President Tayyip Erdogan has said he would approve it if parliament voted for it.
Turkish military chief heads to Russia for talks (AA)
Turkey’s most senior military official left Turkey for a meeting with his opposite number in Russia on Tuesday, the Turkish Armed Forces said in a statement.
Gen. Hulusi Akar, chief of the General Staff, boarded a flight to Moscow for a meeting with Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the head of Russia’s military and first deputy defense minister.
Turkey pushed into coup process in planned way: opposition leader (Reuters)
Turkey was pushed into a coup process in a "planned and programed way" and is now experiencing conditions worse than after a military coup in 1980, the leader of the main opposition CHP, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said on Tuesday.
