Financial Markets and Economy
Oil Drops to 1-Month Low as U.S. Stockpiles, OPEC Output Expand (Bloomberg)
Oil fell to the lowest level in more than a month after weekly industry data showed U.S. crude stockpiles expanded while supplies from some OPEC members increased.
Dollar Declines Versus Yen Before Fed as U.S. Election Tightens (Bloomberg)
The dollar fell for a second day against the yen before the Federal Reserve announces an interest-rate decision on Wednesday and the U.S. holds its presidential election next week.
Copper Caps Longest Rally in 18 Months as China Buoys Outlook (Bloomberg)
Copper climbed for a seventh session, the longest run of gains in almost 18 months, after an unexpected pickup in a Chinese factory gauge. Tin touched a two-year high.
Euro-Area Manufacturing Gathers Speed as Price Pressures Build (Bloomberg)
Euro-area manufacturing expanded in October at the fastest pace since early 2014, with strengthening demand creating room for higher prices.
Would Higher Interest Rates Boost US Growth? (Project Syndicate)
BERKELEY – Blackstone CEO Tony James recently published a column in the Financial Timestitled “To revive America’s economy, raise interest rates.” This is a very bad idea.
Germany is driving Europe's manufacturing renaissance (Business Insider)
The recovery of the eurozone's manufacturing sector is rolling on, with the industry surging ahead in October, according to the latest data from IHS Markit released on Wednesday.
This Investment Bank Sold All U.K. Assets Before Brexit Vote (Bloomberg)
Carnegie Investment Bank AB, which manages $17.2 billion for clients, sold all of its U.K. holdings as opinion polls narrowed ahead of the June vote to exit from the European Union.
20 stocks that have been ‘so bad that they’re good’ (Market Watch)
Just because a stock is being pummeled doesn’t mean it’s a loser.
Carter Worth, a technical analyst at Cornerstone Macro, a broker-dealer based in New York and Washington, D.C., calls some that have been hammered recently “so bad that they’re good” — not simply because they went down, but because the heavy selling came despite having strong businesses overall.
Dollar, Mexican peso slide on U.S. election uncertainty (Market Watch)
The dollar and Mexican peso dropped on Wednesday, as uncertainty over the U.S. presidential election rose after polls pointed to a tighter-than-expected race.
How I’m protecting my investments from a Trump shock (Market Watch)
I’m holding a lot of my portfolio in cash and the like right now. And not just U.S. dollars DXY, -0.23%. I’m heavily into Swiss francs, British pounds GBPUSD, +0.1960%, euros EURUSD, +0.2261%, Swedish krone, and gold bullion. The only thing I’m missing is a bag of cut diamonds.
Global Stocks, Peso, Oil Drop On Trump Fears; Safe Havens Rise Ahead Of Fed Announcement (Zero Hedge)
Global stocks, S&P futures, the Mexican peso, the Korean Won and crude oil all fell as traders were spooked by polls suggesting a tightening race and Trump momentum ahead of next week’s American presidential election. The yen and Swiss franc gained, as did global bond markets and gold as investors flocked to safe haven assets.
Winning At Trading By Being Different (TraderFeed)
I love Porter's quote; it summarizes so much of what I've found in working with traders. The really good ones deliberately choose to be different. They look at things others don't look at; they view the world through multiple lenses. This enables them to find unique opportunities.
Companies
Maersk Shares Sink as Shipping Industry Woes Hurt Profits (Bloomberg)
A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, owner of the world’s largest container line, reported a 43 percent decline in third-quarter profit as the shipping industry continues to suffer from overcapacity.
On WikiLeaks, Journalism, and Privacy: Reporting on the Podesta Archive Is an Easy Call (The Intercept)
FOR YEARS, WIKILEAKS has been publishing massive troves of documents online — usually taken without authorization from powerful institutions and then given to the group to publish — while news outlets report on their relevant content.
China Cautions Germany Over Aixtron-Deal Halt (The Wall Street Journal)
BEIJING—China has warned that Germany’s decision to withdraw approval for a Chinese acquisition of chip maker Aixtron SE could hurt bilateral economic ties, and said German concerns about Chinese takeovers are unwarranted.
Lufthansa Earnings Hit by Overcapacity, Sagging Demand (The Wall Street Journal)
German carrier Deutsche Lufthansa AG on Wednesday said third-quarter sales and adjusted earnings fell at a time when European airlines are grappling with multiple headwinds.
Lufthansa’s closely watched adjusted earnings before interest and taxes fell 6.5% to €1.15 billion ($1.27 billion) as sales retreated about €111 million to €8.8 billion.
Maersk Shares Sink After Profit Hit by Weak Freight Rates, Oil Prices (The Wall Street Journal)
Shares in A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S fell as much as 9% on Wednesday after the Danish shipping-and-oil giant reported a 43% drop in third-quarter net profit amid sustained weak freight rates and persistently low oil prices.
Technology
Billionaire Li to Unveil New Volvos After Rescuing Swedish Icon (Bloomberg)
Volvo Car Group’s newest, fanciest car has a built-in refrigeration compartment, handmade crystal Orrefors glassware — and the hopes of China’s premium auto-manufacturing industry riding on it.
Accenture Says One-Third of Corporate Cyber Attacks Succeed (Bloomberg)
About one-third of targeted attempts to breach corporations’ cyber defenses succeed but three-quarters of executives remain unaccountably confident in their security strategies, Accenture Plc. reported Wednesday in a survey of 2,000 security officers representing large enterprises worldwide.
Alibaba Shares Jump After Sales Pass Wall Street Expectations Again (Fortune)
Sales in its core businesses of selling stuff to Chinese consumers jumped by 41% to $4.2 billion, the company said today, but it was newer divisions in cloud computing and entertainment that had eye-popping sales growth rates of 130% and 302% respectively.
Tesla presses case for SolarCity merger saying it would add $1 billion to 2017 revenue (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Tesla Motors said on Tuesday its $2.6 billion merger with SolarCity would add over $500 million in cash to the electric carmaker’s balance sheet over the next three years, while contributing over $1 billion to revenue in 2017.
Apple banned a crime-reporting app called Vigilante from the App Store (Business Insider)
Apple has removed crime-reporting app Vigilante from the App Store less than a week after it launched amid fears that it could be dangerous, according to reports from The Guardian and several other publications.
Japan may be almost solely responsible for Twitter’s growth at this point (Venture Beat)
As Twitter fumbles around for a buyer or a business plan, the company can be hard pressed at times to point to any hopeful signs in its business.
Mexico Taking US Factory Jobs? Blame Robots Instead (AP Economics)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump blames Mexico and China for stealing millions of jobs from the United States. He might want to bash the robots instead.
Is Apple Planning A Foldable iPhone 8? (Newsweek)
Next year marks the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, and Apple is widely thought to be planning something major for the double-digit birthday of its flagship product. And judging by a new patent awarded to Apple, the iPhone 8 may well confound even the most speculative of analysts.
Politics
Forget the FBI cache; the Podesta emails show how America is run (The Guardian)
The emails currently roiling the US presidential campaign are part of some unknown digital collection amassed by the troublesome Anthony Weiner, but if your purpose is to understand the clique of people who dominate Washington today, the emails that really matter are the ones being slowly released by WikiLeaks from the hacked account of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta.
Trump, Waking a ‘Sleeping Giant,’ Helps Clinton Build an Unlikely Firewall (NY Times)
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — Since moving to Arizona 15 years ago, Nieves Lorenzo watched as Hispanics grew in numbers but only haltingly asserted themselves as a political force. Then came Donald J. Trump’s presidential candidacy.
Jon Stewart rips Donald Trump at charity event (CNN Money)
Stewart opened the 10th Annual "Stand Up For Heroes," an event held by the Bob Woodruff Foundation and the New York Comedy Festival that helps support veterans and their families, on Tuesday night with a 15 minute set about the race for the presidency.
Hillary Clinton is borrowing some lines from Donald Trump in a new appeal to voters (Business Insider)
Hillary Clinton appears to be taking a cue from Donald Trump in a new appeal to voters.
"Think how you’ll feel if there was something you could have done but didn’t on November 9th. If this doesn’t work — personally I can’t imagine," Clinton said at the end of her campaign rally in Sanford, Florida on Tuesday.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Warn of Dire Consequences if Rival Wins (Julie Pace and Jonathan Lemire, AP)
(DADE CITY, Fla.) — Donald Trump could draw the United States into nuclear war, Hillary Clinton warns. Clinton would plunge the country into a constitutional crisis, he says.
Hundreds of Top Economists Say 'Do Not Vote for Donald Trump' (TIME)
Donald Trump would be a “dangerous, destructive choice for the country,” a group of 370 prominent economists—including eight Nobel laureates—argued in an open letter opposing the Republican nominee.
Donald Trump’s Math Takes His Towers to Greater Heights (NY Times)
Of the many rivals Donald J. Trump has accumulated over four decades in business and, now, presidential politics, one of the earliest was a New York City skyscraper with the boldness to stand taller than his own.
Health and Biotech
We've Been Treating Appendicitis Wrong For Years (Fortune)
Perhaps you’ve had this nightmare: you’re doubled over with stabbing pain. You feel like you’ve been knifed on your right side. You’ve Googled, gone to WebMD, double-checked the pain is in fact on your right side. It’s your appendix, you know it could burst at any moment—you’re going to need immediate surgery, right?
Physicists might have found a way to break the Second Law of Thermodynamics (Science Alert)
The laws of thermodynamics are some of the most important principles in modern physics, because they define how three fundamental physical quantities – temperature, energy, and entropy – behave under various circumstances.
What Is the Special Something That Makes the Human Mind Unique? (Scientific American)
At a psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, two toddlers eye gummy bears that lie on a board beyond their reach. To get the treats, both tots must pull in tandem on either end of a rope. If only one child pulls, the rope detaches, and they wind up with nothing.
Life on the Home Planet
Russia tells rebels to leave Syria's Aleppo by Friday evening (Reuters)
Russia on Wednesday told anti-government rebels holed up in Syria's Aleppo to leave by Friday evening, signaling it would extend a moratorium on air strikes against targets inside the city.
Iraqi special forces hold positions after entering Isis-held Mosul (The Guardian)
Iraqi special forces are holding their positions in Mosul a day after entering the Islamic State-held city for the first time since 2014.
New Analysis of MH370 Suggests Nobody Was Controlling the Plane During Crash (Kristen Gelineau, AP)
A fresh analysis of the final moments of doomed Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 suggests no one was controlling the plane when it plunged into the ocean, according to a report released by investigators on Wednesday, as experts hunting for the aircraft gathered in Australia’s capital to discuss the fading search effort.
Vladimir Putin orders 10-hour Aleppo truce on Friday (The Guardian)
Vladimir Putin has ordered a 10-hour truce on Friday in the war-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo, the Russian defence ministry has said.
“A decision was made to introduce a ‘humanitarian pause’ in Aleppo on 4 November from 9am to 7pm,” the chief of Russia’s general staff, Valery Gerasimov, said in a statement on Wednesday.
