Financial Markets and Economy
Dollar steadies with bonds, oil anxious about OPEC (Bloomberg)
The U.S. dollar took a breather on Tuesday as global bonds steadied from their recent rout, while equities flatlined as political risk resurfaced in Europe ahead of a referendum in Italy this weekend.
OPEC experts end meeting, no agreement on detail (Reuters)
OPEC experts ended their meeting on Monday without agreeing on concrete details of a planned reduction in oil output by individual countries that will be presented to an OPEC ministerial gathering on Nov. 30, an OPEC source told Reuters.
Trump faces dilemma as U.S. oil reels from record biofuels targets (Reuters)
The Obama administration signed its final plan for renewable fuel use in the United States last week, leaving an oil industry reeling from the most aggressive biofuel targets yet as President-elect Donald Trump takes over.
How Iran, Russia Could Derail Oil-Production Deal (The Wall Street Journal)
The world’s biggest oil producers on Monday intensified talks over an oil-output agreement but failed to resolve disputes over production in Iran, Iraq and Russia that have emerged as potentially deal-breaking obstacles.
One of the more amusing policy rumors we’re hearing about how Trump will handle the financial sector involves the rollback of Department of Labor’s now passed Fiduciary Standard rule, obligating brokers and financial advisors to put the wellbeing of their clients ahead of their own compensation desires.
The close: TSX slips as energy stocks, insurers weigh; gold miners jump (Reuters)
Canada’s main stock index ended lower on Monday as energy stocks fell despite higher oil prices and as insurers lost ground with a pullback in bond yields, offsetting gains for gold miners as the precious metal bounced off a recent low.
Italian Lenders Slide on Vote Worries to Drag Down Europe Stocks (Bloomberg)
Italian lenders declined on rising concerns about risks to their financial stability from the upcoming referendum, bringing an end to a three-week rally in European shares.
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, the lender burdened by bad loans and under pressure to raise fresh money, tumbled 14 percent.
The UK is ill-prepared for the fourth industrial revolution, manufacturers warn (The Telegraph)
The UK is ill-prepared for the next industrial revolution, in which it is claimed robots and artificial intelligence will make millions of jobs obsolete, manufacturers have warned.
Black swan sculpture unnerves Beijing investors (BBC News)
A black swan sculpture in Beijing's financial district has been removed only hours after being unveiled because of concerns it might bring bad luck to the markets, it's reported.
How to Kill the Volcker Rule? Don’t Enforce It (The Wall Street Journal)
Big banks spent years railing against the so-called Volcker rule, which bars them from making wagers with their own money. Now, with the imminent arrival of the Trump administration, some banks and lawyers are eyeing a new way to defang the rule: Simply stop enforcing it.
Will Italy’s failing banks trigger financial collapse across Europe? (The Guardian)
Established 125 years before Shakespeare penned Romeo and Juliet, the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena was founded in 1472 to help finance the city state of Siena, as well as its artistic renaissance. For more than 500 years the world’s oldest bank has operated successfully, through wars, revolutions and other political upheavals. In the 1990s it was Europe’s most profitable bank.
Venezuela's currency now worth so little shopkeepers weigh vast piles of notes instead of counting them (The Independent)
Inflation in Venezuela is expected to reach 720 per cent this year, with the largest bolívar bill now worth just five US cents on the black market.
Investors to Sue Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes (The Daily Beast)
Investors are suing pharmaceutical company Theranos and its founder Elizabeth Holmes, alleging fraudulent claims, Reuters reported on Monday. The investors accuse Theranos of making misleading claims about its technology, a blood-sampling product that has been shown not to perform as the company claimed.
Chinese property investors may be forced to sell as bank finance dries up (ABC News)
Thousands of Chinese property investors who bought apartments in Australia are still scrambling to save their investments, six months on from a bank clampdown on foreign lending.
Fed braces for Trump administration shake-up (The Hill)
The Federal Reserve could be in for a bumpy ride as resurgent Republicans led by President-elect Donald Trump look to make a big mark on the central bank.
Companies
How Amazon Gets Its Holiday Hires Up to Speed in Two Days (The Wall Street Journal)
To prepare for the flood of holiday orders already under way, the retail giant has been using technology ranging from touch screens to robots to shrink the time it takes to train new hires to as little as two days, compared with up to six weeks for a conventional warehouse job.
Uber drivers in U.S. cities to join planned worker protests (Reuters)
Drivers for ride service company Uber will join planned nationwide protests on Tuesday, when activists and low-wage workers renew their call for better pay and the right to join a union in the wake of Donald Trump's U.S. presidential election win, organizers said.
Lufthansa Loses German Court Attempt to Halt Pilot Strike (Bloomberg)
Deutsche Lufthansa AG lost a German court bid to prevent pilots from resuming strikes Tuesday in a labor dispute that has caused almost 4,500 flight cancellations this month.
Wells Fargo Hit With Class Action Over Target-Date Funds (Bloomberg BNA)
In the past year, several proposed class actions have targeted financial companies that include in-house investment products in their 401(k) plans.
Technology
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AT&T’s new streaming service lets you add HBO for just $5 (The Verge)
AT&T just announced the details of its streaming TV service, DirecTV Now, which launches this Wednesday. For a limited time you can access 100 channels for $35 a month, and for just $5, you can add HBO and Cinemax.
Fearing tighter U.S. visa regime, Indian IT firms rush to hire, acquire (Reuters)
Anticipating a more protectionist U.S. technology visa program under a Donald Trump administration, India's $150 billion IT services sector will speed up acquisitions in the United States and recruit more heavily from college campuses there.
This MIT website makes you decide who a self-driving car should kill in an accident (Business Insider)
As more and more companies experiment with self-driving cars, new questions arise about how the vehicles should respond in certain situations. If someone runs into the middle of the street, should it swerve and kill the driver or keep going and kill the pedestrian?
The sale of drones is up, and so too is the likelihood they will be used as part of a criminal act.
Why Fake News Is So Incredibly Effective (Filippo Menczer, Indiana University, The Conversation)
If you get your news from social media, as most Americans do, you are exposed to a daily dose of hoaxes, rumors, conspiracy theories and misleading news.
Scientists are turning nuclear waste into super-efficient diamond batteries (Science Alert)
Scientists have figured out how to use nuclear waste as an energy source, converting radioactive gas into artificial diamonds that could be used as batteries.
Politics
Tug of War Delays Some of Donald Trump’s Key Hires (The Wall Street Journal)
PALM BEACH, Fla.—President-elect Donald Trump, coming off a steady two-week flow of personnel announcements for his nascent administration, is confronting a series of more vexing decisions about how to shape the remainder of his cabinet.
Could Donald Trump pull the US out of NAFTA? Here's how that would affect Americans. (Money.Mic)
Mexico's finance minister José Antonio Meade touted the benefits of the North American Free Trade Agreement during a trip to the United Kingdom, the Financial Times reported Monday. NAFTA is currently on the chopping block for either renegotiation or withdrawal during President-elect Donald Trump's first 100 days, Trump has said.
California mosques receive letters threatening Muslims, praising Trump (DW Made For Minds)
Anonymous letters have been sent to three mosques in California, praising US President-elect Donald Trump and threatening Muslim genocide. Civil rights groups have called for increased police protection.
Donald Trump Alleges That ‘Millions of People’ Voted Illegally (The Wall Street Journal)
President-elect Donald Trump dismissed charges Sunday that his victory was illegitimate, lashing out on Twitter at critics who point to Hillary Clinton’s lead of more than two million votes in the national popular vote as evidence.
French conservatives back Fillon for president, Left flounders (Reuters)
France's center-right rallied behind free market reformist Francois Fillon as its candidate for president on Monday after a snap opinion poll showed him clear favorite to beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen in an election showdown next year.
Paul Manafort Is Back (Bloomberg)
On the morning of July 18, the first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, a group of reporters covering the presidential campaign packed themselves around a long table for an on-the-record breakfast with Paul Manafort—the seasoned political hand who, as chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, had the unenviable task of trying to soften the candidate’s rough edges.
Britain seeks to strengthen ties with Poland before Brexit (Reuters)
Prime Minister Theresa May discussed defense, security and trade with Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo on Monday as Britain looks to strengthen ties with a key ally before it leaves the European Union.
Health and Biotech
Failed Alzheimer’s trial does not kill leading theory of disease (Nature)
A drug that was seen as a major test of the leading theory behind Alzheimer’s disease has failed in a large trial of people with mild dementia. Critics of the ‘amyloid hypothesis’, which posits that the disease is triggered by a build-up of amyloid protein in the brain, have seized on the results as evidence of its weakness.
Making cells ignore mutations could treat genetic diseases (New Scientist)
If the instructions for what you’re building are wrong, what can you do? That’s the problem posed when DNA mutations in people with genetic disease lead to the production of faulty proteins. But a new technique could help cells get around that problem and potentially treat conditions like some genetic types of cystic fibrosis.
This new strategy could be the key to overcoming antibiotic resistance (Science Alert)
Antibiotic resistance is one of the most pressing and underrated issues of the 21st century – some scientists put it on par with climate change, with a 2014 report suggesting that failing antibiotics will kill 300 million people by 2050.
Life on the Home Planet
Theory challenging Einstein's view on speed of light could soon be tested (The Guardian)
The newborn universe may have glowed with light beams moving much faster than they do today, according to a theory that overturns Einstein’s century-old claim that the speed of light is a constant.
Bomb defused near US embassy in Philippines: police (AFP, Yahoo News)
Police defused a bomb near the US embassy in the Philippine capital Monday, with militants who had declared allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group likely behind the attempted terror attack, authorities said.
Fukushima nuclear decommission, compensation costs to almost double: media (Reuters)
Japan's trade ministry has almost doubled the estimated cost of compensation for the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and decommissioning of the damaged Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant to more than 20 trillion yen ($177.51 billion), the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.
Islamic State retreat reveals terror plots against Europe (The Telegraph)
Intelligence of attack plots across Europe is being uncovered as Islamic State’s caliphate is beaten back, the top British officer in the military coalition fighting the extremists has disclosed.
We may be able to tap into our memories from infancy (New Scientist)
You probably can’t remember life as a 2-year-old. But memory traces from our earliest years might stay in our brains, ready to be reactivated with the right trigger, according to research in rats.
A Scientific Approach To Distinguishing Real From Fake News (Forbes)
If you’ve done it, you’re not alone. With the proliferation of sites that deliberately create fake news and ship it via social media streams to the masses, we’ve all fallen prey to it.
