Financial Markets and Economy
Dollar Steady on Month-End Flows; Pound Drops, Volatilities Rise (Bloomberg)
The dollar reversed early losses to keep its consolidation theme of the past week intact, with month-end flows capping the upside on the currency.
Housing prices are booming in the Northwest (Business Insider)
US home prices rose more than expected, according to the November reading of the S&P/Case-Shiller index.
The 20 city-index, which covers major metropolitan areas like Seattle and Chicago, rose by 5.27%, above economists' expectations of 5.03%, and up from 5.1% in October.
Euro-Area Economic Confidence Hits Highest Since 2011 (Bloomberg)
Euro-area economic confidence hit a six-year high in January, adding to signs of stronger growth and inflation that are fueling a debate about European Central Bank stimulus.
Labor costs climb 0.5% in fourth quarter, ECI shows (Market Watch)
The amount of money it costs businesses to employ workers rose a touch slower in the fourth quarter owing to the smallest increase in benefits in a year and a half.
Negative effective of currency rates on company results fall in third quarter (Reuters)
Currency market fluctuations in the third quarter of 2016 had the smallest negative impact on North American companies' financial results since 2014, FIREapps said in a report on Monday.
That ECB Taper Might Just Sneak Up on Us (Bloomberg)
Monetary policy works with a long time lag, we all know that. But the debate about it happens in real time.
So that's why even as the European Central Bank maintains that the risks to the economy are still “on the downside,” a rash of positive economic data has economists turning their minds to how the region's flagship stimulus policy — quantitative easing — should be brought to a halt.
Greek Bond Yields Surge Amid Stalled Bailout Review, IMF Quarrel (Bloomberg)
Greek government bonds fell for a fourth consecutive day, with the continuing decline raising the specter that some investors may be discounting the risk of a default.
Brexit is a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to design a "21st-century" trade policy which focuses more heavily on emerging markets outside Europe, free from the "straitjacket" of EU policy, according to a major lobby group.
Airlines Are Forced to Adjust Staffing After U.S. Refugee Ban (The Wall Street Journal)
Airlines and airports scrambled over the weekend to respond to President Donald Trump’s executive order that suspended entry into the U.S. for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries, while businesses in the Middle East braced for the ban’s impact.
FX Guru John Taylor Is Back, Minus the $12 Million-a-Year Salary (Bloomberg)
For John R. Taylor, the world is defined by cycles. There are ups—building and running a currency hedge fund that became the world’s biggest, for instance. And there are downs—specifically, presiding over its demise.
U.S. Consumer Confidence Fell in January (The Wall Street Journal)
Americans grew less optimistic about the economy in January, in a sign that the postelection bump could be waning.
Treasury yields steady ahead of Fed policy meeting (Market Watch)
Treasurys were little-moved Tuesday, with yields holding largely steady a day ahead of the conclusion of a two-day meeting of Federal Reserve policy makers and investors continued to weigh the reaction to President Donald Trump’s policy actions.
Seeing Markets Better by Trading With Vision (Traderfeed)
As the saying goes, the risk is not in setting your sights too high and falling short. The risk is setting your sights too low and succeeding.
Companies
Citi to Exit Mortgage Servicing, Sell $97 Billion Portfolio (Bloomberg)
Citigroup Inc. plans to exit the mortgage-servicing business by the end of 2018 to focus on making new loans.
New Residential Investment Corp. agreed to pay Citigroup $950 million for servicing rights on Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed loans with $97 billion of outstanding balances, the New York-based buyer said Monday in a statement.
Ford Breaks From Trump Over Ban as Detroit Muslims Protest (Bloomberg)
Majed Moughni has lived the American dream: He climbed the ladder from impoverished refugee, to hotel dishwasher, to parking cars for Ford Motor Co. royalty. Today he’s a lawyer, sitting at a chair and desk in an office that all once belonged to a Ford chief executive officer whose Lincoln Continental he used to park.
VW Takes Global Sales Crown From Toyota Despite Diesel Crisis (Bloomberg)
Volkswagen AG dethroned Toyota Motor Corp. last year to become the world’s best-selling automaker for the first time, propelled by surging demand in China which has been largely unaffected by the diesel-cheating scandal.
CSX, Rail Veteran in Settlement Talks (The Wall Street Journal)
CSX Corp. is discussing a settlement with Hunter Harrison and the activist investor backing him that could make the railroad-industry veteran its chief executive, less than two weeks after they launched a campaign for influence over the company.
Walmart just made a move that should terrify Amazon.
Starting Tuesday at 8 a.m., Walmart will offer free two-day shipping on more than two million items for all orders over $35.
Under Armour Falls After Dismal Forecast Rattles Faith in Growth (Bloomberg)
Under Armour Inc. tumbled as much as 29 percent in early trading after its sales forecast missed analysts’ estimates by a wide margin, signaling that the sports-apparel maker’s days of rapid growth may be drawing to a close.
Shell sells more than half of its North Sea oil and gas fields for $3.8bn (The Guardian)
Shell has sold a large part of its North Sea oil fields for $3.8bn (£3bn) to a company headed by Linda Cook, who left the Anglo-Dutch group more than seven years ago after missing out on the top job.
Technology
Uber Plans to Add Self-Driving Mercedes-Benz Cars to Its Fleet (Fortune)
Uber Technologies has signed another deal with a major automaker as the popular ride service accelerates efforts to build out one of the world's first fleets of autonomous vehicles.
Telstra's Super-Fast 1Gbps Network Lets You Download An HD Movie In Three Minutes (Digital Trends)
Move over, U.S. carriers: There’s a new speed demon in town. At the Gigabit LTE Experience Summit in Sydney, Australia, on January 30, mobile operator Telstra launched the “world’s fastest” 4G LTE network, capable of offering download speeds of up to one gigabit per second and upload speeds of up to 150Mbps.
MacBook Pros with Touch Bars banned from law exams (CNet)
MacBook Pros equipped with Touch Bars are being banned from bar examinations in some states in the US, meaning students with the new devices would have to write with the good old fashion pad and pen. Or, you know, a different laptop.
AI just won a poker tournament against professional players (New Scientist)
An AI just claimed another gaming victory over humans by winning a 20-day poker tournament. The AI, called Libratus, took on four of the world’s best Heads-Up No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em poker players at a Pennsylvania casino. After 120,000 hands, Libratus won with a lead of over $1.7 million in chips.
10 things in tech you need to know today (Business Insider)
Tech firms are planning to meet to discuss filing documents in support of a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's immigration ban.
Politics
The Fed Was Getting More Predictable Until Trump Got Elected (Bloomberg)
U.S. Federal Reserve officials were on a roll communicating their intentions to financial markets until December, when even a well-advertised interest-rate hike triggered a big sell-off in the bond market.
Trump aides call travel ban success despite broad criticism (Reuters)
Aides to U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called the implementation of a temporary travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries a "massive success story" despite criticism from some top Republicans, protests and disarray at airports.
Trump Team Kept Plan for Travel Ban Quiet (The Wall Street Journal)
Inside President Donald Trump’s political team, the travel ban was something of a secret.
Even before Mr. Trump won the election, aides were working up a plan to make good on a campaign pledge to keep potential terrorists from slipping into the U.S.
White House Immigration Ban Promises Constitutional Showdown (Bloomberg)
Did President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration ban Muslims from the country on the basis of their religion? That will be a central question when federal judges dig more deeply into the constitutionality of the order, signed on Jan. 27. If the answer is yes, it appears vulnerable to a First Amendment challenge.
Don't let Trump embarrass our queen, say 1.3 million Britons (Reuters)
Well over a million people in Britain have signed a petition calling for U.S. President Donald Trump's planned state visit to be canceled to avoid embarrassing Queen Elizabeth, in a grassroots backlash against his immigration policies.
Philippine's Duterte to Disband Anti-Drug Police Units After Korean Murdered (Bloomberg)
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he’ll dissolve all police units involved in enforcing his war on illegal drugs after rogue officers were implicated in the murder of a South Korean businessman in October.
Trump to order departments to plan to beef up cybersecurity (Reuters)
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday on cybersecurity that will require the heads of government agencies to play a more direct role reviewing and managing risks, a White House official said.
Senate Democrats on the Finance Committee used a parliamentary procedure to delay a vote on President Donald Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Senate Democrats boycott committee vote on Mnuchin, Price (Reuters)
U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday boycotted a planned committee vote on two of President Donald Trump's nominees, Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury Secretary and Tom Price to head the Health and Human Services department, making it impossible for the vote to go forward.
People in red states protest Trump's immigration ban (Business Insider)
Tens of thousands of Americans spent parts of their weekends protesting President Donald Trump's executive order to restrict people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.
Health and Biotech
Old Cancer Drug Gets 1,227% Price Hike in Frugal U.K. (Bloomberg)
The chemotherapy known as busulfan is more than six decades old, and part of doctors’ standard arsenal against leukemia. It’s not scarce, and by all accounts, it should be dirt cheap. Instead, its price has soared like that of a prized antique.
Life on the Home Planet
Ukraine says more soldiers killed in deadliest clashes in weeks (Reuters)
The number of Ukrainian soldiers killed in an offensive by pro-Russian separatists over the past two days has risen to seven, Ukraine's military said on Monday, in the deadliest outbreak of fighting in the east of the country since mid-December.
Long-lost continent found submerged deep under Indian Ocean (New Scientist)
The first clues to the continent’s existence came when some parts of the Indian Ocean were found to have stronger gravitational fields than others, indicating thicker crusts. One theory was that chunks of land had sunk and become attached to the ocean crust below.
Countries Under U.S. Entry Ban Aren’t Main Sources of Terror Attacks (The Wall Street Journal)
President Donald Trump’s executive order to temporarily ban entry from seven Middle Eastern and African countries states that it is intended to “protect the American people from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals admitted to the United States.”
Quebec University Student Charged After Mosque Rampage (Bloombebrg)
A Canadian university student has been charged following an assault on a Quebec City mosque that left six people dead and seriously injured five others in one of the worst terrorist attacks in the country’s history.
Solar wind is blasting Earth's oxygen onto the surface of the Moon (Science Alert)
We all know that there's no air to breathe on the Moon, but new evidence suggests that the lunar surface is continually being showered by oxygen escaping Earth – and may have been for billions of years, since Earth's atmosphere developed.
