Financial Markets and Economy
Oil prices rise as investors pour fresh cash into crude futures (Reuters)
Oil prices rose on Monday, with traders shifting money into crude futures as the dollar weakened, and as concerns rose that new U.S. sanctions against Iran could be extended to affect crude supplies.
Dollar steadies after fourth straight weekly fall (Reuters)
The dollar steadied on Monday after poor wages data pushed back any speculation of a near-term rise in Federal Reserve interest rates and sealed the currency's fourth straight weekly fall, its worst start to a year in more than three decades.
Trump wants to renegotiate NAFTA — here's what you need to know (Business Insider)
It was an issue that united Bernie Sanders on the left and Donald Trump on the right: opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Mexico Teeters Between Its Recent U.S. Friendship and 170 Years of Hostility (The Wall Street Journal)
Mexico had a closed and struggling economy in the mid-1980s, with little American investment, and most Mexicans viewed the U.S. as their historic enemy. After Mexican drug lords tortured and murdered a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, President Ronald Reagan temporarily closed the border.
Nordstrom announced on February 2 that it decided to stop carrying the brand due to declining sales. And as of February 3, all the first daughter’s products had disappeared from Nieman Marcus’ website as well.
Investors Have Never Loved OPEC So Much as It Sticks to Cuts (Bloomberg)
Investors are betting big that OPEC’s cuts are real.
Japan’s 0.5% Wage Increase Last Year Was the Biggest Since 2010 (Bloomberg)
Total pay rose 0.5 percent from the previous year to an average 3.78 million yen ($33,673), while the number of hours worked dropped. Regular workers saw an increase in pay, while part-timers, who are an increasingly large sector of the workforce, saw their income decline 0.1 percent.
China is now the biggest producer of solar energy (Engadget)
You probably don't think of China as a clean energy champion given its frequent problems with smog and continued dependence on coal power, but you may have to rethink your views after today.
Marijuana Prices Fall In 2016 As Growers Flood The Market With Pot (Forbes)
The falling price of legal marijuana is shaking up the dynamics of the marketplace.
Draghi Takes QE Case to Brussels as Politics Keeps Risk High (Bloomberg)
The European Central Bank president can cite accelerating inflation, declining unemployment and 15 quarters of expansion as evidence that his stimulus policies are working.
Kicking out immigrants doesn’t raise wages (The Economist)
MEXICAN immigrants were said to be holding down wages and taking jobs that could go to honest Americans. The poorest natives were supposed to be suffering most grievously. “We cannot afford to disregard it,” intoned the president.
Two-thirds of Americans give priority to developing alternative energy over fossil fuels (Pew Research Center)
President Donald Trump is promising major changes on climate and energy policy, including efforts to increase production from fossil fuel energy sources such as coal.
Italy Increasingly Likely to Abandon the Euro (MishTalk)
An analysis of the political setup in Italy shows eurosceptics are on the verge of taking control of the country.
The only missing ingredient is an early election. And early elections are now the odds-on favorite.
Hello! Here's what you need to know on Monday.
1. PATRIOTS WIN THE SUPER BOWL! The New England Patriots are Super Bowl champions, beating the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime.
Investing in the time of Trump (Mutual Fund Observer)
If you think it’s time to be bold, you presumably know something that the rest of us don’t. If you are indeed part of “the smart money crowd,” congratulations and thanks for stopping by! Also, you can go now.
German Default Risk Spikes To Highest Since Brexit As Merkel Lead Plunges To Multi-Year Low (Zero Hedge)
Germany’s Social Democrats narrowed the gap with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc to the closest in more than four years, reinforcing a poll bounce after they chose outsider Martin Schulz to challenge Europe’s longest-serving leader.
Companies
Tiffany & Co. CEO Resigns Amid Company's Financial Concerns (Associated Press)
The New York-based retailer announced Sunday that Frederic Cumenal's departure is effective immediately and the search has begun for a successor. Cumenal joined Tiffany in 2011 and was named its chief executive officer in April 2015.
Yet Another Reason to Worry About Chipotle (The Wall Street Journal)
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. has a guacamole problem.
President Donald Trump’s border tax could only add to the burrito chain’s struggles, which began in 2015 with a string of food-borne illness outbreaks and continued this past quarter due to high avocado prices.
Chipotle stock could fall as much as 35 percent over next year: Barron's (Reuters)
The burrito chain is moving beyond a sales decline caused by widespread 2015 outbreaks of tainted-food scandals but its stock is now over valued, Barron's said.
3 Crucial Questions Gilead Sciences Should Answer Tuesday (Fool.com)
It's the most wonderful time of the quarter. The time when every business cracks open its books and tells us what's going on.
Americans Eat 554 Million Jack in the Box Tacos a Year, and No One Knows Why (The Wall Street Journal)
Jack in the Box is known to most of the country for its hamburgers and bigheaded mascot. But for many of its devotees, the magic of the fast-food chain lies in its interpretation of a taco.
Technology
Mark Zuckerberg is officially the new Bill Gates — and he could rain on Snap's $3 billion parade (Business Insider)
Back in the '90s, before memes were really a thing, it was kind of a meme to pass around pictures of Bill Gates as a Borg — the cyborg baddies of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame.
Robot civil servants could help save taxpayer's cash by replacing 250,000 jobs (The Telegraph)
Robots should be brought in to replace thousands of civil servants and save the taxpayer billions of pounds, according to a new report.
Your Government Wants to Militarize Social Media to Influence Your Beliefs (Motherboard)
A conference in London this week brings together military and intelligence officials hoping to use social media as a tool in the armed forces.
How gene editing is revolutionising the pharmaceuticals industry (The Telegraph)
Fourteen years ago the first human genome was sequenced. It cost somewhere in the region of $2.7bn (£2.16bn). It was a collaborative effort across the globe that started in 1990 and took 13 years to complete.
Politics
Two-thirds of Britons believe Trump is 'threat to international stability' (The Guardian)
Almost two-thirds of the British public believe Donald Trump is a threat to international stability and a clear majority believe he will be a bad president, according to an Opinium/Observer poll conducted during his tumultuous second week in office.
White House Predicts Courts Will Reinstate Travel Ban (Associated Press)
Rebuffed in its bid for a quick reversal, the White House said Sunday it expected the courts to reaffirm President Donald Trump's executive power and reinstate a ban on refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States.
Trump’s Russia-U.S. Comparison Rejected by Democrats and Republicans (NBC News)
Some Republican and Democratic lawmakers have rejected President Donald Trump's most recent notion that the United States government is morally equivalent to Vladimir Putin's Russia.
Trump’s uninhabitable world: The EPA starts to remove Obama-era information from its site (Climate Control)
The Environmental Protection Agency’s website has begun to transform under the Trump administration.
This Is How You Should Read French Election Polls (Bloomberg)
It’s been a tough run for political polling, leading some to view poll results with an extra dose of skepticism. That might be particularly appropriate in France.
Trump: Leaked transcripts of Mexico, Australia calls 'disgraceful' (Fox News)
President Trump on Saturday denounced the leaks of transcripts of his telephone conversations with leaders of Australia and Mexico as “disgraceful” and said his administration was searching “very, very hard” for the leakers.
Queen Elizabeth, the world's longest-reigning living monarch, is celebrating her Sapphire Jubilee on Monday, commemorating 65 years since she took the British throne.
Iran Avoids Taking Trump Bait to Collapse Nuclear Deal (Bloomberg)
Since the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Tehran over a ballistic missile test Friday, Iran’s conservative media has railed against the government for being too soft, the military has tested another projectile, and officials have generally thumbed their noses at a White House warning that they were now “on notice.”
Trump’s lies are not the problem. It’s the millions who swallow them who really matter (The Guardian)
Compulsive liars shouldn’t frighten you. They can harm no one, if no one listens to them. Compulsive believers, on the other hand: they should terrify you. Believers are the liars’ enablers. Their votes give the demagogue his power.
Trump shrugs off Putin’s killings: ‘You think our country’s so innocent?’ (Think Progress)
In a taped interview with Fox’s Bill O’Reilly that will air Sunday before the Super Bowl, President Donald Trump said he has “respect” for Vladimir Putin, the Voldemort doppelgänger and alleged saboteur of our fair nation’s election.
Mike Pence defends Trump’s attacks on the legitimacy of the judicial branch (Think Progress)
In what has already become a venerable tradition for the young Trump administration, Vice President Mike Pence went on this week’s Sunday morning talk shows to downplay his boss’s latest assault on the foundations of American democracy.
Japan’s government has legalised casinos, but they are not popular (The Economist)
MOST forms of gambling are banned in Japan, but many Japanese still like to have a flutter. Over ¥23trn ($203bn) is waged annually on pachinko, a noisy variant of pinball.
More Americans say government should ensure health care coverage (Pew Research Center)
As the debate continues over repeal of the Affordable Care Act and what might replace it, a growing share of Americans believe that the federal government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Denmark responds to Holland’s “Welcome Trump” video (Holy Kaw)
Holland recently released a video welcoming Donald Trump in language he would understand. They also argued that the U.S. was definitely number one in the world (tongue in cheek), but that Holland should be number two. Denmark had something to say about that.
Life on the Home Planet
26 Perfect Dates in 13 Global Cities (Bloomberg)
Book a table at … 101 Dining Lounge and Bar at the One and Only Resort on Dubai's iconic palm-shaped island. Located in the resort's private marina, this overwater restaurant has panoramic views of the city's Marina skyline. Enjoy Mediterranean tapas and cocktails as you watch private yachts pass by and a DJ spins up some chill, electro ambiance.
Lava Pours Steadily From Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano (The Wall Street Journal)
Researchers captured dramatic footage of a steady stream of lava pouring from the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii. The heat of the lava as it flowed into the sea triggered explosions, which threw debris back onto the top of the cliff.
Teenage Brains Have a Totally Different Way of Making Decisions (Science Of Us)
Teens, as you may know if you have ever been around a teen, do their fair share of dumb stuff. The advantage of being a teen, though, is that they have a decent excuse: They’re wired for it.
Patriots Mount a Comeback for the Ages to Win a Fifth Super Bowl (NY Times)
The chants rang out loud and long at NRG Stadium in South Texas, not from bars or living rooms across New England, until a wall of sound enveloped a team and a quarterback on a mission.
The Best Pizza in New York City, According to Top Chefs (Bloomberg)
If it’s possible, pizza is more popular than ever. And not just with diners; some of the world’s best and most notable chefs have their own favorites around New York City, and they shared them with Bloomberg Pursuits.
