Financial Markets and Economy
Mortgage rates fall again as Trump trade fizzles out (Market Watch)
Rates for home loans fell as expectations for stronger economic growth came back to earth, mortgage provider Freddie Mac said Thursday.
Dollar Policy Confusion Keeping Currency Traders Up at Night (Bloomberg)
Currency traders appear to be just as perplexed as the Trump Administration when it comes to the dollar.
Is a Weak or Strong Dollar Better for the U.S.? It’s Complicated (The Wall Street Journal)
Donald Trump continues to keep currency markets guessing: Does the U.S. president want to strengthen or weaken the dollar? According to a Huffington Post article published Tuesday, Mr. Trump has recently expressed some confusion over the impacts of the dollar’s value.
China’s central bank, battling to curb capital outflows due to persistent fears over continued weakness in the Chinese yuan, has issued a blunt warning to Bitcoin exchanges that they risked closure should they seriously violate the country’s regulations.
$400 Million Drop in This Company’s Stock Could Signal Trouble for the Housing Market (Fortune)
Shares of Zillow dropped more than 7% to $34.26 on Wednesday, erasing roughly $400 million from its market cap, after the online real estate listing company forecast a larger than expected loss for the rest of year.
Draghi Meets Merkel as Populist Concerns Trump ECB Criticism (Bloomberg)
Mario Draghi and Angela Merkel have never dissented publicly with one another. Now they have something to agree on.
Trump, Aviation Executives to Meet on Infrastructure (Reuters)
U.S. aviation executives will discuss the industry's aging airports and air traffic control reform when they meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
More Than 100 Inauguration Day Protesters Indicted on Rioting Charges (NBC News)
The indictment, handed up D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday, charged 146 additional protesters with felony rioting — meaning they face a fine of up to $25,000 and a maximum of 10 years in prison.
The world's largest money manager warns of 'dark shadows' (CNN Money)
Donald Trump recently lavished praise on Larry Fink for growing the president's fortune. But the BlackRock boss isn't exactly returning the compliment.
BILL GROSS: Foreign central banks have kept the US from a recession (Institutional Investor)
Only Bill Gross can go from a discussion of happiness to the causes of financial repression in a couple of paragraphs. In his February Investment Outlook, Gross riffs on what makes a person happy and whether higher goals, such as service to others, should really be the objective.
Whole Foods Cuts Profit, Sales Forecasts as Growth Slows (Reuters)
Whole Foods Market on Wednesday said it is closing some stores and increasing use of customer data to improve results after cutting its full-year sales and profit forecasts after posting its sixth straight quarter of same-store sales declines.
Record $2 Trillion in Corporate Debt Is Due in Next 5 Years (Barron's)
The amount of debt that corporations need to either pay back or refinance in the next five years has reached a new record, a new report from Moody’s Investors Service finds.
Your Business Is Going to Depend on Connected Spenders, So You’d Better Understand Who They Are (Harvard Business Review)
Consumer-facing companies are at a loss. The middle class, long the bread and butter of consumer companies of all kinds, is shrinking as a percentage of the population in mature markets. And in emerging markets, where many consumer companies have been laying their bets for the future, growth has started to slow.
Sensex falls over 100 points, Nifty by 40 as banking, metal shares face selling pressure (Scroll.in)
Indian markets fell during morning trade on Thursday, with the Bombay Stock Exchange falling by 114.17 points and the National Stock Exchange Nifty losing 39.80 points [as of 11.25 am].
Outraged Bill Gross Tweets "Incredible" That "Bankers Want Regulation Reduced To Increase Leverage" (Zero Hedge)
With tweets now the most popular means of conducting policy, discussing ideas, or generally conveying outrage, moments ago Bill Gross chimed in on the Dodd-Frank overhauled when he tweeted that "Bankers want regulation reduced to increase leverage, 8 yrs after too-much-leverage almost sunk the country. Incredible!"
Companies
Wikipedia just banned contributors from citing the Daily Mail as a source (The Next Web)
The Daily Mail is one of the most popular newspapers in the UK, and the most widely read English language news website in the world. It’s also one of the worst.
Commerzbank logs anticipated profit plunge (DW Made For Minds)
Germany's second-largest lender, Commerzbank, has booked a steep decline in bottom-line earnings for 2016. The bank kept battling through a tough restructuring in a volatile business environment.
ACLU employee: I was interrogated for my civil liberties work while trying to get back into the countryAn employee at the American Civil Liberties Union claims to have been detained by Customs and Border Protection because of her job and Pakistani heritage.
Technology
Facebook To Close Oculus Rift Demos On 200 Best Buy Stores In The US (International Business Times)
Facebook is reportedly closing down 200 of its 500 pop-up Oculus Rift demo stations across the United States. Oculus later confirmed the report saying that the closings are due to “seasonal changes.”
Apple’s 10th anniversary iPhone could be its most expensive handset yet (The Next Web)
If you’re keen on upgrading to the next iPhone this September, be prepared to shell out a pretty penny: Fast Company reports that the 10th anniversary model is likely to cost upwards of $1,000.
Six Flags and Samsung team up for a new ‘mixed reality’ roller coaster ride (The Verge)
If the partnership between Samsung’s Gear VR and Six Flags to bring you VR roller coasters last year was too much virtual and not enough reality, you’re in luck. The two are collaborating again on a new ride called The New Revolution Galactic Attack, an experience that now incorporates augmented reality for a mess of visual stimulation.
NASA's new electronics can survive the heat of Venus (CNet)
To call Venus inhospitable would be putting it mildly. It has proven extremely challenging to study in close detail, mainly because of its surface temperature — a mean of 735 Kelvin (462 degrees Celsius, or 863 degrees Fahrenheit), with atmospheric pressure 90 times that of Earth.
Politics
N.C. Court Blocks Attempt By State Lawmakers To Limit Incoming Governor's Power (NPR The Two Way)
The law was signed by outgoing Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and requires state Senate approval for Cabinet nominees of the new Democratic administration, something that was not required for McCrory's own nominees.
Elizabeth Warren takes to Facebook Live after being silenced in the Senate (Mashable Asia)
After she was silenced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the rest of Senate Republicans for impugning a fellow senator's character, Warren took to Facebook Live to finish her remarks.
Abe to Propose That Trump Discusses Currency Issues at G-20, G-7 (Bloomberg)
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to urge U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss currency issues at international forums like the Group of 7 and the Group of 20 instead of seeking talks with individual countries, according to a Japanese government official.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer suggested he misspoke when he cited an Atlanta terror attack that never happened.
Trump breaks ice with China in letter to Xi (BBC News)
US President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Xi Jinping, his first direct approach to the Chinese leader.
The president thanked Mr Xi for congratulating him on his inauguration last month and said he looked forward to "constructive" relations.
Sen. Ted Cruz Calls Democrats ‘The Party Of The KKK’ (The Huffington Post)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) claimed Wednesday night that “the Democrats are the party of the Ku Klux Klan.”
Speaking on Fox News, Cruz blasted the party for its opposition to Jeff Sessions, who was confirmed as attorney general on Wednesday.
Longtime Phoenix resident in U.S. illegally detained in early display of Trump executive order's reach (Los Angeles Times)
A Phoenix woman in the country illegally who was considered a low priority for deportation by the Obama administration has been taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Yemen Raid: Spicer Says McCain, Other Critics Owe Apology to Dead SEAL (NBC News)
The White House said Wednesday that anyone who questions the success of last week's deadly U.S.-led raid in Yemen "owes an apology" to the Navy SEAL who was killed there.
Supreme Court nominee Gorsuch calls Trump's tweets 'disheartening' (CNN)
Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch told a US senator Wednesday that President Donald Trump's tweets about the judiciary are "demoralizing" and "disheartening."
Senators fear Sessions debate shows chamber in crisis (USA Today)
The bitter fight over the confirmation of Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general — marked by Republicans forcing Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren to stop speaking Tuesday night — is threatening to tear apart the chamber and derail bipartisan cooperation, Senate leaders of both parties warned Wednesday.
Life on the Home Planet
Astronomers just found more evidence of a new type of black hole (Science Alert)
Black holes are among the most mysterious objects in the Universe. But they have one thing in common – most of the black holes we've found fall into two categories: small, stellar black holes with the mass a few times more than our Sun; or supermassive black holes that weigh the equivalent of millions of billions of Suns.
Massive lake drained for hydropower leaves dry bed and no fish (New Scientist)
A large artificial lake in the Balkan state of Bosnia and Herzegovina totally vanished this month and with it an estimated 2 million fish.
Primitive plants survive almost two years in outer space (New Scientist)
Primitive plants are the latest forms of Earth life to show they can survive in the harshness of space, and for many months. Cold-loving algae from the Arctic Circle have joined the space-travelling club, alongside bacteria, lichens and even simple animals called tardigrades.
