Financial Markets and Economy
China’s Monetary Policy Is Looking Like Alphabet Soup (Bloomberg)
China’s monetary policy is looking increasingly like an alphabet soup, sowing volatility in markets. So far this year, the People’s Bank of China has boosted rates on three different liquidity facilities, created a new one, and ordered banks to cut lending.
China’s Zombie Province Shows What’s Wrong With Its Bond Market (Bloomberg)
Nowhere are China’s rusted-out industries worse than in Liaoning, a province that’s slumped into outright recession and where officials have admitted to years of inflating fiscal revenue data.
Singapore's Big Banks' Bad-Loan Woes May Be Getting Worse (Bloomberg)
The woes of Singaporean energy-services provider Ezra Holdings Ltd. are a stark reminder to the city’s biggest banks of the threat souring oil and gas loans pose to their earnings.
Surging Egypt Inflation May Soon Peak, Finance Minister Says (Bloomberg)
Egyptian Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy said he expects surging inflation to peak by the end of the first quarter this year as the price shocks that followed decisions to raise fuel prices and abandon currency controls fade.
The stock market’s Trump rally has just begun (Market Watch)
The juggernaut of optimism unleashed by President Donald Trump’s presidency will continue to steamroll its way through the market, paving the way for stocks to carve out new highs and keep hungry bears at bay.
Luxury shoppers have a completely new attitude, and it's killing traditional retail (Business Insider)
As evidence that high-end retail has lost its footing continues to mount — from companies pivoting out of luxury to a crisis in the Swiss watch market — there is at least one bright spot to be found: pre-owned.
Yen slips after Trump-Abe meet, Asian shares firm (Reuters)
The dollar rose against the yen on Monday on relief that U.S. President Donald Trump set aside tough campaign rhetoric over security and jobs in a smooth meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with no mention of currency policy.
Coal India Profit Drops as It Preps for Retroactive Pay Raises (Bloomberg)
Coal India Ltd., the world’s biggest producer of the fuel, reported a 20 percent decline in third-quarter profit as employee costs increased after the company set aside cash for expected retroactive salary increases.
Here are 6 fables of fixed-income investing — in cartoon form narrated by the actor who played Dumbledore (Business Insider)
The UK-based investment firm, which has $374 billion in assets, on Thursday released six videos that illustrate the common mistakes made by fixed-income investors.
Each lesson plays off of a well-known childhood fable in a fun 60-second cartoon.
Jet Theriac, a portfolio manager and managing director at Hutchin Hill Capital, has left the hedge fund firm.
Theriac started at Hutchin Hill in its San Francisco office in October 2015 and left last month, according to a LinkedIn profile.
The future of the Hamptons is uncertain as prices plummet and luxury buyers head north (Business Insider)
The Hamptons have long been a weekend playground for New York City's wealthiest and most fashionable.
But thanks to a softening real estate market and the growing appeal of more affordable destinations, that could be about to change.
Companies
RBS Said to Plan More Than $1 Billion of Cost Cuts as Jobs Pared (Bloomberg)
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc is preparing to cut more than 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion) of annual operating costs by eliminating jobs and closing branches as it seeks to bolster profitability, said a person with knowledge of the plans.
Verizon, in a Reversal, Brings Back Unlimited Data Plans (The Wall Street Journal)
Verizon Communications Inc. will start selling unlimited data plans on Monday, the first time it has offered such a service since 2011 and a sign that intense competition is forcing the nation’s largest carrier to respond.
South Korea Prosecutor Plans to Resummon Samsung Heir Jay Y. Lee (Bloomberg)
A special prosecutor will again summon Samsung Group’s Jay Y. Lee over allegations including bribery and embezzlement, potentially dealing another blow to South Korea’s biggest business empire after a court rejected its request to issue an arrest warrant last month.
Technology
Robotic bee could help pollinate crops as real bees decline (New Scientist)
A drone that can pollinate flowers may one day work side by side with bees to improve crop yields.
About three-quarters of global crop species, from apples to almonds, rely on pollination by bees and other insects. But pesticides, land clearing and climate change have caused declines in many of these creatures, creating problems for farmers.
Passengers jailed five days in China for phone use on plane (CNet)
The science of whether cell phones affect airplane navigation systems seems muddy at best.
Most people, though, have become used to setting their phones to airplane mode.
Robots Take Over London Science Museum With The Largest-Ever Humanoids Display (Digital Trends)
The museum offers a bizarre array of biblical, zoomorphic, and A.I.-driven robots created in the last 500 years. But what’s even more striking is that this is “the greatest collection of humanoid robots anyone has ever put together,” curators told The Guardian.
Car makers ask Trump to revisit fuel efficiency rules (Engadget)
Car companies operating in the US are required to meet stringent fuel efficiency standards (a fleet average of 54.5MPG) through 2025, but they're hoping to loosen things now that President Trump is in town.
Politics
Peru president asks Trump to consider deporting wanted ex-leader (Reuters)
Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski asked U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call on Sunday to consider deporting the Andean country's fugitive ex-president, Alejandro Toledo, Kuczynski said in a statement.
Marchers across Mexico vent anger over Trump, and their own president (Reuters)
Thousands of protesters in more than a dozen Mexican cities took to the streets on Sunday to express their fierce opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump, portraying the new leader as a menace to both America and Mexico.
Trump aide says ‘all options’ on the table for immigration policy (The Wall Street Journal)
The White House is examining several options — including issuing a new executive order and continuing its legal battle — for how to proceed on its immigration policy after a setback dealt by the courts last week, top White House adviser Stephen Miller said Sunday.
Thousands Protest Donald Trump Across Mexico (The Huffington Post)
Thousands of protestors stormed streets across Mexico on Sunday to denounce U.S. President Donald Trump, just days after his administration began ramping up deportation efforts.
Trump’s Advisers Want You To Believe He’s The Most Productive President Yet. He Isn’t. (The Huffington Post)
President Donald Trump’s advisers have taken to boasting about the flurry of activity that has come out of the White House in the last few weeks. And on Sunday’s political television shows, Stephen Miller, a senior White House policy adviser, made the most audacious version of this claim yet.
Trump-Backing Australian Senator Plans to Stay in Parliament (Bloomberg)
A Donald Trump-supporting conservative Australian lawmaker who quit Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberal Party says he plans to stay in the senate and position his new party as a “principled alternative” to mainstream politics.
Health and Biotech
Cancer Genes Can Exist Outside Our Chromosomes (Science Alert)
Cancer sucks, in no small part because many types of tumour eventually develop a knack for dodging our best treatments.
Life on the Home Planet
Kevin Durant booed in his first game back in Oklahoma City (Business Insider)
It took 54 games, but Kevin Durant finally made his return to Oklahoma City, for the first time as a visiting player.
Durant, who famously left the Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors and form one of the greatest assortment of pure talent in NBA history, was booed heavily in his return to OKC.
Trump addresses North Korea missile test: 'America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100%' (Associated Press)
President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered an abrupt joint statement Saturday night, addressing reports that North Korea test fired a ballistic missile into its eastern sea.
21 skyscrapers that will transform London's skyline by 2020 (Business Insider)
With planning permission being granted for building projects further away from the city's two financial districts, London's skyline is going to transform over the next three years.
Humans causing climate to change 170 times faster than natural forces (The Guardian)
For the first time, researchers have developed a mathematical equation to describe the impact of human activity on the earth, finding people are causing the climate to change 170 times faster than natural forces.
Hamburg Airport Halts Flights, Evacuates in Bad Air Scare (Bloomberg)
German firefighters on Sunday evacuated hundreds of passengers at Hamburg Airport after about 50 people were injured by an unknown hazardous material that likely spread through the airport's air conditioning system.
