Financial Markets and Economy
Wall Street Has Found Its Next Big Short in U.S. Credit Market (Bloomberg)
Wall Street speculators are zeroing in on the next U.S. credit crisis: the mall.
It’s no secret many mall complexes have been struggling for years as Americans do more of their shopping online. But now, they’re catching the eye of hedge-fund types who think some may soon buckle under their debts, much the way many homeowners did nearly a decade ago.
Oil settles a tad lower after sliding to 3-month lows (Reuters)
Oil prices settled a few cents lower on Monday, retracing much of an early retreat to three-month lows in a steep slide that began last week as investors wondered whether swelling U.S. crude supplies would hinder OPEC's efforts to restrict output and reduce a global glut.
SEC Denies Winklevoss Application for a Bitcoin ETF (The Wall Street Journal)
The Securities and Exchange Commission denied an application for the first exchange-traded fund that would track the price of bitcoin, a high-profile rejection for the digital currency and the Winklevoss brothers behind the proposal.
India's Sliding Bond Risk Shows Asia Is a Haven From the Fed (Bloomberg)
Credit-default swaps on the bonds of every Asian emerging market except for South Korea have tumbled this year, outperforming debt risk for the U.K. and for France, which has jumped amid the presidential election campaign.
Asian Stocks Mixed Before Fed as Yen Fluctuates: Markets Wrap (Bloomberg)
Asian stocks began the session mixed with Treasuries trading near the highest level this year as investors anticipated a near-certain rate hike from the Federal Reserve this week.
Treasuries Fall as Corporate Bond Sales Surge Pre-Blizzard (Bloomberg)
Treasuries fell Monday, pushing yields toward 2017 highs, amid a surge in corporate bond issuance ahead of the Federal Reserve’s March 15 decision on interest rates and a snowstorm forecast for the U.S. Northeast.
Dollar Little Changed as Traders Await Fed Meeting for Catalyst (Bloomberg)
The dollar hovered near flat as traders looked to the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day meeting starting Tuesday as a catalyst for the greenback’s next move.
This Millennial China Stock Guru Has Banker Parents, But Won't Touch Banks (Bloomberg)
Baijing Yu was raised by two generations of Chinese bankers and talks with pride about her family’s contributions to the nation’s financial system over nearly seven decades.
Despite Eerie Calm, Stocks Are Where They Should Be in the Rate Cycle (Bloomberg)
The alarm bells over potential bouts of stock volatility surrounding the Federal Reserve’s anticipated interest rate hike this week may be misplaced.
Hedge Funds Exit Emerging-Market Assets as Real Money Swoops In (Bloomberg)
Short-term investors are escaping emerging markets ahead of a likely U.S. interest-rate hike this week amid concern a strengthening dollar will undermine credit quality in developing nations.
U.S. Stocks Little Changed Ahead of Central Bank Policy Updates (Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks held steady as they kicked off a week dominated by central-bank updates including the Federal Reserve’s rate decision.
These Oil States Entered Recession While Rest of U.S. Recovered (Bloomberg)
As economists ponder what’s behind the slowest U.S. economic recovery since World War II, a new explanation is taking shape: several states have suffered severe downturns of late that hampered growth nationwide.
One stock helped decimate Bill Ackman's hedge fund performance (Business Insider)
Ackman's firm, Pershing Square Capital, invested in Valeant two years ago. Later that year, the drugmaker started to run into a spate of problems that wiped more than 90% off of its market value. Reuters estimated that the investment caused Ackman to suffer roughly $3 billion in losses.
Markets Defy Finance Theory on Fed Hikes (Bloomberg)
Last week, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen gave a strong hint that the central bank would be raising rates at the Open Market Committee meeting in mid-March.
European Stock Boom Around The Corner, Says Morgan Stanley, Once Market Recognizes Value (Value Walk)
Get ready for the European stock boom, predicts Morgan Stanley’s European Equity research team. Speaking from the land of negative interest rates and the heart of populist revolt, they say don’t worry much about the shape of the US yield curve as rates rise or other signs of concern from the interest rate markets.
Another perspective on SP 500 earnings (Trinity Asset Management)
The current estimate for 2017 as of this weekend is $131.07, which is 11% expected SP 500 earnings growth, and with a small contribution to earnings (in dollars) from Energy.
The war of words between the New York Stock Exchange and IEX, America's newest stock exchange, just took a strange turn.
Donald Trump Slashes Unemployment by 88% in six weeks! (The Reformed Broker)
It’s not fake news, he literally said this on camera and people who don’t know anything nodded their heads and repeated it. And he didn’t say it once, but numerous times.
Happy Anniversary! (The Irrelevant Investor)
During the Russian financial crisis of 1998, the NASDAQ fell 33% from July through October, but during the final 58 days of the year, it shook off those losses and went vertical, adding 50%! This move was just the appetizer of what would become one of the most memorable entrées in all of financial history, 1999.
Investing When No One Really Knows What to Do (A Wealth Of Common Sense)
Here’s a conversation that has likely occurred in some form or another — either as an inner monologue, between a financial professional and client or among investors — in the past few years when thinking about how to approach today’s markets.
Companies
One Lawyer, 6,905 Hours Leads to $1.5 Million Bill in Sprint Suit (The Wall Street Journal)
Alexander Silow, a contract lawyer for a Pennsylvania plaintiffs’ firm, clocked 6,905 hours of work on a shareholder lawsuit against former executives and directors of Sprint Corp. related to its 2005 merger with Nextel.
Short Bets on Snap Are Cheap Thanks to Retail Investors (Bloomberg)
Strong interest from retail investors is driving down the borrowing fees for shorts betting against Snap Inc.’s $25 billion valuation, according to financial analytics firm S3 Partners.
JPMorgan's Risky Bonds Plan Lost Billions, Insurers Claim (Bloomberg)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. stuffed two investment accounts with risky mortgage bonds almost a decade ago as the housing market started to crumble, lawyers for two insurance companies told a state judge, causing their clients to lose more than $1 billion.
Technology
Intel Joins Silicon Valley’s Race to Make Best ‘Server on Wheels’ (The Wall Street Journal)
Intel Corp. agreed to buy Israeli car-camera pioneer Mobileye NV for $15.3 billion, one of the chip maker’s biggest acquisitions ever and the latest bet on Silicon Valley’s vision of cars as turbocharged computers on wheels.
A $121 Million Weekend With Bugatti, Jaguar, and Porsche (Bloomberg)
This year at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in Florida, a forecast of strong storms forced the major sale and show to be held a day early, on Saturday, rather than the planned-for and traditional Sunday.
Amazon’s Delivery Drones Can Be Seen at SXSW (Fortune)
The retail giant is showcasing two of its Prime Air drones to attendees of this year’s annual South by Southwest festival in Texas. Amazon said this was the first time it ever displayed its drones to the general public, according to a NBC News report on Sunday.
NASA tests life-detecting tools for Mars in the Atacama Desert (Engadget)
NASA wanted to find out whether the Mars 2020 rover can truly drill for samples and look for signs of life at the same time. So, a team of scientists spent the whole February testing tools using a practice rover called the KREX-2 in one of the driest places on Earth: the Atacama Desert.
While the tech and automotive worlds have been racing to build self-driving cars, there's another potential revolution going on in the personal transportation industry: flying cars.
Sony put four perspectives in one VR headset (Engadget)
At the back of a cold gray warehouse in Austin, Texas, I put on a headset and proceeded to chase three strangers in a game of tag at SXSW. I was expecting an immersive VR experience far removed from reality but instead the head mounted display split my field of view into four squares that represented different perspectives of the room.
The Inventor of the World Wide Web Says These Are His 3 Biggest Fears for Its Future (Business Insider)
Losing control of our personal data. The spread of fake news. The lack of regulation around political advertising. These are three of the biggest threats facing the Web today, according to its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee.
This iPhone case is basically an Android phone (Engadget)
iPhones have a reputation for being user friendly, but ultimately, Android can do a lot of things iOS can't. Aspects of Android could be useful to all phone users, but straying from the Apple ecosystem can be intimidating.
Politics
U.K. Parliament Gives Theresa May Permission to Start Brexit (Bloomberg)
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is preparing to trigger Brexit in the last week of March after securing the permission of lawmakers to begin two years of talks with the European Union.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich's response on Sunday, when asked about the House Republican proposal to overhaul the system established by Obamacare, perhaps exemplifies why the bill is going to be so hard to pass.
GOP Health Care Bill Will Result In A Huge Tax Cut For The Rich, 24 Million Without Insurance (Forbes)
Last week, GOP leadership revealed its long-awaited plan to repeal and replace Obamcare by publishing the American Health Care Act.
Senate Confirms Trump Pick To Head Medicare And Medicard (Associated Press)
President Donald Trump's pick to run Medicare and Medicaid won confirmation Monday from a divided Senate as lawmakers braced for another epic battle over the government's role in health care and society's responsibility toward the vulnerable.
If you're older and lower income, prepare to pay more under GOP health bill (CNN)
The Congressional Budget Office analysis, released Monday, found that a 64-year-old could see his premium on the individual market climb by as much as 25% under the GOP's America's Health Care Act.
The Latest Democrats Call Budget Report A 'Knockout Blow' (Associated Press)
Democratic leaders in Congress say new projections of the impact of Republicans' health insurance bill should be a "knockout blow."
Scoop: Trump to host Xi at Mar-a-Lago (Axios)
President Trump plans to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at the gold-plated Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida next month for a lowering-the-temperature summit with vast economic and security implications, Axios has learned.
Spicer says Trump’s wiretap claim wasn’t meant to be literal (The Wall Street Journal)
White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday back-pedaled President Donald Trump’s claims that his phone line was ordered tapped by then-President Barack Obama, an allegation of illegality that Trump recently made on Twitter without providing any evidence.
Key Members Of Trump's Circle Under Scrunity For Russia Ties (Associated Press)
President Donald Trump's administration remains under scrutiny over potential ties between his associates and Russia in the run-up to the presidential election.
5 Things to Watch For at Donald Trump’s Meeting With Angela Merkel (Fortune)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Trump will meet face-to-face for the first time in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday in a much-anticipated and highly consequential summit for both leaders.
Justice Department seeks more time on Trump wiretap evidence (Reuters)
The U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday it had asked for more time to respond to a request from lawmakers for evidence about President Donald Trump's allegation that then-President Barack Obama wiretapped him during the 2016 election campaign.
GOP Health Bill Could Let Companies Pressure Workers To Give Genetic Test Results (The Huffington Post)
Imagine your employer wants you to submit to genetic testing as part of a “workplace wellness” program. The testing is completely voluntary, your employer says. If you’re concerned about your privacy, no one can force you to take part.
White House analysis of Obamacare repeal sees even deeper insurance losses than CBO (Politico)
The White House's own internal analysis of the GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare show even steeper coverage losses than the projections by the Congressional Budget Office, according to a document viewed by POLITICO on Monday.
Health and Biotech
More people could benefit from BRCA breast cancer drugs (New Scientist)
Up to a fifth of women with breast cancer may benefit from drugs that are currently reserved for less common cases of the disease, caused by faulty genes.
Why Gluten-Free Food Could Increase Your Risk of Diabetes (Science Alert)
This is partly because the rise in the number of people diagnosed with coeliac disease and gluten sensitivity, and partly because celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Miley Cyrus, and Victoria Beckham have praised gluten-free diets.
Life on the Home Planet
U.S. troops really have to rough it in Poland: no fast food (The Wall Street Journal)
When the Army rolls into Poland next month to take positions near the Russian border, however, the creature comforts will stay behind. No Whoppers. No foot-long Subway sandwiches.
Thousands of Flights Are Already Canceled Because of Winter Storm Stella (Fortune)
According to Flight Aware's cancellation listing, major airlines—namely Southwest (LUV, -2.49%), American (AAL, -3.49%), and JetBlue—have axed the most flights for March 14. As of Monday afternoon, Southwest has scrapped 884 flights, and American Airlines has canceled 619.
Syrian war monitor says 465,000 killed in six years of fighting (Reuters)
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said on Monday there are so far about 465,000 people killed and missing in Syria's civil war.
North Korea warns of 'merciless' strikes as U.S. carrier joins South Korea drills (Reuters)
North Korea warned the United States on Tuesday of "merciless" attacks if an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson, which is joining South Korean forces for exercises, infringes on its sovereignty or dignity.
