Financial Markets and Economy
Trump Tax Cut May Save Oil Drillers $10 Billion, Boost Drilling (Bloomberg)
The Trump administration’s plan to slash corporate tax rates could free up more than $10 billion a year for U.S. oil explorers, opening new opportunities to boost drilling at a time of uncertainty in the marketplace.
It's time to start paying attention to the dot plot (Business Insider)
The Federal Reserve has been infamously overoptimistic about the US economy in recent years, prompting them to frequently revise down their forecasts for economic growth as the year progresses.
Back From NYC, Trader at Swedish Hedge Fund Steps on the Brakes (Bloomberg)
If you want to protect your portfolio, you better go liquid.
The current market is “priced for perfection,” said Sean George, a partner and head of fixed income at Swedish fund manager Granit Fonder AB.
Goldman Calls for Patience to See Commodity Gains After Rout (Bloomberg)
The bank is sticking to its view that tightening supplies will lead to higher prices later this year, maintaining its positive outlook on the sector, according to a report dated March 12.
Dollar rises before expected Fed rate rise, euro zone bond yields up (Reuters)
The dollar rose before the start on Tuesday of a Federal Reserve policy meeting expected to raise U.S. interest rates while euro zone government bond yields headed higher as investor nerves over an election in the Netherlands appeared to ease slightly.
China Home Sales Surge 23% in First Two Months Defying Curbs (Bloomberg)
China home sales remained resilient in the first two months of the year, signaling policy makers are struggling to check the booming housing market.
The Massive Cost Of America's Crumbling Infrastructure [Infographic] (Forbes)
One of President Trump's key aims during his time in office is overhauling and revitalizing America's potholed roads, disheveled railways and creaking bridges.
The S&P 500 crashed more than 50% during the 2008/2009 Great Financial Crisis. March 6 marked the S&P 500's eight-year anniversary of its 2009 intraday low of 666. Three days later, the index put in its closing low of 676.63.
Fed, Economists and Investors Show Rare Harmony on Rate Outlook (Bloomberg)
A year ago, the Federal Reserve was forced to back away from its earlier projection for four interest-rate increases in 2016. This year, everyone’s coming around to the Fed’s view.
Chinese Leaders Back Bankruptcies for Unwanted Zombie Firms (Bloomberg)
China is getting serious about dealing with so-called zombie companies through court-led bankruptcies as it seeks to cut overcapacity in industries and boost economic growth.
With his widely followed, and positively reviewed, address to Congress last week, President Trump showed how easy it could be to unite Washington around a big-budget centrist agenda on health care, immigration, taxes, infrastructure and the military.
ROSENBERG: These 10 classic signs show that the stock market is 'bubbly' (Business Insider)
Gluskin Sheff's David Rosenberg is concerned about a stock market bubble.
In a note on Friday, Rosenberg shared 10 reasons to be cautious on the US stock market, which are also classic signposts of market tops.
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.
Oil hovers near three-month lows as investors await data (Reuters)
Crude oil prices hovered near three-month lows on Tuesday, with investors waiting for key reports and data that may shed light on a supply overhang in the global market.
This is the most overvalued stock market on record — even worse than 1929 (Market Watch)
This is the most dangerous and overvalued stock market on record — worse than 2007, worse than 2000, even worse than 1929.
Or so warns Wall Street soothsayer John Hussman in his scariest jeremiad yet.
Activist Investor Ackman's Hedge Fund Sells Valeant Stake (Associated Press)
Activist investor Bill Ackman has sold his hedge fund's stake in beleaguered drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., saying the investment took up a "disproportionately large amount of time and resources."
Analysis: Ample indications crude futures were prime for a correction (S&P Global Platts)
Prompt crude futures continued to weaken Friday, with both NYMEX crude and ICE Brent struggling to hold at levels last seen just ahead of the OPEC-led deal in late-November to cut output.
Fasanara Capital: This Is The Bear Case For Oil (Fasanara Capital)
Oil correction (~10% from peak) is not necessarily the foretell of an imminent debacle. Oil corrected by approx. 20% twice in the past months (June-July 2016 and October-November 2016), without derailing the bull trend.
BAML: Market Is Ignoring Rate Hikes As Well As Troubling Events (Value Walk)
The US Federal Reserve is expected to “remove the punch bowl,” a Bank of America Merrill Lynch notes, as the US economy is “booming” and aggressive rate hikes are on the horizon.
Why OPEC Is Colluding With Hedge Funds (Zero Hedge)
Something unprecedented happened last November when OPEC sat down in Vienna to hammer out the final terms of its oil production cut deal (which, incidentally, has yet to translate into a drop of all time high inventories): one day before the summit, the oil producing cartel – or rather Saudi Arabia – secretly invited hedge funds to sit in on the negotiations and provide OPEC, with input on what to do.
"2017 Will Be A Tipping Point" – Why Some Think This Is The Next "Big Short" (Zero Hedge)
One week ago we reported that "Mega-Bears Smell Blood As Mall REITs Tumble" in which we wrote that "just like 10 years ago, when the "big short" was putting on the RMBX trade, and to a smaller extent, its cousin the CMBX, so now too some are starting to short CMBS through the CMBX.
China Suffers Worst Start To A Year For Retail Sales Growth Since 2002 (Zero Hedge)
With its credit impulse wearing off (and inflation spikes stalling any hopes of renewed stimulus anytime soon), it appears China's always-happy consumer is not so happy as 2017 begins.
Companies
New York City Sues Verizon, Claiming Broken Promises of Fios Coverage (NY Times)
Nine years after Verizon promised to make its high-speed Fios internet service available to every household in New York City, the city sued the company on Monday, saying it had failed to keep that pledge.
Bitcoin Miners Signal Revolt Amid Sluggish Blockchain (Bloomberg)
You may not know it by looking at bitcoin’s recent price surge, but the infrastructure underpinning the world’s most popular virtual currency is teetering.
Kushners Set to Get $400 Million From Chinese Firm on Tower (Bloomberg)
A company owned by the family of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, stands to receive more than $400 million from a prominent Chinese company that is investing in the Kushners’ marquee Manhattan office tower at 666 Fifth Ave.
Technology
Brain scans can spot criminals, scientists say (The Guardian)
Neuroscientists have used brain scans to spot the difference between people who committed crimes on purpose and those who broke the law through sheer reckless behaviour.
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Edible robots made from gelatin may soon get to work in your intestinal tract (Recode)
Robots can conduct surgery, pacemakers can help regulate a person’s heartbeat, and now robots you eat may soon start crawling around inside your intestinal tract, delivering medicine or handling other duties.
Levi's new Bluetooth-connected jacket seems both cool and weird (Popular Science)
Off the cuff, the new smart jacket forthcoming from Levi’s—which has Google technology literally woven into it—appears to be both fascinating and a little puzzling.
Politics
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.
The White House's estimate of coverage losses under the GOP's health care plan is even larger than the CBO (Business Insider)
The White House ran an internal examination of the potential impacts of the American Health Care Act and found that the number of Americans who would be uninsured within 10 years could actually be closer to 26 million, not the 24 millionprojected by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Fact Check: Trump’s Critiques of the Affordable Care Act (NY Times)
President Trump blamed the news media on Monday morning for “making Obamacare look so good” as he spoke at a listening session with nine people he characterized as “victims” of the health care law.
Republican healthcare plan: 24 million people could lose coverage, CBO reports (The Guardian)
As many as 24 million Americans risk losing health coverage over the next decade under the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Monday.
Bernie Sanders Wins Over Crowd Of Rural Trump Supporters By Exposing The Truth About Trumpcare (Politics USA)
Bernie Sanders went into hostile territory for progressives and convinced the president’s supporters in West Virginia that Donald Trump’s campaign was a massive con job and his policies would hurt the voters he promised to help the most.
Trump Warns It Could Take Several Years for Health Costs to Drop (Bloomberg)
President Donald Trump said it could take several years for health insurance prices to start to drop under an Obamacare replacement plan he is promoting, creating a rocky transition period that could pose a risk for members of Congress up for re-election next year and Trump’s own bid for a second term in 2020.
Trump economic head: Whether millions have insurance is ‘interesting’ but beside the point (Think Progress)
Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace grilled Gary Cohn, the Trump administration’s National Economic Council director, about the millions of people slated to lose their health insurance coverage under the Trumpcare proposal on Sunday.
Why can’t Republicans give straight answers about their health care bill? Because the truth is ugly (Salon)
My fondest wish for the next journalist who interviews Paul Ryan about the American Health Care Act, the replacement to Obamacare that Republicans are trying to jam through Congress, is that he or she asks the speaker of the House, “Are you an idiot or are you just assuming the American people are idiots?”
WATCH: John Oliver torches the “universally hated” Republican health care bill (Salon)
John Oliver joined the rest of America on Sunday night when he trashed the GOP’s new health care bill. Oliver dedicated his latest show of “Last Week Tonight” to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s amazingly unpopular American Health Care Act.
Worker Safety Rules Are Among Those Under Fire in Trump Era (NY Times)
Even as the Labor Department awaits confirmation of a new secretary, officials say enforcement actions are moving forward against companies accused of violating workplace safety rules. There is just one issue: The public isn’t likely to know much about them.
Federal Inquiry of Fox News Moves to a Grand Jury, but Without Preet Bharara (NY Times)
The political drama around the federal courthouse in Manhattan did not end with the sudden, unexplained turnabout of President Trump in firing Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Schumer Warns of Government Shutdown Over Trump’s Border Wall (Bloomberg)
Senate Democrats warned Republicans Monday that attempts to take funding away from Planned Parenthood or pay for President Donald Trump’s border wall in a stopgap spending bill that must pass by late April would result in a government shutdown.
Trump Gave CIA Power to Launch Drone Strikes (The Wall Street Journal)
President Donald Trump has given the Central Intelligence Agency secret new authority to conduct drone strikes against suspected terrorists, U.S. officials said, changing the Obama administration’s policy of limiting the spy agency’s paramilitary role and reopening a turf war between the agency and the Pentagon.
The “magic microwave” theory: Kellyanne Conway keeps doubling down on Trump’s wiretapping claims (Salon)
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has tipped her hand about President Donald Trump’s strategy in making unfounded accusations that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, had wiretapped Trump Tower during the election: Distract attention from the real links between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Russia’s ability to manipulate U.S. elections is a national security issue, not a political one (Brookings)
It would have been impossible to imagine a year ago that the Republican Party’s leaders would be effectively serving as enablers of Russian interference in this country’s political system.
Spicer says ‘reports from a variety of outlets’ justify Trump’s wiretapping claim. They don’t. (Think Progress)
During his news conference on Monday, Press Secretary Sean Spicer referred to “numerous reports from a variety of outlets” in an effort to build a case that President Trump’s tweetstorm accusing President Obama of wiretapping him before the election wasn’t a total fabrication.
CBO: Trumpcare will result in more uninsured people than there were before Obamacare became law (Daily Kos)
The Congressional Budget Office's score of Trumpcare is complete, and while the Freedom Caucus isn't going to hate it as much as everyone else because it saves a bit of money—$337 billion over 10 years—it's a big, big blow to everyone who has said people will keep their insurance.
White House insists public can trust Trump’s words (Politico)
President Donald Trump should be taken literally and seriously, but only “if he's not joking,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer explained Monday.
Spicer did not say how to tell what is and isn't a joke.
AP FACT CHECK: Cabinet Members Go Rogue On Science, History (Associated Press)
Some of Donald Trump's boasts from the first weeks of his presidency were dashed by developments in recent days. For example, builders of the Keystone XL pipeline were let off the hook from a buy-American requirement that Trump had promised.
How the House GOP Health Plan Compares to the ACA (The Wall Street Journal)
News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services.
The US government now has less cash than Google (Sovereign Man)
In the year 1517, one of the most important innovations in financial history was invented in Amsterdam: the government bond.
It was a pretty revolutionary concept.
Life on the Home Planet
Astronomers Have Investigated a Weird, Isolated Planet-Like Object (Science Alert)
Back in 2012, astronomers spotted a perplexing isolated object in our galactic neighbourhood – an object more massive than Jupiter, that looked very much like one of the closest rogue planets we'd ever found. The only problem was, it wasn't like any rogue planet we'd previously seen.
This Week's Blizzard Could Be the Biggest March Snowstorm New York Has Seen in 129 Years (Business Insider)
A massive blizzard is expected to bury much of the East Coast in snow on March 14, according to the US National Weather Service.
Cooling to absolute zero mathematically outlawed after a century (New Scientist)
It’s an absolute. Mathematics has put speed limits on cooling, finally proving a century-old law – that unless you have infinite time and resources, you can’t get to absolute zero.
