Financial Markets and Economy
Almost a Decade Later, U.S. Money Markets Are Yet to Recover (Bloomberg)
Regulators’ effort to stamp out risk in the $2.6 trillion U.S. money-fund industry is creating unintended ripple effects across financial markets, with far-reaching consequences for companies and investors.
Asia Stocks Advance as Busy Week Begins; Yen Rises: Markets Wrap (Bloomberg)
Stocks in Asia rose and the dollar slipped as trading began in a busy week that includes a meeting between China President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump and culminates in the monthly U.S. jobs report.
A Surge in These Tokyo Stocks Is Puzzling the Firms' Own Officials (Bloomberg)
Officials at a handful of Japanese cable makers and concrete firms say a buying spree in their own companies’ shares is probably unjustified.
Japanese Corporate Sentiment Improves on Better Profits (Bloomberg)
Confidence among Japan’s large manufacturers improved for a second consecutive quarter in the first three months of the year as a weaker yen helped profits rise to a record.
Australia Home Prices Rise Most in 7 Years Amid Bubble Concern (Bloomberg)
Average home values in Australia’s eight state and territory capitals rose 12.9 percent in the 12 months through March, the fastest pace since May 2010, according to data from CoreLogic Inc. released Monday.
An increasing percentage of people today are not solely concerned about outsized returns when they invest their money — they also care about the social impact of their investments.
Sentiment vs. Reality: The Economy Is Telling Two Different Stories (The Wall Street Journal)
Based on surveys alone, one would think it is booming. Consumer confidence soared to a 16-year high in a Conference Board poll released this week. Surveys of small-business owners reflected optimism since the election.
The Reclusive Hedge-Fund Tycoon Behind The Trump Presidency (The New Yorker)
Last month, when President Donald Trump toured a Boeing aircraft plant in North Charleston, South Carolina, he saw a familiar face in the crowd that greeted him: Patrick Caddell, a former Democratic political operative and pollster who, for forty-five years, has been prodding insurgent Presidential candidates to attack the Washington establishment.
Singapore Home Prices Fall, Extending Decline to 14th Quarter (Bloomberg)
An index tracking private residential prices fell 0.5 percent in the three months ended March 31 from the previous quarter, according to preliminary data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority released Monday.
A Real Estate Boom, Powered by Pot (NY Times)
At the edge of an industrial park in this suburb south of Boston, past a used-car auction lot and a defunct cheese factory, is an unmarked warehouse bristling with security cameras and bustling with activity.
Australian Firms Reluctant to Spend Even With Rates at Record Low (Bloomberg)
Australian firms are sitting on their hands when it comes to investing, a key requirement for the economy’s successful transition from mining and one reason interest rates are at a record low.
China Has Its Worst-Ever Start to a Year For Defaults (Bloomberg)
China’s deleveraging push has racked up the most defaults on corporate bonds ever for a first quarter, and the identity of the debtors is pretty revealing.
Legal-Weed Buzz Fades For Utilities (Bloomberg)
With local restrictions on marijuana easing across the U.S., power suppliers from California to Maine were expecting a little buzz of their own from newly legitimate pot farmers.
Here's What U.S. Farmers Will Plant More (and Less) of in 2017 (Bloomberg)
Those are some of insights from the U.S. Department of Agriculture annual Prospective Plantings report published Friday. The agency estimates soybean acreage will increase 7.3 percent to a record 89.5 million acres this year.
6 Investment Strategies For Founders Raising Funding (Forbes)
Marketing is evolving, and the content that’s produced by you and your marketing team is no longer restricted to one department. You probably know that content can boost sales, and it plays an important role in attracting, hiring, and training the right talent.
Philippine Bananas, Indian Cotton and NZ Lamb Have Something in Common (Bloomberg)
Philippine bananas, Indian cotton and New Zealand lamb have at least one thing in common. They’re all objects of resurgent Chinese demand.
This Time it Really is Different (The Irrelevant Investor)
Stock market capitalization to GDP was once Warren Buffett’s favorite indicator. A quick glance of this ratio shows it recently blew past the two previous highs. Nobody reading this needs to be reminded of what followed those peaks.
Companies
Amazon Web Services: Launchpad for a New Generation of Start-Ups. Is That Good or Bad? (Barron's)
As shares of Amazon.com soared to new highs last week, the world took note once again of the amazing self-made fortune of its founder, Jeffrey Preston Bezos, who holds a sixth of its stock—a stake worth an astounding $72 billion.
Tesla beats expectations with 25,000 Q1 deliveries (Market Watch)
Analysts had expected deliveries between a range of 23,000 and 24,500. The number of deliveries marked a quarterly record, Tesla TSLA, +0.14% said in a statement Sunday, rising 69% from the year-ago quarter.
Vegemite the Secret Behind Australia's Best Stock in 2017: Chart (Bloomberg)
The best-performing stock in Australia got there with back-to-back deals. The A$460 million ($351 million) purchase of the iconic Vegemite spread from Mondelez International Inc. kick started a rally in Bega Cheese Ltd. shares in January.
Technology
Google Pixel Vs. Samsung Galaxy S8: Which Is The Better Android Phone? (Digital Trends)
Well folks, the wait is over. Samsung has finally taken the wraps off of the long-awaited Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, two phones that are tipped to be the most powerful and stylish phones of 2017.
Windows 10 is getting mixed reality support next month (Venture Beat)
Back in October Microsoft unveiled a bold new vision for its Windows 10 operating system named the Creator’s Update, and mixed reality technology played a big part in it. Now, that revamp has finally been dated.
Tesla's SUV demand is catching up to its sedan (Engadget)
You'd think that Tesla would sell far fewer units of its pricier, slightly frumpier-looking Model X SUV than its mainstay Model S sedan, but that's not the case these days.
Why bots need to get more personal (Venture Beat)
It made me think of the advancement in this area in the past 30 years which is beyond simplifying ordering a pizza; it hints at major changes in discovery, customer loyalty and a shift in privacy needs.
Politics
Mark Cuban: Trump ‘had no clue’ about Russian campaign ties (Market Watch)
Billionaire Mark Cuban went on Twitter on Saturday to give a backhanded defense of his frequent verbal sparring partner, President Donald Trump.
Washington's High-Court Fights Date To Washington Himself (Associated Press)
Wondering when Supreme Court nominations became so politically contentious? Only about 222 years ago – when the Senate voted down George Washington's choice for chief justice.
GOP's Selective History On High Court Fight (Associated Press)
It was the Republican talking point of the Sunday talk shows: If Democrats delay Neil Gorsuch's confirmation to the Supreme Court this week, Republicans said, it would be an affront to history – the first time a nominee to the high court had been filibustered.
Trump talks healthcare with Republican critic on golf course (Reuters)
President Donald Trump golfed with a vocal Republican critic of his healthcare push on Sunday, as he insisted efforts to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law were not dead.
Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner visits Iraq: U.S. official (Reuters)
White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, is visiting Iraq with Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, a senior Trump administration official said on Sunday.
Health and Biotech
The case for making painkillers like ibuprofen prescription-only (Quartz)
Medications such as ibuprofen and aspirin, known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs, are widely available over the counter from pharmacies and supermarkets. But health providers have known for some time they can be unsafe for people with chronic health problems such as kidney disease, high blood pressure, or heart failure.
Can a new history of vaccination silence doubters? (New Scientist)
Every year, millions of children and adults are vaccinated against diseases that only a few decades ago were terrifying and deadly, including rubella, polio and measles. Meredith Wadman’s meticulously researched book begins with the heart-rending account of a baby girl born in 1964 who survived just 16 months before succumbing to the effects of maternally transmitted rubella.
Going Under the Knife, With Eyes and Ears Wide Open (NY Times)
Dr. Asif Ilyas, a hand and wrist surgeon, was about to close his patient’s wound. But first he offered her the opportunity to behold the source of her radiating pain: a band of tendons that looked like pale pink ribbon candy.
Cancer patients have 55% greater risk of suicide, study finds (The Guardian)
Cancer patients have a 55% greater risk of suicide than people without the potentially deadly disease, according to preliminary research findings.
Life on the Home Planet
Search for survivors in Colombia after flood, landslide kills hundreds (The Wall Street Journal)
In boats, in helicopters and on foot, Colombia’s army and emergency response teams continued their search Sunday morning for survivors of a flood and landslide in remote Putumayo state that left more than 200 people dead and more than 200 others missing, officials said.
Where noisy roads and airports take the biggest toll on our health and sanity (The Washington Post)
America's cities are rough on your ears.
That's one of the takeaways from a new, richly detailed map of highway and aviation noise, created by the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
A neuroscientist says there’s a powerful benefit to exercise that is rarely discussed (Quartz)
When I was about to turn 40, I started working out regularly after years of inactivity. As I sweated my way through cardio, weights, and dance classes, I noticed that exercise wasn’t just changing my body. It was also profoundly transforming my brain—for the better.
Watch the US Coast Guard bust a suspected smuggling vessel in the Pacific Ocean (Business Insider)
Over the last two years, the US Coast Guard has been committing personnel and resources to known drug-transit zones, bringing intelligence and investigative resources to bear in an effort to crack down on traffickers and the flow of drugs north to the voracious US market.
