Financial Markets and Economy
5 Stocks Yielding Up To 9.7% That LOVE Higher Interest Rates (Forbes)
We hear it every single time the Federal Reserve raises rates, or even merely hints at it!
Russian markets fall as Syria strike dashes hopes of thaw with West (CNN)
The Russian currency and stock markets fell on Friday as American military action in Syria dashed hopes for a better relationship between Washington and Moscow.
Top China Stock Picker Sees Sustained Rally in Commodity Shares (Bloomebrg)
The rally in Chinese commodity producers has further to run for at least one top stock picker.
A gauge of raw materials shares on the MSCI China Index has jumped 24 percent this year, the second-best performance among 10 industry groups.
Startups In Japan Seeing Ample Cash But Lack Of Innovators (Associated Press)
Major banks and venture capitalists are keen to tap into faster growth by investing in innovative entrepreneurs, when they can find them. Money raised for ventures in Japan reached a record 276 billion yen ($2.5 billion) last year.
Everything you need to know about beer, in one chart (Business Insider)
There are dozens upon dozens of different styles of beer out there, from pale ales to stouts to bocks — and those are just a few.
A Foreign Threat to U.S. Treasuries That Dwarfs Fed's Debt Hoard (Bloomberg)
These days, it seems like everyone in the bond market is obsessed over what will happen when the Federal Reserve starts whittling down its mammoth, crisis-era investments in U.S. government bonds.
The retail apocalypse is having a terrifying impact on one corner of Wall Street (Business Insider)
Struggling with online competition, huge retailers like Sears, JCPenney, and Macy's are closing hundreds of stores that typically anchor malls, meaning they occupy the largest spaces at mall entrances and drive most shopper traffic.
Animated: How the world's population will change by 2100 (Visual Capitalist)
It’s a well-known fact that 60% of the world’s population lives in Asia.
The 5 States That Will Be Hurt Most by Slowing Gun Sales (Fool.com)
The firearms industry is an important component of the U.S. economy, contributing some $51 billion to total economic activity in the country. It also supplied over 300,000 jobs that paid on average more than $50,000 annually, which is why more than a few states might be very concerned about the slowdown in gun sales underway.
Ray Dalio explains why we may be repeating the mistakes of the 1930s (Business Insider)
Ray Dalio thinks the world's current path is looking eerily similar to one of the worst decades in recent history.
This is how many U.S. jobs robots will create over the next 10 years (Market Watch)
While much hay has been made about the sizable number of jobs that will be lost to automation, the workplace’s robotic revolution will also come with a new wave of hiring.
Trump's budget cuts might make the next pandemic way more deadly (The Conversation)
President Trump proposed a US$54 billion military budget increase to solidify the security of our nation. However, the government also recognizes pandemic threats as an issue of national security – one that knows no borders.
U.S. Fed could end reinvestment policy this year: Fed's Bullard (Reuters)
The U.S. Federal Reserve could begin winding down its massive balance sheet sometime later this year in a shift that would make it less necessary to raise the official funds rate, a central banker said on Monday.
3 More Indicators Screaming 'Move Into Cash' (Williams Market Analytics)
Despite a week marked by surprises, from a U.S. missile strike in Syria to a jobs report that was the weakest in almost a year, U.S. equities remain unperturbed while VIX tallied its 103rd session below 15, the longest streak since February 2007.
Strange Moves in Gold, Federal Reserve Policy and Fundamentals (Acting-Man)
Something odd happened late in the day in Wednesday’s trading session, which prompted a number of people to mail in comments or ask a question or two. Since we have discussed this issue previously, we decided this was a good opportunity to briefly elaborate on the topic again in these pages.
International oil markets could be heading towards a new war, as leading OPEC and non-OPEC producers are vying for increased stakes. The unexpected cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC countries, instigated by the full support of Saudi Arabia (OPEC) and Russia (non-OPEC) has brought some stabilization to the crude markets for almost half a year.
"The Bear Market Is On Hold": Deutsche Bank Throws In The Towel On Its Treasury Short (Zero Hedge)
Six months ago, Deutsche Bank's Dominik Constam – who roughly one year ago was lamenting the trendy at the time "secular stagnation" theme as an example of "capitalism in crisis" and was blasting negative rates as the "failure of globalization" – turned from prominent bond bull to bond bear, predicting a sharp jump in Treasury yields as the Trump reflation trade picked up traction and as Fed tightening accelerated pace.
Goldman Sachs says mining platinum from asteroids is a ‘realistic’ way for bankers to earn BILLIONS (AIRS)
It has released a report exploring the possibility of using an “asteroid-grabbing spacecraft” to extract platinum from space rocks.
Confusion In Bond World, As Eurodollar Shorts Hit New Record High Over $3 Trillion (Zero Hedge)
One week after we observed the biggest monthly short squeeze in 10Y TSYs in history, it was a relatively calm week in the longer-end of the Treasury curve.
Companies
Forward is Silicon Valley's futuristic doctor's office that looks "like an Apple Store meets 'Westworld.'"
For $150 a month, it acts as your primary care provider, along with providing some extra perks and technology used with the intent to keep you healthier.
A $150 million fund, The Engine, will back startups others find ‘too hard’ (Tech Crunch)
A fund and accelerator for advanced technology startups, The Engine, closed its debut fund at a robust $150 million this week, according to its President, CEO and Managing Partner Katie Rae. Last year, TechCrunch reported that MIT was investing $25 million into The Engine, becoming the anchor LP for the fund.
He Buys a Lot of Ads, and He’s Frustrated With Digital (NY Times)
Marc S. Pritchard, the chief brand officer of Procter & Gamble, has become the face of marketers’ frustrations with digital advertising this year. His message to the industry: Grow up.
Technology
Google offers at least $880 million to LG display for OLED investment: Electronic Times (Reuters)
Google Inc has offered to invest at least 1 trillion won ($880.29 million) to help South Korea's LG Display Co Ltd (034220.KS) boost output of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens for smartphones, the Electronic Times reported on Monday citing unnamed sources.
Tesla's sleek solar panels are easier to install on your roof (Engadget)
Tesla's home energy efforts might be centered around its solar roofs, but it knows that not everyone can (or wants to) rip up their roof just to bring renewable energy to their home.
Verizon built a giant drone that provides cell service after disasters (TNW)
Verizon launched drones with emergency LTE capabilities which could provide the answer to a simple-yet-serious problem after a natural disaster: reestablishing communication.
Satellite pictures, mobile phone tracking and car journey stats used to monitor economy better (The Telegraph)
Britain’s top statisticians plan to track mobile phones, monitor car journeys, and scour the entire country via satellite in an attempt to get a “real-time” snapshot of the size of the UK economy.
Microsoft tops Apple in tablet satisfaction rankings (Cult Of Mac)
For the first time ever, Microsoft has beaten the iPad in J.D. Power’s latest tablet satisfaction rankings that found the Surface has a higher number of younger customers than its competitors.
Microsoft Translator turns your words into spoken Japanese (Engadget)
You may want to install Microsoft Translator if you're going to Japan and your vocabulary is limited to "Konnichiwa," "Ohayou" and "
Notice mesenpai." The app can now turn your spoken words into Nihongo to help you get around the country.
The Race for Autonomous Vehicles Picks Up Speed (NBC News)
Crawling through rush hour traffic is probably the last thing you're looking forward to on a Monday. So how about tapping an app on your smartphone and heading out the door and into a new Mercedes-Benz robo-cab?
Malware Attacks on Macs Up 744% in 2016, Mostly Due to Adware (Mac Rumors)
Malware attacks on Macs were up 744 percent in 2016, according to the latest Threat Report shared by McAfee Labs [PDF]. Mac users don't need to be overly alarmed, though, because much of that huge jump can be attributed to adware bundling.
Hyperloop One Completes Test Track, Exploring U.S. Routes (Fortune)
Hyperloop One has announced the completion of a test Hyperloop track in Nevada, and is showcasing 11 potential Hyperloop routes across the U.S. as it pushes what it’s calling its “Vision for America.”
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New self-driving electric trucking startup thinks it can replace semis (Mashable)
There's a new player in the autonomous trucking game, and it's coming out of the gate with some big claims.
Google’s fact check feature goes global and comes to Google Search (Tech Crunch)
We live in the age of fake news — both the really fake news that’s simply fake and the kind of news that some people like to call “fake” only because they don’t like hard facts. As long as there’s money to be made from fake news (or political gain to be had), the problem isn’t likely to go away.
Mobile Gaming Revenue Passes Console and PC in Show of Force (AppPicker)
When we play the latest Triple A games on our PC, Xbox One, or PlayStation 4 it is easy to think that they are the dominant gaming platforms. There is a pretender to that title though, and it is mobile gaming.
Politics
In Georgia, a Democrat's 'Make Trump Furious' campaign rattles Republicans (Reuters)
After the crushing electoral losses that swept Donald Trump into the White House and sealed Republican control of the U.S. Congress, the Democrats' road to recovery winds through the leafy, well-heeled suburbs of north Atlanta.
Trump-Taxes: President Scraps Tax Plan, Timetable Threatened (Associated Press)
President Donald Trump has scrapped the tax plan he campaigned on and is going back to the drawing board in a search for Republican consensus behind legislation to overhaul the U.S. tax system.
New York Set To Offer Free Tuition At 4-Year Colleges (The Huffington Post)
In a major victory for the movement to improve access to higher education, New York is set to become the only state that offers free tuition at four-year colleges.
Montana Republicans Spending Taxpayer Money To Avoid A Defeat (The Huffington Post)
Montana Republicans are demanding the state spend $750,000 it didn’t budget to avoid what the GOP sees as a potential political catastrophe: high voter turnout in an upcoming special election.
Trump makes nice with Koch brothers (Politico)
President Donald Trump on Saturday night had a friendly chat at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach with twin mega-donor brothers David and Bill Koch, whose family had clashed with Trump during the campaign.
Republicans on Capitol Hill leave town with most of their agenda stuck in limbo (The Washington Post)
Congress limped into its spring break with little to demonstrate that much has changed from its previous dysfunctional gridlock — despite Republicans’ control of both Capitol Hill and the White House.
Health and Biotech
The Cost of Drugs for Rare Diseases Is Threatening the U.S. Health Care System (Harvard Business Review)
No parents should have to watch their child die, yet my former colleague “Will” and his wife “Mary” watched powerless as two of their children succumbed to spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).
Life on the Home Planet
Egypt Declares State of Emergency, as Attacks Undercut Promise of Security (NY Times)
At least 21 people were killed by an explosion at a Coptic Christian church in northern Egypt during a service to celebrate Palm Sunday, according to news media reports and the nation’s Health Ministry.
Study Shows Entrepreneurs Really Do Love Their Businesses Like Their Children (Entrepreneur)
When talking about your business, it’s likely that at some point you’ve referred to it as your baby. But do you really love your business as if it were your own child? Researchers from Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland, decided to put this question to the test in a recent study.
If Humble People Make the Best Leaders, Why Do We Fall for Charismatic Narcissists? (Harvard Business Review)
The research is clear: when we choose humble, unassuming people as our leaders, the world around us becomes a better place. Humble leaders improve the performance of a company in the long run because they create more collaborative environments.
Graphene sieve could make seawater drinkable (CNN)
Researchers in the United Kingdom have developed a graphene-based sieve that can filter salt out of seawater, a development that could provide drinking water to millions of people around the globe.
U.S. Reroutes Warships Toward Korean Peninsula in Show of Force (NY Times)
The commander of American forces in the Pacific has ordered an aircraft carrier and several other warships toward the Korean Peninsula in a show of force by the Trump administration just days after North Korea tested another intermediate-range missile.
