Financial Markets and Economy
Oil Trades at One-Week Low on Signs of Rebound in U.S. Supplies (Bloomberg)
Oil traded at its lowest in more than a week in New York on signs U.S. production is continuing to recover, undermining OPEC’s efforts to clear a global glut.
Canada, Ontario face hard choice as Toronto home bubble builds (Reuters)
Officials from Canada and its most populous province will meet on Tuesday to bring Toronto's hot housing market to heel, under pressure from voters angry that speculators or foreigners are fueling a bubble in Canada's largest city.
U.S. Firms in China Face Worst Conditions in Decades: AmCham (Bloomberg)
U.S. companies in China face one of the most challenging environments in decades this year, the American Chamber of Commerce in China said.
Steel Output in India Forecast to More Than Double by 2031 (Bloomberg)
Steel mills in India are set to churn out metal at a rapid pace over the next decade and a half with output forecast to more than double bolstered by a growing economy and increasing urbanization, according to the Indian Steel Association. Shares of producers rose in Mumbai.
Iron Ore Ignores China Data, Index as Decline Accelerates: Chart (Bloomberg)
Iron ore futures have fallen more than seven percent in the past two days despite encouraging data showing the economy in China, a major consumer of the steel-making material, grew more than expected in the first quarter.
China’s Economy Grows 6.9%, but Warning Signs Persist (NY Times)
China’s economic data is usually very predictable. But occasionally there are surprises, though so small that by other countries’ standards they would barely be noticed.
Iron ore is still tumbling, losing 30% in less than 2 months (Business Insider Australia)
Iron ore prices continue to tumble, slumping to a fresh multi-month low on Monday.
According to Metal Bulletin, the spot price for benchmark 62% fines slumped by a further 3.53% to $66.25 a tonne, leaving it sitting at the lowest level since November 4 last year.
Pound recovers after Theresa May statement (BBC News)
The pound recovered in late-morning trading following the announcement by the Prime Minister Theresa May of a snap general election in June.
Earlier, sterling had fallen after it was announced that Downing Street would make a statement.
Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness (in America) (Bloomberg)
Chances are, if you live in the U.S., you feel worse today than you did 10 years ago. Don’t worry, it’s not you. This is a national problem: America’s rank on the happiness scale is falling.
Tanker Freight Rates Tank On China's Proposed Consumption Tax (S&P Global Platts)
China's plan to impose a consumption tax on mixed aromatics, light cycle oil and bitumen blend has shaken up everyone from the oil industry to the shipping industry.
Pound suffers sharp fall and FTSE 100 falters as markets await statement by Theresa May (The Telegraph)
The pound has recovered some ground on talk of UK general election on June 8.
It is currently down just 0.23pc at $1.2556 against the US dollar. Against the euro, it has also trimmed its losses, down now just 0.25pc.
Goldman: The S&P 500 Is Not Overvalued–Yet (Financial Sense)
Goldman laid out its case for further equity gains in a presentation published at the beginning this month titled Where To Invest Now. Across 80 pages, the investment bank’s chief equity strategist David Kostin dissects the US equity market and find several areas that look attractive based on macro and micro trends.
How Well Do Stocks Hold Up In Geopolitical Crises? (Barron's Asia)
Headlines like the growing conflict with North Korea, a renewed Cold War with Russia and the chance that France will elect a right-wing nationalist as president have many investors on edge.
If You Own An S&P ETF, You Won't Like This (The Heisenberg, Seeking Alpha)
It's Monday evening, I got too much sun yesterday, and I'm writing this from an iPad on the porch, so you'll forgive the stream-of-consciousness lean.
11 US cities where you need to make more than $75,000 to live comfortably (Business Insider)
Some of the biggest cities in the US are actually quite affordable. But there are other places where a $75,000 salary — that's about $15,000 more than the US median income — won't cut it.
The world is awash in crisis with wars looming, economies crashing and revolutions brewing. Doomsday bunkers sales are soaring and individuals from coast to coast are getting ready for whatever tomorrow may bring.
Mnuchin Agrees With Trump: "Strong Dollar Over Short-Period Of Time Is Hurting US Economy" (Zero Hedge)
In an interview with the FT, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discussed Trump's "tremendous" tax reform, and confirmed what many already knew: that the push to revise the US tax code has been dramatically slowed by the failure to repeal and replace Obamacare, and conceded that the administration’s timetable for ambitious tax reforms will be delayed.
Companies
Microprocessor supergiant Intel has discontinued the Intel Developers Forum (IDF), its annual mega-conference in San Francisco, citing the difficulties of getting across a unified message as it moves past just powering PCs into a bold new future.
Tesla’s Robotics Unit Faces Threat of Strike in Germany (The Wall Street Journal)
Elon Musk is getting a quick introduction to the bare-knuckle world of German labor unions as the country’s largest industrial union mulls a strike at Tesla Inc.’s recently acquired industrial robotics subsidiary.
This is how the hotel industry plans to take down Airbnb (The Next Web)
Once overlooked, hotel executives are now taking notice of Airbnb. The short-term rental company was dismissed by one Marriott executive as recently as December, saying the company was “not really making headway in the corporate environment, which is really our bread-and-butter business.”
Apple Grows Its Ecosystem, And Its Advantage (Forbes)
Apple slipped off its high horse in 2015 and 2016, but has hopped back aboard and is now streaking at the front of the market.
Citi Sees Oil Surging $10 as OPEC Combats Roaring U.S. Shale (Bloomberg)
Citigroup Inc. joined Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in backing commodities, saying it’s the season to have faith in raw materials and oil will probably rally to the mid-$60s by the end of the year.
Technology
Siri is dying. Long live Susan Bennett. (Type Form)
She’s been in the hands of over 100 million people. Perhaps she’s slept on your nightstand. She may have even drunk-dialed your ex.
And guess what: Susan Bennett, the original voice of Apple’s Siri, never saw it coming.
Apple launching three iPhones this fall (Engadget)
Apple is prepping up to three iPhones for a possible fall launch, including a flagship stainless steel and curved glass tenth anniversary model, according to Bloomberg's Apple guru Mark Gurman.
Princeton’s ad-blocking technology could be the ‘end game’ for online publishers (The Next Web)
Developed by researchers at Stanford and Princeton, this ‘undefeatable’ ad blocker breaks from the norm and detects ads much like humans do: by looking at it. Typical ad-blockers scan a page’s source code looking for signs of ads.
Plug and Play’s new accelerator wants to make the fashion industry less wasteful (Tech Crunch)
Textile manufacturing takes a heavy toll on the environment, from the pesticides used to grow cotton to the polluted water created by dye runoff. Fashion’s short retail cycle also results in millions of tons of waste every year.
Google Earth feeds your wanderlust with 'Voyager' stories (Engadget)
There are two things you should never do if you want to maintain productivity: start clicking on links in Wikipedia, or open Google Earth. There are many, many other ways to waste time on the internet but the amount of work hours lost between those two is probably enough to make most managers weep.
MIT's app only needs a second to teach you a new language (Engadget)
You know the seconds and minutes you waste waiting for the elevator to arrive, for a friend to reply to an IM or for a website to load? A team of MIT CSAIL researchers believe you can put them to good use, so they created a series of apps called the WaitSuite that makes the most of those idle moments by helping you learn a new language.
Politics
President Donald Trump's top aides will huddle Tuesday to discuss whether or not the U.S. should remain part of the Paris Climate accord — a global effort to cut down on climate-warming carbon emissions.
President Trump to Order Review of Visa Programs, 'Buy American' Provisions (TIME)
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Tuesday directing federal agencies to conduct a review of visa programs and federal procurement policies to determine whether American workers are being taken advantage of.
Politics Hasn't Stopped The Growth Of Ivanka Inc. (Associated Press)
Since her father was elected president of the United States, global sales of Ivanka Trump merchandise have surged and her company has applied for at least nine new trademarks in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Canada and the U.S — signs that the commercial engine of Ivanka's brand is still humming even as the first daughter builds a new political career from her West Wing office.
Trump’s Unreleased Taxes Threaten Yet Another Campaign Promise (NY Times)
President Trump’s promise to enact a sweeping overhaul of the tax code is in serious jeopardy nearly 100 days into his tenure, and his refusal to release his own tax returns is emerging as a central hurdle to another faltering campaign promise.
Trump Congratulates Erdogan on Vote Amplifying His Power (NY Times)
President Trump called President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Monday to congratulate him on winning a much-disputed referendum that will cement his autocratic rule over the country and, in the view of many experts, erode Turkey’s democratic institutions.
Ivanka Trump's Company Won Potentially Valuable China Trademarks The Day She Dined With Chinese President Xi Jinping (Associated Press)
Ivanka Trump's company won potentially valuable China trademarks the day she dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Turkey Takes a Stride in the Wrong Direction (Bloomberg)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s victory in last weekend’s constitutional referendum moves his country further away from the Western model of liberal democracy and closer to one-man rule.
Spicer Argues That More Public Disclosure Is Unnecessary, Even Harmful (NY Times)
White House officials on Monday mustered a sweeping defense of their less-is-more public disclosure practices, arguing that releasing information on a wide array of topics would strike a blow against personal privacy and impede President Trump’s ability to govern.
North Korean envoy at UN warns of nuclear war possibility (CNN)
Only at a North Korean press conference at the United Nations, can you hear a diplomat say he hoped journalists had a good holiday weekend and then warn of possible thermonuclear war.
Australia's prime minister is scrapping a type of visa that allows non-citizens to work in the country (Business Insider Australia)
Under the proposed changes will be a short term two-year stream visa with a broad list of occupations. The second visa class will focus on higher skills and will have a four-year limit. It will require a higher standard of English than the two-year visa.
Poll: Majority no longer thinks Trump keeps his promises (CBS News)
A majority of people in the U.S. no longer believe that President Trump keeps his promises, according to a Gallup survey released Monday.
One poll shows Trump's stunning impact on the way Republicans feel about the US economy (Business Insider)
Republicans have become much more confident in the US economy since the election of President Donald Trump. And a new poll shows Trump's win may have even changed the way they see the past.
Japan Wants to Keep Trade Hardliner Wilbur Ross Away From Some Economy Talks (Bloomberg)
Japan wants to keep Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross out of an economic dialogue with the U.S. as it seeks to avoid disputes with the Trump administration over a weaker yen and trade imbalance, according to a Japanese official who asked not to be identified.
Trump vows ‘insurance for everybody’ in Obamacare replacement plan (The Washington Post)
President-elect Donald Trump said in a weekend interview that he is nearing completion of a plan to replace President Obama’s signature health-care law with the goal of “insurance for everybody,” while also vowing to force drug companies to negotiate directly with the government on prices in Medicare and Medicaid.
Watch Melania nudge President Trump to put his hand over his heart for the national anthem (Washington Examiner)
First lady Melania Trump nudged her husband's hand during the National Anthem after the president was slow to putting his hand over his heart.
Trump casually smears 30 percent of Americans while live-tweeting Fox & Friends (Think Progress)
During his election night speech, Donald Trump promised to be a “president for all Americans.” But on Monday morning, he went out of his way to smear the roughly 30 percent who identify as Democrats.
British spies were first to spot Trump team's links with Russia (The Guardian)
Britain’s spy agencies played a crucial role in alerting their counterparts in Washington to contacts between members of Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives, the Guardian has been told.
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Donald Trump’s big problem is he doesn’t know what he’s talking about (Vox)
Donald Trump doesn’t know what he’s talking about. This became clear when he said he realized dealing with North Korea was “not so easy” after 10 minutes with the Chinese president.
Steve Ballmer Serves Up a Fascinating Data Trove (NY Times)
Guess what Steven A. Ballmer has been up to for the last several years. (No, not just cheering for the basketball team he owns, the Los Angeles Clippers.) It’s a novel project, and he plans to take the wrapping off it Tuesday.
Views of Trump (Pew Research Center)
Ratings of Trump’s job performance remain more negative than positive: 54% say they disapprove of the job he is doing, while 39% approve. Public evaluations of Trump’s job performance are about the same as they were in February.
Life on the Home Planet
Gaza crippled by electricity crisis as power plant runs out of fuel (CNN)
Gaza's only power plant has run out of fuel, leaving 2 million residents of the coastal enclave with only four hours of electricity a day in what the UN cautions could be the tipping point to making Gaza "unlivable."
‘Fate of the Furious’ Reveals That China Is Where the Action Is (Bloomberg)
“The Fate of the Furious” claimed a record global box-office debut even after an underwhelming opening in North America. Vin Diesel & Co. can thank China for the extra boost of nitrous.
How Bacteria-Laden Poop Is Killing American Squash and Melons (Scientific American)
Gird your gourds. A deadly bacterium transmitted via beetle poop is threatening bright blossoms and bulbous vegetables in the U.S. By the time yellowing leaves and signs of wilting become apparent it is already too late.
A Huge Asteroid Is Set to Hurdle Past Earth This Wednesday (Science Alert)
An asteroid so big it's been nicknamed after Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will streak past Earth this Wednesday, April 19.
Sunken Pleasure: California Will Need Mountains of Sand to Save Its Beaches (Scientific American)
Southern California’s beaches are an essential part of the state’s identity. The sandy, blond shorelines are like Hollywood or the towering redwoods—iconic. They are also an important piece of California’s more than $40-billion annual coastal and ocean economy.
