Financial Markets and Economy
U.S. Retail Sales Disappoint Again (Bloomberg)
American shoppers’ reluctance to open their wallets has economists stumped.
HSBC: Central Banks Are Running Low on Ammunition (Bloomberg)
"The world economy is like an ocean liner without lifeboats." That's the headline in HSBC Chief Economist Stephen King's latest note. What he's getting at is that with interest rates sitting at or near record lows in economies across the globe, central banks could be set for major struggles if the economy starts to sour.
Russian Car Sales Slump 42% to ‘New Low Point’ in April on Year (Bloomberg)
Russian car sales continued to plunge in April from a year earlier as automakers look to government programs and a stronger ruble to support the market.
Advantages Of Too Big To Fail Kick In After $50 Billion: OFR (Value Walk)
Yesterday Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) put forward a bill that, among other things, would only automatically designate banks as systemically important if they have more than $500 billion in assets instead of the current $50 billion threshold (the Fed could still choose to designate banks above $50 billion). While a proposed ten-fold increase came as a surprise (a proposed increase of some size was expected), it does raise the question of what an appropriate threshold should actually be.
Wal-Mart teams with Alibaba's Alipay (Market Watch)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT, -1.01% said Wednesday it is teaming with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA, +0.88% to begin accepting the latter's Alipay mobile-payment system at its stores in southern China, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Customers at 25 of the U.S. retailer's stores in the southern city of Shenzhen are now able to pay using the Alibaba app, with more of the over 400 Wal-Mart stores in China to join the program soon, the report cited Wal-Mart as saying. While Wal-Mart reported a modest decline in its China sales for the fourth quarter of 2014, it nonetheless plans to expand its operations in the country, and the company said last month it intends to open another 115 stores in China by 2017. (Read more on U.S. companies' fortunes in the Chinese market here.)
Eurozone Economy Improves, but Finland and Greece Stumble (NY Times)
The eurozone economy grew modestly in the first quarter, an official report showed on Wednesday, as a surprisingly strong showing in France helped to compensate for a slowdown in Germany.
The economies of Finland and Greece, however, contracted for a second straight quarter, meeting the technical definition of a recession.
China Goes "Unconventional" In Effort To Tackle Trillions In Debt, Rescue Economy (Zero Hedge)
Two months ago we first explained why Chinese QE may be inevitable. The Cliff’s Notes version goes like this: Beijing needs to prop up its export-driven economy by devaluing the dollar-linked yuan but that’s a risky move primarily because the country has seen $300 billion in capital outflows over the past four quarters and also because China doesn’t want to be seen as a currency manipulator ahead of an IMF SDR bid.
Fed Bailouts, Goldman Commodities Business Targeted in Bill (Bloomberg)
Senators Elizabeth Warren and David Vitter introduced legislation to limit the Federal Reserve’s emergency-lending powers, adding impetus to congressional efforts to rein in the central bank.
Stocks and Trading
Hong Kong stocks seesaw as Tencent rallies (Market Watch)
Hong Kong stocks bounced back and forth between small gains and losses, as online major Tencent Holdings Ltd. 0700, +2.36%TCEHY, +4.14% popped higher on better-than-expected earnings, while telecom shares declined after China urged the sector to lower Internet data fees. The Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.28% was up 0.3%, while the mainland-China-tracking Hang Seng China Enterprises Index HSCEI, +0.07% was flat. Index heavyweight Tencent climbed 2.5% as its first-quarter net profit increased by a forecast-beating 7% from a year ago, with J.P. Morgan and several other banks and brokers holding an overweight rating on the stock.
Currency Investing Research: Good Carry, Bad Carry Trades (Value Walk)
We distinguish between “good” and “bad” carry trades constructed from G-10 currencies. The good trades exhibit higher Sharpe ratios and slightly negative or even positive skewness, in contrast to the bad trades that have both substantially lower Sharpe ratios and skewness. Surprisingly, good carry trades do not involve the most typical carry trade currencies like the Australian dollar and Japanese yen.
Politics
Nigel Farage condemned by UKIP election campaign chief (BBC)
Nigel Farage has become a "snarling, thin-skinned, aggressive" man, UKIP's election campaign chief has said in a powerful attack on the party leader.
Economics spokesman Patrick O'Flynn told The Times Mr Farage risked turning the party into a "personality cult".
"We The People" Need To Circle The Wagons: The Government Is On The Warpath (The Rutherford Institute)
How many Americans have actually bothered to read the Constitution, let alone the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights (a quick read at 462 words)?
Take a few minutes and read those words for yourself—rather than having some court or politician translate them for you—and you will be under no illusion about where to draw the line when it comes to speaking your mind, criticizing your government, defending what is yours, doing whatever you want on your own property, and keeping the government’s nose out of your private affairs.
North Korea Said to Execute a Top Official, With an Antiaircraft Gun (NY Times)
The second-highest officer in North Korea’s military was recently executed as a traitor for showing disrespect for the nation’s leader, Kim Jong-un, South Korean intelligence officials told lawmakers here Wednesday.
Gen. Hyon Yong-chol, the minister of the People’s Armed Forces, was believed to have been executed with an antiaircraft gun in Pyongyang, the North’s capital, around April 30, National Intelligence Service officials told South Korean lawmakers during a closed parliamentary session.
Technology
Robots, Hungry for Power, Are Too Weak to Take Over the World (Wall Street Journal)
When 25 two-legged automatons line up next month for a Pentagon-sponsored contest involving some of the world’s most advanced robots, the ability to use their limited onboard power to navigate an obstacle course is expected to help determine who wins the $2 million top prize.
The contest is being run by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, in an effort to foster robot technology that might be fielded in disaster zones a decade from now, and contestants will have to run on their own battery power and with limited communication from their handlers.
China imposes smartwatch and wearable tech army ban (BBC)
China has forbidden its armed forces from wearing internet-connected wearable tech, according to reports.
The People's Liberation Army Daily, the Chinese military's official newspaper, said security concerns had been raised after one recruit had received a smartwatch as a birthday gift.
News site NBC said its sources had confirmed a ban was now in place.
Air-powered car gets $5 million ‘Shark Tank’ deal (Market Watch)
Alexander wept, because there were no more worlds for him to conquer…
Car companies are always trying to develop the best ways to save on fuel. Well, Ethan Tucker and Pat Boone of Zero Pollution Motors, the U.S. licensee for Motor Development International, might have the next big thing…the AIRPod.
Health and Life Sciences
Why Do We Give Medical Treatment That Increases Patients' Chances of Dying? (Mother Jones)
While Kevin Drum is focused on getting better, we've invited some of the remarkable writers and thinkers who have traded links and ideas with him from Blogosphere 1.0 to this day to contribute posts and keep the conversation going. Today we're honored to present a post from Aaron E. Carroll.
I saw this study a few weeks ago on blood pressure treatment for nursing home residents, and I almost ignored it. There are so many like it. But it's just ridiculous that this kind of stuff continues, and that we can't seem to do anything about it.
Infant antibiotic use linked to adult diseases (Science Daily)
A new study led by researchers at the University of Minnesota has found a three-way link among antibiotic use in infants, changes in the gut bacteria, and disease later in life. The imbalances in gut microbes, called dysbiosis, have been tied to infectious diseases, allergies and other autoimmune disorders, and even obesity, later in life.
Life on the Home Planet
Johnny Depp's dogs face death in Australia (BBC)
Actor Johnny Depp has been told he has until Saturday to remove his dogs from Australia or they will be put down.
Depp and his wife, Amber Heard, are accused of breaking import laws by not declaring Yorkshire Terriers Boo and Pistol to customs when they flew in to Queensland by private jet last month.
