Financial Markets and Economy
More people have been forced to work part-time in this economy and that's not going to change (Business Insider)
Part-time work is here to stay.
The Federal Reserve of San Francisco released a paper Monday showing that while the number of workers who have been forced into part-time jobs for economic conditions is shrinking, it is still elevated compared to unemployment.
An American biologist sums up financial markets (Sovereign Man)
“The real problem of humanity is the following: we have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and god-like technology. And it is terrifically dangerous, and it is now approaching a point of crisis overall.”
In few arenas are our mental shortcomings thrown into more stark relief than in the investment markets. Our brains evolved ‘fight or flight’ mechanisms to enable us to recognise potential predators in the wild. However, they have not yet had the evolutionary time to help us respond to threats – real or perceived – in the economy, bond or stock markets.
Wealthy Greeks Slam "Incompetent Communists Ruining The Country", Demand EU "Save" Greece (Zero Hedge)
Despite the market's exuberant hope that everything will be contained and business-as-usual will resume shortly in Europe, the message from the wealthiest Greeks is very different… As The FT reports, not since the nation's civil war has Greek society been riven by deep divisions between left and right as Greece's financial plight reopens old wounds. "The government are incompetent and are ruining the country because they are communists and do not understand reality," said Maria, a banker. "But there has to be a deal. The EU has to save us," she said, fingering her golden necklace. "Right?"
A Few Random Comments on May Existing Home Sales (Calculated Risk)
First, last month housing economist Tom Lawler pointed out the data in the South looked funny, see: The “Curious Case” of Existing Home Sales in the South in April. Sure enough, sales for April were revised up, with all of the upward revision coming in the South.
The bond market is bracing for the worst and loading up on cash (TLT) (Business Insider)
Bond investors are bracing for the worst.
The Federal Reserve has signalled that, barring some unexpected economic shock, interest rates will most likely rise this year.
And that's causing unease for fixed income investors.
Central banks will continue to lift prices for years to come (Market Watch)
Even after the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, central banks will continue to play an outsize role in bolstering equity and bond market returns, said Russ Koesterich, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock.
In a weekly commentary piece published Monday, Koesterich examined how central bank policies can influence the market.
$140 Billion Bond Fund Goes To Cash As It "Braces For Bond-Market Collapse" (Zero Hedge)
Recently, it’s become readily apparent that some of the world’s top money managers are getting concerned about what might happen when a mass exodus from bond funds collides head on with a completely illiquid secondary market for corporate credit.
Here’s one glaring problem with China’s epic stock rally (Quartz)
It’s a common these days to hear that Chinese stock markets are “divorced from reality.” As 2015 has worn on, the economy seems to have slipped into ever more dire straits. China’s stocks, meanwhile, have consciously uncoupled so aggressively from that “reality” that the Shanghai Composite index is up nearly 40% this year—even after its recent precipitous slump.
Weirdly enough, the latest sign of this trend comes from economic data that isn’t dire at all. In the second quarter, China’s economy has undergone a “broad-based recovery,” says China Beige Book, a Beijing-based research group, whose findings are based on surveys of 2,000 firms and interviews with senior management.
This survey of investors perfectly captures the irony of surveying investors (BUND) (Business Insider)
Some people like forecasts; some people hate them.
If you're in the latter camp, then you might want to avoid this chart.
Trading
Deal or not, wild market swings expected after Greece decision (CNN)
Global markets are set for some wild swings once a final decision is made on a Greece debt deal.
If there's a deal, stocks are expected to shoot higher, especially in Europe. But no deal could trigger an all-out market correction in Europe, as well as ripple effects in other parts of the globe. Currencies and bond markets would also be rattled.
Are Sonic Earnings Enough For Investors? (24/7 Wall St)
Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC) reported its fiscal third-quarter financial results after the markets closed Monday. The fast food company had $0.36 in earnings per share (EPS) on $164.7 million in revenue compared to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $0.36 in EPS on $164.17 million in revenue. The same period from the previous year had $0.30 in EPS on $152.19 million in revenue.
Politics
We'll Meet More Often, U.S. Navy Captain Says to China (Bloomberg)
The U.S. expects more encounters at sea with Chinese navy vessels, according to the captain of a U.S. coastal combat ship that has patrolled the disputed South China Sea and met a Chinese ship last month.
The countries have agreed codes to help understand each other and talk via radio, said Commander Rich Jarrett, commanding officer of the USS Fort Worth. The language used is very similar to that used 20 years ago with the Soviet Union, the U.S.’ former Cold War foe, he said.
After Charleston, Governor Calls for Removal of Confederate Flag (Wall Street Journal)
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called Monday for the Confederate battle flag to be taken down from the Statehouse grounds as pressure mounted on state officials five days after the killing of nine African-Americans in a historic church.
“We are not going to allow this symbol to divide us any longer,” Ms. Haley said, applause erupting as she spoke, flanked by more than 30 state political leaders in the lobby of the Statehouse.
Chinese Clinton Fan Says Hillary Would Be Friendlier as President (Bloomberg)
A Hillary Clinton presidency would be “friendly” toward China despite the perception the architect of the U.S. military rebalance to Asia was a combative secretary of state, according to Chinese billionaire Yan Jiehe.
Technology
Next Apple Watch could have camera, better WiFi (CNN)
The Apple Watch has only been out for three months. Obviously, that means it's time for rumors about what the next version will look like.
It's no secret that Apple is working on the next generation of the wearable hardware. The first-generation watch left much room for improvement. Plus, slowly doling out new features in gadgets keeps customers hungry for the latest upgrade.
Cockroach-inspired robot uses body streamlining to negotiate obstacles (Phys)
Researchers at University of California, Berkeley have taken inspiration from the cockroach to create a robot that can use its body shape to manoeuvre through a densely cluttered environment.
Fitted with the characteristic rounded shell of the discoid cockroach, the running robot can perform a roll manoeuvre to slip through gaps between grass-like vertical beam obstacles without the need for additional sensors or motors.
Life on the Home Planet
Lion among 23,000 species threatened with extinction: conservationists (Business Insider)
The mighty lion, reclusive cave crabs and the world's rarest sea lion are among nearly 23,000 species at risk of dying out, a top conservation body warned on Tuesday.
In an update to its "Red List" of threatened species, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature hailed some clear advances in saving endangered species like the Iberian Lynx.
But, it warned, those successes have been overshadowed by declines in a range of species, with 22,784 species of animals and plants threatened with extinction.
Humankind’s Existentially Lucky Numbers (NY Times)
The Large Hadron Collider sprung back to life this month, smashing subatomic particles with nearly double the energy used to discover the Higgs boson, a landmark in understanding the makeup of the physical world. With the Higgs now in the bag, researchers are setting their sights on more exotic fare: signs of a new physics that not only describes the universe but explains why it is the way it is.
Four fundamental forces rule reality, but why is the number not three or five or 17? Matter is built from a grab bag of particles whose masses differ so wildly that they appear to have been handed out by a punch-drunk God. The proton weighs 0.9986 as much as the neutron, and each is more than 1,835 times as massive as the electron.
