Financial Markets and Economy
Global income inequality is shrinking incredibly fast (Business Insider)
America may not be moving any closer toward equal distribution of wealth, but around the world the trend is clear: Poverty is disappearing.
Those are the findings of Tomas Hellebrandt and Paolo Mauro, two economists who recently published the paper "The Future of Worldwide Income Distribution."
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Carl Icahn ‘Bubble’ Call: Missing the Forest for the Trees? (Value Walk)
Just days ago, billionaire investor and corporate activist Carl Icahn called the stock market “extremely overheated,” especially as it relates to high yield bonds.
Carnage Continues: EU Equity Futures Crash 7%, Bund Yields Plunge 20bps, Italy/Spain Bonds Dumped (Zero Hedge)
It appears Greece matters after all – US futures are tumbling, Japanese stocks are tanking (as JPY is bid on mass carry unwinds), Chinese stocks are limit down and collapsing.. and now European equity futures are open and in free-fall. Bunds are well bid, down 20bps to 72bps.
Draghi-Merkel’s Crisis Fighting Mettle Tested Anew by Greece (Bloomberg)
Angela Merkel and Mario Draghi are set to be tested on just how far they’re prepared to go to keep the euro area from shattering.
With Greece opening a fresh chapter of its five-year crisis by announcing a referendum on austerity, the German chancellor and president of the European Central Bank must this week decide whether to grant Athens the breathing space to hold that vote while ensuring that the rest of the region is inoculated against financial contagion.
At the open, core European bonds are surging and peripheral bonds are getting smoked (Business Insider)
European bond markets have opened to mixed results following word Greece will hold a July 5 referendum over whether or not to accept an accord with its creditors.
Greece imposes capital controls as crisis deepens (Yahoo Finance)
Greece closed its banks and imposed capital controls on Sunday to check the growing strains on its crippled financial system, bringing the prospect of being forced out of the euro into plain sight.
After bailout talks between the leftwing government and foreign lenders broke down at the weekend, the European Central Bank froze vital funding support to Greece's banks, leaving Athens with little choice but to shut down the system to keep the banks from collapsing.
June 2015: Unofficial Problem Bank list declines to 309 Institutions, Q2 2015 Transition Matrix (Calculated Risk)
Update on the Unofficial Problem Bank List for June 2015. During the month, the list fell from 324 institutions to 309 after 16 removals and one addition. Assets dropped by $1.4 billion to an aggregate $89.8 billion. A year ago, the list held 468 institutions with assets of $149.2 billion.
Puerto Rico Bonds Are Collapsing (Zero Hedge)
With all eyes focused on Greek ATM lines, collapsing Chinese ponzi schemes, and European bank implosions, one could be forgiven for forgetting about another crisis occurring closer to home. As we detailed here, Puerto Rico is now "in a death spiral" and PR bonds are collapsing this morning…
Stocks are getting crushed (Business Insider)
US futures are open and stocks are getting crushed.
Shortly after futures opened at 6:00 pm ET, S&P 500 futures were down 1.7%, or 37 points, to around 2,060.
Asian stock markets sink after Greece closes banks (Yahoo Finance)
Asian stock markets sank Monday after Greece closed its banks and imposed capital controls in a dramatic turn in its struggle with heavy debts.
Oil prices declined and the euro edged down against the dollar after Athens announced the moves to stanch the flow of money out of Greek banks and put pressure on creditors to offer concessions before a bailout program expires Tuesday.
Asia Markets: Asian markets fall as Greece unravels, China rattled (Market Watch)
Asian markets get roiled amid volatility in China’s stocks and as tremors from Greece shake sentiment across the region.
A move by China’s central bank over the weekend to cut interest rates failed to give a sustained lift to Chinese stocks, which have been under pressure over the past two weeks after a yearlong debt-fueled rally.
This chart shows Greece's hideously complicated future (Business Insider)
Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras may have given the nation a somewhat simple yes or no choice in the bailout referendum on Sunday July 5 – but the ramifications and the number of paths Greece can take in the aftermath is anything but clear.
You’re only human: An economist explains how it hurts your portfolio (Washington Post)
I recently had the privilege of sitting down for a chat with Richard Thaler, professor of the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. Thaler is widely recognized as the father of behavioral economics. He is perennially on the short list for a Nobel Prize in economics.
His observations about how people behave in the real world are a welcome change from the basic assumptions of most economists. Thaler breaks down the world into two sorts of people: Econs, the artificial constructs of how people are supposed to behave. They are perfectly rational, have great self-control, calculate like machines and know exactly what is best for themselves.
Markets in Asia are opening, and the euro is getting slammed (Business Insider)
We've got our first look at markets after a weekend full of Greek drama, and to start things off the euro is getting slammed.
Gold futures get a lift as Greece moves into chaos (Market Watch)
Gold futures were getting a lift Monday from turmoil in Europe, stemming from the European Central Bank’s decision to cap funds to Greek banks on Sunday, after the country said it would hold a referendum on whether to accept the terms of international creditors as it vies for fresh rescue funds.
The stunning weekend moves by Greece, led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, and the response by its European creditors have pushed the Hellenic Republic to the precipice of defaulting on a June 30 payment to the International Monetary Fund and exiting the euro.
"Contained" Greek Contagion Smashes Japanese Banks Lower (Zero Hedge)
Despite all the 'smartest men in the room' proclaiming that Greece doesn't matter, and Greek risks are "contained", Japanese stocks are tumbling led by bank stocks. Topix Banks Index has plunged the most since Feb 2014 (and 2nd most since the Taper Tantrum in 2013).
Trading
5 Key Earnings for the Week Ahead (24/7 Wall St)
24/7 Wall St. has put together a preview of some of the companies reporting their quarterly results this week. We included the consensus earnings estimates from Thomson Reuters and the stock price and trading history, as well as added some additional color on each.
Be advised that the earnings and revenue estimates may change ahead of the formal reports, and some companies may change reporting dates as well. It is worth noting that only a few of these stocks are real market movers, but we can expect that some of them may move handily based around various earnings.
Solving Your Trading Problems by Finding Your Trading Solutions (Trader Feed)
In a recent blog for Forbes, I described the essence of a solution-focused approach to trading: studying your own successes. As da Vinci's quote suggests, it's not just dry, academic study, but study with desire: the desire to know what makes you the best you can be.
Politics
Small Gains With Black Voters Could Boost GOP in 2016 (Wall Street Journal)
When it comes to black voters, the Republican Party can’t do much worse than it has in the past two presidential elections: It won a paltry 4% of the black vote in 2008 and 6% in 2012.
There’s a big upside for the GOP if it can do better: A modest boost in support from African Americans could tip some important states in presidential elections. That’s partly what’s at stake for the GOP in how African Americans view its response to theshootings in Charleston, S.C., and the Confederate flag controversy.
Puerto Rico’s Governor Says Island’s Debts Are ‘Not Payable’ (NY Time)
Puerto Rico’s governor, saying he needs to pull the island out of a “death spiral,” has concluded that the commonwealth cannot pay its roughly $72 billion in debts, an admission that will probably have wide-reaching financial repercussions.
The governor, Alejandro García Padilla, and senior members of his staff said in an interview last week that they would probably seek significant concessions from as many as all of the island’s creditors, which could include deferring some debt payments for as long as five years or extending the timetable for repayment.
Bernie Sanders: Obamacare not enough (CNN)
Bernie Sanders isn't satisfied with the Supreme Court's affirmation last week of President Barack Obama's health care law.
Instead, the Democratic presidential hopeful said on Sunday he wants the United States to adopt a "Medicare-for-all" single-payer health care plan.
"We need to join the rest of the industrialized world," Sanders said on ABC's "This Week."
Women at war (Economist)
WHEN Ewa Kopacz succeeded Donald Tusk as Poland’s prime minister last autumn, she became only the second woman in the job, after Hanna Suchocka in 1992-93. After the general election in October, the next government will again be led by a woman—but it may not be Ms Kopacz. Her centre-right Civic Platform (PO) is trailing behind its biggest rival, the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party. And at its convention on June 20th PiS announced that, if it wins, its deputy leader, Beata Szydlo, would become prime minister.
Technology
Moving The Economy Beyond The Turing Test And Man Vs. Machine (Tech Crunch)
It’s a popular concern these days to worry that when machines pass the Turing test, we’ll be replaced by robots. Well, it’s time to be incredibly worried, because we already have.
The Turing test, if you remember, goes like this: There are two closed rooms with a human in one room and a machine in the other. An interviewer asks questions and if the interviewer can’t tell the difference based on the answers, the machine passes the Turing test. And a robot will take your job.
Watch SpaceX’s Rocket Explode on the Way to the ISS? (Wired)
TODAY, IN THE eternal war between SpaceX’s reusable rockets and SpaceX’s robot boat, the rockets lost again. Elon Musk’s company loaded up a Dragon capsule full of supplies this morning in what would have been its seventh mission to the International Space Station—and its third attempt to salvage the capsule’s rocket, Falcon 9, by landing on an autonomous barge. But the poor thing didn’t even get the chance to try. Less than three minutes into flight, the rocket and its cargo exploded, their disintegrating parts cloaked by a huge cloud of smoke.
Apple iPhone 7: Everything You Need To Know (Value Walk)
The iPhone remains the world’s most iconic smartphone, and thus millions of Apple fans worldwide are eagerly awaiting news about the iPhone 7. We probably won't know exactly what Apple has in mind for the latest iteration of this flagship smartphone until September, but in the meantime a variety of leaks and reports from analysts and sources close to Apple have given us some impression of what to expect.
Health and Life Sciences
Why You’re Pretty Much Unconscious All the Time (Time)
A surprising new paper argues that consciousness is just a bit player in the human brain
Your body has a lot of nifty parts, but it’s the brain that’s the it organ of the summer. The brain’s all-the-rage moment is mostly a result of the box office hit Inside Out, from Pixar, the animation company that had previously limited itself to such fanciful questions as “What would happen if your toys could come alive?” or “Are there really monsters in my closet?” With Inside Out, the filmmakers raised their game, taking on a rather more vexing issue: How does the brain work?
The answer—which involves five colorful characters living inside your head and operating a giant control panel—was perfect at a lot of levels, equal parts fairy tale, metaphor, and sort-of, kind-of, pretty good science. But no sooner did the problem get solved, than the real scientists came along and spoiled the party. And they did it in a big way.
New antibody weapons against Marburg virus (Science Daily)
A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) identifies new immune molecules that protect against deadly Marburg virus, a relative of Ebola virus. The research provides ingredients needed to develop treatments for future Marburg outbreaks.
"These antibodies attack a new site on Marburg virus we had not seen before," said Erica Ollmann Saphire, senior author of the new study, professor at TSRI and director of the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Immunotherapeutic Consortium.
Life on the Home Planet
In Chile’s Elqui Valley, Intergalactic Sightseeing Is the Star (NY Times)
At 8:45 p.m. on a warm, clear night, the last rays of the setting sun lit up a remote mountaintop a thousand feet above the small Chilean town of Vicuña. Mother Nature’s show, however, was just beginning.
I saw Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, first. Later came the Tres Marias, as the three glittering studs in Orion’s belt are known here. Then as violet hues faded to black, there were dozens, then suddenly hundreds of stars. An hour later the Milky Way blazed across the dome of the sky, a glimmering helix of light and darkness.
Shabani: The making of a metrosexual gorilla (BBC)
Since March, Japanese women have been swooning over a gorilla called Shabani in the Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens. It's not the first time Japanese popular culture has fallen in love with a large inarticulate creature (see Godzilla).
This week Western media picked up the story and the sensitive, nurturing gorilla of the Japanese imagination became a hunky beast. The BBC's Yuko Kato looks at the bizarre anthropomorphic language used in Japan and the West in the making of this "metrosexual" gorilla.
Can you teach people to have empathy? (BBC)
Empathy is a quality that is integral to most people's lives – and yet the modern world makes it easy to lose sight of the feelings of others. But almost everyone can learn to develop this crucial personality trait, says Roman Krznaric.
Open Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird and one line will jump out at you: "You never really understand another person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."
