Financial Markets and Economy
U.S. stocks set for bumpy end to a wild week (CNN)
After some of the wildest days on markets in recent memory, the weekend can't come soon enough for many. Panicked selling Monday and Tuesday gave way to a scramble to buy Wednesday and Thursday.
While Many Panicked, Japanese Day Trader Made $34 Million (Bloomberg)
While a lot of investors were hitting the panic button Monday, a Japanese day trader who’d made a big bet against the market timed the bottom almost perfectly and narrated a play-by-play of the trade to his 40,000 Twitter followers. He claims to have walked away with $34 million.
As financial markets got crazy this week, many people turned cautious. Some were paralyzed. Not the 36-year-old day trader known by the Internet handle CIS.
Stocks climbing strongest ‘wall of worry’ in five years (Market Watch)
The final top of the bull market still lies ahead of us, according to a contrarian analysis of how market timers reacted to the stock market’s recent plunge.
Investors are dumping stocks like it's 2007 (Business Insider)
After China's stocks tumbled on Monday (quickly referred to as Black Monday), European and US equities followed, falling through the floor.
Why you should worry and be happy that stocks aren’t a sure bet (Market Watch)
Rattled investors now know the inconvenient truth about stocks that Wall Street consistently avoids. But can you handle the truth?
The truth is that a stock doesn’t know you own it and doesn’t care whether you make money or not.
You can’t count on your stocks for consistency and contentment, as the past week’s action has made clear. Markets that rise and fall several percentage points in a single trading day are not exactly pillars of stability.
Croydon Beats Chelsea as London Investors Chase Rental Returns (Bloomberg)
The fastest-rising neighborhood in Londons property market isnt posh Knightsbridge or hip Shoreditch, its Thornton Heath, an unglamorous suburb of commuter-town Croydon thats almost nine miles (14 kilometers) from Buckingham Palace.
Beijing targeted as investors look for a scapegoat (CNN)
Beijing has been blamed squarely for this week's wild ride on global markets. Analysts are worried by turmoil in China's stock markets, and signs that the country's massive economy is flagging.
Some critics have gone even further, insinuating that Beijing has misled the world about the severity of its economic slowdown.
U.S. retailers prod China for lower prices after devaluation (Business Insider)
U.S. retailers including Toys R Us are starting to negotiate with their Chinese suppliers to take advantage of lower manufacturing costs after China devalued the yuan, with many saying they want to be ready if currencies in China and other Asian countries drop more against the dollar.
Earlier this month, China devalued its tightly controlled currency in an effort to boost growth and help flagging exports. The nearly 2 percent cut on Aug. 11, the most significant downward adjustment to the yuan since 1994, will make imports from China cheaper. The Chinese currency is down 3.2 percent versus the dollar so far this year.
China stocks surge amid suspected government buying (Market Watch)
Chinese stocks surged for two straight trading days amid suspected government buying, but plunges Monday and Tuesday left the market down nearly 8% for the week.
China’s domestic market became the epicenter of a global selloff, with a five-session crash starting last Thursday triggering steep losses in U.S. and European stocks. Rumors of Beijing’s hand in the market reversed the selling by Thursday, which helped support global shares prices, commodities, and currencies of emerging markets that had been battered.
Charting the Market: The Rebound Continues (Bloomberg)
Markets continued their resurgence on Friday on speculation Chinese authorities are buying local equities ahead of next week's World War II victory parade. Stronger than expected U.S. GDP data also underpinned gains, giving Asian stocks the biggest boost for almost a year. It's been a rollercoaster week for all asset classes, with global equities and commodities set to erase Monday's losses – despite a morning dip in Europe.
US interest rate jump in September is back on (Business Insider)
The prospect of a US interest rate hike in September has turned from a cast-iron certainty to a suspense-filled cliffhanger – all thanks to turbulence in the share markets this month.
The global economics team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch think they have the answer, and it's partly down to the timing of the Federal Reserve meeting in second half of September.
Never mind the market hiccup, here’s the case for QE4 and Dow 25,000 (Market Watch)
This isn’t your typical lazy summer Friday. Good luck to the traders with the huevosto hold long positions over the weekend. In their favor, a surprisingly strong GDP report, a sharp rebound in equities, and the biggest bounce in crude in years. These have all helped to clear some of the dark clouds.
As for today, It’s hard to imagine ending this week in the black, considering where the Dow started on Monday morning. It could happen, though futures are looking pretty sickly at the moment. This market is as volatile as it’s ever been, so the tone can shift in a heartbeat.
Beijing is preparing to double down on China’s expensive, ineffective stock market stimulus (Quartz)
Despite Beijing’s introduction of over $1 trillion in financial stimulus designed to keep China’s stock markets aloft, the key Shanghai index is down nearly 40% from its June 12 peak, and it dropped 20% in five days of trading this month alone. In fact, the stimulus itself may have had the opposite effect, spooking investors and pushing them to front-run the markets, selling out of stocks as they rose so they don’t get caught when the stimulus dries up.
Politics
Donald Trump and the Hispanic Vote (The Atlantic)
With Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush running for president, many Republicans hoped 2016 would be the year when the GOP won its biggest ever share of the Hispanic vote. Now Donald Trump is the frontrunner. And if he hangs on to win the nomination, the GOP will almost certainly do worse among Hispanic voters than ever before. Earlier this week, Gallup released an extraordinary poll about how Hispanics view the Republican candidates. Jeb Bush is easily the most popular. Ted Cruz is least popular among the traditional choices. Nearly everyone else fits in between them in a range so narrow that the 5 percent margin of error could scramble their order.
Technology
Facebook has a new AI assistant to take on the likes of Siri (Quartz)
The future of artificial intelligence apparently still involves humans.
Facebook is running a small trial of a new service built into Messenger, a virtual assistant called M. The system will be a mix of artificial intelligence and human supervisors who will check to make sure every query is answered.
Boeing shows off its portable drone-killing laser (The Verge)
Boeing has been researching ways to disable drones with lasers for a while now, and this week, the defense contractor released new footage (below) of its Compact Laser Weapons System: a portable, tripod-mounted device that can burn a hole in a UAV or a quadcopter in seconds. The system is essentially a less-powerful version of Boeing's High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD), a truck-mounted laser that can destroy mortars in mid-flight. Although HEL MD might one day be deployed on the battlefield, its compact cousin is intended to keep drones away from sensitive areas, according to a report from Wired.
Health and Life Sciences
Many Psychology Findings Not as Strong as Claimed, Study Says (NY Times)
The past several years have been bruising ones for the credibility of the social sciences. A star social psychologist was caught fabricating data, leading to more than 50 retracted papers. A top journal published a study supporting the existence of ESP that was widely criticized. The journal Science pulled a political science paperon the effect of gay canvassers on voters’ behavior because of concerns about faked data.
Life on the Home Planet
Can empathy lead to better decisions in water usage? (Phys)
As the climate in the Southwest becomes hotter and drier, water will become an ever more precious resource, demanded by people with competing interests.
Ranchers and farmers could see their livelihoods threatened by urban areas that scoop up more water as their populations swell. Shrinking lakes could mean fewer tourists and loss of jobs.
