Financial Markets and Economy
Charting the Markets: Volatility Persists (Bloomberg)
Markets continue their wild swings as investors consider the health of the world's two biggest economies. China set the tone on Tuesday with its official manufacturing gauge slumping to a three-year low. A U.S. factory report expanded at the slowest pace since May 2013, contributing to the third-biggest drop in the S&P 500 Index this year. Asian stocks, as measured by the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, have swung between a gain of 0.4 percent and a loss of 1.1 percent.
Gold now looks riskier than stocks (Market Watch)
Any discussion about gold tends to bring out the emotional side of investors.
For some, gold GCZ5, -0.11% is a store of value that will withstand the test of time — and, in truth, is the only place your money is safe from the government, zombies, or government-bred zombies.
For others, gold is a silly plaything. They see gold investors as delusional or ignorant, or both.
Extreme volatility rocks China stocks (CNN)
The benchmark Shanghai Composite shed 4.2% at the opening bell, only to recover and close with a 0.2% loss. The smaller Shenzhen Composite followed a similar pattern, opening nearly 5% lower before rebounding to post a 2% decline.
The Shanghai index has now crashed roughly 40% from its June 12 peak, wiping out all gains made this year.
Enough about China, everyone's forgetting about 2 major drags on the economy (Business Insider)
It's been a turbulent few months for the markets, led by China's economic rebalancing.
But with all the talk of Asia's slowing growth, it's easy to forget about two of the other big drags on on the global economic outlook – Brazil and Russia.
Brent back below $50 as oil prices keep sliding (Market Watch)
Oil prices fell on Wednesday, extending losses from the previous session, as financial markets continued to show weakness and U.S. oil stockpiles likely grew further.
The oil market has been extremely volatile over the past couple of weeks. A massive three-day surge in oil prices of over 25% was reversed on Tuesday, with losses of around 8% as worries about China’s economy resurfaced.
Ruble Falls Second Day as Citigroup Sees Further Weakness on Oil (Bloomberg)
The ruble weakened, following the biggest drop in more than four months, after Citigroup Inc. said the currency will remain under pressure until oil ends its declines.
Oil prices extend losses on U.S. oil inventory, manufacturing data (Business Insider)
Oil prices fell as much as over 2 percent in early Asian trade on Wednesday, as a stronger than expected build in U.S. crude oil stocks and weaker U.S. manufacturing data fueled a rout in prices that started in the previous session.
Brent and U.S. crude finished around 8 percent lower on Tuesday to end a 25-percent three-session surge, the largest three-day gain since 1990.
This energy giant is laying off thousands of people (CNN)
ConocoPhillips (COP), one of America's largest energy companies, disclosed plans on Tuesday to cut about 1,800 jobs. The biggest chunk of layoffs will take place in North America, including more than 500 just in Houston.
The oil giant cited a "dramatic downturn" rippling through the industry for the cuts.
Dow futures jump almost 100 points as U.S. stocks look set for rebound (Market Watch)
U.S. stock futures pointed to an upbeat open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with investors finding relief in calmer markets in Asia ahead of a Chinese holiday.
Later in the day, key labor-market data and the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book will also be closely watched for any clues on the timing of the first rate increase.
A guide to managing money from your 20s to your 70s (Market Watch)
Money can be an intimidating topic, and every life stage brings a new group of complicated decisions to tackle. But if you manage your money strategically, you can turn money into a tool that works for you, not against you. Here’s how to manage your money in every decade — from your 20s to your 70s.
In your 20s
Get organized. Make a list of everything you own (from the money in the bank to your car or other valuable possession) and everything you owe. Make sure you know your credit score — you may not have much on your credit report yet, but it’s important to keep an eye on your score as you build your history.
Solar Win in Coals Back Yard Shows Cheap Way to Beat Blackouts (Bloomberg)
Near a massive iron ore mine in the Northern Cape, almost 320,000 photovoltaic panels mounted to track the sun cover the rust-colored earth. Spanish developer Acciona SA built the 94-megawatt Sishen solar project in about 16 months under some of the strongest sunshine in the country.
In South Africa, the fifth-biggest producer of coal, which is burned to generate most of the country’s electricity, solar and renewable power are gaining fast. The alternatives have attracted 193 billion rand ($15.5 billion) of investment since 2011, helping the government ease blackouts. Two coal-burning power plants first approved in 2007, now costing $17 billion, are over budget and more than seven years behind schedule.
Asian shares drop after U.S., China PMIs hit Wall Street (Business Insider)
Asian shares got off on the back foot on Wednesday after weak manufacturing activity reports from both the U.S. and China sent Wall Street reeling, while the dollar steadied after steep losses.
U.S. S&P e-mini equity futures
were up 0.7, suggesting that some calm could return to markets later in the global day.
OPEC Said to Be Split on Need for Long-Term Oil-Price Forecasts (Bloomberg)
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies are at odds with Iran and other OPEC members over whether the organization should include oil-price forecasts in its long-term strategy report, according to three of the group’s delegates.
The Gulf kingdom, which has led the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in a battle against rival producers, is seeking to exclude price assumptions from the report, according to the delegates, who asked not to be identified because the document isn’t public. The disagreement reflects internal divisions over whether OPEC policy should focus on prices or the stability of the oil market, one of the delegates said.
Here's exactly who owns the UK's stock markets (Business Insider)
The Office for National Statistics just released its bi-annual estimate of who exactly owns the shares in UK-listed and incorporated companies.
Politics
More Republicans Believe Ted Cruz Was Born In USA Than Obama (Think Progress)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), was born in Calgary, Alberta in Canada in 1970, according to the birth certificate he released two years ago. But a Public Policy Polling poll released on Monday found that 40 percent of Republican voters falsely believe Cruz was born in the United States — compared to just 29 percent who believe the same of Hawaiian-born Barack Obama. Just 22 percent of Republicans said they believe Cruz was born abroad.
The poll indicates that a misinformation campaign by Donald Trump and other prominent Republicans has successfully convinced a large plurality of Republicans — 44 percent of those polled — that President Obama was born outside of the United States and his grandparents somehow planted a false birth announcement in the Honolulu Advertiser at that time.
Netanyahu Faces Political Test With First Vote on Israel Budget (Bloomberg)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a test of political strength as the government budget is put to its first vote in parliament Wednesday.
Failure to pass the spending plan in three votes by Nov. 19 would trigger a collapse of the ruling coalition. Netanyahu’s Likud party heads a government that holds only a one-seat majority in the 120-seat Knesset.
Trump, Clinton playing game of liar’s poker with the voters (Market Watch)
The 2016 presidential campaign is turning into a huge game of liar’s poker.
In his 1989 best seller by that title, Michael Lewis used the game, which relies on bluff rather than skill, as a metaphor for how Wall Street traders fleeced their clients and trading partners by exploiting their ignorance.
Technology
The Apple Store now sells drones (Market Watch)
In addition to iPhones, iPads and iPods, you can now buy drones from the Apple Store. But they’re not iDrones just yet.
The Apple Store began selling Tuesday the ‘Phantom 3’ line of drones created by SZ DJI Technology Co., commonly known as DJI. DJI is the world’s top maker of consumer drones and is expected to exceed $1 billion in sales this year, compared with $130 million in 2013. The Chinese company raised a $75 million investment in May that valuing the business at $8 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
This Light-Up Bottle Does More Than Just Hold Water (Gizmodo)
If you’ve ever wanted to try being invisible, cycling on a busy road at night is a good start. Adding front and rear lights is obviously a good move, but for side-on visibility, things get a little more tricky. Italian cycling company Elite is trying to solve that with something surprisingly simple: a light-up water bottle.
Campers have long used the trick of dropping a glowstick in a water bottle to get a more diffuse, spread-out light. The Candea water bottle does the same thing, by putting LED lights in the bottom of a translucent white water bottle. Stick that in the bottle cage on your bike, and you have good side-on visibility, without having to spray-paint anything, or even attach a new mount to your your bike.
This might be the best new drone to buy for beginners (Quartz)
Don’t be like Enrique Iglesias. In May the multi-platinum singing sensation was playing a sold-out show in Tijuana, Mexico, when a drone dropped down near the stage to get some close-up shots. He reached out to it to pull it closer and sliced his fingers open on the spinning propellor blades.
Even for those of us without drones swooping down on our Latin pop live shows, the safety of the ever-increasing number of drones buzzing around our heads is a real issue. The most popular consumer drone on the market, the DJI Phantom series, weighs almost 3 lbs, and if it fell out of the sky, it would likely crush your skull…
Health and Life Sciences
Here's how to calculate your heart's age (CNN)
About 69 million Americans are not as young at heart as they believe they are, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.
Using a simple calculator that measures age, blood pressure and BMI, the CDC found that more than 40% of Americans had hearts that were five or more years older than their actual ages.
Poor sleep may make you prone to colds (BBC)
People who sleep six hours a night or less are more likely to catch a cold when exposed to the virus, a novel human experiment has found.
For one week, 164 healthy volunteers were asked to wear a wrist sensor that tracked their normal sleep habits.
They were then given nasal drops containing rhinovirus and quarantined in a hotel for five days under close observation to see how many got a cold.
Life on the Home Planet
Tropical forests 'on the edge' (Phys)
Tropical rainforests could largely disappear by the end of the century, warns a new report commissioned by the Club of Rome.
The Club of Rome, celebrated for its influential early 1970s report on The Limits to Growth, commissioned former WWF International Director-General Dr Claude Martin to write On the Edge: The State and Fate of the World's Tropical Rainforests.
