Financial Markets and Economy
Bond Funds Have Been Borrowing to Boost Returns (Bloomberg)
For more than two decade, Bill Gross did the seemingly impossible, according to Bill Gross.
Drug that rose 5,000% hasn't come down in price (CNN)
Remember the drug used by cancer and AIDS patients that skyrocketed from $13.50 to $750 a pill? Well, the price has yet to come back to earth.
The company still has not cut the price below $750 even though it vowed that it would on national TV and in a public statement over two weeks ago.
Concerns about the global economy are so far just that (Business Insider)
Concerns about the global economy are so far just that: concerns.
What to look for in Netflix’s earnings (Market Watch)
The streaming giant NFLX, -1.39% is pushing further into the content space, competing for content with rivals such as Amazon.com Inc.’s Instant Video and Hulu, a joint venture of Walt Disney Co.’s DIS, +0.91% ABC, Comcast Corp.’sCMCSA, -0.80% NBCUniversal and 21st Century Fox Inc.’s FOXA, +0.39% network, while also encroaching more on traditional media and film companies.
U.S. Drillers Idle Rigs for Sixth Week as Oil Lingers Near $50 (Bloomberg)
U.S. oil explorers idled rigs for a sixth week as they grapple with crude near $50 a barrel.
Uh-oh (Business Insider)
Wall Street's stock market gurus have been warning us to brace for turbulence as companies announce their Q3 financial results.
Oregon sells $10.8M worth of pot in first 6 days (CNN)
Dispensaries in Oregon sold $10.8 million worth of recreational pot in the first six days it was legal, said the Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association.
Recreational sales became legal in Oregon on October 1, and the association has only tallied revenue through October 6.
How to Make $2.5 Trillion in Five Days: What We Learned This Week (Bloomberg)
As central banks refrain from raising rates, investors are piling into the markets.
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Emerging-market currencies just had their best week of the year (Market Watch)
Emerging-market currencies are having a spectacular week.
Currencies across the developing world have recorded huge gains against the dollar since last Friday, when the weaker-than-expected September jobs report kicked off a rally in the space.
Lumber Liquidators is exploding (Business Insider)
Lumber Liquidators shares are exploding.
Puerto Rico May Be Unable to Avoid Bond Defaults, Adviser Says (Bloomberg)
Puerto Rico, at risk of running out of cash as soon as November, may be unable to pay investors as it looks to restructure $73 billion of debt, saidSteven Rhodes, the former U.S. bankruptcy judge who is advising the islands government.
Clock is ticking for biggest tech deal ever (CNN)
Michael Dell might be about to pull off the biggest tech deal in history. But he better get it done before the next freakout on Wall Street.
Zinc price hike helps FTSE 100 to biggest weekly gain since 2011 (Business Insider)
The FTSE 100 just posted its biggest weekly gain in four years, thanks to a recovery in mining stocks.
Hidden emerging-market debts could spark next crisis (Market Watch)
As central bankers and finance ministers from around the globe gather for the International Monetary Fund’s annual meetingshere in Peru, the emerging world is rife with symptoms of increasing economic vulnerability. Gone are the days when IMF meetings were monopolized by the problems of the advanced economies struggling to recover from the 2008 financial crisis. Now, the discussion has shifted back toward emerging economies, which face the risk of financial crises of their own.
Russia Eyes Drastic Measures to Rev Up Economy With Budget Boost (Bloomberg)
Russia’s government is said to be weighing unprecedented and unpopular steps that it says will revive growth, including increasing the retirement age and raising taxes on the rich, following the 2018 presidential election, according to a senior administration official.
The government is discussing lifting the pension age to 65 after the ballot, according to the official, who asked to remain unnamed because of the sensitive policy deliberations. In a bid to shore up the budget and reduce stress on the economy, the state is also considering a new wave of selling assets that can eclipse previous privatization drives, the official told reporters Friday.
U.S. wholesale inventories rise slightly in August (Business Insider)
U.S. wholesale inventories rose in August, boosted by larger stocks of computers and professional equipment used by businesses.
The Commerce Department said on Friday that wholesale inventories increased 0.1 percent, outpacing the median forecast of a flat reading in a Reuters poll.
Zambia Targets 3.8% Budget Gap Even as Spending Set to Surge (Bloomberg)
Zambia’s government plans to almost halve the budget deficit next year, a target it may struggle to meet as it boosts spending by 14 percent.
In 3rd Quarter, Investors Rode the Rapids After Stocks Plunged (NY Times)
A long stretch of unusual calm in the stock market gave way to a succession of violent swings in the third quarter as investors worried that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates at last and then were disappointed — after the briefest spurt of euphoria — when the Fed demurred.
The net result was the worst quarter in four years, and some strategists predicted further trouble ahead.
Gap shares are getting destroyed (Business Insider)
Gap shares are getting smoked.
In early trading on Friday, shares of the retailer were down 7% after reporting September sales that disappointed.
Tesla Falls After Barclays Downgrades to Sell, Cuts Price Target (Bloomberg)
Tesla Motors Inc. fell Friday to the lowest price in six weeks after Barclays downgraded the stock to the equivalent of a sell rating. Tesla shares declined every day this week.
The biggest drag on corporate profits is about to vanish (Business Insider)
The dollar's drag on corporate profits is set to die away soon.
Politics
Hillary Clinton’s Weak Plans for Changing Wall Street (The Atlantic)
The 2008 financial crisis handed Barack Obama a clear mandate to fix a broken system. But Obama and his key economic advisers, Tim Geithner and Larry Summers, didn’t opt to go that route. Instead of undertaking structural reform, they proposed a long list of incremental improvements that eventually became the Dodd-Frank Act.
Seven years later, with her new proposals to reform Wall Street, Hillary Clinton is sticking with that strategy. There is plenty to feel vaguely positive about in Clinton’s plan: Tax high-frequency trading! Close the Volcker Rule loophole! Require firms to admit wrongdoing when agreeing to sweetheart settlements! Increase the maximum penalties that regulators can impose! What’s not to like?
Obama Revamping Syria Rebel Strategy Amid Challenge From Russia (Bloomberg)
The Obama administration is abandoning its failed attempt to build and train a rebel force in Syria to take on Islamic State and will focus on equipping selected leaders and providing air support to their units.
The change is a recognition that President Barack Obama’s original plan to train thousands of moderate fighters fell short, producing only a handful of rebels to combat the terror group. The U.S. instead will identify leaders in the region and provide their forces with arms and other support short of missile launchers or anti-tank weapons.
Technology
Robot exoskeleton suits that could make us superhuman (CNN)
If you've been dreaming of strapping on your own "Iron Man" armor, you might have to wait a while longer. But revolutionary "bionic exoskeletons," like the metal suit worn by comic book hero Tony Stark, might be closer than you think — just don't expect to fly away in one.
Exoskeleton developers working in rehabilitation are leading the way, creating wearable robotic suits that allow people with lower-body paralysis to walk upright again.
PolyEyes 2.0 Can Turn Normal Human Vision Into That Of Clumsy Chameleons (Popular Science)
Chameleons have it all. Giant fast-firing tongues, color changing skin, arms great for grasping at sticks, and eyeballs that can move independently to capture a huge view of the world around them. Bringing humans closer to chameleons, at least when it comes to vision, is the PolyEyes 2.0, by the Interactive Architecture Lab.
Health and Life Sciences
Heart health in the 'stroke belt' (CNN)
To promote heart health awareness where it is needed most, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill had a creative idea. They assigned 15 African-American participants from the rural, low-income community of Lenoir County, North Carolina, to take pictures of what "cardiovascular health" means to them and their community.
Life on the Home Planet
Prosthesis users make best prosthesis teachers (Futurity)
It can be hard for people who have had an upper limb amputated to learn to use a new prosthesis, but learning from a fellow amputee can make it a little easier.
Heart, Clock, Yuan and Pot pictures via Pixabay.
