Financial Markets and Economy
U.S. Stocks Cap Best Week of 2015 as Interest-Rate Concerns Fade (Bloomberg)
U.S. stock investors stopped worrying about higher interest rates, at least for this week.
Here's why you should have no qualms about demanding a raise if you work in construction (Business Insider)
Looking for higher wages? Look no further than the housing market.
Coming soon: one dollar = one euro (CNN)
The two currencies are heading toward parity after Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, dropped yet another strong hint that he is about to pour more money into the European economy.
SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts – The Beat Goes On (Jesse's Cafe Americain)
“Of course I believe in reestablishing Glass Steagall. But let me go further. I do not believe that, given that six financial institutions have assets today around $10 trillion – 60 percent of the GDP of the United States – I do not believe that Congress has the capability of regulating Wall Street.
Why Wal-Mart, Target aren’t growing online as quickly as Amazon (Market Watch)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. have work to do if they are to meet digital sales growth expectations, retail experts say.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced on Tuesday that adjusted online sales estimates for the third quarter totaled $87.5 billion. That’s up 15.1% from the same period in 2014.
Yelp Shares Surge as Investors See Bargain Buying Opportunity (Bloomberg)
Yelp Inc. shares surged the most in six months Friday as investors see the customer-review website at bargain prices after it lost almost half of its value this year.
Square’s IPO achieved something that hasn’t been seen in 17 years (Quartz)
Square’s IPO did something that hasn’t been done since 1998. It was priced below the target range listed in the company’s prospectus, and then it went up. A lot.
Shares in the payments company run by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, priced for the IPO at $9 rather than the $11 to $13 that had been expected, rose 45% yesterday (Nov. 19) in their debut session on the New York Stock Exchange, closing at $13.07.
Nimble Storage is getting destroyed (Business Insider)
Nimble Storage's stock is getting pounded on Friday, and it's taking newly public Pure Storage down with it.
Copper Slump Seen Extended as Miners Look to 'Tough It Out' (Bloomberg)
Copper’s worst rout in seven years will be prolonged by the industry’s reluctance to shut major mines, some of which are already unprofitable, according to the world’s top miner.
Stocks march higher, ending their best week so far this year (Yahoo! Finance)
The stock market closed out its best week of the year Friday as big gains by retailers and technology companies pushed major indexes upward.
Stocks faded as Friday wore on, but they still finished higher. The S&P 500 index climbed almost 3.3 percent this week. By just a hair, that was its biggest weekly gain in 2015.
Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts – Bonfire of the Vanities – Thanksgiving Holiday Thursday 26 Nov (Jesse's Cafe Americain)
"And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's!
Stocks have been on a tear, and 'Santa Claus' will take us to new highs (Business Insider)
Stocks are on track to have the best week of 2015.
Sprint to raise $1.1 billion from financing deal led by SoftBank (Yahoo! Finance)
Citing the deal, Sprint cut its full-year adjusted EBITDA forecast to $6.8 billion-$7.1 billion from $7.2 billion-$7.6 billion. Sprint's shares fell as much as 6.2 percent to $3.80 in late morning trading on Friday. The new plans are delaying money coming into Sprint for phone payments and has led to a cash burn as the company needs to make upfront payments to phonemakers.
Retail Stocks Rally After Ross, Foot Locker Beat Sales Estimates (Bloomberg)
Retail stocks rallied on Friday after Ross Stores Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and Foot Locker Inc. reported better-than-expected sales, giving a boost to an industry that’s been battered in recent weeks.
Oil rig count falls (Business Insider)
The US oil rig count fell by 10 to 564 this week, according to driller Baker Hughes.
Oil Slump Puts Canada in C$3 Billion Hole as Trudeau Takes Reins (Bloomberg)
Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau released forecasts showing he’s inherited a much worse fiscal outlook than expected as the country’s finances take a big hit from the oil price slump.
Earnings haven't done this since the financial crisis (Yahoo! Finance)
It looks like S&P 500 earnings per share have declined year over year for the first time since 2009.
Why gold hasn’t bottomed and nine other money stories you may have missed (Market Watch)
When interest rates rise, market prices for bonds fall. Most income-seeking investors know this, and if they are holding the bonds until maturity, they need not worry about market-price declines. But Howard Gold discussed a different problem that can be much more frightening: The massive issuance of corporate and government debt, at a time of record-low interest rates is understandable, but there are also plenty of warning signs that we’re headed into a cycle of bond defaults.
Here's what Tesla shares did after the company announced a huge recall (Business Insider)
On Friday, Tesla announced it was recalling about 90,000 Model S vehicles worldwide, as some cars have front seat belts that could malfunction during an accident.
Investors Are Taking the Air Out of Some of the Hottest 'Yield Plays' in Markets (Bloomberg)
Years of low interest rates have sparked an intense search for yield, with many investors seeking heftier returns in riskier corners of financial markets. So-called yield plays, including real estate investment trusts (Reits), master limited partnerships (MLPs), some initial public offerings, leveraged loans, and the bottom tier of the corporate credit market, have offered relief for the return-ravenous, rate-restrained investor.
Chipotle's E. coli problem spreads to 6 states, stock gets crushed (Business Insider)
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an update on E. coli infections linked to Chipotle on Friday.
Following this news, shares of the company fell 12.5%.
Politics
Hillary Clinton to propose middle-class tax cuts (Market Watch)
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is calling for a tax cut for the middle class, in keeping with her view that most households should get help paying the bills while the wealthiest Americans should shoulder a large share of the overall tax burden.
Is Donald Trump Serious About Registering Muslims? (The Atlantic)
On Thursday, Yahoo News published an interview in which Trump seemed to assent to reporter Hunter Walker’s suggestions of requiring Muslims to register in a database or giving them a form of special identification attached to their religion. Walker wrote, “He wouldn’t rule it out.” Trump’s own comments were much vaguer: “We’re going to have to—we’re going to have to look at a lot of things very closely. We’re going to have to look at the mosques. We’re going to have to look very, very carefully.”
Technology
The Gear VR now has its own version of Steam Early Access (The Verge)
Over the past few years, it's become totally normal for developers to test out their games in public before an official release. The ambiguous status and relative novelty of virtual reality headsets, meanwhile, has made for a chaotic market of VR experiences. Finished games and apps sit often sit alongside exploratory experiments, a situation that's not quite fair to either category.
Health and Life Sciences
Why Healthy Food To One Person May Be Unhealthy To Another (Forbes)
Just as one size does not fit all when it comes to almost any pursuit in life, the same is true for dieting – in fact, nutritionists have observed that what may work for weight loss for one person doesn’t always work for another. And now, a study in the journal Cell begins to figure out why this is the case. It turns out that people metabolize food very differently depending on their individual makeup – and the makeup of their gut microbes.
Life on the Home Planet
Half of Amazon trees 'face extinction' (BBC)
More than half of all tree species in the Amazon face extinction, warn international scientists.
According to new data, up to 57% of all Amazonian trees may already fit the criteria of being globally threatened.
