Financial Markets and Economy
Asia stocks mixed amid geopolitical tension, oil eases from highs (Business Insider)
Asian stocks were mixed in early trading on Wednesday as investors assessed the geopolitical risk surrounding Turkey's downing of a Russian fighter jet, while crude oil prices eased from two-week highs.
If China Killed Commodities Super Cycle, Fed Is About to Bury It (Bloomberg)
For commodities, it’s like the 21st century never happened.
The last time the Bloomberg Commodity Index of investor returns was this low, Apple Inc.’s best-selling product was a desktop computer, and you could pay for it with francs and deutsche marks.
'Silk Road' Countries' Gold Reserves Accumulation Has Grown 450% Since 2008 (Jesse's Cafe Americain)
Silk road total demand, including the growth of official reserves and commercial imports, has risen from 1,493 tonnes in the year 2000 to over 27,087 tonnes in 2015.
Twitter raises questions for investors (Market Watch)
We’ve been on the right side of what I predicted would be a Bubble-Blowing Bull Market, and I’ve reminded you to ignore the noise, as we’ve used hyped non-crises — the Euro-crisis, Fed rate-hike hysteria, China slowdown, currency wars, and so on — to buy more stocks and have then been able to take some partial profits when the bull market got back to new highs.
China Nickel Makers Said to Plan Meeting to Weigh Cuts Amid Rout (Bloomberg)
Nickel makers in China including Jinchuan Group Co., the country’s largest supplier of refined metal, plan to gather on Friday to discuss measures to respond to the lowest prices in 12 years, including possible cuts to supply, according to people with knowledge of the event.
Europe Index Futures Indicate Stocks to Rebound From 2-Day Drop (Bloomberg)
European stock-index futures advanced, indicating equities will rebound after falling the most in almost two weeks.
U.S. stock futures rise as Wall Street focuses on data, not global tensions (Market Watch)
U.S. stock futures rose Wednesday ahead of a heavy slate of economic data, pushed out as Wall Street gets ready to close for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMZ5, +45,784.62% rose 51 points, or 0.3%, to 17,816.00 and those for the S&P 500 index ESZ5, +0.28% gained 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,089.75. Nasdaq-100 futures NQZ5, +0.25% added 10.75 points, or 0.2%, to 4,676.50.
New agonies, alliances as Fed debates post-liftoff plan (Business Insider)
Federal Reserve officials, who are expected to raise interest rates next month, are already sketching out positions for a post-liftoff debate that may blur the lines between inflation "hawks" and "doves" and make the Fed's policy less predictable.
Pimco Optimistic 2015 is as Bad as World Gets; Stays Short Yuan (Bloomberg)
An improvement in global economic growth next year may help markets weather an increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve, according to Pacific Investment Management Co.
Global Stocks Rebound As Geopolitical Tensions Subside; Europe Surges On Report Of More ECB Easing (Zero Hedge)
Following yesterday's dramatic geopolitical shock, U.S. equity index futures rise as Russia has not escalated the confrontation with Turkey as some had feared, while Asian shares fall, reversing earlier gains. European stocks are rallying and the euro is falling on the back of a Reuters report that the ECB is mulling new measures to prop up lending, although it’s not clear at this point what the real impact from these measures would be.
Wall Street is still trying to sell you these turkeys (Market Watch)
Boy, oh boy, Macy’s has been a turkey on Wall Street this year. The stock is down 40% since Jan. 1, and the company recently said it was going to close a whole bunch of stores because they’re doing so badly.
Crude Storage Tanks Nearing Their Brim Spur `Super Contango' (Bloomberg)
Surging U.S. crude stockpiles that have filled storage tanks near capacity are widening the discount on immediate oil deliveries.
What stock investors should do when Black Friday comes (Market Watch)
Nothing. Zilch. That’s how much you can earn from the initial reports of how retailers fare on Black Friday and Cyber Monday — the two busiest shopping days of the busiest shopping season of the entire year.
China Stock Volatility Sinks to Eight-Month Low as Volumes Slump (Bloomberg)
Chinese stocks rose to a two-week high as volatility slumped amid growing investor confidence state intervention has stabilized equities.
Dollar tracks Treasury yields lower amid rising global tensions (Market Watch)
The U.S. dollar declined in Asia on Wednesday amid geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East, pushing U.S. Treasury yields lower.
Market participants have been betting for the dollar on the view that possible Federal Reserve rate increases would mean higher Treasury yields, which typically attract more investment, but some were trimming their bets because yields haven’t risen much, Tokyo dealers said.
Airlines Bet on Long Oil Slump After Millions Lost to Hedging (Bloomberg)
Two of the worlds biggest airlines are betting that oil prices wont rally any time soon, growing more cautious after losing hundreds of millions of dollars on hedges.
Oil prices add to gains, but oversupply concerns persist (Market Watch)
Crude future prices were volatile in early Asia trade Wednesday despite rising tension in the oil-producing region, underscoring the market’s continued concerns about unrelenting global surplus.
Crude prices climbed nearly 3% overnight on Wall Street on fears of a supply disruption after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet along the Syrian border on Tuesday. Prices for front month Nymex crude gained $1.12 a barrel, the highest settle value in two weeks. Brent prices rose for the fifth consecutive session to $46.12 a barrel, the longest winning streak since mid-April.
Politics
Gaffe Track: Hillary's 'Legal' Troubles (No, Not That Kind) (The Atlantic)
The candidate: Hillary Clinton
The gaffe: Perhaps it’s more the denouement of a gaffe. During a Facebook chat Tuesday, journalist-activist Jose Antonio Vargas criticized Clinton for referring to people who are in the country without official status as “illegal immigrants.” In response, she pledged to quit using the term.
Technology
Get ready for Li-Fi, a technology 100 times faster than Wi-Fi (Mashable)
The world might eventually have to shift its reliance on Wi-Fi to Li-Fi, an alternative technology that scientists say can reach speeds of 1 Gbps in real-world use — 100 times faster than average Wi-Fi speeds.
At those speeds, you could download a high-definition movie in just a few seconds.
The Future Of Libraries Is Collaborative, Robotic, And Participatory (Fast Company)
To look at the state of many libraries after the recession, facing cuts and closures and fundamental questions about "relevance," you could be forgiven for being gloomy about their future. But gloomy is not the predominant tone of a terrific new report from Arup, the well-regarded design consultancy. It shows that some libraries, at least, are undergoing a "renaissance," and that the future could be good for others.
Stretch the new flex for programmable rubber keyboard (Phys)
Scientists at the University of Auckland have developed a soft, flexible, stretchable keyboard using a type of rubber known as a dielectric elastomer.
The results are reported today, 25th November 2015, in the journal Smart Materials and Structures.
Health and Life Sciences
Hiding Tobacco Displays in Stores Might Lower Kids' Smoking Rates (Medicine Net)
Teenagers may be less likely to buy cigarettes in convenience stores iftobacco ads and products are out of sight, according to a new study.
Life on the Home Planet
Joy And Tears As First Syrian Refugees Arrive In Calgary (The Huffington Post)
Hugs, signs and gifts greeted the first Syrian refugees to arrive in the Canadian city of Calgary on Monday.
2015 Is Set To Be the Warmest Year on Record (Gizmodo)
The World Meteorological Organization has announced that, according to the data it’s collected so far this year, 2015 looks let to have the highest global average surface temperature on record.
In report published this morning, the Organization points out that it expects the temperature reach a symbolic high that is 1° Celsius above those recorded during the pre-industrial era. It claims that the high is caused by a combination of human-induced global warming and strong El Niño effects, and the data also confirms that the period 2011-2015 will be the warmest five-year period on record.
