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Thursday, March 28, 2024

News You Can Use From Phil’s Stock World

 

Financial Markets and Economy

Volatility in Tech Shares Drags Market Lower (NY Times)

Stocks posted steep losses Friday, ending the week with broad declines after a report showing that job creation in the United States slowed last month.

Tesla is getting crushed — again (Business Insider)

Tesla shares are down 9%, to $160, as we head into the end of the trading session on Friday.

TSLA Chart 2/5/16 2

Another Sign of Rough Sledding Ahead: Dividend Cuts Surpass 2008 (Bloomberg)

Tightening credit puts pressure on companies to scale back payouts.

Muni bond funds providing shelter from global market mayhem (Investment News)

While the global financial markets have seemingly settled in for a fresh bout of volatility, municipal bond funds have remained relatively non-correlated to the turbulence infecting virtually every other investment category.

Inside the overall muni bond fund category, none of the 16 muni bond fund sub-categories, whether single-state or national, has a negative performance number for any period from one month to five years, annualized.

Investors dump stocks, scoop up bonds for 5th straight week (Market Watch)

Investors have been eschewing equities in favor of the perceived safety of bonds since the beginning of the year, as stock markets have taken a beating and oil prices have cratered.

Get Ready for 'iPhone Bonds' in U.S. ABS Market, Moody's Says (Bloomberg)

Your smart phone will be soon bundled into a bond.

American wireless carriers are likely to start issuing asset-backed bonds that are supported by customer payments on Apple Inc.’s iPhones and other equipment, according to a report published Friday by Moody’s Investors Service. Carriers are now increasingly selling phones through installment-plan financing that in many cases offer zero-interest rates.

The Case For A Bear Market In US Stocks Growls On (Capital Spectator)

What does a bear market for the US equity market look like? Current conditions seem to fit the bill.

sp.bear.mkt.prob.2016-02-05

China’s forex reserves poised for another record drop (Market Watch)

Investors will on the lookout for evidence that China is denting its sizable foreign exchange reserves when the People’s Bank of China releases data for January on Sunday, potentially underlining fears that Beijing is in danger of running out of ammunition as it battles a crisis of confidence.

“In a nutshell, we believe capital outflows will continue as long as markets expect the Chinese yuan to depreciate,” said analyst David Fernandez at Barclays, in a note.

Dollar Rises as Wage Growth Supports Case for Fed Rate Increases (Bloomberg)

The dollar rose from a three-month low against the euro after a U.S. employment report showed wage growth that exceeded estimates, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to continue raising interest rates this year.

Oil rig count plunges for 7th straight week (Business Insider)

The US oil rig count continued its relentless tumble this week, as it fell by 31 to 467, according to data from driller Baker Hughes. 

2 5 16 oil rigs chart

Gold futures tally best weekly gain since August (Market Watch)

Gold futures finished barely higher on Friday, but tallied their largest weekly gain since August as overall losses in the U.S. stock market and the dollar over the last five trading sessions drew investors to the perceived safety of the yellow metal.

April gold settled 20 cents, or less than 0.1%, higher at $1,157.70 an ounce. The yellow metal logged a 3.7% weekly advance—its biggest weekly gain since the week ended Aug. 21, when it rose 4.2%.

A Hedge Fund's Worst Trade (Bloomberg)

An internal fund for partners at BlueCrest, Michael Platt's hedge fund, was meant to provide an incentive for high-flying employees to remain with the firm. Now though, it looks like a big headache.

Wall Street is taking a pounding (Business Insider)

US bank stocks have plummeted this year, and everyone wants to know why.

Screen Shot 2016 02 05 at 10.30.53 AM

Lions Gate Stock Drop Shows Why Studio Wants Deal With Starz (Bloomberg)

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. wants to merge with a cable network, and now it’s clearer why.

Drown Your Oil, Gold and Equities Sorrows With a Whisky: Chart (Bloomberg)

The Rare Whisky Apex 1000 Index — the broadest and most comprehensive index for Scotch — is advancing, while commodity and equity assets are bruising investors.

Politics

Bernie Sanders, Public Menace (Bloomberg View)

Senator Bernie Sanders is a decent human being and a passionate politician. He is also a grave threat to the Democratic Party. Because the Democratic Party is currently the only major U.S. party devoted to moderation and rational empiricism, Sanders's robust campaign for president is consequently a threat to the U.S. as well.

Ap_678748063267Marco Rubio brushes off the haters in New Hampshire (Mashable)

Sen. Marco Rubio struck a positive tone at a rally Friday night in New Hampshire, outlining his vision for the country just four days out from the Granite State's first-in-the-nation primary.

But as Rubio spoke of his vision to bring us into a "new American century," his GOP presidential opponents were unleashing a series of tough attacks on the freshman Senator from Florida — likely in an effort to halt the momentum Rubio's gained since his strong third-place showing in Iowa earlier this week.

Technology

Morocco turns on what will become the world’s largest solar power plant (The Verge)

Morocco has turned on its massive solar power plant in the town of Ourrzazate, on the edge of the Saharan desert. The plant already spans thousands of acres and is capable of generating up to 160 megawatts of power. It's already one of the biggest solar power grids in the world, capable of being seen from space. And it's only going to get bigger.

Health and Life Sciences

Ask Well: What Causes Floaters in the Eye? (NY Times)

Floaters, those small dots or cobweb-shaped patches that move or “float” through the field of vision, can be alarming. Though many are harmless, if you develop a new floater, “you need to be seen pretty quickly” by an eye doctor in order to rule out a retinal tear or detachment, said Dr. Rebecca Taylor, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

File picture taken on May 25, 2009 in Beiijng shows the inventor of the electronic cigarette, Hon LikDo e-cigarettes make it harder to stop smoking? (BBC)

People trying to give up smoking often use e-cigarettes to help wean themselves off tobacco. Most experts think they are safer than cigarettes but a surprising paper was published recently – it suggests that people who use e-cigarettes are less successful at giving up smoking than those who don't.

New Estimate Boosts the Human Brain's Memory Capacity 10-Fold (Scientific American)

The human brain’s memory-storage capacity is an order of magnitude greater than previously thought, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies reported last week. The findings, recently detailed ineLife, are significant not only for what they say about storage space but more importantly because they nudge us toward a better understanding of how, exactly, information is encoded in our brains.

Life on the Home Planet

oak tree'Wrong type of trees' boost warming (BBC)

The assumption that planting new forests helps limit climate change has been challenged by a new study.

Researchers found that in Europe, trees grown since 1750 have actually increased global warming.

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