Financial Markets and Economy
The world's biggest oil trader thinks we may never see $100 oil again (Business Insider)
The price of oil might never go above $100 per barrel ever again, and will stay beneath $60 for as long as ten years, according to the boss of the world's biggest independent oil trader.
Mind The Gaps (The Felder Report)
About a month ago former Fed head, Richard Fisher, came out andconfirmed the idea that the FOMC’s quantitative easing policies over the past seven years have pushed prices of risk assets, including stocks, beyond what would otherwise be supported by their fundamentals.
A Dying Breed: Currency Traders Are Left Out of New Wall Street (Bloomberg)
Charlie Stenger, a currency-broker-turned-recruiter, has seen it all. One fired trader wept in his office. Another admitted he hadnt told his wife he was unemployed, and left the house every day in a suit to sneak off to a coffee shop.
Japan stocks rise, as Asian markets wrestle with Fed uncertainty (Market Watch)
Japanese stocks led Asian markets higher Monday, driven by relatively solid earnings results, despite some uncertainty about the U.S. Federal Reserve’s pace of interest-rate increases following U.S. jobs data Friday.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.1%. Thailand’s SET was recently up 0.4%. India’s Sensex was up 0.1%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended down 0.01%. Many markets in Asia were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
A Booming Market for Art That Imitates Life After the Financial Crisis (NY Times)
Americans are once again paying for the 2008 financial collapse.
This time, though, it’s willingly.
This is what a $700 billion bond-market bubble looks like (Business Insider)
Two of world's most important central bank governors, Japan's Haruhiko Kuroda and theeuro zone's Mario Draghi, have both said there's "no limit" to what they'll do to loosen monetary policy this year.
Get ready for dividend cuts (Economist)
Reinvested dividends are the main source of long-term equity returns. And a high divdend yield is a big argument for buying equities. But caveat emptor. When an individual stock has a high yield, that is a sign that the market expects the future dividend will be cut. The same can be true of the overall market.
Moody’s cuts rating on Western Australia iron ore (Market Watch)
Moody’s Investors Service cut its rating on Western Australia, one of the world’s major iron-ore hubs, as a sharp downturn in prices for the steelmaking commodity puts increasing strain on the state’s finances.
The ratings agency said on Monday it had downgraded the long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings of the Western Australian Treasury Corp., which issues debt on behalf of the state of Western Australia and state-owned corporations, to Aa2 from Aa1, citing “the ongoing deterioration in Western Australia’s financial and debt metrics and an increasing risk that the state’s debt burden will be higher than indicated.”
World's Largest Energy Trader Sees a Decade of Low Oil Prices (Bloomberg)
Oil prices will stay low for as long as 10 years as Chinese economic growth slows and the U.S. shale industry acts as a cap on any rally, according to the worlds largest independent oil-trading house.
How To Trade With Macro Winds To Your Back (Trader Feed)
What does it mean to have the wind to your back as a trader?
Many would respond in terms of trend behavior. You have the wind at your back, many believe, if you are trading in the direction of the trend.
Asia slumps in holiday-thinned trade (Business Insider)
sian shares got off to a rocky start on Monday after mixed U.S. jobs data helped sink shares on Wall Street, but trade was thin with many regional markets closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2 percent, with Australian shares slipping 0.3 percent. Japan's Nikkei skidded 1.2 percent in early trade.
What’s Behind China’s Purchase Of The Sagging Chicago Stock Exchange? (Value Walk)
China’s purchase of the Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX) is being shrugged off in some Wall Street quarters, but those with a familiarity regarding China’s monitoring of the U.S. financial system, picking apart what works and what doesn’t, have different thoughts on the matter.
Emerging Currencies Gain With Middle East Shares on Oil Rebound (Bloomberg)
Emerging-market stocks fell as oil reversed gains that were spurred by speculation Saudi Arabia and Venezuela will cooperate to stabilize prices. Bonds in Hungary and Poland advanced.
This is what a world without oil looks like (Business Insider)
Along with the China slowdown, oil's virtually unceasing slump over the past year and a half is undeniably the biggest story in global markets.
Bill Gross Investors Aren't the Only Ones Pulling Pimco Money (Bloomberg)
When Bill Gross left Pacific Investment Management Co. in 2014, it wasn’t surprising that investors bolted. But now customers are deserting another Pimco star manager who’s still in his seat.
Credit Suisse: The Fed Needs to Talk About How Foreign Banks Are Helping It Raise Rates (Bloomberg)
Foreign central banks are playing a largerrole in the Federal Reserve's plan to increase interest rates, largely at the expense of domestic money funds.
Guggenheim's $240 Billion Man Says Nasdaq to Tumble Below 3,800 (Bloomberg)
Technology stocks will tumble further this year as investors flee to safety and buyers stay on the sidelines, according to Scott Minerd, chief investment officer for Guggenheim Partners LLC.
Politics
Republican 'Normals' on the Rise (Bloomberg View)
As he launched his New Hampshire door-to-door campaign on Saturday, Ohio Governor John Kasich said something surprising. "This is not a campaign," he told volunteers and reporters in front of the bus he's pretty much lived in for more than a month. "This is a movement."
I've heard this phrase from Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump and it was clear what they were talking about.
Bernie Sanders's Problem With Democrats (The Atlantic)
When a party chooses its presidential candidate, it also chooses its party leader in the election. This year the Democrats face an unusual situation. Bernie Sanders isn’t just an outsider to the party establishment; he’s not even been a member of the party, and has long excoriated it in unsparing language. Although the media haven’t much focused on this history, the early signs suggest it could become a problem for Sanders in getting the nomination—and a problem for the party if he does get it.
Technology
The iPhone 7 might have a camera with two lenses—here’s why that’s a great idea? (Quartz)
The biggest rumor so far about this year’s iPhone 7, expected in the fall, is that it will have two camera lenses on its back.
Among various design changes, the new iPhone will reportedly lose its rear camera “bump” and it’ll get two cameras on its rear instead of one, according to MacRumors. Samples of twin-lens units have already been dispatched to Apple from its main camera suppliers, it is alleged.
Health and Life Sciences
Well: Simple Remedies for Constipation (NY Times)
Chronic constipation is an all-too-common problem rarely discussed in polite company and only reluctantly mentioned to doctors during checkups. Although it accounts for eight million doctor visits annually, only “a minority of those with constipation seek medical attention,” Dr. Arnold Wald, a leading expert on the problem, reports.
Cosmetic surgery ops on the rise (BBC)
There was a sharp increase in the popularity of cosmetic surgery in the UK in 2015, figures show.
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps) said there were 51,140 surgical procedures last year – up from 45,406 the year before.
It overturns a recent decline, which was blamed on the recession and the scandal over faulty breast implants.
Mindfulness training cools inflammation (Futurity)
There’s evidence that mindfulness meditation can improve how we age and even fight disease. Yet, little is known about the brain changes behind the effects.
A new study may offer clues. The results suggest this type of meditation lowers levels of interleukin-6, which is involved in inflammation.
Life on the Home Planet
Water rights 'threaten' Spanish wetland (BBC)
Environmentalists say one of Europe's most important wetland areas is under threat as Spain and Catalonia argue about the future of the Ebro river.
Campaigners say Spanish government plans to restrict water flow could destroy the fragile landscape.
They are worried that ultimately these waters could be transferred to other, drier regions of Spain.
World's Biggest Wind Farm To Be Built Off the Coast of the UK (Gizmodo)
The US may make big turbines, but the UK knows how to make lots of them: The world’s biggest wind farm is to be constructed just off the cost of England.
Offshore wind company Dong Energy has announced that it’s to build the huge farm off the coast of Yorkshire in northern England. It will cover 160 square miles, be home to 174 wind turbines (each one over 600 feet tall), and eventually generate 1.2 gigawatts of power—enough to provide electricity for a million homes.
