Financial Markets and Economy
Treasury Yield Falls to 3-Year Low as Yellen Suggests Rate Delay (Bloomberg)
Treasury 10-year yields dropped to the lowest level since 2012 as falling equities drove investors to the relative safety of government debt and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said weakening stock prices pose a risk to the economy.
Oil Is the Cheap Date From Hell (Bloomberg)
It’s scary out there. The rout in the stock market that began around Jan. 1 took a turn for the worse early this month. By Feb. 10 the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was down 9 percent for the year. That’s its worst start since the recession year of 2008. Falling oil prices were blamed: A meeting between Saudis and Venezuelans aimed at curbing production had ended inconclusively.
Just one thing can cushion investors when stock market hits bottom (Market Watch)
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen had a tall order going into her Capitol Hill testimony — give investors something to smile about. In the harsh daylight, she appears to have bitterly disappointed them, as she failed to release enough doves.
Global Stocks Slide After Fed Sparks Investor Concerns (Wall Street Journal)
Global stocks staged a sharp retreat as a cautious tone from the Federal Reserve, downbeat company news and a fresh fall in oil prices fueled anxiety about the health of the world economy.
Here's what coco bonds are and why investors are freaking out about them (Business Insider)
After a rally on Wednesday, banking stocks are falling hard again on Thursday.
Deutsche Bank is down over 3% in Frankfurt, Credit Suisse is down over 6% in Switzerland, and in London HSBC is down over 4%, Lloyds is down over 4%, Barclays is down over 5%, and Royal Bank of Scotland is down over 4%.
It means bank stocks have reverted to the trend of the year so far: falling.
Dow futures sink more than 200 points as global rout gains pace (Market Watch)
U.S. stock futures were getting clobbered on Thursday, with investors fleeing anything considered a risky asset as the global market rout kicked in again.
The investment mood turned pessimistic after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s testimony on Wednesday, a selloff in Asia and further carnage in the oil market.
Israel Stocks Drop to Lowest Since 2014 as Bear Market Looms (Bloomberg)
Israeli stocks retreated to the lowest level in almost 18 months to trade less than 1 percent from a bear market.
When Global Stocks Go On Sale (A Wealth of Common Sense)
Large cap U.S. equities continue to hold up well with the S&P 500 down roughly 12% from its all-time highs reached last spring. To some degree, this performance has masked the global bear market going on in the rest of the world.
China’s coming crash could dwarf the great recession—says an investor who called 2008 (Quartz)
China is heading for further financial chaos. In the near future the yuan could lose a third of its value against the dollar, the government would need to print more than $10 trillion to keep banks liquid, and financial institutions are set lose trillions of dollars in equity value.
It’s time for these trendy mutual funds and ETFs to put up or shut up (Market Watch)
The volatile, nerve-wracking market is quickly bringing investors to a point where they’ll be able to determine if they were sold a bill of goods when they bought alternative and “smart-beta” mutual funds and ETFs.
If results are ugly, investors might bail out on the new strategies as quickly as they adopted them.
Asian stocks are tumbling after the New Year break (Business Insider)
Investors haven't had a good start to the Chinese Year of the Monkey.
"Bloodbath" In Black Gold – Buffett's Phillips 66 Dumps Oil In Cushing, Crashes Crude Spreads To 5 Year Lows (Zero Hedge)
It was just last week when we said that Cushing may be about to overflow in the face of an acute crude oil supply glut.
Capitulation Signal (Price Action Lab)
The Fed gave a signal yesterday to the US stock market to capitulate. Weak hands and especially those that are overleveraged must now take losses and let value investors take over. Below is a chart with potential capitulation levels for the S&P 500 index.
Dollar Weakens on Fed Caution (NY Times)
“Financial conditions in the United States have recently become less supportive of growth,” she told the House Financial Services Committee. “These developments, if they prove persistent, could weigh on the outlook for economic activity.”
Crowded insurance industry becomes latest casualty of oil slump (Business Insider)
The insurance industry is becoming the latest casualty of the oil price slump, with postponements and cancellations of energy projects forcing down premium rates and income in a market that was already crowded.
Insurers forecast income could dive by 20 percent or more, possibly forcing some players to quit the energy part of a business that has attracted new entrants hoping for better returns during the era of ultra-low interest rates.
Manulife Profit Slides 62% After Energy Investments Take Hit (Bloomberg)
Manulife Financial Corp., Canada’s largest life insurer, said fourth-quarter profit slid 62 percent and said it may not meet its 2016 core profit goal amid oil and gas investment losses.
Global markets are collapsing (Business Insider)
Here we go again.
Politics
The Awful Roads of the U.S. Campaign Trail (Bloomberg View)
After three weeks of chasing presidential candidates down the roads of Iowa and New Hampshire, I cannot help but wonder if they notice the quality of the roads their buses and cars drive on. One doesn't even have to listen to voters to see that neither the small-government, tax-cutting messages nor the lavish promises of infrastructure spending from either side's candidates mesh with reality.
You Say You Want a Revolution (The Atlantic)
If there’s one thing that fires up Bernie Sanders supporters—and makes his detractors roll their eyes—it’s his call for a “political revolution.” To his base, it’s the very point of his anti-establishment, anti-elite candidacy. To his critics, it’s the very embodiment of his campaign’s naïve impracticality and vagueness.
But now that voters in Iowa and New Hampshire have spoken, it’s time to take the idea of political revolution more seriously—more seriously, indeed, than Sanders himself appears to have. It’s time to ask: What exactly would it take?
Technology
The Tribeca Film Festival Is Getting an Innovation Upgrade (Fast Company)
The purpose of any film festival is to showcase and celebrate creative storytelling—but the Tribeca Film Festival isn’t just concerning itself with what kinds of stories are being told, but how they're being told.
In conjunction with its 15th anniversary this year, the Tribeca Festival Festival will feature the Festival Hub, a dedicated center built around the idea of experiential (and experimental) storytelling.
Qualcomm’s new chips include a Snapdragon that powers next-gen wearables (Venture Beat)
Qualcomm decided to have a chip party today, and here’s the one with the salsa: a new Snapdragon Wear Platform that will power the next generation of wearables.
Health and Life Sciences
Why Americans Have Shorter Lifespans Than People in Similar Nations (Medicine Net Daily)
Car crashes, shootings and drug overdoses, which cause more than 100,000 deaths a year in the United States, may explain why Americans' life expectancy is lower than in similar countries, a new study suggests.
Americans' life expectancy is about two years shorter than residents of Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
There Is No Longer Doubt: Zika Causes Microencephaly (Forbes)
New findings published yesterday leave little doubt about whether infection with the Zika virus during pregnancy can actually cause a serious birth condition in which a newborn has an abnormally small head (microcephaly) and abnormally small brain (microencephaly). Though researchers havestrongly suspected the link, most have been urging caution in confirming it.
Life on the Home Planet
In tense standoff, FBI closes in on 4 Oregon refuge holdouts (Mashable)
The FBI closed in on the final four occupiers at a wildlife refuge in Oregon on Wednesday night that has been under the control of a self-described militia group for more than a month. The move prompted a tense standoff with the holdouts, who continuously shouted at officials trying to communicate via bullhorn.
