Financial Markets and Economy
The Crowded Trade in Bank Stocks Among Oil-Rich Countries (Bloomberg)
When it comes to the selloff in bank stocks, there’s plenty to blame: credit concern, earnings, negative interest rates, and souring sentiment.
Middle income Americans aren't that worried about the choppy stock market (Business Insider)
Many are worried about what the hemorrhaging stock market could mean going forward for the overall economy.
Oil Hits Latest Hurdle as U.S. Fuel Glut Puts Brakes on Refining (Bloomberg)
Refineries in the middle of the US are curtailing crude processing as profits shrink, leaving behind oil that’s adding to a supply glut and pushing prices to the lowest since 2003.
Four-Day Losing Streak for Market as Economic Concerns Grow (NY Times)
U.S. stocks fell for the fourth day in a row as concerns about global economic weakness intensified, even as the Federal Reserve chairwoman, Janet L. Yellen, reiterated her confidence in the U.S. economy.
This isn’t 2008, but it isn’t great either (Economist)
So far, 2016 has been something of a disaster around global markets. Equity and commodity prices have been hammered. Yields on safe government bonds are plumbing extraordinarily low levels. Investors seem to be terrified. But of what?
Some Hedge Funds Want to Make Subprime Auto Loans Next Big Short (Bloomberg)
A group of hedge funds, convinced they have found the next Big Short, are looking to bet against bonds backed by subprime auto loans. Good luck finding a bank willing to do the trade.
Global stocks are in a bear market (Business Insider)
That's it: Global stocks are officially in a bear market.
Oil is back below $27 because there’s still way, way too much of it (Quartz)
Surprise, surprise! Crude oil is falling again. The week’s big loser: US benchmark West Texas Intermediate, which fell below $27 per barrel for the first time since 2003.
This is a global stock market rout worth celebrating (Telegraph)
We toiling workers can allow ourselves a wry smile. For most of the last eight years the owners of wealth and inflated assets have had things their own way, while the real economy has been left behind.
The tables are finally turning. The world may look absolutely ghastly if your metric is the stock market, but it is much the same or slightly better if you are at the coal face.
The stock market sell-off is not the Fed's fault (Business Insider)
Things got a bit testy Thursday as Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said that the decision to raise interest is not the source of the current market meltdown.
During a multi-hour testimony to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) pointed out that the crash in financial markets occurred right after the Fed's 0.25% rate hike in December.
The iPhone Reality Distortion Field (Above Avalon)
The iPhone has not only changed the definition of success for Apple, but has altered the perception required to properly sense reality. Similar to the dynamic that exists between rivaling siblings, having the iPhone become the single-most successful consumer technology product in history has produced an environment in which every subsequent Apple product decision has failed to meet the expectations set by iPhone. As a consequence, questions and doubts surrounding new Apple products and services have emerged even though there are tangible signs of success and progress being made. The iPhone has produced a new type of reality distortion field around Apple.
The market for diamonds is totally messed up right now (Business Insider)
It's a good time to talk about how messed up the world's diamond-supply dynamics are right now.
To put it most simply: The world has more diamonds and fewer people who want diamonds, and that's suppressing the price and hurting diamond miners.
The simple rule at the heart of finance is being broken (Quartz)
If you lend somebody money, they have to pay you back with interest.
Tesla Takes Notes from SolarCity (Bloomberg)
Tesla Motors and SolarCity share a lot — Elon Musk, a focus on new energy technologies, and racy valuations. As of this week, they are both also touting efforts to live more within their means. It is a sign of the times.
Gold surges to one-year high on financial uncertainty fears (Business Insider)
Gold surged more than 4 percent on Thursday to its highest in a year as fears about financial uncertainty, a lower dollar and U.S. Treasury yields persuaded investors to seek refuge in the precious metal.
Traders said financial instability fears were fueled by European bank shares slumping to multi-year lows, with concerns mounting over banks' profitability in a low-growth and low-interest rate environment.
Politics
The Five Republicans Who Could Be President (Bloomberg View)
We began with more than 20 Republican candidates. Seventeen made it to a formal announcement. Eleven reached Iowa. Now six remain; and with Ben Carson going nowhere, only five have a chance to win the nomination. Here is how each of them could do that.
Donald Trump wins by repeating what he did in New Hampshire. As long as the rest of the field is split, he'll benefit in two ways: Negative ads will be aimed at other Republicans, and a third of the vote will be enough to win.
Clinton Tries to Stop the Sanders Surge (The Atlantic)
Who’s the Democratic front-runner now?
When Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders meet in Milwaukee tonight, you might think it’s Sanders. The sixth Democratic debate comes just three days after the Vermont senator’s landslide win in the New Hampshire primary, and the only question seems to be just how aggressive Clinton will be in going after him.
Technology
The Surgeon Will Skype You Now (Popular Mechanics)
The surgeon, who has spent 15 minutes gently tearing through tissue, suddenly pauses to gesture ever-so-slightly with his tiny scissors. "Do you see what's on this side? That's nerves." He moves the instrument a few millimeters to the right. "And on this one? That's cancer."
Ashutosh Tewari is the head of the urology department at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He is in the process of removing a patient's cancerous prostate, the walnut-sized gland in the delicate area between the bladder and the penis.
Google plans first-ever standalone virtual-reality headset (Market Watch)
Google is getting real about virtual reality.
The Alphabet Inc. unit is developing an all-in-one virtual-reality headset that doesn’t rely on a smartphone, computer or game console, according to people familiar with the matter. That would be a first in the rapidly evolving field.
Health and Life Sciences
Can We Condition Our Bodies To Treat Themselves?? (Digg)
Marette Flies was 11 when her immune system turned against her. A cheerful student from Minneapolis, Minnesota, she had curly brown hair and a pale, moon-shaped face, and she loved playing trumpet in her high-school band. But in 1983, she was diagnosed with lupus, a condition in which the immune system destroys the body’s healthy tissues.
Mood-Enhancing Drugs Could Also Provide Relief For Chronic Pain (Forbes)
A class of drugs being studied to treat certain mood disorders may also be able to relieve chronic pain by acting on a gene involved in regulating the body’s reaction to stress. The findings point to a possible new drug target to alleviate chronic pain, which affects 100 million people in the United States–more than the total affected by heart disease, cancer and diabetes combined, according to the Institute of Medicine.
Life on the Home Planet
Russian Prime Minister Warns There Will Be A "Permanent World War" If Saudis Invade Syria (Zero Hedge)
If you frequent these pages you know why Riyadh (and Ankara for that matter) is considering the ground option. The effort to oust Bashar al-Assad and the Alawite government was going reasonably well right up until September. Sure, the conflict was dragging into its fifth year, but Assad’s army was on the ropes and absent a miracle, it seemed likely that his government would fall.
South Korea cuts off power, water into Kaesong zone in North Korea (Reuters)
South Korea has cut off the supply of power and water into the Kaesong industrial zone run jointly with North Korea, it said on Friday, hours after the North kicked out the South's workers and froze the assets of companies operating there.
