Financial Markets and Economy
Contagion Risks Rise as China Banks Fund Each Others’ Loans (Bloomberg)
China’s smaller banks have never been more reliant on each other for funding, prompting rating companies to warn of contagion risks in any crisis.
Profit Slump for S&P 500 Heads for a Sixth Straight Quarter (The Wall Street Journal)
The third quarter was supposed to be when earnings growth returned to U.S. companies. Not anymore.
Tudor Said to Close Singapore Trading Desk Amid Global Cuts (Bloomberg)
Tudor Investment Corp., the $11 billion hedge fund founded by billionaire Paul Tudor Jones, has closed its Singapore trading desk as part of a global shakeup, according to people familiar with the matter.
A legendary investor thinks electric cars will raise the price of oil (Business Insider)
It should come as no surprise that the rise of electric vehicles has broad implications for the price of oil.
Saudi Arabia Injects $5.3 Billion Into Banks to Ease Crunch (Bloomberg)
Saudi Arabia’s central bank stepped up efforts to support lenders in the Arab world’s biggest economy as they grapple with the effects of low oil prices. Banks’ shares advanced.
New home sales drop less than expected in August (Business Insider)
New home sales fell 7.6% at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 609,000 in August, according to the Census Bureau.
That was a sharp pullback from a strong pace last month, by an upwardly revised 13.8% at a rate of 659,000, which was the strongest since at least 2007.
Oil rises as OPEC meets, volatility hits post-Doha high (Reuters)
Oil rallied on Monday as the world's largest producers gathered in Algeria to discuss ways to support the market, with nervous trade driving volatility to its highest since exporters met in April.
Stocks Fall as Deutsche Bank Leads Rout in Lenders; Bonds Climb (Bloomberg)
A rout in financial companies dragged down stocks as Deutsche Bank AG’s tumble sparked concern over the health of the global banking sector. Bonds climbed.
Brutal Upheavals Mount as S&P 500 Bull Market Nears 8th Year (Bloomberg)
It wasn’t hard to sense the unease that gripped traders this summer as U.S. stocks meandered through their calmest period ever. As it turns out, they were right to be on edge.
Italy's banking crisis could bring disastrous consequences (Mauldin Economics)
The current Italian banking crisis carries with it the possibility of bank failures. The consequences of these failures pyramid the crisis because of European Union regulations. Essentially, the position of the European Union is that the European Central Bank (ECB) and the central banks of member countries cannot bail out failing banks by recapitalizing them—in other words, injecting money to keep them solvent.
We Are Stuck In Depression Until The Legend Of The "Maestro" Finally Dies (Zero Hedge)
Alan Greenspan is confused – again. The man who admitted to the world a decade ago he didn’t know much if anything about interest rates is now trying to change that reputation by suggesting yet again interest rates are set to rise.
Older Americans Are More Afraid of Running Out of Money Than Death (Fool.com)
Running out of money in retirement is a major concern for older Americans, especially since so many are considerably behind on savings. But apparently the aptly named retirement crisis Opens a New Window. is more serious than we thought.
Companies
Deutsche Bank Slumps as Investors Question Lender’s Health (Bloomberg)
Deutsche Bank AG shares dropped to a record low and its riskiest bonds declined after a media report said the German government wouldn’t step in to back the lender, fueling investor concerns about its weakened finances.
Blue Bottle Coffee is raising another big round of funding (Tech Crunch)
The coffee wars of San Francisco are back on!
We’re now hearing from sources that Blue Bottle is raising a big round of financing a little more than a year after it raised a whopping $75 million.
Apple Is Now Boring Enough to Buy for This $37 Billion Fund Manager (Bloomberg)
Apple Inc. losing steam only makes it a bargain.
The iPhone maker is cheap and the risk is lower, according to Robert Naess, who oversees 33 billion euros ($37 billion) in stocks at Nordea Bank, Scandinavia’s largest bank.
Wells Fargo workers: Fake accounts began years ago (CNN Money)
Almost a dozen Wells Fargo (WFC) workers told CNNMoney that the shocking tactic — where employees opened unauthorized accounts to meet unrealistic sales goals — has been around much longer than the bank has acknowledged.
Wells Fargo Slammed With $2.6 Billion Lawsuit By Terminated Workers (Zero Hedge)
In the first legal action brought by fired employees of America's largest mortgage lender and Warren Buffett's favorite bank – about whose criminal activity he was vowed not to say a word until after the election to avoid bringing attention to Hillary's hypocrisy of slamming Wells' illegal tactics even as she accepts support and money from Wells' biggest shareholder – two former Wells Fargo employees filed a class action in California seeking $2.6 billion from managers who fueled the creation of fake accounts on behalf of workers who tried to meet aggressive sales quotas without engaging in fraud, and were then demoted, forced to resign or fired.
Politics
Clinton Triumphs In Email Court Hearing Friday (Forbes)
As usual, the press underreports victories of Hillary Clinton in the email matter, just as it overreported in the past when allegations were trumpeted. A court hearing on Friday, about the demands for the State Department for more and more email releases, turned out to become a triumph for Clinton.
What Wall Street's Watching Ahead of the First Presidential Debate (Bloomberg)
An already heated U.S. presidential campaign is poised for hostilities at Hofstra University on Monday night, with Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton set to square off on the same stage for the first time.
Clinton Claims Trump Tax Returns May Reveal Russian Ties (Forbes)
In the quixotic quest for Trump’s long-desired tax returns, Hillary Clinton is now tying Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns to Russia. You have to give Clinton and her team credit for stirring the pot one more time. Even if Trump released his tax returns, which at this point seems highly unlikely, his alleged Russian ties still might not be clear.
Clinton and Trump to square off in highly anticipated debate (Reuters)
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump will face off for the first time on Monday in a presidential debate that could rank as one of the most watched and highly anticipated political showdowns in U.S. history.
Trump, Clinton Assure Netanyahu on Future of U.S.-Israel Ties (Bloomberg)
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton each met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday, one day before the candidates square off in their first presidential debate.
Hillary Clinton Is Outraising Trump 20-to-1 Among Billionaires (Bloomberg)
Hillary gets the vote from America’s richest citizens. Or at least she’s getting their cash.
Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has collected $21.1 million for her campaign and its supporting political action committees from 17 U.S. donors on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Iran's supreme leader tells Ahmadinejad not to run again for president (Reuters)
Iran's supreme leader has told former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad not to stand again in next year's elections, state media reported on Monday, effectively eliminating a major challenger to pragmatist incumbent Hassan Rouhani.
Technology
Users report that replacement Note 7s are still having battery issues, just not explosive ones (9TO5Google)
Thought you’d heard the end of news surrounding Samsung’s Note 7 recall? Wrong. As the company continues to push distribution of replacement devices worldwide, there are a growing number of user complaints that the new devices are still having battery issues, just of the less explosive variety.
Samsung delays relaunch of Galaxy Note 7 in South Korea (CNN Money)
Samsung's relaunch of its Galaxy Note 7 isn't going to plan: it has delayed resuming sales in its home market because owners aren't returning fire-prone versions of the device fast enough.
Self-Driving Hype Doesn’t Reflect Reality (The Wall Street Journal)
To judge by recent claims, “fully autonomous” self-driving technology is just around the corner. Uber Technologies Inc. is offering Pittsburgh residents rides in autonomous Ford Fusions. Ford Motor Co., BMW AG, Volvo Car Corp. and Lyft Inc. say they will produce fully autonomous vehicles by 2021 or sooner.
Self-driving trucks threaten one of America’s top blue-collar jobs (Los Angeles Times)
Trucking paid for Scott Spindola to take a road trip down the coast of Spain, climb halfway up Machu Picchu, and sample a Costa Rican beach for two weeks. The 44-year-old from Covina now makes up to $70,000 per year, with overtime, hauling goods from the port of Long Beach.
Apple Watch could soon track your sleep and fitness levels (Engadget)
The Apple Watch is billed as a fitness-focused device, but it doesn't really make sense of fitness data — you're supposed to interpret the numbers yourself. However, Apple might soon give its wristwear some added smarts.
The head of Yahoo’s popular finance app says he knew the redesign was going to 'piss some people off' (Business Insider)
The product team at Yahoo Finance had a hard time sleeping for the whole week leading up to the big redesign in July.
It's not because they weren't confident, says Michael La Guardia, the head of product for both Yahoo Finance and Sports, but because of the drastic changes he was about to bring to one of Yahoo's most popular products ever.
Health and Biotech
It Takes Two: RNA-DNA Mashup May Have Kickstarted Life on Earth (Scientific American)
Early life may have emerged from a mixture of RNA and DNA building blocks, developing the two nucleic acids simultaneously instead of evolving DNA from RNA.
Two more classic psychology studies just failed the reproducibility test (Science Alert)
For years now, researchers have been warning about a reproducibility crisis in science – the realisation that a lot of seminal papers, particularly in psychology, don't actually hold up when scientists take the time to try to reproduce the results.
Life on the Home Planet
Air strikes pound rebel-held Aleppo districts (Reuters)
Dozens of air strikes hit rebel-held areas of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo overnight, a monitor and defense worker said, continuing a fierce air campaign by Syrian government and allied forces since a ceasefire broke down almost a week ago.
Hundreds Killed in Aleppo in Fresh Fighting (The Wall Street Journal)
Syria and its Russian allies pressed an assault on Aleppo amid what the United Nations called the most intense bombing in years of warfare there, and residents said hundreds of civilians have been killed since a cease-fire fell apart last week.
Police Videos Fail to Quiet Protests in Charlotte (The Wall Street Journal)
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Prayer vigils and protests continued here Sunday, as civil-rights advocates expressed unease with recently released police videos that they said gave no clear justification for last week’s fatal shooting of Keith Scott.
10 Facts About the ‘Glory of Rome’ (Made From History)
The Eternal City; the Roman Republic; the Roman Empire – a civilisation that conquered and transformed much of the known world at the time. The ‘Glory of Rome’ refers to the epic achievements of Ancient Rome, whether military, architectural or institutional – from the Colosseum to the spread of Roman Law.
US wants to distract attention from coalition strike on Syria troops – Lavrov (RT)
The US and its Western partners are trying to steer the world’s attention away from their airstrikes on the Syrian Army by accusing Russia of attacking a UN humanitarian convoy outside the Aleppo, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian television.
Russia, Syria accused of ‘war crimes’ in Aleppo bombardment (France 24)
France has accused Moscow and Damascus of “war crimes” in Aleppo, comparing Russian and Syrian air raids on Syria to Sarajevo during the Bosnian war, and to the carpet bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.
Violent crime in U.S. rose in 2015 but not to peak levels: FBI (Reuters)
Violent crime in the United States increased in 2015, particularly in big cities, but remained far below peak levels of the 1990s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in an annual report released on Monday.
Don't Worry, the Earth Is Not Locked into Ten Degrees of Warming (Gizmodo)
The internet is abuzz with a new climate study that seemed to deliver a bombshell conclusion: the amount of carbon humans have put into the atmosphere may have already committed the planet 3 to 7 degrees Celsius (5.4 to 12.6 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming.
