Financial Markets and Economy
5 Things To Ponder: Odds And Ends (Lance Roberts)
Earlier this week I discussed the oxymoron of the "bearish bull market" suggesting that the deterioration in the technical backdrop of the market acting in a manner only seen at previous major market peaks.
U.S. jobs data lifts dollar, yields; Wall St. steady (Reuters)
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields posted their steepest weekly jump in nearly two years and the dollar hit a 13-year high against the yen on Friday after jobs growth suggested the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates sooner than expected.
In a wild week for government debt, German Bunds posted their worst weekly losses since the euro's inception in 1999, spurred by a revised upward inflation forecast by the European Central Bank and blunt comments by ECB President Mario Draghi.
Gross Says Bond Rout Scary as Hell Even Without Bear Market (Bloomberg)
Treasury prices are falling enough to spook even market veteran Bill Gross.
The turmoil has sent U.S. government securities maturing in 10 years and longer down 7.4 percent since the end of March, heading for the biggest quarterly loss since 2010, based on Bloomberg World Bond Indexes. The decline is part of a global selloff, led by German bunds and fueled by what traders say is a lack of liquidity.
Hilsenrath Analysis: Jobs Report Not Likely to Trigger June Rate Hike (Wall Street Journal)
Federal Reserve officials are in wait-and-see mode ahead of their June policy meeting, meaning the May employment report released Friday isn’t likely to push them toward an interest rate increase this month.
Many Fed officials began the year believing that by June they might raise their benchmark short-term interest rate for the first time in nearly a decade. Instead, they were thrown when the economy contracted in the first quarter and appeared to get off to a slow start in the second. Even with the stronger job growth in May, Fed officials likely aren’t ready to make a move just yet.
Hotels: On Pace for Record Occupancy in 2015, New Construction Increasing (Calculated Risk)
The U.S. hotel industry recorded positive results in the three key performance measurements during the week of 24-30 May 2015, according to data from STR, Inc.
In year-over-year measurements, the industry’s occupancy increased 2.2 percent to 63.5 percent. Average daily rate increased 4.7 percent to finish the week at US$114.73. Revenue per available room for the week was up 7.0 percent to finish at US$72.83.
I.M.F. Urges Fed to Delay Raising Interest Rates (NY Times)
The International Monetary Fund said Thursday that the Federal Reserve should wait until next year before raising its benchmark interest rate, citing the stubborn persistence of sluggish inflation.
In an annual review of the United States economy, the I.M.F. said growth had been slower than it expected, and it cut its 2015 forecast to 2.5 percent, from 3.1 percent. While growth is likely to strengthen in the coming months, the I.M.F. said the Fed risked moving too quickly if it started raising rates this year.
OPEC Nations Signal Few Prospects for Oil-Production Change (Bloomberg)
OPEC members signaled that there was little prospect of changing their oil-output target as the 12-nation group gathered in Vienna.
Representatives of Angola, the United Arab Emirates and Libya said Friday they see no need to change the 30-million-barrel daily output target. While Kuwait’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Omair said one member would propose a production increase at the semi-annual meeting, his Iranian counterpart said he would not support such a move.
Stocks and Trading
U.S. Stocks Close Slightly Lower (Wall Street Journal)
Stocks fell as a strong May jobs report cemented expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin raising borrowing costs this fall. Stocks capped a volatile few days that left major benchmarks slightly lower for the week.
Hot tea: DavidsTea stock soars 42% (Market Watch)
Millennials love tea, and Wall Street is banking that even more people will join the beverage revolution.
Politics
Edward Snowden Celebrates NSA Reform as the "Power of an Informed Public" (Mother Jones)
Now that both Congress and President Obama have approved the USA Freedom Act, Edward Snowden finally has something to celebrate.
In a Times op-ed published on Friday, Snowden, the NSA whistleblower who exposed the government's massive phone collection tactics exactly two years ago, applauded the new limits on government surveillance as an example of the "power of an informed public."
Vietnam eyes Western warplanes, patrol aircraft to counter China (Reuters)
Vietnam is in talks with European and U.S. contractors to buy fighter jets, maritime patrol planes and unarmed drones, sources said, as it looks to beef up its aerial defenses in the face of China's growing assertiveness in disputed waters.
The battle-hardened country has already taken possession of three Russian-built Kilo-attack submarines and has three more on order as part of a $2.6 billion deal agreed in 2009. Upgrading its air force would give Vietnam one of the most potent militaries in Southeast Asia.
Technology
Robots compete in response to California disaster simulation (Phys)
Robots in the disaster response competition in California must push buttons, turn valves, cut through a wall and drive a light utility vehicle.
The winning design team will collect a $2 million research award along with bragging rights in the rapidly developing robotics industry.
"We get most of our ideas about robotics from science fiction. And we want to show a little bit of science fact," said Gill Pratt, who organized the competition for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which focuses on futuristic technologies for national security.
Amazon.com Inc is in a race against Google Inc to store data on human DNA, seeking both bragging rights in helping scientists make new medical discoveries and market share in a business that may be worth $1 billion a year by 2018.
Academic institutions and healthcare companies are picking sides between their cloud computing offerings – Google Genomics or Amazon Web Services – spurring the two to one-up each other as they win high-profile genomics business, according to interviews with researchers, industry consultants and analysts.
5 robots that want to save lives (Market Watch)
This weekend 24 teams from 13 countries will meet in Pomona, California to show off the state-of-the-art robots they've designed to perform search-and-rescue missions in the final round of a two-year competition.
DARPA — the arm of the U.S. Defense Department that was responsible for developing the Internet and pioneering driverless car technology — started the Robotics Challenge back in 2013. The aim was to stir up excitement about robotics and showcase just how much they can do.
Health and Life Sciences
Appalachia's hepatitis C infection rates soar (CNN)
An increase in the abuse of injectable drugs has caused hepatitis C infection rates to more than triple in four Appalachian states, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The rates were highest among people under age 30, mostly in rural areas, in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, according to the May report, which looked at health data from 2006 to 2012.
Research reveals key interaction that opens the channel into the cell's nucleus (Phys)
In research published June 4 in Cell, Rockefeller University scientists have uncovered crucial steps in the dynamic dance that dilates and constricts the nuclear pore complex—the latest advance in their ongoing efforts to tease apart the mechanism by which its central channel admits specific molecules. Their work, based on quantitative biophysical data, has revealed that the nuclear pore complex is much more than the inert structure it was once thought to be.
Life on the Home Planet
Punk rock sea slug spotted in Australia (New Scientist)
Johnny Rotten would love this spiky punk rock sea slug. This one was photographed in Nelson Bay, a biodiversity hotspot on the east coast of Australia, during a seasonal sea slug census. Since sea slugs have short life cycles, they respond quickly to changes in the environment and can be used as indicators of an area's health.
Polycera capensis is a native of South Africa and thought to be relatively new here. Roughly 5 centimetres long, it is one of more than 200 species that now hang around in the bay. Another striking specimen, the aptly named splendid nudibranch, Chromodoris splendida, pictured below, looks more clown-like than punk.
Roadside verges 'last refuge for wild flowers' (BBC)
Many plants once found in meadows now only thrive beside roads, where they provide essential habitat for insects, says charity Plantlife International.
But it says one in 10 of the plants is at risk of extinction, in part because councils cut verges too early.
