Financial Markets and Economy
European markets are surging after optimistic hints about a Greek bailout deal (Business Insider)
European markets are surging upwards on some sudden and positive hints of a Greek bailout deal at today's emergency European summit.
Monday: Existing Home Sales (Calculated Risk)
Oil prices were down over the last week with WTI futures at $59.24 per barrel and Brent at $62.55 per barrel. A year ago, WTI was at $108, and Brent was at $114 – so prices are down 40%+ year-over-year.
Credit Market Warning (Peak Prosperity)
There are large signs of stress now present in the credit markets. You might not know it from today's multi-generationally low interest rates, but other key measures such as liquidity and volatility are flashing worrying signs.
Look, we all know that this centrally planned experiment forcing financial assets ever higher is simply fostering multiple bubbles, each in search of a pin. As all bubbles do, they are going to end with bang.
Who gets burned if China's stock bubble bursts? (CNN)
China's stocks have soared to unbelievable highs this year — but what goes up, must come down.
Thorntons shares are sky rocketing on Nutella maker takeover (Business Insider)
Shares in British chocolatier Thorntons are rocketing by over 42% in the early trading session after Italian chocolate maker Ferrero confirmed that it has offered to buy out the company for £111.9 million ($177.5 million).
Oil back of $60 a barrel ahead of Greek debt summit (Market Watch)
Oil prices rose in early European trading Monday as investors grew optimistic over Greek debt negotiations, though persistent oversupply worries remained a factor for oil markets.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July CLN5, +0.87% moved above $60 a barrel, up 60 cents or 1%. August Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange LCOQ5, +0.90% was up 45 cents, or 0.7%, to $63.47 a barrel.
Goldman And SocGen Unleash The "C"-Word: ECB Alone Can't Contain Grexit Risks (Zero Hedge)
Unnamed "officials" have proclaimed a new set of Greek proposals received by Brussels tonight as "a good base," according to AFP, and thusly the Euro is very modestly bid. However, both Socgen (without a 3rd bailout of €60-80 billion over the next 3 years, Greek uncertainty remains high and leaves Grexit risk merely semi-stable) and Goldman (a deal will come only after the introduction of capital controls, a technical default on the IMF and issuance of IOUs/and a further build-up of arreas… and the damage resulting from a breaking of the integrity of the Euro would not be fixed by monetary policy alone) leave us wondering just who is buying Euros and US stocks and selling Swiss Francs as D(efault) Day looms and the 'C' word (contagion) spreads.
Greek deal hopes propel rally for U.S. stock futures (Market Watch)
U.S. stock futures rallied early Monday, fueled by hopes that Greece and its lenders will reach a reform deal later in the day, potentially saving the debt-laden country from default.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMU5, +0.80% jumped 159 points, or 0.9% to 18,070, while those for the S&P 500 index ESU5, +0.83% climbed 19.55 points, or 0.9%, to 2,117.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index NQU5, +0.90% picked up 44.25 points, or 1%, to 4,544.25.
Stay or Go? Healthier EU Growth May Test U.K. Referendum (Bloomberg)
A changing economic backdropas pro-EU, anti-EU teamspreparetheir campaigns.
Stock futures are surging (SPY, DJI, IXIC, GLD, USD, TLT, GREK) (Business Insider)
It's a good morning in global stock markets.
US stock futures are powering higher ahead of the open, and European stock markets are firmly in the green.
Near 7:31 a.m. ET, Dow futures were up 120 points, S&P 500 futures were up 15 points, and Nasdaq futures were up 37 points. On Friday, stocks closed lower after the Nasdaq set an all-time closing record the previous day.
Trading
The worst case if you invest in a hot stock market (CNN)
"I'm your worst nightmare."
That's what Sylvester Stallone's Rambo tells his foes. In investing, most people think the equivalent torment is a dramatic stock market fall.
It's human nature to get antsy about when that next plunge could come, especially when the U.S. market is in the midst of its third-longest upswing in history. At some point the party has to end, right?
Appreciative Inquiry and More Views to Kick Off the Market Week (Trader Feed)
Above we see the number of stocks listed on the NYSE that are giving buy signals minus sell signals for the ADX indicator (raw data from Stock Charts). The number of buy signals correlate with the number of sell signals by -.52. That's significant to be sure, as we'd expect, but is far from a perfect negative correlation. Indeed, when we look at buy signals vs. sell signals independently, it's the number of buy signals that ends up having the greatest relevance for short-term price movement. Specifically, when the number of buy signals is in its lowest quartile, the next two days in SPY average a healthy gain of +.46%. All other occasions average a next two-day loss of -.07%. It's been when we've had the least strength that swing returns have been most favorable. Summing buy and sell signals across technical systems for all stocks has been a useful way of tracking strength and weakness in the broad stock market.
Politics
Hillary Clinton embraces ‘first mama’ role in second White House bid (Market Watch)
Eight years ago, Hillary Clinton believed she needed to project an image of strength and experience to convince voters she could be the first woman president.
The image, her strategist said at the time, was a kind of “tough single parent” rather than a “first mama.” But running for president in 2015, the Associated Press writes, Clinton’s gender isn’t something she seeks to explain or defend. The Democrat’s potential to make history as the country’s first female president has become one of her biggest applause lines. Clinton’s decision to fully embrace her gender, AP writes, is a strategic revision that reflects both a personal evolution and a wider cultural shift in the U.S. It’s an approach that also addresses what many saw as a failing of her 2008 campaign, when the former first lady was seen as wooden and overly scripted.
California Golf Trip Lands Obama in a Water-Use Debate (NY Times)
With four fund-raisers and an awkward reconciliation with the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, behind him,President Obama returned to a beloved golf oasis here for a weekend getaway with friends.
This time, though, was different. A punishing drought has raised questions about whether such oases can survive, and about the president’s weekend here.
The vast emerald green courses in the area are watered by a disappearing Colorado River and an underground aquifer that has fallen about 55 feet since 1970.
The Real Math Behind Hillary Clinton's Candidacy (Bloomberg Politics)
Elections are fundamentally about math, and the most fundamental of the fundamental factors is demographics—the ethnic and racial composition of the electorate.
So far, Hispanic voters have been getting the most attention from the media and from candidates courting them in announcement speeches and at events like NALEO, which Hillary Clinton addressed on Thursday. While those votes will certainly be important in 2016, blacks remain the crucial minority bloc for Democratic candidates.
Technology
Design Tips For VR Games (Tech Crunch)
Tadhg Kelly is a games industry analyst, design consultant and the creator of leading blog What Games Are. He is currently writing a book called Core Game Design. You can follow him on Twitter here.
In the past I’ve written about my strong skepticism regarding virtual reality. The first time I had a demo (from Palmer Luckey, in London) I felt sick as a dog for hours and this made me dubious. Second and subsequent demos softened my skepticism from “doesn’t work at all” to “might work for some“ and there it has remained. The headsets are inching toward becoming products and the media is broadly supportive but I’m still 30/70 on whether VR will ever makes sense. There’s a lot, perhaps too much, about VR that’s not quite there.
These Companies Are Making Smartwatches for Grandma (Time)
Jean Anne Booth says when her mother reached her 80s, she refused to wear an “I’ve-fallen-and-I-can’t-get-up” style necklace.
“They’re ugly,” Booth says. “And that big button is stigmatizing. The first thought is, ‘Oh, that poor dear, they’re old and they’re not in control of their lives anymore.'”
But a device that elderly people can use to contact someone in case of a fall or other crisis is an important safety net, one that helps give their loved ones peace of mind. So Booth, a seasoned tech entrepreneur based in Austin, Texas, decided it was time for a makeover.
The 10-Rotor Volocopter is Like a Flying Car, But Better (Wired)
PICTURE A QUADCOPTER drone, with the ability to take off and land vertically, hover, and fly autonomously in any direction.
Now picture that drone with two seats, 18 rotors, and a joystick, ready to carry you and a friend anywhere you want to go. That’s the Volocopter, now in development in Germany by e-Volo.
Health and Life Sciences
Tubal ligation may improve prognosis of endometrial cancer later in life (Science Daily)
Endometrial cancer (EC) can spread by several routes, including the lymph system, blood vessels, through the uterine wall, as well as through the fallopian tubes into the peritoneal cavity, but the association of transtubal dissemination of EC with cancer stage, histological type, and mortality is unknown. However, according to a study published June 18 in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, women who have undergone a tubal ligation (TL) and develop more aggressive types of EC may have lower mortality. The authors postulate that women who have had TL have reduced passage of cancer cells through the fallopian tubes, thus lowering disease stage, which is a strong prognostic factor.
Life on the Home Planet
Enhancing honey bee populations by increasing beneficial pollinator flowers (Phys)
A group of University of Maine researchers is working to enhance native and honey bee populations by increasing beneficial pollinator flowers across Maine's landscape. This is not a new idea—what is new is their choice of research location. Some might describe one of their sites as trashy, but the researchers think it's just what they need.
Hungry crabs snacking on mangrove seeds may foil reforestation (New Scientist)
Crabs love mangrove swamps. But the mangroves may not love them back. Crabs' voracious appetite for mangrove seeds can be a prime reason why efforts to replant lost mangroves often fail.
So keeping crabs out could sometimes help their recovery, says Emily Dangremond of the University of California in Berkeley.
17 spectacular photos from the largest Battle of Waterloo reenactment ever (Business Insider)
Over the weekend, Belgium celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo in style. Five-thousand participants from around Europe recreated scenes from June 1815, when two of history's biggest military giants, Napoleon and Wellington, faced off against each other.
With over 64,000 spectators, it was the largest Waterloo reenactment ever seen, with reenactors coming from a number of countries including Russia, Germany, Britain, and France.
