Financial Markets and Economy
China's slowdown is bad news for the world's big industrial exporters (Business Insider)
China's slowing economy is a serious concern for the economies of the nearly 50 nations that count China as their top export destination.
According to economists at UBS, not only will it impact the countries where the goods are coming from, but individual industries will also be hit harder than others.
Brett Arends's ROI: Why I’d vote ‘no’ on Greece’s referendum (Market Watch)
While America celebrates its Declaration of Independence this weekend, the people of Greece are preparing for their own awesome display of democracy.
Sunday’s referendum in Greece is about much more than economics, financial reform and the terms of debt repayments.
Greeks Turn To Bitcoin To Dodge Capital Controls (Zero Hedge)
There is at least one legal way to get your euros out of Greece these days, to guard against the prospect that they might be devalued into drachmas: convert them into bitcoin. As Reuters reports, although absolute figures are hard to come by, Greek interest has surged in the online "cryptocurrency", as new customers depositing at least 50 euros with BTCGreece, the only Greece-based bitcoin exchange, open only to Greeks, rose by 400% between May and June.
Here's one way to sniff out a bubble within the stock market (Business Insider)
It's hard to spot an asset price bubble, especially if you're in the midst of one. Usually, people find out they're in a bubble only after it bursts.
Here's what the world's big economies will do through 2016 (Business Insider)
It's all connected.
From interest-rate hikes in the US to the Greek debt crisis, events within nations affect economies across the globe.
A June report from analysts at Nomura Securities broke down all the changes happening and the prospectus for a variety of important economies.
According to the report, the US should continue its slowing rebound leading to a Fed rate hike in September, while continued low oil prices should prolong Canada's slump.
Big Oil Spill Tax Write-off Shows BP Does Not Stand For 'Big Penalty' (Forbes)
BP’s $18.7 billion out-of-court settlement resolves charges related to the Gulf Oil spill. It is big, even historic, but is it tax deductible? Mostly yes, and that has some people angry. Some deals expressly say what portion of a settlement is tax-deductible, while this deal does not.
That is a major coup for BP, which is doing all it can to make sure BP doesn’t stand for ‘big penalty.’ A Department of Justice fact sheet contains suggestions about the after-tax value of the $18.7 billion settlement. Keep in mind that the settlement corrals BP, the federal government, five states and 400 local entities.
Chinese investors are blaming the US for their stock market drop (Quartz)
China’s stock market roller-coaster has been especially steep this week, with the Shanghai Composite Index entering bear market territory, then falling 5% on Tuesday only to rise more than that before they closed. Already today, we’ve seen more of the same in Shanghai.
BofA's Dire Prediction: Only Direct Government Buying Can Save China Stocks Now (Zero Hedge)
Even after this somewhat catastrophic drop, BofAML warns the Chinese market looks expensive. Deleveraging is likely far from over, they add, concluding that the market is a "falling knife" and only direct buying by the government will mark the bottom.
Here's everything HSBC thinks could happen after Greece's bailout referendum (Business Insider)
HSBC this week put out a note for clients looking at what the possible outcomes of Greece'sSunday July 5 bailout referendum could be.
The key takeaway from the note by analyst Fabio Balboni and his team is that HSBC thinks Greek banks will stay closed, whichever way people vote.
Gold Bullion Dealer Unexpectedly "Suspends Operations" Due To "Significant Transactional Delays" (Zero Hedge)
What makes the current sovereign default episode different from previous ones is the uncanny stability and lack of buying of "fiat remote" assets such as gold and silver, and to a lesser extent, digital currency such as bitcoin. Indeed, all throughout the Greek pre-default escalation and ultimately, sovereign bankruptcy to the IMF, it seemed as if there was an absolute aversion to the peak of Exter's inverted pyramid.
An economist explains why the key to a free world lies with China (Quartz)
Freedom is a rarity in human history, and still too much of a rarity in the world today. This should be no surprise. Would-be tyrants abound, and it is not easy to establish a system that keeps them all in check. The wonder is that we can celebrate the better part of a quarter of a millennium of freedom in the United States, and comparable freedom in some other lucky countries.
When Dan Benjamin, Ori Heffetz, Nichole Szembrot and I surveyed more than four and a half thousand Americans about what they viewed as the most important objectives for public policy, the top two (of 131 choices) were “freedom from injustice, corruption, and abuse of power in your nation,” and “people having many options and possibilities in their lives and the freedom to choose among them.”
Plunger Investing: A True Story (Stock Charts)
To paraphrase P.J. O’Rourke, “Giving assets to a stock market plunger is like giving beer and car keys to teenage boys.” This is a true story. As you read this morality tale, you’ll recognize a person you know or investors you have known or possibly a person in your own mirror.
John was a very successful entrepreneur. Although his distribution company had a very narrow product line, it’s market segment had been hot for decades and demand had grown exponentially for years.
Trending in trade: 2 blazing stocks that gained 3-20% (Money Control)
The market has ended on higher note. The Sensex was up 146.99 points or 0.5 percent at 28092.79 and the Nifty ended up 40.00 points or 0.5 percent at 8484.90. About 1528 shares have advanced, 1448 shares declined, and 204 shares are unchanged. All eyes are on the Greek referendum. Greeks on July 5 are expected to vote on whether to say "yes" to reforms and a future in the euro zone, or "no" and a potential exit from the eurozone. Be it a yes or no from Greeks this Sunday global markets will continue to remain volatile for the near-term is the word coming in from Nick Parsons of National Australia Bank.
Will Companies Like Uber Change the Transportation Landscape? (24/7 Wall St)
Companies like Uber and its myriad competitors, including Lyft and Sidecar, turn car owners into taxi cab drivers for people who cannot afford a car or do not want the responsibility of owning one. Moreover, Getaround and RelayRides turn car owners into car renters. Car owners can rent their cars out to people who can drive but don’t want to own a car.
Studies show that the millennial generation is shying away from total car ownership. On its website, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) highlighted a study from Penn Schoen Berland, indicating that 33% of millennials want to rent out their stuff for cash and half of that generation is willing to share rides. The L.A. Times cites the Vice President of Gartner research “who estimates that by 2025, 20% of the vehicles in urban centers will be dedicated to shared use.” Rightfully, millennials want to do this as a way to reduce the cost of car ownership and in an effort to save money.
Politics
Rubio, Christie To Bunk At Mitt Romney's New Hampshire B&B (Bloomberg)
This may be the political junkie's sleepover of the year: Two rival candidates for the Republican presidential nomination will be bunking tonight with Mitt Romney at his vacation home in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Florida Senator Marco Rubio will be the guests of Romney, the Republican party's 2012 nominee. Both candidates are scheduled to march in Wolfeboro's July Fourth parade.
The 2016 presidential race is the best one ever. Who’s having fun? This guy is. And I’ll tell you why: because of all the Republican candidates, duh. And specifically the way in which any question posed to one candidate worms its way through the entire field, which appears to be rounding out to a cool 16.
I mean it is just July here, people. And already we’ve had so many entertaining week-long spells of the entire field trying to grapple with questions that pose modest difficulty. This isn’t just the media being annoying, although that’s always a component. One question that trips up several candidates in the field is a blessing for several others in this early stage of sorting. Let’s run through several of the dumbest/best episodes of the year thus far.
Technology
Virtual reality offers promise and problems (Phys)
But I felt something like a cyborg. And I also got a slight case of nausea and a throbbing headache that lasted more than a day.
Such is the state of virtual reality. The long-promised and now massively hyped technology is able to transport people into fantastical experiences they could not have imagined before. But the technology still has some practical problems that could – and in some cases should – give consumers pause.
Health and Life Sciences
Bacteria 'Fight Club' Could Help Find New Cures For Diseases (Popular Science)
Humans could never have figured out how to get rid of potentially harmful bacteria without harnessing the bacteria themselves; when bacteria are under fire, they can create a special biological agent designed to eliminate their attackers. Now researchers from Vanderbilt University have figured out a way to pit certain types of bacteria against one another. The chemicals that result could be used to develop new antibiotics and treatments, according to a study published recently in ACS Chemical Biology.
Antibody wipeout found to relieve chronic fatigue syndrome (New Scientist)
"I was completely revitalised," says Karen. "Suddenly, I could be sociable again. I would go to work, go home, eat dinner and feel restless."
Karen (not her real name) experienced this relief from chronic fatigue syndrome while taking a drug that is usually used to treat the blood cancer lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis (see "Karen's experience", below).
Life on the Home Planet
Toddlers can use iPads by age two (Futurity)
By the age of two most toddlers are able to use a tablet with only a little help from an adult.
Other research has explored the prevalence of tablet use by young children, but the new study, in which researchers watched more than 200 YouTube videos, is the first to investigate how infants and toddlers actually use iPads and other electronic devices.
Cats 'control mice' with chemicals in their urine (BBC)
Cat v mouse: it is probably the most famous predator-prey pairing, enshrined in idioms and a well-known cartoon.
And cats, it turns out, even have chemical warfare in their anti-mouse arsenal – contained in their urine.
Researchers found that when very young mice were exposed to a chemical in cat urine, they were less likely to avoid the scent of cats later in life.
