Financial Markets and Economy
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China cannot risk the global chaos of currency devaluation (The Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard)
If China really is trying to drive down its currency in any meaningful way to gain trade advantage, the world faces an extremely dangerous moment.
Such desperate behaviour would send a deflationary shock through a global economy already reeling from near recession earlier this year, and would risk a repeat of East Asia's currency crisis in 1998 on a larger planetary scale.
China's fixed investment reached $5 trillion last year, matching the whole of Europe and North America combined. This is the root cause of chronic overcapacity worldwide, from shipping, to steel, chemicals and solar panels.
Economists Say Greece Should Get Debt Relief (Bloomberg)
Tsipras plea gains some traction.
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Here's a super quick guide to what traders are talking about right now (Business Insider)
Good Morning! US Futures are off small, consolidating last week’s late gains, as we’ve finally had a quiet weekend of headlines. European markets are slightly outperforming, with the DAX up 30bp with Carmakers continuing to rally as PBOC strengthened Yuan slightly overnight. Miners exposure is weighing in London tho – with Supermarkets and Builders under some pressure. Volumes remain light across Europe though, with most markets trading 30%+ under their recent turnover. Over in Asia, Chinese markets were up small, but focus was on Japan’s GDP contracting 1.6% – driving the Yen lower and bidding up the Nikkei. Damage feels like it is accelerating tho in the Emerging Asia markets – Singapore, Malaysia off over 1.5% – Taiwan and South Korea close behind. Aussie closed basically unch, torn between falls in resource stocks and bounces in the miners.
[Picture via Pixabay]
Tech investors missing chance to profit from drought and water crisis (Market Watch)
Long Beach, Calif. is turning water wasters into water savers.
After learning that a local McDonald’s was over-watering its landscape, the Long Beach Water Department installed a smart meter, giving both the city and the fast-food restaurant frequent updates on its water usage. After paying an $800 fine for violating the city’s landscape watering restrictions, the McDonald’s outlet installed synthetic turf and drip irrigation. The restaurant is now on track to save close to 200,000 gallons of water this year.
Euros Looming Golden Cross Maps Course for Rand to Record Low (Bloomberg)
If the history of a key technical indicator is any guide, South Africas rand is poised to tumble to a record versus the euro in coming months.
Oil moves nearer six-year low on Japan data, oversupply (Business Insider)
Oil fell towards six-year lows on Monday, on data showing the economy of Japan, the world's third biggest oil consumer, contracted in the second quarter.
The global oversupply picture was exacerbated by another weekly jump in U.S. oil rig additions, hinting at growing production, and news that Oman produced a record-breaking 1 million barrels a day in July.
Dollar inches up as traders watch for fresh clues (Market Watch)
The dollar inched up against the yen and the euro in directionless Asian trade Monday, given fewer participants amid the summer holiday and a lack of fresh trading cues.
The greenback USDJPY, -0.01% was at ¥124.38 from ¥124.30 late Friday in New York. The U.S. currency was also stronger against the euro EURUSD, +0.0540%which was down slightly at $1.1087 midday from $1.1110.
Polish Rate Cut Suddenly More Likely Than Rise as Growth Slows (Bloomberg)
An unexpected slowdown in Polish economic growth is suddenly making an interest-rate cut more likely than a rise.
Peer-to-peer lender Zopa is growing like crazy and will do £1 billion next year (Business Insider)
Peer-to-peer lending — where savers cut out banks and lend directly to people and businesses at better rates — is growing explosively in the UK and the latest company to underline this is Zopa.
Oil slides further below $43 a barrel (Market Watch)
Oil futures continued to fall Monday, with selling pressure pulling prices further below the $43-a-barrel mark.
Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September CLU5, -1.51% fell 39 cents, or 0.9%, to $42.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. But the level was a slight improvement from an intraday low of $41.64 a barrel, according to FactSet data.
Russia Sales Outlook Worst in BRIC Markets on Oil, Recession (Bloomberg)
Russia is the standout these days among the biggest emerging markets, but for all the wrong reasons.
Japan's poor growth figures are hitting markets today (Business Insider)
Oil prices are falling to six-year lows. People are worried demand from Japan will slow and production in the US will increase.
The Brent crude oil benchmark fell 1.47% today to $48.47.
China still wrestling with market-economy transition (Market Watch)
Turmoil in China’s currency and stocks has highlighted the anxiety the Communist Party feels over the power and dynamism that markets represent.
Even as market-opening policies have allowed hundreds of millions of Chinese to break out of poverty to build the world’s second-largest economy, the party’s ambivalence can be seen across the economic landscape. The leadership keeps fences around the currency, restricts capital flows and operates a central bank that lacks independence.
Fuss Won't Join U.S. Dollar Bulls Faring Worst Since 2008 (Bloomberg)
Dan Fuss has been on the wrong side of the rising U.S. dollar this year. Even at a big cost to his fund, the experience hasnt turned him into a dollar bull.
You don’t have to be a VC to invest in cleantech–and our world’s future needs investors (Quartz)
When you hear the phrase “investing in cleantech,” what comes to mind?
Do you picture a venture capitalist writing out a check—one with lots of zeros—to a startup that’s tackling issues related to sustainability?
That’s one form of investing in cleantech, and make no mistake: it has played a huge role in moving innovation forward. But in recent years, the concept of “investing in cleantech” has broadened beyond a strictly financial definition to include “investments” that are undertaken by a variety of stakeholders—by individuals, by countries, and by companies—simply because they are viewed as the best solution to Earth’s most pressing challenges.
Asia steady as yuan calms, dollar firm on upbeat data (Business Insider)
Asian stocks were little changed on Monday as investors' nerves continued to settle after China's surprise yuan devaluation last week, while the dollar held modest gains against the euro after upbeat U.S. economic data.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> were virtually unchanged in early trade.
Trading Notes: Week of 8/17/2015 (Trader Feed)
This article goes into depth about what I believe to be the greatest performance problem affecting traders. I see a real mismatch between how traders think about opportunity and how they actually manage their positions. It's too glib to simply attribute this to "lack of discipline" or failure to follow plans/process. Quite literally, traders become caught between two imperatives and the inability to reconcile those results in the quandary where we plan trades but don't trade those plans.
Slowing Economies Aren't So Bad For Asian Companies (Bloomberg)
With exports slumping, the currency weakening and martial law still in place, Thailand wouldn't seem to have much going for it.
Japan's Economy Contracts as Consumption, Investment Decline (Bloomberg)
Japan’s economy contracted last quarter as consumers and businesses cut spending and exports tumbled, putting pressure on the prime minister to return his focus to Abenomics.
Gross domestic product fell an annualized 1.6 percent from January-March, ending two quarters of growth, the Cabinet Office said on Monday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey was for a 1.8 percent drop.
Top Wall Street analyst dreams up a whole new business model for Tesla and predicts the stock goes up 91% (Business Insider)
Tesla's future may lie in an entirely new business model, which one analyst we'll hear about in 12 to 18 months.
In a research note Monday, Morgan Stanley Adam Jonas argues that the auto industry we have known for the last 100 years — of "human-driven, privately owned, internal-combustion vehicles" — is transforming, and Tesla is poised to "dominate" a new era for the automobile.
Do Investors Care About Your Credit Score? (Forbes)
Many early entrepreneurs live under the false belief that forming a corporation entirely insulates their personal finances from their business. While you have legal protections that may protect your personal assets, your personal credit, as an owner is still critical to a bank’s willingness to extend you credit.
It is very true that it takes money to make money. If you have an incredible amount of money, you may be able to sustain your business through ebbs and flows. But true entrepreneurs aren’t running a static business…they are growing. When you grow, the amount of money you need grows too.
Politics
Donald Trump says it would be a ‘miracle’ if Hillary Clinton continues to run (Market Watch)
Donald Trump says it would be a “miracle” if Hillary Clinton is able to keep up her run for president in the wake of her use of a private email server for official State Department business.
But if she does continue to run, Trump told NBC News, he’ll beat her. “I think [Clinton] may not be able to run, to be honest, because this whole email thing is a horrible thing,” Trump said. Trump likened Clinton’s situation to General David Petraeus, who resigned as CIA director after his affair with his biographer was uncovered, and was later accused of having shared classified materials with her. “General Petraeus, his life has been destroyed. And he did 5% of what she did,” Trump said. “So assuming she’s able to run — which would be absolutely, to me, a miracle at this point — I will beat her.”
The Republican presidential race is turning upside-down (Business Insider)
A Fox News poll published Sunday found the anti-establishment candidates surging in the 2016 presidential race.
Unsurprisingly, real-estate tycoon Donald Trump continues to lead the Republican side with 25% support among registered voters.
But other unorthodox candidates are also rising to the top, possibly due to their strong performances in the first Republican primary debate on August 6.
Donald Trump to Appear for Jury Duty on Monday in New York (Time)
Donald Trump may be the leading Republican candidate for president, but that doesn’t mean he can renege on jury duty.
The billionaire mogul is interrupting his campaigning to appear Monday in New York for jury duty. A campaign official confirmed Trump’s summons on Friday, CNN reports.
Technology
The Never-Ending USB for Unlimited Devices (PSFK)
Instead of forcing constant hot swaps of low-battery devices into the single USB port your computer carries, InfiniteUSB promises the connection of all cables, meaning all of your devices can finally be charged simultaneously! As a color-coded open chain of USB ports that’s compatible with iOS and Android (among other USB supported devices), charging your devices has never been as easy or time efficient as with the addition of the InfiniteUSB.
Health and Life Sciences
Lifeblood for children who need it most (BBC)
Emergency rooms around the world save lives every day with medical staff having just moments to make life-or-death decisions, but some of the treatments they rely on have never been rigorously tested.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 60% of blood transfusions are given to children, some of whom have severe anaemia.
Drug combo shows promise for skin cancer ‘in transit’ (Futurity)
New melanoma research finds a combination therapy is highly effective at treating patients with skin metastases.
The treatment, interleukin (IL)-2 combined with imiquimod and topical retinoid therapy, is a promising option for patients with so-called “in-transit metastases.”
Life on the Home Planet
As seas rise, saltwater plants offer hope farms will survive (Phys)
On a sun-scorched wasteland near India's southern tip, an unlikely garden filled with spiky shrubs and spindly greens is growing, seemingly against all odds.
The plants are living on saltwater, coping with drought and possibly offering viable farming alternatives for a future in which rising seas have inundated countless coastal farmlands.
Large Explosion Rips Through Central Bangkok (Zero Hedge)
An large explosion has ripped through central Bangkok.
Details are sparse thus far but early indications suggest multiple casualties. As AP reports, "a reporter at the scene said he saw one body and body parts, and two people taken into ambulances. The explosion took place at the Rajprasong intersection, which was the center of many contentious political demonstrations in recent years. It appeared to have occurred in front of the Erawan Shrine, a tourist
landmark also popular with Thais."
Survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings Speak Out on the 70th Anniversary of the Detonations (Scientific American)
Seventy years ago this month U.S. atomic bombs destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing a total of roughly 200,000 Japanese people in the world's first, and so far only, use of nuclear weapons in war. Many of those who survived the initial blast died soon after from injuries, burns and radiation sickness. The scale of the devastation sparked an enduring debate over whether the use of such weapons is ever justifiable and the extent to which scientists are morally responsible for the consequences of their discoveries.
Today some 22,000 atomic bombs exist in at least eight countries, according to the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. More than 65 nations support a worldwide ban on nuclear weapons. Many of the nations that own them, including the U.S., have diminished their stockpiles yet continue to upgrade their nuclear technology.
