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Financial Markets and Economy
Stocks usually rise with rate hikes, but this time the timing is all wrong (Business Insider)
After years of keeping monetary policy extremely loose and interest rates very low, the Federal Reserve appears to be on the brink of hiking interest rates for the first time since June 2006.
Food Prices Drop Most in 7 Years on Grain Gluts to China Concern (Bloomberg)
Gluts in foods from grains to milk and concern China’s slowing economy will curb demand sent global prices down the most in almost seven years.
China jitters are at an all-time, this chart shows (Market Watch)
Concerns of an unexpectedly sharp slowdown in China’s economy have dominated headlines over the summer and now the fears have jumped to an all-time high, according to Société Générale.
Unions 30 Years Ago Are Somehow Making People Richer Today (The Atlantic)
Union membership has its perks: higher wages, better healthcare, more job security. Now, a new study from the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank, adds another benefit to that list: richer children, once they’re all grown up.
Japanese stocks had their biggest one-day rally since the financial crisis (Quartz)
Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index had its biggest one-day surge since October 2008 today (Sept. 9).
Here's why China is closing foreign exchange loopholes – while Greece is loosening them (Business Insider)
China is cracking down on some of the ways people move large sums of money out of the country, as it battles with the problem of capital flight.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe), the unit of the central bank responsible for policing the currency, has ordered banks to strengthen controls on all foreign exchange transactions, according to a report from the Financial Times.
SocGen: Don't Hate the Risk Parity Players, Hate the Game (Bloomberg)
The power of systematic strategies, particularly those that take their cues from volatility, has become a hot-button issue amid the search to classify the causes of last month's dramatic market selloff.
A report from Société Générale's global quantitative research team, led by Andrew Lapthorne, sheds further light on the influence of such strategies during the recent market downturn.
Global Stocks Fall on U.S. Interest Rate Uncertainty (Wall Street Journal)
Global stocks fell Thursday amid lingering concerns over China’s economic growth and ahead of a U.S. rate decision next week.
Stock futures pointed to a 0.2% decline for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a 0.1% fall in the S&P 500. Changes in futures don’t always accurately reflect moves after the opening bell.
This fintech startup has assembled an incredible lineup of big-name Wall Street investors (Business Insider)
Orchard Platform, a technology and infrastructure provider for marketplace lenders, has won another big Wall Street backer.
The company is raising $30 million in funding in a Series B round led by Thrive Capital, joining the likes of Spark Capital, Canaan Partners, Victory Park Capital, and Thomvest Ventures.
Charting the Markets: Global Stock Rally Grinds to a Halt (Bloomberg)
The three-day rise in global stocks is over as China's economic slowdown and next week's Federal Reserve meeting vex investors once again. After the biggest one-day rise in six years on Wednesday, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped as much as 2.4 percent after Chinese producer prices sunk the most since 2009. The Shanghai Composite Indexfell 1.4 percent after a two-day, 5.3 percent gain. Brazil cast a shadow over emerging market currencies after its credit rating was cut to junk by Standard & Poor's.
Gas below $2 around the corner (CNN)
Drivers across the nation should be paying about $2 for gas by the end of the year. For many drivers, prices below that mark are already here or will be soon.
The Energy Information Administration this week made a dramatic cut in its forecast for the national gas price: The agency is now predicting oil will fall to $2.03 a gallon by December.
Futures are slightly higher (Business Insider)
US stock futures are slightly higher in early going this morning after a down close on Wednesday.
Near 6:40 a.m. ET, Dow futures were up 49 points, S&P 500 futures were up 6 points, and Nasdaq futures were up 14 points.
Politics
Bernie Sanders closes gap with Hillary Clinton in Iowa, poll shows (Market Watch)
Bernie Sanders has drawn even with Hillary Clinton for the first time in Iowa, according to a new poll released Thursday.
In the Quinnipiac University survey, the Vermont senator edges the former secretary of state 41% to 40%. As CNN writes, the new figures underscore the possibility that the once-prohibitive Democratic favorite could lose both of the first two presidential contests. Clinton also trails Sanders in New Hampshire, the second presidential nominating state. In Quinnipiac’s July Iowa survey, Clinton led Sanders 52% to 33%. Clinton’s honesty and trustworthiness ratings have been hurt by her use of private email when she was secretary of state.
Guinea's Opposition Leader Warns of Vote Boycott, Violence (Bloomberg)
Guinea’s main opposition leader warned that he may boycott elections and said there’s even a risk of political violence if it looks like the presidential poll next month won’t be credible.
In his first public criticism since an Aug. 20 agreement aimed at calming political tensions, Cellou Dalein Diallo said President Alpha Conde and the election agency need to stick to the deal and clean up the electoral list for him to participate in the Oct. 11 vote. Campaigning is scheduled to begin Thursday.
Technology
Apple Shows Off New IPhones With Faster Speed, New Touch Feature (Bloomberg)
Apple Inc. introduced its new iPhone, the most important product in its business, with a faster processor, better camera and new touch capabilities.
The new models, called iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which look like their predecessors that debuted last year, will cost $199 to $499 with a two-year wireless contract, depending on their memory capacity. They will be available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, U.K. and U.S. on Sept. 25, with pre-orders starting Sept. 12.
Carbon Fiber Drone Looks Like A Tough Paper Airplane (Popular Science)
In everything but material, Carbon Flyer is a fancy paper airplane. With two propellers and a Bluetooth controller, it’s a lot like the PowerUp 3.0 remote control paper airplane the FAA strangely approved as a drone. Instead of a body built from looseleaf, the plane’s structure is carbon fiber, giving it a rigidity and strength that paper lacks. In addition, it has a camera and lights, making it far more drone than its folded-sheet appearance suggests.
Health and Life Sciences
Can Amyloid Spread Between Brains? (The Scientist)
Examining the brains of recently deceased patients who more than 30 years ago received injections of growth hormone derived from the pituitary glands of cadavers, researchers have found evidence that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may be transmissible via extracts contaminated with amyloid-β. While none of the patients exhibited signs of dementia before their deaths, most had moderate to severe accumulation of amyloid-β in their brains. The results are published today (September 9) in Nature.
'Transmittable Alzheimer's' concept raised (BBC)
People may be able to contract Alzheimer's during certain medical procedures in the same way as the brain disease CJD, say researchers.
Contaminated surgical instruments or injections, such as human growth hormone, may pose a rare but potential risk, they speculate in Nature.
Life on the Home Planet
New Homo Species Found (The Scientist)
There are numerous different species for nearly every type of animal alive today—dozens of different whale species and thousands of ant varieties for example, yet there’s only one species of human. That wasn’t always the case, of course. In the distant past there were at least nine animals in our genus, Homo, including H. erectus, H. habilis, and Neanderthal. Now scientists have discovered a new species to add to our family tree, H. naledi.
From deep inside a nearly inaccessible cave, researchers in Southern Africa excavated 1,550 bone fragments belonging to H. naledi—more hominin fossils than had been discovered in the previous 90 years of exploration in the region. The bones come from at least 15 individuals, male and female, of various ages. “If you are an anthropologist this is as good as it gets,” said John Hawks, a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin and a collaborator on the excavation. The findings are published today (September 10) in eLife. [Photo H. naledi skull specimens, JOHN HAWKS.]
Japan Floods Cause Evacuations of Thousands in City Near Tokyo (Bloomberg)
A city near Tokyo declared a state of emergency and ordered thousands of residents to evacuate after torrential rain caused severe flooding. The storm caused contaminated water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant to leak into the ocean.
The Kinugawa river, which runs through the city of Joso, about 26 miles (42 kilometers) north of Tokyo in Ibaraki prefecture, broke its banks at about 12:50 p.m., public broadcaster NHK said. TV footage showed houses being dragged away by the flood and helicopters airlifting people from homes in danger of being swept away.
