Financial Markets and Economy
'I felt like we were being extorted': Customer says Oracle tried to strong-arm him into a cloud sale (Business Insider)
We just received a detailed report from a longtime Oracle customer claiming that Oracle used some ugly tactics to sell its cloud and other products the customer didn't want.
This is one person's account in response to a story we recently published, in which we interviewed a consultant who says Oracle has been using a "nuclear option" to boost cloud sales.
The Big Mistake Traders Make (Trader Feed)
The big mistake traders make is labeling challenges as problems. A challenge is a function of growth, pushing one's boundaries, becoming more than you presently are. A problem is a shortcoming, a deficit, something to move past.
If you are never anxious, you are never pushing your boundaries. Growth requires movement outside our comfort zones. That brings uncertainty, nervousness, and doubt.
European Bonds Stuck in Limbo as Traders Weigh ECB Against Fed (Bloomberg)
European government-bond traders may face a challenging week as they contend with debt auctions as well as inflation data that may encourage the the European Central Bank to extend its stimulus program while the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates for the first time since 2006.
Citi analysts have an idea they call 'the Feed,' and it could revolutionize the insurance industry (Business Insider)
Imagine a world where a worker punches the clock and slips on a heart-rate monitor that's tracked by an insurance company.
The worker turns on a truck, which alerts the insurance company it's on, and drives to a warehouse, which alerts the insurance company that someone is there.
China H-Shares Set to Soar 33% by Year-End, Deutsche Bank Says (Bloomberg)
Chinese stocks trading in Hong Kong will surge 33 percent by the end of this year as stronger fiscal stimulus on the mainland revives economic growth, Deutsche Bank AG said.
Stocks End the Week Higher: Here's what you need to know (Business Insider)
Stocks surged to the best levels of the day in the final minutes of trading on Friday to end the four-day week in the green. It was the best week for the S&P 500 since mid-July.
Therese Poletti's Tech Tales: Is Twitter negotiating with a CEO or working on an acquisition? (Market Watch)
The search for Twitter Inc.’s chief executive is now three months old. And as much as investors last week were speculating the social media company’s search to replace Dick Costolo would be over soon, no news has arrived.
On Friday, early Twitter TWTR, -1.15% investor Chris Sacca, whom Vanity Fair says is being called “the Unabomber” by Twitter’s board, tweeted his impatience.
Dollar Enters Pivotal Week With Crisis-Period Trades Unwinding (Bloomberg)
Currency traders are putting the frenzy of August behind them, signaling that global markets have calmed as Federal Reserve policy makers consider raising interest rates for the first time since 2006.
4 key reasons behind oil’s latest price drop (Market Watch)
Oil’s outlook just keeps getting worse.
On Friday, analysts at Goldman Sachs added to the dour projections for crude by saying the potential for oil prices to fall near $20 a barrel is “becoming greater as storage continues to fill.”
Goldman Sachs says the global-oil market will remain in a supply surplus until the fourth quarter of 2016, according to its Friday research note.
Start-up investors are being extra-cautious thanks to some costly flops (Business Insider)
At the end of July, Homejoy, a start-up company that used the Web to offer house cleaning, hung up its mops, leaving customers in the lurch and Google Ventures and other top-tier private equity backers out the more than $35 million they had sunk into the company.
Now, with public markets on a see-saw and venture capitalists thinking the turmoil may hit private markets, many investors are wondering if more Homejoys lie ahead.
Politics
Rick Perry to suspend presidential campaign (Market Watch)
Former Gov. Rick Perry suspended his struggling presidential campaign Friday.
Perry—who served as the Republican governor of Texas for 14 years—has struggled to gain traction in a crowded GOP field.
Technology
High-Tech Lights to Help Baby Sleep, or Students Stay Alert (NY Times)
Like many expecting parents, Tracy Mizraki Kraft in Portola Valley, Calif., worried about how her newborn would sleep. So she paid attention when her doctor handed her a light bulb that he said would help her son do just that.
The small amber bulb, called Sleepy Baby, seemed to work well, she said, creating a soothing environment for Leo, now 16 months, as he drifted off to sleep.
Wearable sensor knows who’s using appliances (Futurity)
Smart-home technologies make it possible to track how much energy any given appliance—like the fridge, TV, or hair dryer—is gobbling up. What they don’t typically show is which person in the house actually flicked the switch.
A new wearable technology called MagnifiSense can sense what devices and vehicles the user interacts with throughout the day, which can help track that individual’s carbon footprint, enable smart home applications, or even assist with elder care.
Health and Life Sciences
Major Study Supports Aggressive Blood Pressure Treatment, But Don't Act On Results Yet (Forbes)
A giant government study says that using higher doses of blood pressure lowering medicines would save lives.
The NIH-funded SPRINT study, which started in 2009, focused on 9,300 patients over 50 who are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease or already have kidney disease (patients with diabetes or polycystic kidney disease or who have had a stroke in the past weren’t included, as there are separate studies covering those populations). The study group was tasked with achieving a systolic blood pressure of 120 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) for patients, while the control group stuck to the more standard recommendation of 140 mm Hg.
Life on the Home Planet
Strong earthquake jolts Tokyo; no tsunami risk or injuries (Phys)
A strong earthquake shook Tokyo early Saturday morning, knocking books from shelves, but authorities said there was no risk of a tsunami.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The magnitude-5.2 earthquake was 57 kilometers (35 miles) deep and was centered in Tokyo Bay, near Haneda Airport, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. It struck at 5:49 a.m.
Melting Antarctica Could Drown Coasts Much Sooner Than You Thought (Scientific American)
Seas could rise as fast as three centimeters a year if fossil fuel consumption continues at its present rate. Such increases would amount to ten times the current rise of roughly three millimeters annually. But Antarctica's vast ice sheets may substantially melt and accelerate the rise of seawaters should the burning of fossil fuel continue unabated, according to new computer simulations of climate change’s future impact.
Scientists had previously thought that East Antarctica's massive ice sheets were relatively safe, requiring thousands of years to pass before warming global temperatures would begin to melt them. But the new simulations, published in Science Advances on September 11, suggest Antarctica's ice is much more vulnerable—and thus sea level rise could be a lot worse.
