Financial Markets and Economy
Asian Futures Tip Stock Rebound as Bonds Track Treasury Selloff (Bloomberg)
Index futures signaled a rebound in Asian stocks as the dollar held gains, while bonds in the region paced a selloff in Treasuries after U.S. retail sales data bolstered the case for higher interest rates as the Federal Reserve prepares to meet.
Here's the chart that will convince Janet Yellen to raise rates (Business Insider)
Do you want the Federal Reserve to raise rates?
According to Neil Dutta at Renaissance Macro, it takes one chart: the unemployment rate.
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Banks Lose to Insurers in Nordea Portfolio Heavy on Sampo Shares (Bloomberg)
Sampo has recently turned into one of Marie Nemlanders favorite stocks.
Here's how much the average Amex, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover owners spend per month (Business Insider)
Different credit-card holders spend differently.
People who use American Express as their primary card spend the most per month on average — around $1,687, according to a chart published by Morgan Stanley's Cheryl Pate.
Copper Mine Woes Spark Citi Optimism as Goldman Stays Bearish (Bloomberg)
Copper bulls that were battered by slowing Chinese demand have reason for hope as Citigroup Inc. predicts mine disruptions will send the oversupplied market back into deficit next year.
The bond market is ready (Business Insider)
The bond market is ready for the Federal Reserve.
On Tuesday, the yield on the 2-year Treasury note spiked to a four-year high of 0.78%. Other short-term bond yields, including the 1-year and 6-month bills, climbed to multi-year highs. Yields rise as bond prices fall.
Oil Traders Hire Tanks on Tiny Island to Profit From Global Glut (Bloomberg)
To see how oil traders are profiting from the longest-lasting glut in three decades, look at the tiny Caribbean island of St. Lucia.
NRG Energy Rises Ahead of Investor Call on Company Strategy (Bloomberg)
NRG Energy Inc., the biggest U.S. independent power producer, gained the most in more than two weeks on plans to update investors on its business operations and strategic direction.
The euro zone just rode its weak currency to another record trade surplus (Quartz)
The euro zone is sending its products around the world at a rate never seen before.
Its trade surplus hit a record €22.4 billion ($25.3 billion) in July.
Economic Takeaways of U.S. Retail Sales Gain, Weak Manufacturing (Bloomberg)
The Takeaway: The consumer is hanging in there, at least for now. The data help allay concern that volatile stock markets and sluggish global economies would prompt households to hit the brakes on spending, which has been a major contributor to growth this year. And while cheap energy wasn’t good for gas-station receipts, it’s giving households a little extra disposable income to spend at auto dealers, restaurants and health stores. Several Wall Street economists boosted their tracking estimates for third-quarter consumption after the report.
The stock market typically doesn't crash when everyone is using protection (Business Insider)
When investors and traders are worried that their long-term bets in the market are about to fall or perhaps crash briefly, they protect their portfolios by hedging their positions.
A cheap and efficient way to hedge is to take positions in the futures and options markets. The idea is to be positioned in such a way that these trades gain value if or when the value of the asset your hedging falls. (It's a bad strategy to just dump your investments with a plan to buy them back a little later because transaction costs are high and it's not tax efficient.)
Politics
Donald Trump terrifies Wall Street (CNN)
At first glance a billionaire Republican businessman sounds like Wall Street's dream presidential candidate.
But Donald Trump is no such thing. In fact, the prospect of a Trump White House strikes fear at the heart of capitalism.
Obama unleashes big tweetstorm to show how much better the country is since he became president (Business Insider)
Seven years ago, the US economy went into recession.
Lehman Brothers, the giant investment bank, collapsed after the housing market crash came to a head.
A sharp plunge in the stock market followed.
Technology
Prosthetic hand 'tells' the brain what it is touching (CNN)
Research on prosthetic hands has come a long way, but most of it has focused on improving the way the body controls the device.
Now, it may also be possible for prosthetic hands to send signals back to the body and "tell" it information about what the bionic hand is touching, according to a new study.
Finally, The Self-Rolling Yoga Mat You Never Knew You Wanted (Fast Company)
Get all bent out of shape during your workout—not while trying to put away your gear after.
According to Aaron Thornton and Yu Tsai, you're all idiots. You can't even roll up your yoga mat without dropping it onto the dirty street, and getting the things into the trunk of your car is totally beyond your tiny brain. Their Kickstarter pitch video is like that scene from Zoolander where the models are in a gas station spraying petrol all over each other.
Health and Life Sciences
Outdoor play 'good for the eyes' (BBC)
Getting children to play outside for 40 minutes a day could be a way to curb growing rates of short-sightedness, according to Chinese researchers.
They asked six schools to test the strategy over three years and it appeared to be beneficial.
The findings in Jama support the theory that children need to balance "close up" work, like reading, with activities that use distance vision.
Can Brain Cells Be Controlled With Sound Waves? (Forbes)
In 2010, the journal Science named optogenetics one of the breakthroughs of the decade. The burgeoning field offers the ability to use light to control living tissue. Optogenetics has been tested mostly in mouse neurons, with the aim of better understanding the brain. Scientists see potential in using this technology to precisely manipulate brain activity for therapeutic purposes in humans.
Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences in La Jolla, Calif., have developed a similar method using sound waves to selectively activate brain, heart, muscle and other cells in worms. Dubbed sonogenetics, this approach uses low-pressure ultrasound that penetrates through the skin and tissue to allow targeted control of certain cells or tissues. The technology is described in a study appearing Sept. 15 in the journal Nature Communications.
Life on the Home Planet
Hungary ready to jail trespassers at razor-wire border (CNN)
Hungary closed one of the main routes Tuesday that migrants are using to reach the European Union — plugging the final hole in its border fence with Serbia, implementing harsh new rules for anyone attempting to enter illegally and leaving hundreds of desperate migrants massed on its border.
