Financial Markets and Economy
Yellen Boosts Dollar to Stock Futures as Rate Clarity Sinks Gold (Bloomberg)
Janet Yellen has spoken, and markets are quite relieved.
Some appetite for risk was revived after the Federal Reserve Chair said the central bank is on track to boost interest rates before the year is out. Japanese and Australian shares opened higher as U.S. index futures climbed, while gold retreated from a September high amid a drop in Treasuries and Asian bonds. The dollar was a key beneficiary, climbing against most of its major peers.
One unsettling chart from Janet Yellen's new presentation shows how things can go wrong (Business Insider)
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen gave a speech on inflation and Fed policy at UMass Amhearst, indicating that she and other Federal Open Market Committee members want to raise its benchmark federal funds interest rate by the end of the year.
Gold prices are on fire as stocks zigzag (CNN)
Investors are afraid. Very afraid. How can you tell? Just look at gold.
Stocks were tumbling for a third straight day Thursday, in large part due to bad news from Caterpillar(CAT). Most of the 30 Dow stocks were lower and just a handful of companies in the S&P 500 were in the black.
European Stock Winners and Losers Upended as China Effect Reigns (Bloomberg)
Choosing which European stocks to invest in used to be straightforward: either stable markets unscathed by the continent’s debt crisis or riskier countries whose shares were cheaper.
Goldman was wrong about $200 oil, and it'll also be wrong about $20 oil (Business Insider)
Oppenheimer issued a note Thursday arguing that oil is looking for a "new normal" price around $65 to $75 a barrel.
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Gold Bears Grow Weary as Options Ratio Drops to Three-Year Low (Bloomberg)
Gold bears are finally showing signs of fatigue, if options trading is any indication.
The put-to-call ratio, or the number of bearish options trading compared with bullish ones, for SPDR Gold Shares is at the lowest since 2012, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The open interest on puts fell to the lowest since mid-July on Sept. 21, signaling bears may be losing their stranglehold on the market. SPDR is the world’s biggest exchange-traded product backed by gold.
Nobody cares about the looming US government shutdown (Business Insider)
Another US government shutdown could be on the horizon as the Republicans insist that the government cut off all funding for Planned Parenthood.
Global Oil Market Gets New Chinese Traders Hungry to Taste Crude (Bloomberg)
They long stood in the shadows of state-owned Chinese energy giants, small in size and clustered in an eastern province along the coast. Now, independent refiners are wielding growing clout in the global oil market.
Nike crushes earnings expectations (Business Insider)
Nike reported first-quarter earnings results after the market closed Thursday, and they were incredible.
The apparel giant reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.34, up 23%, and revenues of $8.4 billion.
Revenues from North America rose 8% – 9% excluding currency fluctuations — and jumped 30% in China.
The Five Most Popular ETFs Launched This Year (Bloomberg)
It’s only September, and the number of new exchange-traded funds is already at an annual record—200 so far.
Yahoo stock sinks to a 52-week low (Business Insider)
Yahoo stock sank to a new 52-week low on Thursday, as worries about its Asian assets continue to weigh on the stock.
Shares of Yahoo fell to $28.85 in midday trading on Thursday, amid a broader market selloff in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 200 points.
Countries Looking to Devalue Their Way to Growth Have a Big Problem, HSBC Says (Bloomberg)
Economists at HSBC have a message for monetary policymakers who are hoping their stimulus will help devalue their local currencies and spur exports: Good luck with that.
According to HSBC Global Chief Economist Janet Henry and Economist James Pomeroy, a depreciating currency just doesn't pack the same punch it used to.
Almost every market in the world is still reeling from last month’s sell off, and the Fed made it worse (Business Insider)
The big sell off of August is behind us, but there's much more for investors to worry about.
This year, the S&P 500 has fallen 7%. Most commodities have gotten absolutely crushed, and the Brazilian real hit an all-time low against the dollar on Wednesday. The only things performing really well this year are the US dollar along with Russian stocks and a select few indexes in Europe.
Bonds Show Inflation Outlook Falling to Lowest Level Since 2009 (Bloomberg)
The bond market’s inflation outlook for the next 10 years touched the lowest since May 2009, raising questions about the Federal Reserve’s ability to increase interest rates this year.
British banks are far more exposed to China's economic quagmire than any of their competitors (Business Insider)
With China's economic expansion slowing more rapidly than many analysts expected a few years ago, and global growth so feeble, investors are more interested than ever in how the emerging behemoth fits into the world's financial system.
Politics
Donald Trump: It’s not just Hillary Clinton; Rand Paul is ‘shrill,’ too (Market Watch)
“Shrill” is an equal-opportunity term in Donald Trump’s vocabulary.
A day after using the word to describe Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, Trump said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”: “I think the word ‘shrill’ doesn’t apply to women exclusively.
“I know men that are shrill,” said Trump, who leads the field for the Republican nomination.
On the Menu for Obama and China's Xi: a Full Plate of Disputes (Bloomberg)
With an agenda of disputes before them, Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama sat down Thursday night with a few top aides for a private dinner before their more formal summit on Friday.
Xi arrived in Washington from Seattle, where he told business executives that he’s ready to cut a deal on one of the thorniest areas of disagreement between the world’s two biggest economies: security in cyberspace.
Technology
US Army Wants Robot Medics To Carry Wounded Soldiers Out Of Battle (Popular Science)
This is an understatement: Battlefields are unsafe. For troops wounded in combat, they need to get out of battle fast and to medical care. Historically that’s been the role of human medics, who bravely risk enemy fire to save their wounded comrades. That’s profoundly dangerous work, undertaken by humans because we haven’t, historically, had any other options. Earlier this week, Major General Steve Jones, commander of the Army Medical Department Center, said that in the future, we might send robots instead.
Health and Life Sciences
Genetic clue to breast cancer relapses (BBC)
Scientists say they have discovered a genetic clue to why some breast cancers relapse, which could lead to better treatment.
A research team from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge found that certain combinations of genes in tumours were more likely to lead to cancer returning.
Targeting these genes with early treatments could be key, they said.
Life on the Home Planet
Are we ready for the next tsunami? (Futurity)
The world may not be well enough prepared for the next significant tsunami, according to a new study that includes a “wisdom index” for 17 tsunamis since 2004.
The 2004 Sumatra-Andaman tsunami was the most devastating in recorded history, killing more than 225,000 people, including thousands of tourists. In a new review of that event and 16 other significant tsunamis since then, researchers used the concept of a “wisdom index” to grade the performance of scientists, decision-makers, and populations at risk.
NASA sees a somewhat shapeless Tropical Storm Ida (Phys)
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard Aqua captured a visible image of a somewhat shapeless Tropical Storm Ida at 16:25 UTC (4:45 p.m. EDT) on Sept 23. National Hurricane Center forecaster Berg noted on September 24 that Ida's low-level center is exposed to the west of a relatively small cluster of deep convection (clouds and thunderstorms) due to 25 knots of west-northwesterly shear.
On September 24 at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Ida was located near latitude 19.6 North, longitude 45.5 West. That's about 1,155 miles (1,855 km) east of the Northern Leeward Islands.
