Here are some interesting articles on the web today…
Financial Markets and Economy
Oil's Killing U.S. Power Generators, And They Don't Even Burn It (Bloomberg)
The slide in global oil prices helped send shares of America’s power generators to their worst weekly decline in more than six years. And they don’t even burn the stuff.
DEUTSCHE BANK: Here's the embarrassing reason some people dreamed up for buying stocks this week (Business Insider)
And according to Deutsche Bank, this is the reason some folks were arguing you should buy stocks over bonds.
The idea here is that if you buy the S&P 500 index — say, through a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund — you get a dividend payment that is currently higher (on a percentage basis) than the regular payment received from owning a 10-year Treasury note.
Stocks Slump Toward Worst Quarter in 4 Years Amid Fed Confusion (Bloomberg)
Sneakers or tractors?
That choice was emblematic of the conflict stock investors faced this week amid mixed messages on the health of the U.S. economy.
Goldman Sachs just poached a big-name trader from Morgan Stanley (Business Insider)
Goldman Sachs has hired Adam Savarese to join its distressed-debt trading desk, according to people familiar with the matter.
Savarese, who was at Morgan Stanley previously, is a big name in the distressed-debt world.
Gas Bears Stage Record Comeback as Fading Demand Boosts Surplus (Bloomberg)
Fall has arrived, air conditioners are being switched off, and that means the gas bears are back.
Oil rig count falls for 4th straight week (Business Insider)
The oil rig count fell for a fourth straight week this week, by 4 to 640, according to driller Baker Hughes.
Junk-Debt Investors Fight for Scraps as U.S. Shale Rout Deepens (Bloomberg)
It’s every U.S. shale investor for himself as the worst oil rout in almost 30 years drags down its latest victims.
Investors in $158.2 million of Goodrich Petroleum Corp.’s debt agreed to take 47 cents on the dollar in exchange for stock warrants for some note holders and a lien on Goodrich’s oil acreage, according to a company statement today. That puts them second in line if the Houston-based company liquidates its assets in bankruptcy and pushes the remaining holders of $116.8 million in original bonds to the back of the pack.
Markit services PMI falls in line with expectations (Business Insider)
Markit's flash reading of the US services purchasing manager's index was 55.6 for September, in line with expectations.
Venezuela Economic Crisis to Only Get Worse, Barclays Says (Bloomberg)
Venezuela is suffering the deepest economic crisis in its history with output expected to contract 9.1 percent this year, Barclays Plc said Friday.
The economic contraction will likely reach 16.5 percent between 2014 and 2016, whileinflation over that period will exceed 1,000 percent, Barclays wrote in a note to clients.
Why Is Gas Still So Expensive in California? (The Atlantic)
Gas prices have been falling across the U.S.: According to the American Auto Association’s daily fuel gauge report, average national prices are the lowest they’ve been since 2004. In two states, prices have fell to less than $2 per gallon.
It's Marko Kolanovic's Market, We Just Trade in It (Bloomberg)
It’s a great time to be Marko Kolanovic.
Nike stock sets record close and becomes top performer on the Dow for the year (Market Watch)
“Nike just smoked it.”
So begins a note from SIG Susquehanna analysts Friday on Nike, one of a series of bullish responses to the athletic footwear and apparel company’s first-quarter earnings.
Mexico — Not China or Brazil — Is Stock Bears' Biggest Target (Bloomberg)
The world’s stock investors have crowned Mexico their favorite market to bet against.
Economy in U.S. Picked Up on Consumer Spending, Construction (Bloomberg)
The world’s largest economy expanded more than previously forecast in the second quarter, boosted by gains in consumer spending and construction that may help the U.S. withstand a global slowdown.
Gross domestic product rose at a 3.9 percent annualized rate, compared with a prior estimate of 3.7 percent, Commerce Department figures showed Friday in Washington. The median forecast of 76 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 3.7 percent gain.
Caterpillar's global woes ripple out through supplier base (Business Insider)
Caterpillar Inc's <CAT.N> suppliers were feeling the pain of slumping sales at the world's largest mining and construction equipment maker long before it announced an extensive cost-cutting program.
J-TEC Chief Executive Officer Gary Roling said Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar, his single largest customer, had recently pushed back a big order due this month to December.
Politics
The Obscure-Seeming ExIm Bank Furore Is a Window Into the Heart of Today's Politics (The Atlantic)
Thanks to our new threaded-notes feature, you should see all previous installments in this series below. The purpose of this one is to give some answer to the question “Why on Earth should I spend two seconds thinking about the Export-Import Bank??” for the 99% of the U.S. population that has never previously spent even a single second that way.
Obama salutes John Boehner on the way out (Business Insider)
President Barack Obama on Friday praised House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who announced a stunning resignation on Friday, as a "good man" and a "patriot."
"John Boehner's a good man," Obama said during a joint press conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping. "He's a patriot. He cares deeply about the House, an institution in which he's served for a long time. He cares about his constituents. And he cares about America."
Technology
Coolest new robot technology: Hotel helpers and warehouse pickers (Market Watch)
With our smartphones able, sort of, to talk to us and the scary promise of driverless cars, many in Silicon Valley predict a rapid rise for robotics.
Even so, a business-focused robotics conference and trade show in downtown San Jose this week did not have the same breathless hype as the tech celebrity-studded TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, where former security software executive John McAfee said he really plans to run for president of the United States, rap star Snoop Dogg announced a marijuana “lifestyle” website and a famous venture capitalist let loose a misguided joke on diversity.
How Robots Could Improve Social Skills In Kids With Autism (Forbes)
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder often have trouble communicating with others. They may look away when someone is speaking to them, or react with laughter in a serious situation. These children often have problems with motor control, eye-gaze attention and emotional facial expressions, and in early age, these deficits may lead to other social deficits, such as delayed development of social cognition.
Health and Life Sciences
Two new kidney cancer drugs 'work' (BBC)
Two new therapies for hard to treat advanced kidney cancer could change treatment of the disease, say experts at the European Cancer Congress.
Both drugs increased survival in trials which are also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Life on the Home Planet
Climate Change Killed Earth's Crocodilians, and It Could Bring Them Back, Too (Gizmodo)
A diverse clan of fearsome crocodilians once roamed the entire planet. Today, only 23 species remain in a handful of locales worldwide. We’ve all heard tales of the giant asteroid that did in the dinosaurs, but the demise of the crocodilians was far less dramatic. The crocs were picked off quietly, as our planet cooled off and dried up over the course of millions of years.
The Connection Between Cleaner Air and Longer Lives (NY Times)
Back in 1970, Los Angeles was known as the smog capital of the world — a notorious example of industrialization largely unfettered by regard for health or the environment. Heavy pollution drove up respiratory and heart problems and shortened lives.
But 1970 was also the year the environmental movement held the first Earth Day and when, 45 years ago this month, Congress passed a powerful update of the Clean Air Act.
