Financial Markets and Economy
Stocks Roar Back as S&P 500 Heads for Best Month in Four Years (Bloomberg)
Central-bank stimulus and strong earnings from the largest technology companies combined to give U.S. stocks their fourth straight weekly gain and propel the Standard & Poors 500 toward its best month since 2011.
What to watch for in Apple’s earnings (Market Watch)
Apple Inc. is set to report fourth-quarter earnings after the market’s close on Tuesday.
The fourth quarter is typically Apple’s AAPL, +3.10% second-weakest of the year, as it comes just ahead of the busy holiday season. But analysts are anticipating strong iPhone sales, fueled by the release of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in September.
Millennials' banking habits suggest deeper branch cuts are coming (Business Insider)
In a new study by BI Intelligence, we surveyed 1,500 millennials (ages 18-34) to explore how they use physical and digital banking channels. The banking habits of millennials, who compose the largest share of both the US and employed populations, are an important indicator for determining the future of retail banks.
Second Day of Gains for Market After Strong Tech Earnings (NY Times)
U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, delivering their second gain in two days and pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index back into positive territory for the year.
Strong quarterly earnings from several big-name technology companies helped rally the market, which has been gradually regaining ground following a swoon in August and September. Microsoft vaulted to a 15-year high, while Amazon and Google’s parent company Alphabet closed sharply higher.
Caterpillar Shifts Focus to Loyalty With Recovery Seen Year Away (Bloomberg)
Caterpillar Inc., convinced that a commodity recovery is at least a year away, is shifting focus from selling more machines to helping its mining and energy customers better use the ones they have.
The recall that hit Build-A-Bear shares this week (Market Watch)
Don’t worry, it’s not the “I Love One Direction” Build-A-Bear.
Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. BBW, +0.17% on Thursday recalled 33,600 units in the U.S. and 1,000 units in Canada of its Starbrights Dragon stuffed animal because the stuffing material could pose a choking hazard for children.
Tech-Sector Rally Propels U.S. Stocks (Wall Street Journal)
A rally in the technology sector on Friday, spurred by upbeat earnings, propelled the S&P 500 back into positive territory for the year.
A further loosening of monetary policy in China and the prospect of more stimulus from the European Central Bank also fueled gains in global stocks.
We're seeing the first signs of trouble in San Francisco's red-hot real-estate market (Business Insider)
San Francisco's hot housing market could be showing signs of trouble.
Pandora Plunges Most Since IPO on Weaker Revenue Outlook (Bloomberg)
Pandora Media Inc. plummeted the most since going public in June 2011 after issuing a sales forecast that fell short of analysts estimates and recording charges of $81.8 million to settle legal disputes with the music industry.
Treasury yields jump to 2-week high after China cuts rates (Market Watch)
Treasury prices fell Friday, pushing yields to their highest level in two weeks, after China’s central bank decision to cut interest rates helped extend a global stock market rally.
The dovish central-bank move fueled a risk-on appetite, leading investors to sell U.S. government debt in favor of stocks.
It looks like someone found another mysterious pharmacy connected to Valeant (Business Insider)
The Valeant story just keeps getting weirder.
On Thursday night Evercore analyst Ummer Raffat released a report about all the unanswered questions surrounding pharmaceutical company, Valeant, and the "specialty pharmacies" it uses to distribute its product.
IMF Said to Give China Strong Signs of Reserve-Currency Blessing (Bloomberg)
International Monetary Fund representatives have told China that the yuan is likely to join the fund’s basket of reserve currencies soon, according to Chinese officials with knowledge of the matter, a move that may make more countries comfortable using the unit or including it in their foreign-exchange holdings.
The S&P 500 is up an impressive 0% this year (Business Insider)
The S&P 500 is up 9% from its September low of 1,887. The index is right around 2,058, which is exactly where it began the year.
Amazon showing it can invest and make a profit, analysts say (Market Watch)
Analysts now see Amazon as a company capable of both investing in itself and sustaining long-term profits after the company posted a surprise profit Thursdayafternoon.
Amazon AMZN, +6.23% shares were up 6% Friday, pushing its market capitalizationto $280 billion.
The Fastest-Growing New ETF Costs More Than a Mutual Fund (Bloomberg)
Advisers are pouringmoney into this momentum strategy.
A JPMorgan analyst dedicated a Mariah Carey song to American Airlines' President during an earnings call (Business Insider)
American Airlines had a great Q3, posting record profits for the fourth quarter in a row.
Also, the company's President Scott Kirby celebrated his 20 year anniversary at the company.
To congratulate Kirby and the company, one JP Morgan analyst made a reference to Mariah Carey.
Kellogg nears $1 billion merger with snack-maker Diamond Foods (Market Watch)
With sales of breakfast cereal continually soggy, Kellogg Co. is in late-stage talks with snack maker Diamond Foods about acquiring the $1 billion company, The Post has learned.
If the talks result in a deal, Kellogg K, -0.43% , whose cereal lineup includes Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops and Rice Krispies, would further transition toward snack foods.
Oil rig count drops for 8th straight week (Business Insider)
Not much happened on the rig count front this week.
Meet the short seller who rocked Valeant’s stock this week (Market Watch)
Even in the bombastic world of short selling, Andrew Left stands out.
Mr. Left, the man who this week likened Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.VRX, +5.72% to Enron Corp., is among a small group of investors who publish free reports on firms they claim are overvalued or are engaged in fraud. They profit by making trades known as “shorts,” betting the shares will fall.
Politics
Why Did Lincoln Chafee Even Run? (The Atlantic)
Even when he was running for president, Lincoln Chafee did not go so far as to predict he would end up in the White House. “I’m running to give the people a choice—that’s my goal,” he said, when I asked him to make such a forecast. “Let them decide.” It was a crisp, sunny September day in New Hampshire, and Chafee, whose ruddy head is topped by a mushroomlike cap of gray-blond hair, was standing in a grove of trees, having finished his speech to a group of Democrats gathered in a local activist’s backyard.
New shake-up for Jeb Bush campaign as staff salaries cut (Market Watch)
Here’s the latest sign Jeb Bush’s campaign for president is struggling: it’s cutting staff salaries and downsizing its Miami headquarters to save money.
The former Florida governor, who is seeking the Republican nomination for the White House, is putting in place an across-the-board pay cut for his campaign. The campaign is also cutting travel costs by 20% and slashing 45% of its budget that’s not related to voter contact or media.
Technology
Hendo brings out second hoverboard iteration (Phys)
Will we ever see hoverboards join bicycles as our favored way of moving about? We may see the day.
Attracting eyes this week among news sites are reports of a Hendo 2.0hoverboard which has improvements over the original design. This is the second iteration of the hoverboard that was created by Arx Pax in collaboration with skateboarder Tony Hawk.
Low carbon electricity 'better than gas' (BBC)
Low-carbon electricity, not gas, is the cheapest way to keep lights on and meet carbon targets, says the government's climate advisory panel.
The Committee on Climate Change says onshore wind and solar are already price-competitive if you factor in the cost imposed on society by carbon emissions from gas.
Health and Life Sciences
Antibiotics don’t pop bacteria like a balloon (Futurity)
The days when antibiotics worked reliably and scientists could assume they worked directly—like popping a balloon—are fading. As resistance mounts, understanding how antibiotics really work could be the key to sustaining their efficacy.
A new way to protect babies from pneumonia (CNN)
This summer, as I entered the hustle and bustle of a pediatric ward in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, I was met by the cries of a newborn baby girl and her worried mother.
I could see that the infant was underweight and likely premature, making her more susceptible to childhood infections such as pneumonia, the leading infectious killer of children globally.
Life on the Home Planet
NASA analyzes record-breaking Hurricane Patricia (Phys)
NASA satellites and instruments have been monitoring the record-breaking Hurricane Patricia as it rapidly intensified off the southwestern coast of Mexico on October 23. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP saw frigid cloud top temperatures, NOAA's GOES-West satellite provided imagery and animations that showed the extent of the storm, NASA's Terra satellite provided visible data, and the RapidScat instrument aboard the International Space Station measured its surface winds.
