Financial Markets and Economy
Asia Set to Extend Global Stock Rally as Kiwi Holds Drop on Jobs (Bloomberg)
The global stock rally looks set to live another day, with Asian equity futures foreshadowing gains from Japan to Hong Kong amid renewed zeal for riskier assets.
The US stock market has completely recovered from August’s global market meltdown (Quartz)
Remember that global market meltdown that started in mid-August? When China made asmall tweak to its currency, ruined everything for everybody, and sent the S&P 500 into a correction?
Hedge fund legend Stan Druckenmiller raved about Amazon, one of his newest investments (Business Insider)
Legendary hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller says he loves Amazon because, unlike IBM, it's not focused on short-term quarterly earnings.
"The last 19 quarters, Amazon has missed their quarterly earnings nine times. They don't give a damn," Druckenmiller said at the DealBook Conference Tuesday.
He continued: "IBM has missed three quarters since 2006. They really care about their quarterly earnings."
The Growing Ranks of America’s High-Earning Poor (The Atlantic)
There’s a growing segment of the American population that earns a decent salary but lives paycheck-to-paycheck: the income-rich and asset-poor.
Empty bank balances are often associated with those on the lowest rungs of the income ladder. But many members of America’s upper-middle class have almost no emergency cushion and are woefully unprepared for retirement. And years into the recovery, they are still struggling, leaving the entire economy vulnerable.
China's Big Development Plan Has Xi's Fingerprints All Over It (Bloomberg)
Chinas new development blueprint was officially handed down Tuesday by the Communist Partys Central Committee. But the details leave little doubt as to President Xi Jinpings hand in crafting the document.
Australia’s dollar pops after RBA declines to cut interest rates (Quartz)
Rates stayed up in the land down under.
Walt Disney to invest $200 million in Vice Media (Business Insider)
Walt Disney Co <DIS.N> will invest $200 million in edgy video maker Vice Media, known for its coverage of current affairs for the Millennial generation, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Third Point Re Posts Biggest Loss Since IPO on Loeb Investments (Bloomberg)
Third Point Reinsurance Ltd., the reinsurer that counts on Dan Loeb to oversee investments, posted its worst loss as a publicly traded company on declines in the hedge-fund managers portfolio.
Etsy plunges to all-time low after earnings (Business Insider)
Etsy shares slipped by more than 7% to an all-time low after the company reported third-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
U.S. Car Makers Log October Sales Gains (Wall Street Journal)
Auto makers used an array of incentives and favorable economic conditions to shake off October’s traditional slowdown and appear poised to do what it takes to keep momentum rolling through the end of the year.
Light-vehicle sales increased 13.6% in October compared with the same period a year ago, according to AutoData Corp., with 1.46 million cars and trucks sold. It is the second-consecutive month that the annualized sales pace exceeded 18 million, putting the U.S. market on track for potentially the strongest annual showing in history.
Diamonds are forever, but prices have room to fall (Market Watch)
Cheaper diamond prices are good news if you’re looking for a deal on something flashy for the holidays. But from an investment standpoint, prices still have room to fall because of weaker demand from China and a supply glut.
Mylan Wins U.S. Approval for Perrigo Bid With Generics Sale (Bloomberg)
Mylan NV will ask shareholders to vote on changes to its corporate governance, including the nomination and election of directors, if the drugmaker completes its hostile takeover bid for Perrigo Co.
The company, based in the Netherlands and run from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, also will propose a vote on whether to retain a Dutch structure known as a stichting, an independent foundation that can help block takeover attempts, according to a statement Tuesday. It didn’t specify what changes it would make on board elections.
Energy Stocks Power the Market Higher (NY Times)
Shares of King Digital, maker of Candy Crush Saga, jumped after the company agreed to be acquired by Activision Blizzard.
Herbalife earnings beat, but the stock is sliding (Business Insider)
For the third quarter, Herbalife, a multilevel marketing company that sells weightloss shakes, reported adjusted EPS of $1.28 versus analyst estimates of $1.05.
Net sales for the third quarter came in at $1.1 billion.
Mexico Casts Wider Net for Oil Buyers as U.S. Interest Wanes (Bloomberg)
Mexico isn’t breaking up with U.S. oil refiners, but it sure seems like it wants to see other people.
What to watch for in Lumber Liquidators’ earnings (Market Watch)
Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. is slated to reveal third-quarter results on Wednesday, before the stock market opens.
Investors will be waiting to see whether the troubled hardwood-floor companyLL, +1.43% can finally break its string of disappointing results, and support the recent stabilization in the stock. That would help deflect some of their ire over the scandal surrounding sales of wood flooring sourced from China with dangerous levels of a cancer-causing agent, and the company’s admission of guilt regarding theillegal importation of hardwood flooring.
Tesla goes wild after earnings (Business Insider)
Tesla's numbers are out and the stock is ripping higher.
Tesla came in a little light on earnings while revenue was right in line with expectations.
In the third quarter, Tesla reported an adjusted loss per share of $0.58 against expectations for a $0.56 loss.
Bank Bonds Stay Strong Despite Possible Downgrades on New Rules (Bloomberg)
Returns on bonds issued by U.S. commercial and investment banks remain much stronger than the broader market, as investors digest the less onerous capital requirements being placed on the companies by the Federal Reserve.
All cash deals are at an all-time high and that's a bad sign for the market (Business Insider)
Trim Tabs says cash takeovers in the US from May through October totaled $457.8 billion, the highest amount on record for a six-month stretch. The research firm notes the period of February 2007 through July 2007 was the previous peak, topping out at $406.5 billion. In addition, the month of October recorded the largest month ever for all-cash deals, reaching $97.5 billion. Trim Tabs chief executive officer, David Santschi, warns, "Merger activity tends to swell around market tops as confident corporate leaders turn to deal-making to boost earnings and revenue late in the economic cycle.”
How biotech, small-caps may determine if this stock-market rally is legit (Market Watch)
Is Wall Street is back? That is what investors might be contemplating with the three main indexes slipping back into positive territory.
Santander Plants Its Flag in the Hunt for Financial Technology (Bloomberg)
Microsoft Corp., Google Inc., Facebook Inc. — the usual suspects — have prominent booths at the annual Dublin Web Summit of tech giants and the upstarts who want to emulate them. This year there is a surprise entrant: Banco Santander SA.
Crude oil is up 4% (Business Insider)
Crude oil spiked to the highest levels in four weeks on Tuesday.
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U.S. Investors Have One More Reason to Fret About Chinese Firms (Bloomberg)
A key accounting safeguard intended to protect U.S. investors who buy shares of Chinese companies is close to unraveling.
Last month, a final agreement that would have allowed a U.S. regulator to examine the audits of Chinese companies listed on American stock exchanges fell through, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The failed negotiations are a setback for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a Washington-based watchdog that has sought access to Chinese audits for years as dozens of companies such as JD.com Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. raised billions of dollars from U.S. investors.
People were way more stressed out about the Fed two years ago (Business Insider)
Investors just aren't all that worried about the Federal Reserve anymore.
Intel Capital Investing $22 Million in 11 Different Startups (Fast Company)
The giant tech capital fund is investing in a free 4G service, Braille printers, GPS alternatives, and more.
Intel Capital just announced they are investing $22 million in 11 different startups, and that the venture capital arm of the tech company is on track to invest $500 million in startups this year.
What to watch for in Facebook’s earnings (Market Watch)
Facebook Inc. is set to report third-quarter earnings after the market close on Wednesday.
All eyes will be on Facebook’s FB, -0.71% growth in video, and how the company’s advertising portfolio and engagement is growing in relation to its top rivals, notably, Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, +0.14% and Twitter Inc. TWTR, -0.24%.
For Mitsubishi, Cheap Is More Than Enough (Bloomberg)
The carmaker pulls off abit of a strategic coup by undercutting a cluttered market.
Forbes sold itself last year, and now something very strange is happening (Business Insider)
This is an odd one.
According to a report in the Financial Times, the Forbes family has sued Integrated Whale Media Investment, the Hong Kong-based investment group that bought a majority stake in Forbes Media last July.
Why companies like Apple and Google are targeting your office (Market Watch)
Consumer spending on technology has been trending in the wrong direction, and businesses are increasing tech budgets at unspectacular rates — and yet the Nasdaq has tripled since 2008.
Some call this evidence of a new tech bubble. Others, however, say commoditized hardware, open-source software and the adoption of subscription-based cloud computing services have upended the way technology is purchased, creating a technology economy that is less cyclical and better insulated from business cycles.
Uber Invests $250 Million for Expansion in the Middle East (Bloomberg)
Uber Technologies Inc. is investing $250 million to expand in the Middle East and North Africa, which have some of the ride-sharing service’s fastest-growing markets.
Uber over the next several years will begin service in new cities in Saudi Arabia and Egypt and enter Pakistan, beginning in Lahore, said Jambu Palaniappan, the company’s regional general manager for the Middle East, Africa and Central and Eastern Europe. The investment will go toward paying drivers, expanding staff and enhancing Uber’s mobile application.
Politics
The Candidate Republicans Trust Most on the Economy: Trump (Business Insider)
The economy, and ways to improve it, is arguably the most important issue in the upcoming presidential election. In May, a Gallup poll showed that Americans thought the economy was more critical than foreign affairs, immigration, or terrorism.
For the almost laughably large field of GOP hopefuls, that means that the ability to convince Republican voters of their ability to manage the economy is essential in order to remain in contention.
Jeb Bush’s ‘Serious’ Foreign Policy Is Not Serious (The Atlantic)
Jeb Bush fashions himself the thinking man’s Republican candidate for president. Donald Trump, he declared late last month, is “not serious.” When it comes to foreign policy, Trump hasn’t “thought these things through.” Trump is “not taking the responsibility—the possibility of becoming the president of the United States really seriously.”
Technology
Scientists develop ultra-hard glass (BBC)
Scientists in Japan have developed a type of ultra-hard glass.
The new material is thin as well as hard and is made using alumina, an oxide of aluminium.
If successfully commercialised, it could increase the durability of glass used in the windows of buildings, cars and in smartphone displays.
Army Commandos First to Get Bad-Weather Vision for U.S. Copters (Bloomberg)
The U.S. Army commando unit that’s flown missions from “Black Hawk Down” to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden will be the first to get new sensor technology to help guide helicopters through sometimes deadly bad weather.
By mid-2019, the system to navigate through thick clouds of dust or snow will be installed on specialized MH-47G Chinook copters and MH-60M Black Hawks flown by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, according to a command spokesman. The unit is the prime transporter of U.S. special operations forces.
Children's Tablets: The Electronic Baby Sitter Wises Up (Wall Street Journal)
The tablet has become a staple of the American tween’s life, just five years after its invention. But can a tablet be a guilt-free baby sitter?
I found out, by putting the latest youth-targeted tablets to the test.
Health and Life Sciences
Does Schizophrenia Exist on an Autism-Like Spectrum? (Scientific American)
Most people have felt depressed or anxious, even if those feelings have never become debilitating. And how many times have you heard someone say, “I'm a little OCD”? Clearly, people intuitively think that most mental illnesses have a spectrum, ranging from mild to severe. Yet most people do not know what it feels like to hallucinate—to see or hear things that are not really there—or to have delusions, persistent notions that do not match reality. You're psychotic, or you're not, according to conventional wisdom.
Surprise Link Between Epilepsy And Whooping Cough: What's The Connection? (Forbes)
One of the more common concerns parents have about vaccines is the fear their child will suffer seizures following vaccination. The fear is grounded in reality: febrile, or fever-induced seizures, can occur after vaccinations. Their risk even increases when the MMR vaccine is delayed, an ironic fact for parents who delay this vaccine out of misguided safety concerns.
What happens when you go without sugar for 10 days? (CNN)
No one wants to hear more bad news about sugar, especially just a few days after Halloween. As a dad of three little girls, though, I found a recent study about sugar somewhat encouraging.
By cutting back sugar for your kids, you can see dramatic improvements in just 10 days. That is pretty remarkable, if you think about it.
Life on the Home Planet
China Burns Much More Coal Than Reported, Complicating Climate Talks (NY Times)
China, the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases from coal, is burning far more annually than previously thought, according to new government data. The finding could vastly complicate the already difficult efforts to limit global warming.
