Financial Markets and Economy
Japan Enters Recession as Economy Contracts in the Third Quarter (Bloomberg)
Japan's economy contracted in the third quarter as business investment fell, confirming what many economists had predicted: The nation fell into its second recession since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December 2012.
Euro under pressure after Paris attacks (Business Insider)
The euro was under pressure in early Asian trading on Monday in the wake of Friday's deadly attacks in Paris, with stocks expected to take their cue from poor investor appetite for risk after the assault and steep losses on Wall Street.
Ruble Isn't Falling Fast Enough to Save Putin's Rainy-Day Fund (Bloomberg)
The ruble isn’t falling fast enough to avoid sacrificing Russia’s rainy-day fund, bolstering the case for policy makers to buy dollars to speed up the depreciation.
As China firms walk out on Wall St., spurned investors demand payback (Business Insider)
Chinese firms listed in New York are finding out the hard way that it's easier to love global investors than leave them.
As dozens plan buyouts and a return home in search of higher valuations, companies that were once Wall Street's darlings for the first time face the wrath of minority shareholders. Asset managers are publicly demanding better premiums, reflecting historical valuations and not 2015's slide.
Debt Market Distortions Go Global as Nothing Makes Sense Anymore (Bloomberg)
Something very strange is happening in the world of fixed income.
Alibaba just proved it's more than just some Chinese company (Business Insider)
Alibaba had a huge day on Wednesday. The company's 11/11 Singles' Day sales eclipsed analyst expectations with over $14 billion processed on the company's platforms in just 24 hours.
While this number is massive, and may or may not help quiet critics, the way the company made the boatloads of money offers a glimpse into the future of Alibaba.
World's Second-Biggest Miner Unfazed by China Growth Pessimists (Bloomberg)
The head of the worlds second-biggest mining company says he's unfazed by pessimism around Chinas ability to meet official economic growth forecasts that are critical to the fortunes of the embattled industry.
Silicon Valley has THREE TIMES as many early tech investors as the whole of Europe (Business Insider)
Silicon Valley is the undisputed centre of technology in the world — and a big part of that is the sheer amount of money being thrown at startups.
Analysis by White Star Capital, a tech fund based in New York and London, shows that Silicon Valley has over three times as many early stage tech investors as Europe. That means there's far more money going into companies at the idea stage, which of course means there are far more companies being created.
Any doubts over about December Fed hike may be swept away (Yahoo! Finance)
Inflation numbers from the United States on Tuesday could be the provide the final domino in the Federal Reserve's track to raise interest rates next month. Earlier in November a robust report on U.S. employment hardened expectations for the Fed's first rate increase in nearly a decade and if prices are shown to be rising steadily those views will likely solidify. Minutes from the Fed's October meeting will also be published, giving an insight into the Committee's decision to remove a key sentence on global risks from its policy statement.
U.K. Shares Rise as Investors Weigh Implications of Paris Attack (Bloomberg)
U.K. stocks advanced, erasing earlier declines, as investors assessed the implications for global markets of Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris.
Emerging Stocks Fall to Six-Week Low on Paris Attacks; Won Drops (Bloomberg)
Emerging-markets bore the brunt of a clamor for safety as investors fretted over the fallout from Europe’s worst terror attack in more than a decade.
Car loans hit $1 trillion for first time (CNN)
Car buyers now owe $1 trillion on their car loans, the first time they've ever owed that much.
The loan balances have been driven up by a combination of three factors — strong car sales, rising car prices and low interest rates.
Valeant Piles on the Misery as Canadian Stocks Eye 2013 Lows (Bloomberg)
Canada is the orphan equity market nobody wants.
MasterCard sees double-digit growth in China on e-commerce: executive (Yahoo! Finance)
Global payment operator MasterCard Inc (MA.N) sees double-digit annual growth in credit card transaction volumes in China, lifted by the booming e-commerce industry in the world's second-largest economy, a senior executive told Reuters on Monday. China's plan to open up its domestic transactions market to foreign companies such as MasterCard would be a "game-changer", Ling Hai, co-president for Asia Pacific, said in an interview on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. MasterCard's current business in China is mostly handling cross-border transactions when international travelers come to China or when Chinese cardholders go overseas.
Dow Drops 140 Points, Bonds & Bullion Pop As Markets Open (Zero Hedge)
As futures markets reopen, a flight to safety bid is evident with gold ($1090) and bonds bid as US equity futures extend Friday's losses (erasing half of the October surge gains). The Dollar is modestly bid against the euro (EURUSD 1.06 handle looms) and oil is holding slightly in the green (war premium)…
Oil futures rise on worries about supply disruptions (Market Watch)
Oil futures advanced early Monday, with analysts citing fears about supply disruptions after France launched airstrikes in Syria following terror attacks in Paris.
Asian Stocks Decline as Markets Open Following Paris Attacks (Bloomberg)
Asian stocks fell toward the lowest level in six weeks after Europe’s worst terror attack in a decade and as data showed Japan’s economy fell back into a recession.
Breadth, Buybacks, & The Piercing Of The "Grandaddy Of All Bubbles" (Credit Bubble Bulletin)
The “Granddaddy of All Bubbles” thesis rests upon the view that the world is in the midst of the precarious grand finale of a multi-decade global Credit and financial Bubble. When a Bubble bursts, system reflation requires an even larger fresh new Bubble. This has repeatedly been the case going back at least to the “decade of greed” late-eighties Bubble in the U.S. These days the world confronts the terminal Bubble phase partially because of the unprecedented scope of the China and EM Bubbles. It’s simply difficult to imagine another more far-reaching Bubble.
Oil Dealmakers Find Slim Pickings Among Premium-Priced Explorers (Bloomberg)
Wannabe dealmakers in the oil industry are stymied by a fundamental problem: there’s a mismatch between the price of crude and the value of companies.
Gold gains amid haven demand after Paris attacks (Market Watch)
Gold futures gained early Monday, as investors bid up safety plays in the wake of terror attacks in Paris.
Gold for December delivery GCZ5, +0.81% rose $10.70, or 1%, to $1,091.60 per ounce, while silver for December SIZ5, +0.96% climbed by a dime, or 0.7%, to $14.31 an ounce.
The Fed Gave Wall Street The Lowest Rates In 5000 Years & All Main Street Got Was This (Zero Hedge)
It's simple – in theory – a central planning body, who knows what is best for the rest of society, lowers interest rates (to reduce the cost of capital, encourage entrepreneurial actvities, and stimuluate the economy – and therefore jobs – for the average joes and josephines of the world).
Cocoa's Reign as World's Best Commodity Lures Corporate Cash (Bloomberg)
In a year thats spelled disaster for commodities from oil to coffee, cocoa stands out the best performer, and companies are taking notice.
Battered retail sector faces another round of earnings reports (Market Watch)
U.S. stocks face more pressure as earnings from the beaten-up retail sector continue into another week.
All three indexes suffered steep losses last week with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.16% down 3.7%, the S&P 500 index SPX, -1.12% falling 3.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -1.54% dropping 4.3% as traditional retailers suffered the biggest losses of the week.
The collapse of Lehman Brothers changed one young trader's life — he has now helped raise $1.5 million for charity (Business Insider)
Zach Coopersmith has learned some important lessons over the course of his Wall Street career.
But for the 30-year-old Leading Ridge Capital cofounder, one particular moment really stands out.
In the oil price war, it’s hard to tell who’s losing—OPEC or US shale (Quartz)
By appearances, OPEC has the tell-tale signs of an aging prizefighter. It still technically possesses a knockout punch, but it’s unable to land one against younger, more agile opponents, amid doubts as to whether it has the legs to go the distance.
What Is Your Coping Style? (Trader Feed)
The most recent post took a look at how current problems are often a function of past coping. Now let's take a look at how we cope with stressful situations in the present.
Coping strategies represent efforts we make to deal with stressful situations. When we employ combinations of strategies across situations, these are part of coping styles. Research suggests that active coping styles–ways of coping that directly address stressful situations–are more effective than avoidant coping styles.
Politics
World leaders pledge strong response to Paris attacks (Market Watch)
World leaders gathered Sunday along Turkey’s Mediterranean coast promising a forceful international response to the terrorist attacks in Paris and hoping to edge closer to a political resolution to the civil war in neighboring Syria.
Bernie Sanders singled out one Wall Street bank he would lock out of his cabinet (Business Insider)
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) says he wants big banks locked out of his cabinet if he is elected president next year.
He singled out one in particular.
Technology
A Helmet That Turns Your Brainwaves Into Electronic Music (Fast Company)
By outfitting a motorcycle helmet with an EEG device, artist Aiste Noreikaite has created a way to turn firing neurons into heady beats.
From the outside, the Experience Helmet, made by Lithuanian sound artist Aiste Noreikaite, looks like any old white motorcycle helmet. But put it on, and you become suddenly immersed in your own private sound installation. High and low tones combine to form an enveloping electronic beat—all of which is composed by your own brainwaves.
Automakers battle for high-tech dominance on the road to self-driving car (Yahoo! Finance)
At the recent Frankfurt Auto Show, Ford Motor Co unveiled a new feature that lets drivers pre-set their car to go at or just above the speed limit. In-car cameras and software read and react to road signs, speeding the car up or slowing it down. Active Speed Limiter is available on select models in Europe, but not, ironically, in the United States, Ford's home country, where road signs come in different shapes and sizes, and are often obscured by shrubbery.
Health and Life Sciences
On “integrative medicine” and walking and chewing gum at the same time (Science-Based Medicine)
I didn’t think I’d be discussing Dr. David Katz again so soon. In fact, when Mark Crislip (who clearly hates me, given how often he sends me links to articles like this) sent me a link to Dr. Katz’s latest article Cleaning the House of Medicine, published—where else?—in The Huffington Post, that home for “reputable” quack-friendly bloviation since 2005. Indeed, when I first read the article, my first reaction was that Katz must surely be trolling us here at SBM. At first, I wasn’t going to respond to him again. However, Katz’s article represents a very common misconception about science-based medicine that is worth refuting. It is not my intention to be arguing back and forth with Dr. Katz every couple of weeks, but I did think it worth one more round. I think you’ll understand why by the end of this post.
Smart dressing 'cuts antibiotic use' (BBC)
A medical dressing that changes colour when it detects infection could cut the unnecessary use of antibiotics, say scientists at Bath University.
It works by releasing fluorescent dye from tiny capsules when toxins are given out by bacteria in a wound.
Men Who Eat Garlic Make Women Take Notice — In A Good Way (Forbes)
Men and women generally agree, garlic on the breath isn't pleasant. But according to a new study, men who eat garlic actually smell more pleasant and attractive to the opposite sex—not their breath, but their body odor. And if that finding isn’t counter-intuitive enough, it’s made all the stranger by the fact that only men in the study who consumed a lot of garlic—the equivalent of four bulbs a day—enjoyed the effect.
Life on the Home Planet
Living by a burning pile of rubbish (BBC)
Diggers are moving in to start the unenviable task of removing 10,000 tonnes of smelly, burning waste from an abandoned village tip. But what has life been like for the people living underneath the "smog" it has created for the past few months?
France Bombs Islamic State as Valls Sees Threat of More Attacks (Bloomberg)
France dispatched warplanes to bomb Islamic State’s Syrian nerve center while police raided suspects in five French towns as Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned terrorists are plotting more attacks in Europe after Friday’s violence in Paris.
After intelligence input from the U.S., 10 French fighter jets struck targets including an Islamic State command base in Raqqa, Syria, on Sunday evening. At least one of the attackers probably arrived in Europe as a refugee from Syria last month, French prosecutors said.
