Financial Markets and Economy
Inflation Pickup Too Little Too Late to Keep ECB From Easing (Bloomberg)
A pickup in euro-area inflation in November may prove too tame to stop Mario Draghi in his tracks.
Iran is the biggest thing for the global economy since the Berlin Wall fell (Business Insider)
Iran is entering the global economy, and some investment bank analysts are starting to get pretty excited.
Most outsiders see Iran as an anti-Semitic Islamic state run by extremists who tolerate terrorism (as long as it's not in Iran).
Rio Tinto Sees Diamond Logjam Easing as Rough Prices Decline (Bloomberg)
A logjam of diamonds held by traders, cutters and polishers will clear by the middle of next year as rough prices decline, according to the third-biggest producer of the stones.
U.S. debt limit threat defanged on Wall Street (Business Insider)
Wall Street trembled when Republicans first began threatening to force the United States into default by not raising the federal debt limit, but after four years of fiscal standoffs, the threat looks increasingly like a bluff and the markets are calling it.
A Reuters analysis, tracking short-term Treasury yields, credit default swaps and market volatility data, showed traders are increasingly less likely to respond to repeated ultimatums from Republicans in the U.S. Congress about the debt limit.
One Year Into New OPEC Era, You Made 12% Buying These Oil Bonds (Bloomberg)
In the year since OPEC ushered in a new era of depressed crude, Siberian oil fields are proving to be a refuge for bond investors.
U.S. stock futures edge up, led by Yahoo (Market Watch)
U.S. stock futures inched higher early Wednesday, helped by Yahoo Inc.’s jump as investors waited for fresh signals from the Federal Reserve.
S&P 500 futures ESZ5, -0.02% rose 2.85 points, or 0.1%, to 2,102.75, while Dow Jones Industrial Average YMZ5, -0.10% futures gained 31 points, or 0.2%, to 17,893. Nasdaq 100 futures NQZ5, +0.04% tacked on 9.75 points, or 0.2%, to 4,726.
Asia stocks hesitant, dollar knocked after poor U.S. data (Bloomberg)
Asian stocks stuttered in early trade on Wednesday after downbeat U.S. manufacturing data raised concerns about the health of the world's biggest economy, while the dollar retreated from 8-1/2-month highs.
Howard Gold's No-Nonsense Investing: 3 things bond investors must do now (Market Watch)
Over the past few years, it hasn’t been easy to be a bond investor. Yields have been paltry, barely 2.5% for some big intermediate bond funds.
That has pushed investors into longer-dated or lower-quality bonds, which could expose them to more interest-rate and credit risk than they bargained for.
European Stocks Rebound, Heading Toward Three-Month High (Bloomberg)
European stocks rebounded, heading toward a three-month high, before tomorrows central-bank meeting.
Dollar shifts higher in ‘calm before the storm’ (Market Watch)
The dollar was slightly higher against the yen and the euro on Wednesday, as investors awaited key events later this week such as the U.S. jobs data.
Three-Quarters of Asian Adults Financially Illiterate, S&P Says (Bloomberg)
Almost three-quarters of Asia’s adult population don’t have a clear grasp of key monetary ideas including inflation and risk diversification, according to a study conducted by Standard & Poor’s.
Crude prices slip as traders brace for rising stockpiles (Market Watch)
Oil prices fell on Wednesday on expectations that the U.S. crude stockpiles increased last week, adding to an expanding global surplus of crude.
Industry group American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that the U.S. crude inventories rose 1.6 million barrels last week. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect inventories to have declined by 300,000 barrels. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release the official data later Wednesday.
Copper Declines After China's Cutbacks as Nickel, Lead Climb (Bloomberg)
Copper fell after U.S. manufacturing unexpectedly shrank at the fastest pace since 2009, retracing most of an advance Tuesday as smelters in China, the world’s biggest producer, agreed to reduce output. Zinc retreated.
Global stock markets uneven as investors await ECB decision (Yahoo! Finance)
Global stock markets were uneven Wednesday as investors waited for a European Central Bank meeting where further stimulus was expected to be announced, as well as a key speech by the head of the Federal Reserve.
Dollar Risks Grow as Hedge Funds Make Greenback Most Favored Bet (Bloomberg)
The dollar is on the cusp of its longest winning streak since March and traders keep piling in, yet a growing number of influential strategists are starting to sound alarms.
Yuan IMF Win Awakens Sleepy Panda Bond Market as Pipeline Builds (Bloomberg)
After 10 sales in 11 years,China's panda bond market is awakening with a pipeline of nine offerings and demand revived by the yuan entering the International Monetary Funds reserves basket.
Politics
Ted Cruz's Clever, Tricky Triangulation (The Atlantic)
One underappreciated element of Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign—which has recently come in for a great deal of praise by savvy operators on both sides of the aisle and in the press—are his quiet but effective acts of triangulation.
The Texas senator’s self-image is premised on his uncompromising, unyielding, principled conservatism. That’s a bit of a fiction—back in the 2000s, Cruz was a George W. Bush-adoring “compassionate conservative”—but it’s a carefully constructed one, bolstered through fauxlibusters over Obamacare and the blithe contravention of his party’s leadership.
What’s At Stake In Venezuela’s Upcoming Elections (Think Progress)
Rallies and marches are filling the streets and graffiti is covering the capital city’s walls as a deeply divided Venezuela approaches this year’s key legislative elections. When nearly 20 million Venezuelans go to the polls on December 6, the control of the National Assembly will hang in the balance, and tensions have been on the rise. If the ruling Socialist Party loses its majority, President Nicolas Maduro will be constrained in furthering his progressive agenda — much like the U.S.’ GOP-controlled Congress has blocked many of President Obama’s policies and nominees.
Technology
Is This the Retro Arcade of the Future? (PSFK)
As the son of Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Tyler Bushnell grew up in a home that would make any child of the 80's envious.
Artificial intelligence startup Osaro raises $3.3M (Venture Beat)
Osaro, an early-stage artificial intelligence startup, is announcing today a new seed round totaling $3.3 million. The startup is boasting a few high-profile investors: Peter Thiel, Scott Banister, and AME Cloud Ventures.
In the small world of AI startups, an approach called deep learning is currently in vogue.
Health and Life Sciences
Liquid Metal 'Nano Terminator' Particles Could Fight Cancer (Popular Science)
Over the past decade, researchers have developed nanoparticles to treat all sorts of medical conditions, from obesity to bleeding combat wounds. And although researchers have spent a lot of time figuring out how metal-based nanoparticles could diagnose or treat cancer, including types of cancer for which conventional treatments were largely ineffective, many of them were toxic — they would remain in the human body for a long time.
After Concussion Symptoms Fade, Slowed Blood Flow in Brain May Persist (Medicine Net)
Young football players who suffer aconcussion can show signs of reduced blood flow in the brain, even after their symptoms have subsided, a new, preliminary study suggests.
Life on the Home Planet
Europe's Refugee Deal With Turkey Is Only a Start (Bloomberg View)
The deal on refugees the European Union just struck with Turkey has been widely panned as a bribe to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the affairs of states, this kind of bribery is common and can even be right — provided it works.
