Financial Markets and Economy
Charting the Markets: The Pendulum Swings Back to China (Bloomberg)
A combination of weak Chinese economic data and lower commodity prices is weighing on global stocks for a second day. China's exports fell by a bigger-than-forecast 6.8 percent in November in dollar terms. Imports declined for a record 13th month, sinking 8.7 percent. China's yuan weakened to the lowest in four years after the central bank cut the currency's fixing. The action came after a report on Monday showed the nation's foreign-exchange reserves slid more than expected in November as the People's Bank of China sold dollars to prop up the yuan.
Online shopping is killing the high street – and not even Black Friday can save it (Business Insider)
There's some pretty bad news for high street retailers — online shopping just hit record levels.
Gun Shares Have Done Well, but Divestment Push Grows (NY Times)
You probably own a stake in a gun manufacturer, whether you know it or not.
Just take a look at your 401(k) plan. If you’re in one managed by Vanguard, BlackRock, Fidelity or just about any other mutual fund group, you’re most likely the owner of shares in the three primary publicly traded gun makers: Smith & Wesson; Sturm, Ruger & Company; and the Olin Corporation.
FTSE 100 Falls With Miners; Anglo American Sinks on Dividend Cut (Bloomberg)
U.K. stocks fell, weighed down by a decline in mining and oil stocks on signs of a demand slump in China thats helped drive energy and commodity prices to multiyear lows.
Bankers are bracing for a terrible bonus round in 2016 (Business Insider)
Investment bankers might have to go a year without upgrading their Porsche.
Forecasts from Emolument.com, which crowdsources data on pay, show that bankers' bonuses are likely to drop significantly next year, by almost 10% for some sectors.
The company analysed the correlation between bankers bonuses and deal volumes for the last three years, and extrapolated 2016 bonuses predictions based on the amount of deals in 2015.
Oil edges off 2015 low but stocks stay slippery (Yahoo! Finance)
A surprise leap in Chinese commodity imports helped steady oil prices and energy-exposed currencies on Tuesday, though a second day of falls for world stocks and a two-month low for emerging market bourses kept the global mood subdued. Currencies of major oil exporting nations such as the Canadian dollar (CAD=) and the Norwegian crown (NOK=) remained under pressure despite their slight recovery, while safe-havens like the yen (JPY=) and the low-yielding euro (EUR=) did well. "If you are looking to play weak oil prices you would want to sell the Canadian dollar and the Norwegian crown," said Jeremy Stretch, head of currency strategy at CIBC World Markets.
U.K. Manufacturing Decline Signals Weak Start to Fourth Quarter (Bloomberg)
U.K. factories cut production by more than economists forecast in October, pointing to a weak start for industry in the fourth quarter.
Manufacturing output dropped 0.4 percent from September, the Office for National Statistics in London said on Tuesday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had predicted a decline on 0.2 percent. Total industrial production rose 0.1 percent, thanks stronger output of oil, water and power.
Oil price rout hits energy shares, dollar firm (Business Insider)
Asian stock markets teetered near their weakest levels in three weeks on Tuesday, as a rout in oil prices to near seven-year lows knocked global energy company shares and commodity currencies.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell 0.4 percent, erasing all the gains made so far this month, with resource-heavy Australian shares <.AXJO> leading decline with a fall of 0.9 percent.
Inventories Act as Wild Card in Japan's Economic Growth Picture (Bloomberg)
A surprise driver of the upward revision in Japan’s gross domestic product from contraction to growth in the third quarter was private inventories.
Valeant considers selling contact lens maker Paragon – sources (Business Insider)
Valeant Pharmaceuticals <VRX.TO> <VRX.N> is reaching out to potential buyers for its specialty contact lens manufacturing division, Paragon Vision Sciences, amid scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Anglo American Platinum Sees Earnings 20% Lower on Restructuring (Bloomberg)
Anglo American Platinum Ltd. said profit will be at least 20 percent lower this year as the world’s biggest producer of the precious metal plans $976 million of asset writedowns and pays for restructuring its operations amid lower prices.
These dumb mutual fund moves failed investors in 2015 (Market Watch)
Time flies when you are having fun, and nothing has been more fun over the last 20 years than giving out my annual Lump of Coal Awards.
OPEC Takes Down Oil Majors as Lower-for-Even-Longer Kicks In (Bloomberg)
For months, many executives at the world’s largest oil producers have been talking about prices staying lower for longer. After OPEC’s decision to keep pumping full pelt that could become lower for even longer.
Here are the odds that U.S. stocks will rise in 2016 (Market Watch)
There’s a 66.1% chance that the U.S. stock market will rise in 2016.
Yen Embraced by U.S. Banks as Heir Apparent to Dollar's Throne (Bloomberg)
After its steepest losing streak on record, Japan's yen is poised to seize the crown of best-performing major currency from the dollar in 2016, according to two of the biggest U.S. investment banks.
Dollar pulls back as yen rises on signs of Japanese growth (Market Watch)
The yen rose on Tuesday in Asia after an upward revision to the Japanese growth rate lessened speculation for additional easing steps by the Bank of Japan.
Broad falls in Asian stocks following sharp drops in crude oil overnight also contributed to gains in the Japanese currency, a perceived safe haven asset.
Emerging Stocks Drop on China Data as Energy Shares Extend Slump (Bloomberg)
Emerging-market stocks fell for a fifth day as an oil rout spurred more declines in energy producers and weak China trade data underscored concerns over slowing global growth. The yuan dropped to the weakest level in four years.
Politics
Donald Trump Assumes That a Majority of Republican Voters Are Bigots (The Atlantic)
Every election, Americans rediscover their hatred of political hypocrisy. Candidates declare their beliefs. Those beliefs become politically inconvenient. And then they shamelessly abandon them, shapeshifting to appeal to an electoral majority. For Hillary Clinton, that meant years of opposition to same-sex marriage, then a flip-flop at the very moment when supporting gay marriage was clearly in her political interest. Barack Obama insisted that Iraq War supporters had bad foreign policy judgment. But when it was politically convenient to have Iraq War supporters as his vice president and secretary of state, he didn't hesitate to elevate them.
Trump Supporters Disappointed He Only Wants to Ban One Religion (Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker, Humor)
The billionaire Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States has sparked deep disappointment among his supporters, many of whom had hoped he was planning to ban a sizable number of other religions.
U.S. Republicans Pushed by CEOs in Paris to Shift Climate Stance (Bloomberg)
As the leaders of 195 countries gather in Paris to hammer out a global climate deal, much of the attention is on the U.S. — where business leaders and scientists say theyre trying to persuade Republicans to accept emissions curbs.
A key question among those attending the two-week summit is whether the U.S. will keep to the ambitious pledges laid out by President Barack Obama at the start of the event.
Muslims decry Trump's proposal to keep them out of US (Associated Press)
U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States," immigrants and visitors alike, because of what he describes as hatred among "large segments of the Muslim population" toward Americans. The Associated Press is asking Muslims around the world for their thoughts on his proposal.
Technology
This Laser Camera Can See Around Corners (Gizmodo)
How can a person see around a blind corner? One answer is to develop X-ray vision. A more mundane approach is to use a mirror. But if neither are an option, a group of scientists led by Genevieve Gariepy have developed a state-of-the-art detector which, with some clever data processing techniques, can turn walls and floors into a “virtual mirror”, giving the power to locate and track moving objects out of direct line of sight.
Aquaponics, Not Robotics, For Our Future Kitchens (PSFK)
For Electrolux Design Lab, a product designer proposes a future kitchen that will not only grow its own salad and raise fish for protein, but will also teach future generations about healthy meals from the ground (or water) up.
Health and Life Sciences
New Cancer Drug Ibrutinib Outperforms Chemo For Some Patients (The Huffington Post)
Chemotherapy is considered the standard treatment for most cancers, including leukemia. But in a surprising new clinical trial, a non-chemo drug called ibrutinib decreased the risk of death more dramatically than the standard chemo protocol in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the most common type of chronic leukemia among adults.
CLL isn't curable, but depending on individual factors, the overall survival rate is anywhere from six to 25 years.
Sense of Purpose in Life May Boost Longevity, Heart Health (Medicine Net)
Having a sense of purpose might protect your heart and add years to your life, new research suggests.
Scientists found that people who felt strongly that their lives have meaning or that they were "useful" to others were at lower risk for heart disease and death during the study period.
Superbug risk from undercooked meat (BBC)
Superbugs may be passed on to people by eating undercooked meat, a government report has warned.
Antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria can lurk in the meat we eat because of excessive use of antibiotics for farming, according to the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance.
Life on the Home Planet
There's an Entire City Hidden Beneath This Thick Layer of Fog (Gizmodo)
Last night, Pécs, the fifth largest city in Hungary, was completely engulfed in thick early-December fog running off the slopes of the nearby mountains.
Only the upper half of the 197 meter-tall TV Tower, standing on the top of the 535 meter-high Misina Mountain, was visible from a neighbour peak. The result is this remarkable shot, which shows the clear night sky and a thick sea of fog, with the bright tower the only sign of human life below.
