Financial Markets and Economy
Wall St. slides on lower crude prices, stock options expiry (Business Insider)
U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday for the second straight day, as concerns, ranging from a decline in crude oil prices to the global response to the Federal Reserve's interest hike, weighed down the market.
The expiration of stock and index options contracts added volatility in a heavy trading volume day.
Carney-Yellen Yield Spread Shows U.K. Trailing by Most Since '06 (Bloomberg)
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen may have raised U.S. interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade this week, but the Bank of England is going nowhere fast.
The biggest names on Wall Street are weighing in on the big recession question (Business Insider)
For a long time, Wall Street was focused on rates, and when the Federal Reserve would put an end to the zero-interest-rate-policy era.
Now the focus is switching to another R-word: recession.
The Fed finally hiked last week, but even as it did so there were some predicting that central banks would revert to easing and zero.
Three Words From the Fed Add Fuel to Treasuries Long-Bond Rally (Bloomberg)
Three short words from the Federal Reserve gave Treasury-bond bulls another reason to cheer this week.
The 2015 story of the markets illustrated by a single chart for each day (Business Insider)
There's a few days left in 2015.
Looking back, there were a lot of huge stories in the markets and the economy.
The Federal Reserve ended the era of zero interest rate policy. China's spectacular stock market went boom and bust. Oil gained and then hit multi-year lows. US stocks had a roller coaster ride and is on track to end lower for the year.
Dollar Luster Dims for Investors Managing More Than $1 Trillion (Bloomberg)
The dollar’s unprecedented run against the euro over the past 18 months is set to run out of steam in 2016, according to two of Europe’s biggest money managers.
Global Trade Snapshot – "The Pain Is Getting Worse" (Southbay Research)
Whether measured in volumes (container throughput via Hong Kong) or in dollars (US Import/Exports), the pain is the same: 16 months of steady collapse in global trade.
A veteran finance entrepreneur is getting behind the hottest tech around — blockchain (Business Insider)
SETL, a UK startup building technology for banks based on bitcoin, has lined up a former executive director of the Bank of England to lead its board and is raising between £20 million ($30 million) and £30 million ($45 million).
SETL, which launched in July, says Sir David Walker will join the startup as chairman once it closes its current funding round, which The Financial Times reports will be up to £30 million. SETL founder Peter Randall wouldn't confirm the figure to Business Insider but said it was in the right ballpark.
Be Your Best Self (Trader Feed)
Think about the five best decisions you've made in your life outside of markets: the ones that make you most proud; the ones that have been most successful. How did you make those decisions? What information did you consider? How did you process the information: by thinking and analyzing, by discussing with others, by writing things down? How long did it take you to make the decisions? How much and what type of preparation went into the decisions?
China Vanke, Biggest Investor Look Set for Showdown Over Control (Bloomberg)
China Vanke Co.and its largest shareholder,a group backed by Baoneng Group, look set for a showdown after VankeChairman Wang Shi saidsee you on Monday in a posting his Weibo account and Baoneng defended its reputation in an exchange filing.
Shanghai Gold Exchange On the Way to Record Withdrawals of Gold Bullion (Jesse's Cafe Americain)
Shanghai Gold Exchange withdrawals for the week were about 46 tonnes.
Here's Deutsche Bank's game plan for 2016 (Business Insider)
Deutsche Bank has set out its European investment strategy for 2016 in a note sent to clients on Monday.
Politics
Slate of Obama nominees left on table as Congress leaves town (Market Watch)
Congress closed out 2015 on Friday without voting on a slate of finance- or banking-related nominees put forward by the Obama administration, a stalemate with no recent precedent that is hobbling work at some government agencies that work in the financial sector.
The logjam, centered around the Republican-controlled Senate Banking Committee, is part of a broader tension over President Barack Obama’s choices for judgeships and executive-branch positions as his presidency nears its final year.
Bernie Sanders and the DNC Make Peace for Now (The Atlantic)
The Democratic National Committee and the Bernie Sanders campaign reached a late-night deal on Friday that restores the candidate's access to crucial voter files, slightly mitigating one crisis ahead of what many already expect to be a more tense Democratic debate on Saturday evening than the DNC wants.
On Friday morning, the DNC blocked the Sanders campaign from accessing its own data after a glitch allowed staffers from the Sanders team to view Hillary Clinton’s propriety voter data for about 30 minutes. Only after the Sanders campaign filed a lawsuit did the two sides come together.
Technology
Watch a Robot Tamer Control Industrial Machines With Simple Gestures (Gizmodo)
In factories, many simple, repetitive tasks have already been taken over by machines. But as we bring industrial robots into unpredictable, interactive environments, we’re going to need better ways to communicate with them.
That’s why engineer and designer Madeline Gannon developed Quipt, a gesture-based control software that helps industrial robots interact more fluidly with their human handlers. Wearable markers on a persons’ hands or neck are paired with a motion capture system, allowing the robot to see and respond to simple signals.
Health and Life Sciences
Scientists Link Brain Chemical to Autism (Medicine Net)
Scientists say they've discovered a specific chemical in the brain they believe is linked to autism.
The Harvard University researchers found that autistic behavior is associated with a breakdown in the signaling pathway used by a major inhibitory neurotransmitter called GABA.
Plus-Size Models: Do They Really Cause Obesity? (Forbes)
So have we found a root cause of the obesity epidemic: those darn plus-size models? Plus-size models are those who have a dress size of 8 or higher. (I am assuming that the definition applies to female models only as most male models are sized in the 30’s. Otherwise, every male model would be plus sized). A study from Simon Fraser University study has spawned headlines such as “Study Claims Plus Size Models Will Cause Obesity”, “Are Plus-Size Models to Blame for the Obesity Trend,” and “Plus-Size Models are FUELING the Obesity Trend.”
Life on the Home Planet
Nepal climbers face ruin after quake, blockade hits Everest industry (Reuters)
Phurba Tashi Sherpa, the most accomplished high-altitude climber in history, holds a bucket and crowbar as he claws through the rubble of his home seven months after Nepal's earthquake shattered the country.
Despite years of guiding wealthy foreign clients up Mount Everest, something he has done 21 times – a joint record – the 44-year-old has been left penniless.
