Financial Markets and Economy
The Big Short Was Only One Reason 2015 Was The Year of the Bears (Bloomberg)
Money managers are having trouble picking winners. But they sure can pick losers.
Britain just got a clear sign that interest rates won't rise for ages (Business Insider)
The Bank of England is not going to raise rates anytime soon, mainly because Britain's wage growth is really crappy.
That's according to the BoE's rate setting Monetary Policy Committee member Martin Weale, who spoke to the Telegraph newspaper.
The US Federal Reserve voted to raise interest rates for the first time in 9 years last week. The world expects central banks globally to follow the US' lead and raise interest rates within the next year. It would bring an end to a period of record low interest rates around the world, sparked by the 2008 financial crisis.
Treasuries Recoup December Losses Even After Fed Raises Rates (Bloomberg)
Treasuries are proving their worth as the haven of choice even as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates.
U.S. economy is on solid ground — for now (Market Watch)
OK, the Federal Reserve finally decided the economy was strong enough to handle the first increase in interest rates in nine years. Now what?
Time to wait.
With just a two weeks left in 2015, the broad contours of the U.S. economy are clear. Consumers are spending at the fastest pace since the Great Recession. Sales of new and previously owned homes are rising. And Americans are more confident.
China: 'It's Christmas!' (Business Insider)
Chinese markets are ending the year in good cheer.
While the Chinese don't traditionally celebrate Christmas, markets over there are enjoying the traditional "Santa Rally" on Monday.
Despite Wall Street closing lower on Friday and subdued activity on Japanese stock markets, Chinese markets jumped higher in thin trade on Monday.
Emerging Stocks Advance, Led by Chinese Shares; Won Strengthens (Bloomberg)
Chinese equities rallied to lead gains by emerging markets on speculation the government will accelerate plans to make state-owned companies more efficient. South Koreas won climbed after Moodys Investors Service upgraded the nations credit rating.
Here's what you need to know about high-yield bonds – and why they're freaking everyone out (Business Insider)
The near-$2 trillion (£1.32 trillion) market for risky high-yield bonds has been imploding over the past few days.
And it has got a lot of financial analysts and Wall Street big-hitters worried.
Last-minute bargain-hunting may boost stocks in quiet holiday week (Market Watch)
U.S. stocks may get a slight lift in the holiday-foreshortened week as investors and traders do a little last-minute bargain hunting before their attention turns to eggnog.
Stocks erased weekly gains on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial AverageDJIA, -2.10% falling 0.8%, the S&P 500 Index SPX, -1.78% down 0.4%, the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -1.59% shedding 0.2% for the week, after oil prices settled to their lowest levels in nearly seven years.
Brent Falls From 7-Year Low as Oil Producers Seen Worsening Glut (Bloomberg)
Brent crude slumped to the lowest price since mid-2004 amid speculation suppliers from the Middle East to the U.S. will exacerbate a record glut as they fight for market share.
Banks are going bananas for the 'fastest growing market since the internet' (Business Insider)
Banks are going bananas for blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin.
Blockchain can revolutionize mainstream finance by ripping out huge amounts of processing cost, and millions of dollars are flowing into companies building the technology.
A working group of 42 world-leading banks has been set up to establish standard practices, and top banks like UBS, Santander, and Barclays are tinkering with the technology themselves behind closed doors.
Indonesia, Already Squeezed, Braces for Higher Interest Rates (NY Times)
In this company town where acacia and palm oil trees stretch for miles, the Indonesian conglomerate Royal Golden Eagle is bracing for impact.
Nomura to Invest $1 Billion in American Century, Nikkei Reports (Bloomberg)
Nomura Holdings Inc. plans to invest about $1 billion to acquire a stake of about 40 percent in American Century Investments, the Nikkei newspaper reported in Tokyo on Monday.
Nine Signposts for Navigating Market Volatility (Bloomberg View)
The return of market volatility last week shouldn’t have come as a big surprise given the unusual economic, political and geopolitical fluidity around the world. The past year has been characterized by occasional spikes in volatility, either in the form of sharp asset-price gains or, as was the case last week, acute falls. And 2016 promises a lot more of the same, which should force investors to pay greater attention to the dynamics of potential tipping points.
Gold's Wild Ride Leaves Best Forecasters Siding With Fund Bears (Bloomberg)
Janet Yellen sent gold prices on a roller-coaster ride. Now, hedge funds and the metals best forecasters are predicting theres only one way prices are heading next: down.
End of Year Drama in Financial Markets: The Global Macro Picture in a Few Charts (Trader Feed)
In the face of global economic weakness, the central banks of Europe and Japan have engaged in vigorous programs of monetary easing, while the U.S. central bank has cut back its program of quantitative easing.
Oil prices have now crashed through their 2008 low, and worse is likely to come (Quartz)
Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, lost its bottom today, plunging below its 2008 nadir and threatening new fiscal pressure on OPEC and Russia. Global stock markets rose, shaking off whatever concerns caused them to plummet last week in the face of oil price declines. But Brent’s fall through the low of the financial crash is a psychological blow, with the likelihood of worse to come if you happen to be a crude exporter.
Regulations, Doubts and Concerns May Thwart Railway Mergers (NY Times)
When it comes to railroad consolidation, most opponents hark back to the mid-1990s, when a series of mergers at the time were blamed for lost cargo, derailments, death and billions of dollars lost by businesses and taxpayers.
Toshiba forecasts massive $4.5 billion annual loss (CNN)
The estimated loss is significantly higher than analysts had expected, and is six times more than the90.5 billion yen ($734 million) loss it posted for the first half of the year.
Some of the losses are associated with a huge restructuring plan Toshiba announced Monday. The company will cut about 6,800 jobs in its consumer electronics divisions by the end of March, and another 1,000 employees at its headquarters, according to company statements released after markets closed in Tokyo.
Yellen, Bull Markets and Extinction in a Seven-Year Stock Rally (Bloomberg)
Janet Yellen says economic expansions don’t die of old age. Neither do bull markets.
Strikes at Amazon German warehouses up to Christmas (Yahoo! Finance)
Workers at German warehouses of U.S. online retailer Amazon.com Inc were called out on a new strike by labor union Verdi on Monday as part of a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. Verdi said in a statement that workers at six of the nine Amazon warehouses were joining the strike, which will run until Dec. 24 at four of the centers and for shorter periods at the others. Germany is Amazon's second-biggest market after the United States with 10,000 warehouse staff plus more than 10,000 seasonal workers.
China's Stocks Fluctuate After Benchmark Posts Weekly Advance (Bloomberg)
China’s stocks rose to a three-week high, extending a weekly gain, as consumer companies rallied and investors bet the government will accelerate reform of state-owned enterprises.
Year-end selling has made these stocks screaming bargains (Market Watch)
Like retailers, the stock market runs a lot of sales this time of year, so let’s go shopping.
Each year around this time, investors dump their dogs to generate losses so they can offset gains and lower tax bills.
Dollar Rally Is Over for $60 Billion Unit of Norway's Top Bank (Bloomberg)
For the unit at Norways biggest bank deciding how to invest client funds, 2016 will be a pivotal year as it predicts the rally in the U.S. dollar will finally come to an end.
Dubai Leads Most Gulf Stocks Lower With Biggest Drop in Week (Bloomberg)
Almost every Middle Eastern stock index declined after oil, the region’s main source of income, sank to the lowest in seven years, damping the outlook for government spending.
Politics
China Tells U.S. to Stop Flexing Military Muscle in Asia (Bloomberg)
The U.S. should cease sending ships and planes to China’s South China Sea islands, stop showing off its military might and respect China’s core interests, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Secretary of State John Kerry.
“The world is facing multifaceted challenges and needs multi-party cooperation to handle that,” Wang said in a phone conversation Sunday with Kerry, according to a foreign ministry statement. “While the U.S. is seeking Chinese cooperation, it also should respect China’s core interests and major concerns.”
British politicians found a way to force 127 countries to help fight against ISIS (Business Insider)
Western forces have slowly started to band together to try and defeat one of the biggest terrorist organisations in recent history — ISIS.
However, 60 British politicians have found a way to force United Nations members to get involved, whether they like it or not, by insisting the UK's Prime Minister pushes the UN to agree that ISIS is perpetrating genocide.
Clinton Cleans Up (Bloomberg View)
The Democrats — Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O'Malley — put on another spirited debate. Granted, hardly anyone was watching on a Saturday night before Christmas.
Sanders did what he's in the contest to do: Make the case for the most liberal wing of the Democratic party. For him, it really does come down to the rich vs. the rest. His most telling moment was turning a question about domestic terrorism and ethnic profiling back to income inequality, saying, "I believe we stand together to address the real issues facing this country, not allow them to divide us by race or where we come from."
Technology
These Are the Tech Giants That Won 2015 (Wired)
Running a business is tough. But for some, the chance that one can leave their mark on the world—or, as Steve Jobs famously put it, “make a dent in the universe”—is wildly alluring. A few even manage to pull it off.
Hands-Free and Group Chatting for Outdoor Enthusiasts (PSFK)
If you’re into extreme sports, you probably can’t wait to hit the slopes this year. But when you do, you’ll be faced with a few challenges, namely communication with your friends in real time. In the past, you would have brought a walkie-talkie or two-way radio in order to keep your party informed about your location and successes. But vigorous activities and constant movement make that very difficult. Not to mention, communication is stunted and delayed as you go in and out of network service.
Health and Life Sciences
Alcohol’s Effect on Health: What the Science Says (NY Times)
Over the past year, I’ve tried to clear up a lot of the misconceptions on food and drink: about salt, artificial sweeteners, among others, even water.
Now let me take on alcohol: wine, beer and cocktails. Although I have written about the dangerous effects of alcohol abuse and misuse, that doesn’t mean it’s always bad. A part of many complex and delicious adult beverages, alcohol is linked to a number of health benefits in medical studies.
Skepticism About Study Linking Antidepressants And Autism (Forbes)
Over-hyped, overstated, and probably just wrong.
That’s my summary of the latest high-profile study of autism, which reports that mothers who take antidepressants increase the risk of autism in their unborn children by up to 87%. The new study, which appeared this week in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, received widespread attention, both uncritical (Washington Post, Huffington Post) and more cautious (CBS News). But it was that 87% increase that caught most people’s attention.
Life on the Home Planet
One God for Christians, Muslims and Jews? Good Question (Bloomberg View)
Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God, as Pope Francis and suspended Wheaton College professor Larycia Hawkins affirm? Or are Allah and the Christian deity two different things, as the Wheaton administration believes?
Suicide bomber kills five in attack on U.S.-Afghan patrol near Bagram: official (Reuters)
A suicide bomber on a motorbike attacked a joint U.S.-Afghan patrol near Bagram air base in Afghanistan on Monday, killing five soldiers and wounding six, Bagram District Governor Abdul Shukur Qudusi said.
