Financial Markets and Economy
It's a global market rout (Business Insider)
It's 2016's first day of trading, and markets around the world are getting slammed.
U.S. Stock Futures Fall After China Slump Renews Growth Concern (Bloomberg)
U.S. stock-index futures declined, after a year in which the Standard & Poors 500 Index barely budged, as a rout in China renewed concerns that an economic slowdown there will deter global growth.
Warning: The ‘stealth bear market’ is about to show its teeth (Market Watch)
The new year is beginning with a mauling for many investors, as Chinese stocks fell so sharply Monday that they triggered a trading halt.
Following China’s lead, Dow futures have wallowed more than 300 points in the red. “Investors are not going to like the start of this year,” says Naeem Aslam, AvaTrade’s chief market strategist, in a note.
Stocks are getting destroyed and it's all Santa's fault (Business Insider)
Stocks are getting destroyed to start 2015 and it's all Santa Claus' fault.
On Monday morning Dow futures were down more than 300 points after stocks in China crashed 7% overnight while stocks in Europe were also getting crushed.
Overall, it's a terrible start to the year after what was a painful and ultimately disappointing year for investors in most assets in most markets.
Saudi-Iran Tension Spurs Drop in Gulf Stocks on Security Risk (Bloomberg)
Stocks across most Gulf Arab markets retreated amid one of the worst diplomatic standoffs between Saudi Arabia and Iran in about a quarter century.
2016 predictions: 17 game-changers that could happen this year (Market Watch)
In 2015, emojis became a (somewhat) legitimate form of communication, Donald Trump broke the Internet,changes to allow same-sex marriage spread around the world and hoverboards blew up, both literally and figuratively.
This year is bound to bring more of the same — Trump doesn’t look to be going away anytime fast. But there are also some potential developments and milestones on the horizon that investors, consumers and news watchers will want to keep an eye on. Here are our predictions for the things that could happen in 2016 that would have everyone talking.
Oil rises as market ponders scale of future Iran exports (Business Insider)
Oil prices edged up on Monday after a breakdown in diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran that some speculated could result in supply restrictions, although gains were tempered by data showing some of Asia's largest economies are struggling.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, cut diplomatic ties with Iran on Sunday in response to the storming of its embassy in Tehran following Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shi'ite cleric on Saturday.
Why Buffett's 50th Anniversary Was a Dud for Investors: 4 Charts (Bloomberg)
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. investors had plenty to celebrate at the start of 2015. It was Warren Buffett’s golden anniversary running the company, which had grown under his watch from a struggling textile maker to include dozens of profitable businesses like auto insurer Geico and railroad BNSF. Class A shares were trading close to a record, at $226,000 each.
U.S. stocks: Dow futures plunge more than 300 points as China fears return (Market Watch)
U.S. stock futures were sliding on Monday following a market rout in Asia, where a plunge in Chinese stocks triggered a trading halt.
Investors stateside were also waiting for the latest readings on the manufacturing and construction sectors.
Oil is going bananas (Business Insider)
Oil traders can't make their minds up.
Asian Stocks Decline as Investors Weigh Tension in Middle East (Bloomberg)
Asian stocks fell after Saudi Arabias severing of diplomatic ties with Iran weighed on risk appetite, while a surge in crude oil boosted energy producers.
Global Shares Tumble as Fears Rise Over Fresh Turmoil (NY Times)
Chinese investors might have hoped they could leave behind a year of market turmoil, but the first day of trading in 2016 brought a steep fall in shares across Asia and Europe, resurrecting old concerns.
Weak manufacturing data for China and worries about the depreciation of the renminbi pushed Chinese shares sharply lower on Monday, testing a new market circuit breaker on the day it took effect.
Investors ploughing into gold is a sign of how terrible China's stock markets are right now (Business Insider)
Investors are ploughing into gold and the price is now up 1.10% at $1,071.80 per ounce, as of 9.10 a.m GMT.
Five Key Takeaways from 2015 ETF Flows (Bloomberg)
It's time for the annual reading of the exchange-traded fund flow tea leaves.
ETFs took in a grand total of about $238 billion in 2015—just shy of their annual record of $243 billion set last year. No other investment vehicle came even close to this number. It is more than the flows into index funds, active mutual funds and hedge funds combined.
A money manager sent us his top chart for 2016 — and it could be a cue for 'thunder' (Business Insider)
If you thought 2015 was the bottom for emerging-market economies, think again.
Teamwork in Trading: Processing More Information, Better (Trader Feed)
There are two great mistakes traders make in processing information.
The first is to process market-related information in isolation. If we surround ourselves with smart people, we reap the benefits of parallel processing. Inevitably some colleagues will see things that we miss or see things that we see, but in unique ways. Opening ourselves to the ideas of others can help us think more critically about ideas we take for granted. At times we will lack confidence; at times we will suffer from overconfidence. In both situations, processing information in parallel with insightful peers can help us find the happy medium.
Charting the Markets: China Rout Ripples Across Stock Markets (Bloomberg)
Chinese stocks slump 7 percent, the yen rises to October high against the dollar and Shire shares drop.
Big oil to cut investment again in 2016 (Business Insider)
With crude prices at 11-year lows, the world's biggest oil and gas producers are facing their longest period of investment cuts in decades, but are expected to borrow more to preserve the dividends demanded by investors.
At around $37 a barrel, crude prices are well below the $60 firms such as Total <TOTF.PA>, Statoil <STO.OL> and BP <BP.L> need to balance their books, a level that has already been sharply reduced over the past 18 months.
Copper Falls With Metals After China's Manufacturing Shrinks (Bloomberg)
Copper wiped out two weeks of gains as metals and mining shares slumped after data showed manufacturing contracted further in China, the world’s biggest commodities user.
Investors are grumbling that a bunch of billion-dollar startups missed big on 2015 revenue (Business Insider)
It’s not always easy for startups to generate revenue, even when they’re well-funded and supposedly worth billions of dollars to venture capitalists. But some investors seem to be running out of patience with founders who are still trying to figure out their business models.
Fortune’s Erin Griffith recently wrote about Wall Street falling out of love with billion-dollar “unicorn” startups, in part because the revenue they generated in 2015 didn’t live up to the hype. Griffith says investors have told her that most of the 131 unicorn startups missed their 2015 revenue projections. One also told her the startup CEOs weren’t apologetic to investors whatsoever.
Chinese Stocks in Hong Kong Extend Annual Slump as Yuan Declines (Bloomberg)
The worst-ever start to a year for Chinese shares triggered a trading halt in more than $7 trillion of equities, futures and options, putting the nation’s new market circuit breakers to the test on their first day.
A Standout Year for Deals, in Volume and Complexity (NY Times)
Of all the ways to describe mergers and acquisitions in 2015, “plain vanilla” is not one of them.
Last year was one for the record books, generating $4.7 trillion in announced deals, with the highest percentage ever derived from those valued at more than $5 billion, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.
U.S., Australian Bonds Rally as China Stocks Drive Safety Bid (Bloomberg)
Government bonds are starting 2016 on a high.
The World Economy’s Labor Pains (Project Syndicate)
The ongoing global economic slowdown, which began in 2008 with the financial crisis in the United States, could set a new endurance record. What is certain is that with growth stalling in Japan and slowing in China, and with Russia in deep crisis and the eurozone still barely recovering, the world economy is not yet out of the woods.
Options Traders Adding to Bullish Bets on Europe Stocks for 2016 (Bloomberg)
Even after a rough December, Europes stock investors are confident that 2016 will bring gains.
G.M., Expecting Rapid Change, Invests $500 Million in Lyft (NY Times)
The founders of Lyft, the ride-hailing service, have long imagined that the future of transportation would involve fewer cars on the road. Now General Motors is helping the start-up reach that goal.
Lyft announced on Monday that G.M. invested $500 million in the company, or half of its latest $1 billion venture financing round. The funding, which recently closed, values Lyft, which is based in San Francisco, at $4.5 billion.
Ferrari Shares Open at 43 per Share in Milan Trading Debut (Bloomberg)
Shares in Ferrari NV opened at 43 ($47) in its Milan trading debut following a spinoff from parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.
Politics
A Banner Year for 'Dark Money' in Politics (Bloomberg View)
The 2016 presidential campaign not only will feature more money than any since Watergate, but also more secret money than the days when black satchels of illicit cash were passed around.
The so-called dark money, or contributions that don't have to be disclosed, topped more than $300 million in the 2012 presidential race, and some experts believe that the levels may be far higher this time. There also is a risk that foreign money could be surreptitiously funneled into the presidential campaign because it wouldn't have to be publicly disclosed.
Ted Cruz is raffling an engraved shotgun as Obama plans gun-control action (Market Watch)
Ted Cruz is offering his supporters a chance to win a shotgun engraved with his logo as President Barack Obama gets ready to take executive action on gun control.
Technology
LG made an 18-inch display you can roll up like a newspaper (The Verge)
LG Display has a prototype 18-inch screen it's showing off at the Consumer Electronics Show this week that rolls up like a piece of paper. The technology builds on LG's forward-looking OLED work focusing on bendable, rollable, and curving displays. The company showed similar technology last year as a proof of concept, but kept images behind closed doors. Now LG looks ready to show the world.
Soon We Will be Able to Design Custom Sounds with Voice And Gesture (Gizmodo)
The first thing an architect or graphic designer will do at the start of a project is to produce some preliminary sketches — just to rough out their ideas on paper, perhaps augmented with computer-aided design software. But sound designers don’t have similar tools. A consortium of European researchers is seeking to change that by developing a suite of sketching tools for sound, based on voice and gestures.
Health and Life Sciences
You’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer. How soon do you need treatment? (Science-Based Medicine)
When a patient with breast cancer comes in to see me, not infrequently I have to reassure her that she doesn’t need to be wheeled off to the operating room tomorrow, that it’s safe to wait a while. One reason, of course, is that it takes years for a cancer to grow from a single cell to a detectable mass. The big question, of course, is: What is “a while”? Two studies published online last month attempt to answer that question. One study (Bleicher et al) comes from Fox Chase Cancer Center and examines the effect of time to surgery on breast cancer outcomes; the other (Chavez-MacGregor et al) is from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and examines the effect of time to chemotherapy on outcome. Both find a detrimental effect due to delays in treatment.
Life on the Home Planet
Southern Illinois battles flooding as Mississippi River builds downstream (Reuters)
Residents of flooded areas in far southern Illinois anxiously waited for the swollen Mississippi River to peak on Sunday, with hundreds electing to remain in their homes, as states downstream prepared for the rising waters.
Rice and palm oil risk to mangroves (BBC)
The threat posed by the development of rice and palm oil plantations to mangroves in South-East Asia has been underestimated, a study has suggested.
Rice and oil plantations accounted for 38% of mangrove deforestation between 2000 and 2012, the research showed.
