Financial Markets and Economy
Goldman Sees 11% Upside in S&P 500 After an `Emotional' Selloff (Yahoo! Finance)
The plunge in U.S. stock markets are an “emotional response” obscuring expansion in both the American economy and corporate profits, said Abby Joseph Cohen, president of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Global .
Explosions Reported in Jakarta, Composite Index Down 1.3% (Bloomberg)
Explosions ripped through central Jakarta, killing several people in the worst attack in the Indonesian capital since at least 2009.
At least three blasts occurred near the Sarinah shopping center, close to the United Nations office, one of which appeared to target a police post, televised images showed. There were conflicting accounts of the severity of the attack, with some saying the explosions were caused by bombs, while others reporting grenades were thrown.
Giving up on stocks: China's retail investors seek safety first (Business Insider)
As China's legions of retail investors flee the country's tumultuous equity markets, pushing stock prices down around 15 percent so far this year, money is flowing into perceived safe-haven assets such as domestic bonds, gold and the dollar.
Never mind Narendra Modi: India’s equity markets have gone back to the days of Manmohan Singh (Quartz)
When India’s prime minister Narendra Modi took power in May 2014, equity markets cheered and investors were ecstatic.
FTSE 100 slides 2% as oil jitters, U.S. selloff cast a cloud (Market Watch)
U.K. stocks were mired in red on Thursday, as sharp losses in the U.S. market and a dip below $30 a barrel for Brent crude hit the investing mood.
Attacks in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta also soured sentiment and created jitters in Asian stock markets.
JPMorgan’s Fourth-Quarter Profit Rises 10% (NY Times)
JPMorgan Chase said on Thursday that its revenue and profit were up modestly in the fourth quarter of 2015, despite weakness in its global trading business.
The bank, America’s largest, earned $5.4 billion, or $1.32 a share, in the fourth quarter, up 10 percent from the quarter a year earlier, but down from the third quarter of 2015. The results were better than the expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who had anticipated profits of $1.25 a share.
Here's How Debt Chiefs Deal With QE's Non-Existent Bond Scarcity (Bloomberg)
Debt agencies in the euro region are taking steps to solve a problem policy makers deny exists.
Markets are in panic mode (Business Insider)
Markets haven't had a great start to 2016.
U.S. Stocks Climb in Volatile Trading (Wall Street Journal)
U.S. stocks pushed higher in volatile trading Thursday, as oil prices jumped and European shares pared losses.
Stock investors couldn’t use Treasuries for safety in the event of a crash (Business Insider)
For an investor who lived through it, 2008 was a year they’ll never forget.
The worst collapse in financial markets since the Great Depression devastated life savings and turned a whole generation against the stock market.
Burberry Christmas Sales Miss Expectations on Hong Kong, Macau (Bloomberg)
Burberry Group Plc and Richemont said the luxury-goods market returned to growth in mainland China at the end of last year, a balm for an industry suffering from a slump in Hong Kong.
The British trenchcoat maker said on Thursday that sales in China returned to growth in the three months through December while Hong Kong revenue dropped more than 20 percent. The improvement helped Richemont, the maker of Cartier jewelry, report a 9 percent sales decline for the Asia Pacific region, compared with the 16 percent drop analysts had expected. Burberry shares rose as much as 5.5 percent in London.
There's a multi-million pound bidding war brewing on the High Street (Business Insider)
Home Retail Group, the owner of Homebase and Argos, is being courted by two potential suitors — Sainsbury's and Australian retailer Wesfarmers.
Sainsbury's confirmed last week it had made a bid for Home Retail Group and late on Wednesday Home Retail Group announced in an emailed statement that it is in "advanced discussions" with Wesfarmers to sell Homebase for £340 million ($489.8 million),confirming a Sky News story.
Why boring investments aren’t a bad thing (Market Watch)
Your bucket list probably contains some exciting goals: sky diving, learning to ride a motorcycle, venturing to a remote corner of the globe, or finally publishing that book. Your investment portfolio, on the other hand, doesn’t need to get your heart racing. Of course, investing always involves risk and the value of your investment can go down, but it’s often the “boring” investment strategies that perform best over time.
Dubai Stocks Set for More Than 2-Year Low; Qatar Shares Fall (Bloomberg)
Dubai stocks headed for the weakest level since November 2013, led by Emaar Properties PJSC. Qatari equities dropped for a sixth day.
Japan automakers hitch pickups to U.S. growth as gas prices slide (Business Insider)
Japanese automakers are taking on Detroit's Big Three and scrambling to expand their share of pickup truck sales in the United States, as record low gasoline prices curb demand for their once best-selling small and medium-sized sedans.
Oil wavers on jitters over U.S. inventories, Iran supply (Market Watch)
Oil futures rebounded Thursday after dips below the key $30 level this week. But market watchers continue to voice concerns over swelling U.S. inventories and Iranian oil adding to the glut.
“There is no easy upside to oil prices in the Thursday session,” said Richard Hastings, macro strategist at Seaport Global Securities.
For Japan Manufacturer, Yen's Gain Recalls Lehman Lesson (Bloomberg)
Just when Japans employers might have thought it was safe to embrace sustained wage gains — thanks to a cheap yen and rising earnings — a turn in the exchange rate has flashed a warning signal.
Goldman Sachs to shed up to 10 percent of its sales, fixed income team: WSJ (Business Insider)
Goldman Sachs Group Inc <GS.N> is planning to shed up to 10 percent of its sales and fixed income trading jobs later in the quarter, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
This workforce reduction, which is higher than the bank's usual 5 percent annual cuts, is expected to affect not more than 250 people, the Journal said on Wednesday.
Renewed volatility in Asia pushes investors into safety of the yen (Market Watch)
The U.S. dollar edged higher against the yen Thursday as oil prices stabilized, dampening demand for haven assets like gold, Treasury bonds and the Japanese currency.
Oil-Sands Slump Doesnt Feel So Bad for Canada Maintenance Crews (Bloomberg)
The companies that clean the boilers, grease the machinery and tighten the bolts are skirting the carnage in Canada’s energy patch.
Why Can't Economists Be Trusted? Ask an Economist (Bloomberg View)
The market volatility at the start of 2016 raises a question that has lingered since the global financial crisis: Can economists be trusted? Ever since 2008, economists have come under attack for being out of touch, including by Her Majesty the Queen, who wondered how they could have been so mistaken.
Renault Shares Plunge After Its Offices Are Searched (NY Times)
The French automaker Renault said on Thursday that government officials had searched its offices, including its headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, as part of an investigation of its vehicles’ emissions but had found no evidence of cheating.
Top Philippine Fund Keeps Cash as Valuations Clash With China (Bloomberg)
The Philippines’ top fund manager is staying with cash as the cheapest shares in three years aren’t attractive enough to ease his anxiety over China’s economy and stock-market rout.
China's Most Beaten-Down Stocks Are Still Too High for Top Fund (Bloomberg)
The Chinese stocks battered most by this years $1.3 trillion selloff are still too expensive for two of the most accurate forecasters of mainland markets.
Gold Holds Climb as Market Turmoil, Fed Outlook Increase Demand (Bloomberg)
Gold held an advanceas equity-market losses and sinking commodity prices spurred demand for haven assets while boosting speculation that the Federal Reserve may slow the pace of increases in U.S. interest rates.
Politics
Putin Looks for Regime Change in Turkey (Bloomberg View)
Many have been burned trying to predict Russian President Vladimir Putin's next foreign policy moves, but it's a safe bet he will copy whichever U.S. policy he has been criticizing. That's why Turkey, in particular, should pay close attention to what Russia has to say on regime change.
Trump, Cruz tensions may provide liveliest Republican debate yet (Reuters)
Flaring tempers and sharp elbows may turn a debate of seven Republican presidential candidates into a seven-car pileup on Thursday with tensions between Donald Trump and rival Ted Cruz leading the way.
The sixth Republican debate, at the North Charleston Coliseum in the swing state of South Carolina, takes place at a tense time for the Republican field with the clock ticking toward Feb. 1 in Iowa, the first contest in the race to choose the party's nominee for the Nov. 8 general election.
Technology
Build an Artificial Hand (Scientific American)
The human hand has five fingers, each with multiple joints. These joints are controlled by muscles and tendons—the muscles pull on the tendons, which pull on the joints and make them bend. The human hand has so many different joints, which makes it very flexible and versatile and easily adaptable to a wide variety of different tasks. You learn to use your hands as a small child, and by the time you grow up, you barely have to think about it at all!
Health and Life Sciences
Obesity Surgery Patients May Often Have Mental Health Disorders (Medicine Net Daily)
Many people having surgery for severe obesity also have mental health conditions, particularly depression and binge-eating disorder, a new review finds.
The analysis of 68 studies found that almost one-quarter of obesity surgery candidates had a mood-related disorder, usually depression.
Life on the Home Planet
Pacific Ocean is an early warning of what’s to come (Futurity)
Scientists are using the Pacific Ocean along the West Coast as a model for how other areas of the ocean may respond in coming decades as the climate warms and emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide increases.
The region—the coastal ocean stretching from British Columbia to Mexico—provides an early warning signal of what to expect as ocean acidification continues and as low-oxygen zones expand.
The Right Incentives for a Low-Carbon Future (Project Syndicate)
The climate agreement that world leaders reached in Paris last month has been widely celebrated for establishing the ambitious target of limiting the increase in global temperature to well below 2º Celsius above pre-industrial levels. But the agreement is just one step, albeit an important one. Policymakers now must figure out how to achieve this goal – no easy feat, especially given that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, steadily rising costs for conventional energy cannot be counted on to propel the necessary shift toward a low-carbon future.
