Financial Markets and Economy
There is Still Hope for 2016 (Paul Price, Guru Focus)
Any good news?
- Four of the previous nine “worst yearly starts” saw positive numbers over the balance of January.
- Six of nine “most horrendous beginnings” rebounded to positive annual returns by December 31.
- The best four of those periods saw strong full-year results.
- 2009, the previous champ stumbling out of the gate, ended up posting a 26.46% total return on the S&P 500 ETF (SPY).
Valuations are much more attractive now than they were one year earlier. Even before the last week's carnage the average stock was down much more than the cap-weighted indices.
Iranian Stocks and Currency Gain as Sanctions Relief Looms (Bloomberg)
Iranian shares climbed to the highest level in almost five months and the rial gained as diplomats gathered in Vienna to announce the end of international economic sanctions against the country’s nuclear program.
The benchmark TEDPIX index gained 2 percent to 64,860.9 at the close in Tehran, the highest level since Aug. 23, data posted on the exchange’s website showed. The currency gained 2 percent, according to Daily Rates For Gold Coins and Currencies, a Facebook page used by businessmen based in Iran and abroad.
The Cure for Market Fatigue and Frustration (Trader Feed)
To say it's been an eventful start to the new year is quite the understatement. As I've chronicled in the market updates, there is every indication that 2016 is different from recent years. There is greater volatility, and oversold levels that had led to bounces in the recent past have not been able to find buyers. With the increased directional movement and potential opportunity set, you would think this would be a wonderful psychological environment for traders. Oddly, however, I've been hearing more about fatigue and frustration than fortune and fulfillment.
China's economy grew by around 7 percent in 2015, services made up half of GDP – Premier (Yahoo! Finance)
China's gross domestic product (GDP) totaled more than $10 trillion in 2015 and the economy grew by around 7 percent, with the services sector accounting for half of GDP, Premier Li Keqiang said on Saturday.
Carl Icahn's commodities bets are backfiring (Business Insider)
Commodities have been taken a battering, and it's taking a toll on some hedge fund managers who have made big bets on the industry.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Carl Icahn's bets in the sector are backfiring spectacularly.
Icahn invested in liquid-natural-gas company Cheniere Energy and gold and copper producer Freeport-McMoRan in August last year.
Poland Seeks to Reassure Investors After Rating Downgrade Shock (Bloomberg)
Top Polish government officials sought to reassure investors on the zloty a day after the currency slid to a four-year low in the wake of what they said was an unjust rating downgrade by Standard & Poors.
There's a bullish type of fear that could cause investors to storm back into the stock market (Business Insider)
To say the stock market isn't looking good right now is an understatement.
Stocks are establishing ugly records, and the S&P 500 just touched its lowest level since October 2014.
Despite the bloodbath, David Kelly, chief global strategist for JP Morgan Funds, isn't worried yet.
Renewable Energy Focus Could Give Global Economic Growth a Boost (Bloomberg)
Doubling the share of solar, wind and other renewables in the energy mix would boost global economic growth by as much as 1.1 percent by 2030, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
The US economy is nowhere near a recession (Business Insider)
The "r-word" is back.
After the worst 10-day start to a year ever, investors are anxious about not just the prospects for financial markets but the US economy as a whole.
And now, people are talking about recession.
Bond Investors Waiting on Draghi as Inflation Wagers Collapse (Bloomberg)
With a plunge in global commodity prices threatening the European Central Banks already distant inflation goal, bond investors will be watching Mario Draghi next week for signs of a response.
Currency War Revival Seen By State Street After Yen, Euro Rally (Bloomberg)
A flare-up in the global currency war is looming, as a resurgent yen and euro threaten to give policy makers in Japan and Europe an incentive to add monetary stimulus.
Treasuries Surge as Investors Seek Refuge, Fed Rate Path Doubted (Bloomberg)
A dimming outlook for inflation and global economic growth pulled Treasury yields lower for a second week amid a stock-market rout and plunging oil prices, as traders push back the anticipated timing for Federal Reserve interest-rate increases.
Politics
Growing feud: Trump, Cruz escalate attacks on each other (Reuters)
The growing feud between Republican front-runner Donald Trump and his central rival Ted Cruz intensified on Saturday with tit-for-tat attacks that put to rest any notion that their debate night fight was a solitary engagement.
Taiwan elects its first female president (Market Watch)
Opposition candidate Tsai Ing-wen won a landslide victory in Taiwan’s presidential election Saturday, making her the democracy’s first female president and setting back Beijing’s ambitions to reunify the island with the mainland.
Tsai’s commanding victory brings to power her Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, which espouses Taiwan’s formal independence from China—a red line for Beijing, which claims the island as its territory.
Technology
Microsoft leaks new HoloLens details (Mashable)
Microsoft's augmented reality headset called the HoloLens has already won over a number of fans eager to try the device, but details about how it works have been scarce.
Health and Life Sciences
E-cigarettes Don't Help Smokers Quit Tobacco: Study (Medicine Net Daily)
Electronic cigarettes are promoted as a way to help smokers kick the habit, but a new study contends that the devices hamper rather than help.
E-cigarette use actually lowers smokers' chances that they'll quit tobacco by about 28 percent, according to an evidence review published online Jan. 14 in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.
Popular heartburn medication linked to chronic kidney disease (Washington Post)
Widely popular heartburn medications that block the secretion of acid into the stomach are associated with higher rates of chronic kidney disease, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins University researchers released Monday.
The research raises more questions about commonly used drugs such as Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid, which had long been considered effective with few side effects.
Life on the Home Planet
Iran frees Post reporter Jason Rezaian, 4 other Americans, officials say? (Washington Post)
The United States and Iran moved into a new era of international relations Saturday, with the implementation of a landmark agreement on Iran’s nuclear program on a drama-filled day that also saw the release of imprisoned Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and four other Americans.
U.S. and European officials lifted the harshest economic sanctions against Tehran after the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog certified that the Islamic republic had fully complied with promises to curtail key parts of its nuclear program. Hours before diplomats in the Austrian capital hailed the official activation of the nuclear deal, Iran confirmed the release of Rezaian and the other American detainees, set free in exchange for U.S. clemency offered to seven Iranians charged or imprisoned for sanctions violations and the dismissal of outstanding charges against 14 Iranians outside the United States.
Islamic State kills dozens in Syria's Deir al-Zor city (Reuters)
Islamic state militants killed dozens of people execution style in attacks on government-held areas in Syria's city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday, a source and a monitoring said.
A source close to the Syrian government side said the Islamic State fighters killed at least 250 people, including pro-government fighters and their families when they attacked the neighborhoods of Begayliya and Ayash in the city.
