Financial Markets and Economy
Oil's Boom-to-Bust Swing Offers Traders More Volatility: Chart (Bloomberg)
As oil prices rattle around 12-year lows, traders have an old ally back: volatility.
Europe is crashing again (Business Insider)
So much for the start of a recovery.
Gold rallies as oil, China jitters fuel safe-haven flight (Market Watch)
Gold prices moved firmly higher on Tuesday as a renewed bout of selling in oil futures and continued jitters over China spurred an investor flight into assets considered more safe.
February gold rose $10.20, or 0.9%, to $1,115.50 an ounce, setting it on track for its lowest settlement price since November.
EasyJet Sees 7.6% Pretax Profit Growth as Spending on Fuel Drops (Bloomberg)
EasyJet Plc is stepping up efforts to control costs this year to offset potential disruptions like the Paris shootings and presumed bombing of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt in late 2015.
China: The fear is back (Business Insider)
It's happening again.
Apple’s best quarter ever is about to be overshadowed by its growth forecast (Quartz)
When Apple reports its first-quarter results today (Jan. 26) after the market closes, it will likely report its highest ever quarterly sales (analysts are forecasting $76.6 billion) and profit (an expected $18 billion).
FTSE 100 drops sharply as oil falls below $30 (Market Watch)
U.K. stocks slid Tuesday, tracking Asian and other European equities lower as crude oil prices sank back below $30 a barrel.
Treasuries Rise to Extend January Gain as Fed Begins Meeting (Bloomberg)
Treasuries rose, headed for the biggest monthly gain in a year, on speculation global financial-market turmoil will lead the Federal Reserve to indicate this week its willing to wait before raising interest rates again.
China stocks slump over 6 percent in late selling frenzy (Business Insider)
China stocks plunged more than 6 percent on Tuesday after yet another late bout of panic selling triggered by a resumed slide in global equity markets and oil prices.
The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen fell 6.0 percent to 2,940.51 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index <.SSEC> lost 6.4 percent, to 2,749.79.
Dollar weakens as investors hit the sidelines ahead of Fed, BOJ meetings (Market Watch)
The dollar downshifted against the yen on Tuesday, with investors reluctant to make major moves ahead of monetary policy meetings in the U.S. and Japan later this week.
Iron Ore's Big Guns Seize Greater Share of Trade With China (Bloomberg)
In the iron ore wars, the big are getting bigger and the small are getting squeezed.
Apple set for slowest ever iPhone sales growth (Business Insider)
Apple Inc is expected to report iPhone sales increased slightly more than 1 percent in the holiday quarter when it announces earnings on Tuesday, its slowest growth ever and far from the double-digit growth investors have come to expect.
The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, which boasted record weekend sales when they launched in September, are now facing weak demand, according to analysts, because they have fewer distinguishing features than their popular predecessors.
Elliott increases its stake in Alcoa to 7.4% (Market Watch)
Hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. has increased its stake in Alcoa Inc.AA, -1.02% to 7.4%, reiterating its support of the lightweight-metals manufacturer’s previously announced split.
In November, the hedge fund had accumulated at 6.4% stake in the company after its decision to spin off its more diverse parts-making business from its raw-aluminum operations.
China-Inspired Fear of Global Recession Is Overstated, BofA Says (Bloomberg)
Whatever does cause the next global recession, it likely won’t be China.
That’s according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, who gathered its top experts on the nation to mull the "34 questions about China that you were afraid to ask."
Hyundai fourth-quarter profit slips as U.S. discounts, emerging market slowdown bite (Business Insider)
South Korea's Hyundai Motor on Tuesday said profit fell for the eighth consecutive quarter, as it boosted discounts to revive U.S. sales and auto demand stagnated in emerging markets.
Hyundai, the world's fifth-biggest automaker along with affiliate Kia Motors Corp, said October-December net profit dropped to 1.63 trillion won ($1.36 billion) from 1.66 trillion won a year earlier. That was in line with the 1.6 trillion won average estimate of 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Is This Why Futures Soared Overnight? (Zero Hedge)
As we noted in the overnight wrap, after sliding by 1%, and hitting an overnight low of 1,850, just as Europe opened US equity futures staged a furious rebound jumping nearly 30 point in under three hours for reasons largely unknown.
PineBridge Says Eskom Bonds at Record Premium Is Chance to Buy (Bloomberg)
Concern over the financial health of South Africas state-owned power utility has raised the premium investors demand to hold its debt over that of the nations to a record. Thats created a trading opportunity, PineBridge Investments said.
Asian shares, oil skid as growth concerns dominate (Business Insider)
Asian shares look set to retreat and oil prices to resume their descent after investors used rebounds over the last two days to offload risk assets as fears of a global economic slowdown show no sign of abating.
Japan's Nikkei fell 2.2 percent while South Korean shares dropped 0.6 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3 percent after two days of gains.
How Cheap Oil Is Squeezing Russia's Economy (Bloomberg)
When Vladimir Putin first became Russia’s president back in 2000, oil traded at an average $28.40 a barrel. After spending much of the past five years above $100 a barrel, crude prices have come nearly full circle.
In just the past few weeks, oil prices have fallen about 16 percent. That's poised to squeeze an economy that's heavily dependent on the commodity for its revenues. The Finance Ministry in Moscow has already warned about a higher deficit if spending cuts and other austerity measures aren't implemented in the face of cheaper crude. Here's a look at how the oil-price plunge is rippling through Russia's economy.
Philips's Lumileds Draws Interest, May Get Lower Price, CEO Says (Bloomberg)
Royal Philips NV Chief Executive Officer Frans van Houten said a planned sale of its lighting-components business may earn less than a deal scrapped last week due to U.S. opposition on national security considerations.
Politics
Why D.C. Hates Ted Cruz (The Atlantic)
In the three years since he arrived in the U.S. Senate, Ted Cruz has become easily the most hated man in Washington—a fact he’s now using to his advantage as a presidential candidate. But why?
Is it true, as Cruz would have it, that the dreaded GOP establishment pays lip service to shrinking the federal government and repealing Obamacare, but actually would prefer to preserve the status quo? Is it simply personal animosity? Or do Cruz’s Beltway critics have a point?
This Republican says ‘malleable’ Donald Trump is more electable than ‘rigid’ Ted Cruz (Market Watch)
Who’s more electable: Ted Cruz or Donald Trump? For one centrist leader among congressional Republicans, the answer’s clear.
“Ted Cruz is a rigid ideologue,” Rep. Charlie Dent, a Pennsylvania Republican, told the New York Times. Dent isn’t supporting Trump and hasn’t endorsed a candidate in the 2016 presidential race. But he added: “Donald Trump is ideologically scattered and malleable. In my view, a more rigid ideology would have a much harder time assembling a winning general election coalition than the less doctrinaire candidate.” Cruz, the Texas Republican senator, and Trump, the billionaire real-estate mogul, are in the final days of campaigning before squaring off against each other and other Republicans in the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1.
Technology
Flexible Workers, AI Keys to Future Success, Accenture Predicts (Bloomberg)
Companies that want to prosper should spend more to educate their workers, try to restructure to use more freelancers and tap into artificial intelligence to automate routine tasks.
That’s the prescription for success from global consultant Accenture Plc in its annual technology report released Tuesday outlining some of the trends that will shape businesses in 2016 and beyond.
Watch an engineer lift a Mini Cooper with his homemade exoskeleton (The Next Web)
Powered exoskeletons aren’t just a figment of game developers’ imagination that give characters remarkable abilities like superhuman strength. They’ve been in the works for years for military applications, as well as to support workers who use heavy tools for prolonged periods of time. Inventor James Hobson, a.k.a. The Hacksmith, has been building his own exoskeleton designs for the past couple of years and he’s previously shown off their capabilities in helping him lift 275 lb-Olympic weights. His latest venture: to lift a 2,524 lb Mini Cooper using his latest prototype.
Health and Life Sciences
Flu Season Stays Mild, With Slow Uptick in Activity (Medicine Net Daily)
Halfway through this year's rather mild fluseason, disease activity is still increasing, albeit slowly, a U.S. health official said Friday.
"Activity is continuing to increase; it looks a little bit more impressive this week," said Lynnette Brammer, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Breastfeeding and Formula Feeding Moms Both Need Support, OBGYNs Say (Forbes)
The updated policy statement of the largest organization of OBGYNs makes a remarkable — yet long overdue — shift in its recommendations for breastfeeding: the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists still recommends and “strongly encourages” mothers to breastfeed exclusively for at least 6 months and up to a year with complementary foods, but OBGYNs should *also* support a woman’s decision NOT to breastfeed if she chooses.
Why do people put on differing amounts of weight? (BBC)
Foods that make some of us put on weight can have little effect on others, according to research being carried out in Israel. It might be time to rethink the way we diet, writes Dr Saleyha Ashan.
Like most of the population, I must admit that I am on an eternal quest to lose weight. For me it's more to do with concerns about health than aesthetics. I have polycystic ovary syndrome and a family history of type 2 diabetes and that puts me into a high risk category for developing diabetes myself.
Life on the Home Planet
How to Manage Europe's Refugee Emergency (Bloomberg View)
Europe’s refugee crisis is far from contained. The flow of people fleeing the horrors of Syria continues unabated, and the countries of the European Union remain at odds over how to respond. There’s no simple answer, but the EU can do better than this.
Governments are struggling to balance two conflicting commitments — one to honor genuine requests for asylum, as they are bound by treaty and by common decency to do, and the other to limit the flood of refugees to a level their citizens will tolerate.
There's A Massive, Icy Underworld Hiding INSIDE One Of Hawaii's Volcanoes (The Huffington Post)
It turns out Hawaii is a land of fire and ice.
In addition to having mesmerizing lava that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, Hawaii's Big Island is home to a surprising, rarely seen and extremely fragile geological phenomenon: lava tube caves with permanent ice.
