Financial Markets and Economy
Hedge funds are getting ready for Armageddon (Business Insider)
Hedge fund investors are battening down the hatches.
Built Up by Oil Boom, North Dakota Now Has an Emptier Feeling (NY Times)
The “man camps” sprang up from the prairie, rows of trailers and modular steel boxes that housed thousands of workers chasing their fortunes in North Dakota’s oil fields. But these days, the man camps are missing something: men.
Roughly eight years ago, at the peak of the last recession, oil drilling began to transform these remote corners of the plains into an economic beacon, attracting billions of dollars in new investments and thousands of workers in search of good-paying jobs and an escape from America’s economic pain.
March wish list: Stock, oil price correlation needs to get broken (Market Watch)
Investors are hoping March brings about a break in the high correlation between stock prices and oil prices as a signal to find renewed confidence in equity markets, but first crude prices are going to have to stabilize.
Disneyland to Cost Up to 20% More as Parks Match Price to Demand (Bloomberg)
Walt Disney Co. is raising the cost to visit its U.S. theme parks like Disneyland as much as 20 percent during the busiest times of year and lowering them on typically slow days at its California resorts.
The six parks in Orlando, Florida, and Anaheim, California, are shifting to a policy that charges visitors different prices based on anticipated demand, with weekdays during the school year much cheaper than holidays. Previously, the parks charged the same price for a one-day pass any time of year.
An investment banker told us the theory that central banks fundamentally misunderstand inflation (Business Insider)
I had lunch with an economist at a well-known global investment bank last week. I can't tell you who it was, because our meal was off the record. But I can tell you about the most interesting bit of our conversation, because it's not a secret if you are the kind of person — like me — who is obsessed with why capitalism is so dysfunctional right now, and you like to eat lunch with City analysts.
Australia's Gold Output Climbs to 12-Year High, Surbiton Says (Bloomberg)
Gold output in Australia, the worlds second-biggest producer, reached the highest in 12 years in 2015 as rising prices see miners revive mothballed operations.
What Is the Weakest Link in the Investment Profession? (CFA Institute)
Emotions are often seen as dangerous forms of weakness. Yet studies show that in everything we do, in life as well as in the investment profession, “thoughts, feelings, and actions . . . are inextricably linked at both the mental and biochemical levels”.
Warren Buffett’s wit and wisdom on display in annual investor letter (Market Watch)
Buffett said the most important development at Berkshire in 2015 “was not financial, though it led to better earnings.” He’s talking about Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, which Buffett said “dramatically improved” its service to customers after Berkshire invested around $5.8 billion in capital spending — ”a sum far and away the record for any American railroad and nearly three times our annual depreciation charge. It was money well spent” as BNSF pretax income rose to a record $6.8 billion, he said.
Politics
A Shellacking in South Carolina: Clinton Is Inevitable (Bloomberg View)
The Democratic calendar finally reached a good Hillary Clinton state on Saturday, and wow did she take advantage of it.
She was expected to win big. Nate Silver projected that if the national race was a tie between Clinton and Bernie Sanders, she would win in South Carolina by about 20 percentage points. Instead, she romped by far more – as I write this, she’s taking over 70 percent of the vote.
In Georgia, Marco Rubio Slings Insults at Donald Trump (Wall Street Journal)
Marco Rubio stepped up attacks on Republican front-runner Donald Trump Saturday, telling supporters in Georgia the New York businessman, “a con artist, will never get control of this party.”
“I make this promise to you today. I will do whatever it takes,” the Florida senator said. “I will campaign as long as it takes, I will stay in this race.” Mr. Rubio reminded the crowd at the football stadium of Mount Paran Christian School that Mr. Trump’s business record included a series of bankruptcies.
Technology
Proof phones are the future of VR, IoT, and all the other cool tech you’re waiting for (Venture Beat)
The annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona just wrapped up, and it has arguably become more important than even the giant Consumer Electronics Show in terms of indicating where technology is headed. Despite highlighting many different trends — and focusing especially on virtual reality — the bottom line at the conference seemed to be that, at least for the foreseeable future, it’s our phones that are going to be the biggest factor in bringing us all of the big innovations we’re eyeing.
The Apple Case Will Grope Its Way Into Your Future (NY Times)
To understand what’s at stake in the battle between Apple and the F.B.I.over cracking open a terrorist’s smartphone, it helps to be able to predict the future of the tech industry.
Health and Life Sciences
I Don’t Drink Coffee. Should I Start?? (NY Times)
As someone who doesn’t drink coffee, I’m sometimes forced to ponder whether I’ve escaped an unhealthy addiction or if I’ve just been asleep my whole life.
Counting yourself out from the 64 percent of Americans who drink at least one cup a day can invite bewildered responses from dedicated coffee drinkers. To them, the benefits are clear, the drawbacks minimal.
There's a surprisingly simple way meditation appears to change the brain? (Business Insider)
Sit down. Close your eyes. Feel your chest rise and fall with each inhaled and exhaled breath.
For decades, researchers have suggested that this simple practice — known as mindfulness meditation — can have health benefits that range from banal to life-changing. Some occasional meditators report being a little less stressed every once in a while, for example, while other more regular practitioners say it helps them succeed in challenging situations.
Life on the Home Planet
Rural electric co-ops, traditionally bastions of coal, are getting into solar (Vox)
In the US, rural areas and constituencies have typically weighed against progress on clean energy. But that may be changing.
A new story out of Wisconsin illustrates that a slow, tentative shift is underway, as rural electricity consumers and the utilities that serve them take a new look at the benefits of solar power.
Single-use coffee pods are so wasteful, some cities are banning them (Quartz)
“What else?” George Clooney asks after he’s finished being charming in the ads for Nespresso, the most well-known brand for small single-serving plastic or aluminum coffee pods. The German city of Hamburg certainly thinks there are other options.
