Financial Markets and Economy
Bullish Oil Bets Rise as Hedge Funds See Supply Tightening (Bloomberg)
Talk of an output freeze by OPEC and Russia along with falling U.S. production spurred money managers to bet oil is ready for a rebound.
It's Getting Harder for Currency Traders to Make Money, Market Veteran Says (Bloomberg)
The $5.3-trillion currency market is getting harder for traders to make money in as price changes that once took months or weeks now happen more quickly, says Hugh Killen, Westpac Banking Corp.’s head of trading for foreign exchange, fixed income and commodities.
US Asset Classes Popped Last Week (Capital Spectator)
The crowd’s appetite for risky assets extended for a second week, at least in some corners, based on a set of proxy ETFs representing the major asset classes. US junk bonds took the lead for the five trading days through Feb. 26, building on the previous week’s gain.
S&P 500 Falls for a Third Month as Late-February Rebound Fades (Bloomberg)
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index erased a February gain Monday, despite a rally in crude oil, as a two-week rebound faltered in the month’s lightly traded final session.
Argentina’s Debt Settlement Ends 15-Year Battle (NY Times)
The announcement of a $4.65 billion agreement between the Argentine government and four “holdout” hedge funds promises to end a 15-year battle that started when the government defaulted on $100 billion in debt in 2001.
Lowly NatGas: Only For Bold Investors (ETF)
As poorly as oil prices have fared this year, it's nothing compared to another energy commodity. Prices for natural gas?a fuel that is used primary for heating and cooling needs?are down 25% so far in 2016, far outpacing the 10% decline in crude.
What Is Gold Trying To Tell Us? (The Irrelevant Investor)
After a four and a half year bear market which saw the value of gold fall by 45%, the precious metal enthusiasts finally have something to smile about. Gold is up over nine percent in February, its best month since January 2012.
The Cases for Public Investment? (NY Times)
One of the annoying aspects of the Sanders/Friedman flap was the assumption of many Sanders supporters that anyone who doesn’t accept extravagant economic projections is against a big program of public investment.
There is a translantic stock exchange bidding war brewing (Business Insider)
Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange is now considering making a counter bid for the London Stock Exchange, Bloomberg News reports.
This comes just a week after the British stock market operator confirmed it was in merger talks with Germany's Deutsche Boerse.
The Deadly Trading Bias Affecting Stock Market Traders (Forbes)
A while ago I conducted a seminar for traders interested in trading psychology and decided to attempt an informal experiment. I printed out a chart of a past period in the stock market and asked participants to predict the future direction of the market based solely upon the chart patterns they perceived.
The Fintech Industry Explained: The Trends Disrupting The World of Financial Technology (Business Insider)
We’ve entered the most profound era of change for financial services companies since the 1970s brought us index mutual funds, discount brokers and ATMs.
No firm is immune from the coming disruption and every company must have a strategy to harness the powerful advantages of the new financial technology (“fintech”) revolution.
China Stocks Tumble Toward 15-Month Low as Stimulus Bets Unwind (Bloomberg)
Chinese stocks fell, with the benchmark index approaching the lowest level since November 2014, as some investors were disappointed by a lack of specific measures to boost growth during the Group of 20 meetings in Shanghai.
At this rate, the US oil rig count will be zero by August (Business Insider)
The oil rig count has dropped for ten straight weeks.
Politics
Trump vs. #NeverTrump (Bloomberg View)
What explains Donald Trump's apparent polling surge in the last several days? If it is real, it appears to be linked to his victories in South Carolina and Nevada, since the few up-to-date polls we have mostly precede his performance in last Thursday's debate. It’s possible he could have fallen back over the weekend — in which case he could lose several states.
Technology
Microsoft Will Ship HoloLens Augmented Reality Headset Next Month (Popular Science)
Much of the early tech news this year has focused on the coming wave of high-end virtual reality headsets. But Microsoft is exploring another type of technology with its experimental HoloLens headset.
Today, Microsoft announced that the first versions of the HoloLens, dubbed the "HoloLens Development Edition," will begin shipping to independent software developers on March 30th, 2016. The devices cost a whopping $3,000 per unit for now, and you need to apply on Microsoft's website, fill out a form, and be approved by the company, in order to get one.
The Electric Car Revolution Is Finally Starting? (Slate)
First generations of technology are always clunky, kludgy, and way too expensive. TVs were once the size of refrigerators. Personal computers had giant cathode ray tubes and virtually no computing power. And so it went for the first generation of modern electric cars.
Car batteries have been around for a while. But the types of batteries that can pack sufficient energy to drive a car on its own are relatively new; until a decade or so ago, engineers had never given them their full devotion, nor did manufacturers produce them in large volumes.
Health and Life Sciences
The Genetic Technology Revolution (Bloomberg View)
One of the most exciting and promising developments in the history of medical science may bypass the U.S. if Congress fails to act. It needs to lift the ban on federal spending on research involving human embryos.
Other governments are already responding to the progress being made in genetic technology.
Life on the Home Planet
Why Gender Inequality Is More Acute for Women in the South (The Atlantic)
The gender pay gap is a worldwide problem, but women in some places have it worse than others. A new report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) reveals that working women in the South suffer some of the harshest inequalities in the U.S., not only in terms of how much they are paid, but how they are treated in the workforce.
U.N. Warns the Declining Bee Population Is Going to Devastate Our Food Supply (Grub Street)
It's no secret that the world's bees are dying off in alarming numbers, but sometimes it's worth remembering what's at stake beyond just hot toddies and a topping for biscuits, and the U.N. Friday has just the thing: A new report by the organization warns that if the disturbing trend continues, there will be awful consequences for the world's food supply.
