News You Can Use From Phil’s Stock World

Financial Markets and Economy

Bank of America revs up auto loans business despite warning signs (Business Insider)

Bank of America is making a big push into auto lending just as regulators are sending warning signals, losses from auto loans are rising, and rivals are growing more cautious after years of strong returns.

The bank tapped mortgage executives Matt Vernon and John Schleck to lead the auto lending business last May, saying they would be able to sell auto loans alongside other products such as checking accounts and home equity loans.

U.S. stocks set to catch breath after 2-day runup (Market Watch)

U.S. stock futures on Thursday pointed to a muted open, putting the market on track to catch its breath after a two-day advance.

Investors await fresh readings for jobless claims, a non-manufacturing index and factory orders.

Manufacturing jobs in Asia have hit their lowest point since 2009 (Business Insider)

Manufacturing is a dangerous place to have a job at the moment.

Employees in Asia are being squeezed from two sides.

Firstly, China is trying to move itself away from being the world's factory towards a services and consumption-led economy.

Can Millennials Undo What the Recession Did to Their Earnings? (The Atlantic)

Millennials should, theoretically, be the highest-paid cohort of young adults in American history: They’re the most educated group of workers and have entered the labor market at a time of high and increasing productivity.

But thanks to a recession, a slow recovery, and staggering amounts of student debt, that hasn’t happened. To turn the tide of their financial futures, a new report says, it won’t be enough for Millennials to work harder—they need help from legislators.

Volkswagen shares fall after statement on emissions (Business Insider)

Volkswagen shares fell almost 2 percent in early trading on Thursday after the carmaker said its former chief executive did not pay particular attention when he was alerted to problems with U.S. diesel emissions tests in 2014.

Global Stocks Steady Ahead of U.S. Jobs Report on Friday (Wall Street Journal)

Global stocks steadied Thursday, as recent bullish sentiment fizzled out ahead of the release of the U.S. jobs report on Friday.

The Stoxx Europe 600 edged down 0.4% halfway through the day following five consecutive sessions of gains.

Diamond Prices to Take a Year to Recover Due to Large Stockpiles (Bloomberg)

Rough-diamond prices will probably take at least another year to recover because the biggest producers are sitting on large stockpiles and demand in markets such as China remains subdued.

New Tremors in High Finance Rattle Foundation of Postcrisis Regulations (NY Times)

Governments around the world have built over the last few years a vast new system of rules that would allow banking giants to fail and shield taxpayers from bailouts.

Life and Death in the App Store (The Verge)

As last year began, the app developer Pixite held its company retreat at a converted Old West movie set outside of Palm Springs. They spent a few days dreaming about the future while eating barbecue and sipping whisky in the sun. But 2015 was not a good year, and by last month the company’s dreams had narrowed to survival. This year’s retreat took place at the company’s office in San Diego, a handful of rooms perched above a hair salon. The printer was broken, so the agenda was distributed by email.

Dollar above ¥114 as stocks climb, yen shunned (Market Watch)

The yen was weaker against its rivals in Asian trade Thursday, with an improvement in market sentiment cooling demand for the safety of the Japanese currency.

Meanwhile, the commodity-linked Australian dollar strengthened to fresh 2016 high against the U.S. dollar and a one-month high against the yen following a recovery in oil prices overnight.

No 'big short' yet for hedge funds on Brexit (Business Insider)

Hedge funds, whose speculating contributed to the pound's devaluation in 1992, have yet to make major bets on Britain leaving the European Union because few expect it to happen and most doubt a big payout from market moves around the June vote.

Asset managers and hedge fund desks at major banks contacted by Reuters said "tail risk" funds which bet on major financial events such as the euro zone's debt crisis or the global credit crash think the risk of a pound meltdown is just too small.

Ruble Ends Three-Day Advance as Oil Correlation Climbs to Record (Bloomberg)

The ruble weakened the most in emerging markets after the South African rand, tracking oil’s drop from a two-month high, as the correlation between the Russian currency and the nation’s main export commodity climbed to a record.

Austrian U-Turn Is Good News for Bank Bonds (Bloomberg View)

The Austrian government has just capitulated in a stand-off with investors who lent money to Heta, a failed state bank. It's the first good news investors in European bank bonds have had for months. But it’s also a reminder that the tectonic plates beneath an essential market for funding financial institutions are still shifting, in unpredictable and often unwelcome ways.

Nikkei closes 1.3% higher as investor confidence returns (Market Watch)

Most Asian stock markets gained Thursday as rising oil prices and signs of an improving U.S. economy appeared to restore investor confidence.

Politics

A Tough Road Ahead for Bernie Sanders (The Atlantic)

After the dust settled on the results of Super Tuesday, the bad news was everywhere. “Sanders Campaign Will Travel On, but Path to Victory Is All but Blocked,” The New York Times declared, offering a grim assessment of the odds facing the insurgent presidential candidate. “After Super Tuesday Losses, Bernie Sanders Is in a Whole Lot of Trouble,”Mother Jones lamented.

Mitt Romney: Donald Trump is 'a phony, a fraud' (Mashable)

Mitt Romney is set to tear into Donald Trump in a speech Thursday morning, when he will call the GOP presidential front-runner a "phony" and a "fraud," according to widely reported excerpts from the speech.

In the speech, Romney will urge Americans not to vote for Trump, who he says will lose to Hillary Clinton if he is the Republican nominee.

Technology

The Robots Are Coming … to Take Your Job (Wharton Upenn)

Today, robots are increasingly handling many jobs in manufacturing that were done by human hands not more than 20 years ago. This sea change has affected a variety of industries, and it’s one reason why the jobs recovery of the past few years hasn’t included as many manufacturing jobs. Those jobs weren’t just destroyed — they were lost to smart machines.

The bank of the future is here — and it’s free (Market Watch)

A month ago I went shopping and bought a bunch of stuff I thought I needed — you know, groceries and a few thingamajigs. That went on for about a week. As February came to a close, I realized I almost ran out of money. Where had all my money gone? Since I’m usually careful about spending, this was one of those rare occurrences when I let my guard down, and that got me thinking.

Health and Life Sciences

Healthier Arteries May Lower Dementia Risk in Old Age (Medicine Net Daily)

Elderly Americans whose arteries are clear of calcium buildup appear less likely than others to suffer from heart disease or dementia, according to new research.

University of Pittsburgh researchers found that among people in their 80s and 90s, those without calcium buildup in their arteries developed dementia later than those with high levels of calcium. Calcium-clogged arteries — also called atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries — are linked to increased risk forheart disease, heart attack, stroke and, apparently, dementia as well.

Moments of joy 'can damage heart' (BBC)

The emotional stress that causes chest pains and breathlessness can occur in moments of joy as well as anger, grief and fear, a Swiss study suggests.

Three-quarters of cases of takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a change in the shape of the heart's left ventricle, which can be fatal, are caused by stress.

Life on the Home Planet

Almost a Billion Homes May Run Only on Solar Energy by 2020 (Bloomberg)

Almost 100 million households worldwide may be powered by solar panels by 2020, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The off-grid solar market has grown to $700 million now from non-existent less than a decade ago, according to a report Thursday from the London-based research company and the World Bank Group’s Lighting Global. They expect that to swell to $3.1 billion by the end of the decade.