Financial Markets and Economy
The U.S. Could Use a New Economic Strategy (Bloomberg)
In his four-plus years as the country's first treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton crafted an economic strategy that helped the U.S. rise from agrarian former colony to global economic power.
Its main elements, Stephen S. Cohen and J. Bradford DeLong write in their brand-new book, “Concrete Economics: The Hamilton Approach to Economic Growth and Policy,”…
The Great Investment Advice Hidden in Warren Buffett's Annual Letter (Fortune)
This weekend, Warren Buffett released his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. As always, it was full of memorable quips and the Oracle’s take on where the US economy currently stands. But what most people seem to have missed is that this year’s Berkshire 0.24% letter also contained some of the best investment advice the Oracle of Omaha has ever written down.
Gold Snaps Back to Bull Market as Prices Surge on Haven Demand (Bloomberg)
Gold is back in a bull market for the first time since 2013, buoyed by investors snapping up the metal as they seek a haven from the turmoil rocking equity markets.
The stress in junk bonds is all about oil (Business Insider)
The biggest source of fascination and anxiety among investors to start 2016 was the high-yield bond market.
The Lone Analyst Who Said Sell Valeant When Hedge Funds Piled In (Bloomberg)
In July 2014, Dimitry Khmelnitsky advised investors to sell Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and then watched the stock double in a year.
You don't even want to know what Wall Street's nightmare stock did today (Business Insider)
SunEdison, the embattled solar power company that has seen its stock fall 92% over the last year, had another horrific trading day on Thursday.
Hedge Funds Ramp Up Investor Incentives with Fee Discounts (Chief Investment Officer)
Newly formed hedge funds turned to lower fees and seed deals to attract investors in a challenging year for capital raising, an industry law firm reported.
The Russell 2000 has cleared many hurdles already (Dragonfly Capital)
2016 has been a rough year for stocks. January was the worst start to the market ever and by mid February it looked like the world was going to end. But the 11th marked a bottom and all indexes reversed higher. There is still a lack of investor conviction that this leg up will stick and not turn into another rout to the downside.
Fed's Bank-Failure Plan Prompts HSBC to Alter 2016 Debt Strategy (Bloomberg)
HSBC Holdings Plc altered its strategy for issuing loss-absorbing debt required by regulators to comply with rules proposed by the Federal Reserve for large foreign banks operating in the U.S.
McClellan Oscillator Hits 91 (Fat Pitch)
The McClellan Oscillator (NYMO) closed at 91 today. This is the first spike over 80 in NYMO since last October.
Good Luck, Bad Luck (The Irrelevant Investor)
“There’s a quick and easy way to test whether an activity involves skill; ask whether you can lose on purpose. In games of skill, it’s clear that you can lose intentionally but when playing roulette or the lottery you can’t lose on purpose.” – Michael Mauboussin I don’t believe that stock picking is entirely a game of luck, but the fact that there is a large amount of luck involve.
Politics
Gabbard: People warned me against endorsing Sanders (Politico)
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said that even though "a lot of people" warned her against endorsing Bernie Sanders, she did it anyway because of the "high stakes" around the coming election. The Hawaii Democrat was speaking to MSNBC Tuesday night when host Brian Williams asked her about splitting with many in her party in her endorsement.
Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States (LA Times)
Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States. Many people have said it — politicians of both parties, economists, pundits, business leaders — but millions of GOP primary voters don't seem to be listening. Much of the Republican base has taken leave of its senses, a flight blamed alternately on inchoate anger, disgust with inside-the-Beltway candidates and misplaced affection for a plain-speaking cartoon character who often seems to utter whatever nonsense comes into his head.
Honesty Doesn't Win Presidential Elections (Bloomberg View)
In his speech about the U.S. presidential campaign on Thursday, Mitt Romney described both parties’ front-runners, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, as dishonest. Voters seem to agree. Is it all-important, though, for a successful candidate to be perceived as honest, or more honest than his or her chief rival? Previous election results appear to indicate the opposite.
Technology
Apple's slide has already begun (The Motley Fool)
There has been little for iFans to cheer the past few months, as Apple's stock price meanders in the mid-$90 range.
Despite reporting record earnings and sales of its flagship iPhone line-up last quarter, Apple is suffering from what most industry pundits expect will be a marked slowdown in higher-end, higher-cost devices this year.
Glowing ‘skin’ could let robots get emotional (Futurity)
Engineers have developed an electroluminescent material that stretches to more than six times its original size while still emitting light. One potential use, they say, is robot skin.
Health and Life Sciences
Study Finds Surprising Benefit of Viral DNA: Fighting Other Viruses (NY Times)
What could be more alien than a virus? It’s a nanobiological weapon — a microscopic protein shell holding a few genes that hijack a cell’s internal machinery, forcing it to make new viruses. The battles we fight with these alien enemies brings malaise, scars and even death.
Weird Science Fights Cancer (Bloomberg View)
What kinds of research should be included in the $1 billion “moonshot” proposal to cure cancer? Since President Obama announced the idea in his last State of the Union address, Vice President Joe Biden, who is heading the effort, has talked of getting more patients enrolled in clinical trials and finding more efficient ways of sharing data. But what about less obvious steps, such as a recent experiment on zebra fish with green glowing skin tumors?
Life on the Home Planet
The U.S. just sent a carrier strike group to confront China (Navy Times)
The U.S. Navy has dispatched a small armada to the South China Sea.
The carrier John C. Stennis, two destroyers, two cruisers and the 7th Fleet flagship have sailed into the disputed waters in recent days, according to military officials. The carrier strike group is the latest show of force in the tense region, with the U.S. asserting that China is militarizing the region to guard its excessive territorial claims.
Less poaching but elephants decline (BBC)
The number of elephants being killed for their ivory has stabilised but overall species numbers have continued to decline.
Data produced for 2015 shows that poachers are still killing more elephants than are born every year.
