Financial Markets and Economy
The Unloved Business That's Saved Big Oil From Low Energy Prices (Bloomberg)
Big Oil is suddenly Big Chemical.
Oil rallies as Canada fire and Libya violence threaten supply (Reuters)
A huge wildfire near Canada's oil sands region and escalating tensions in Libya stoked concern among investors over a near-term supply shortage, driving crude prices up for the first time in a week on Thursday.
The 9 best finance companies to work for in America (Business Insider)
Between commercial and investment banks, insurance providers, and mortgage companies, there's a wide range of opportunity for work in the financial sector.
Wall St. Rises, Helped by Oil Prices (NY Times)
United States markets rose in early trading on Thursday, led by energy stocks as the price of oil rose.
How beaten-up Mr. Market still could rise up to a new high (Market Watch)
It’s been a rough retreat for stocks over the past two weeks.
Hedge Fund Managers Lose Their Swagger (Bloomberg)
Doug Dillard followed the path that once almost guaranteed entrance into the 1 Percent: Good college (Georgetown), investment bank (Morgan Stanley), MBA (Harvard). Then a hedge fund. A decade out of business school, he was heading Standard Pacific Capital, a multibillion-dollar San Francisco firm that traded global stocks. It did well by its clients, making money in 2008 as markets plummeted.
A little-known telecom stock is soaring after the company nabbed a major AT&T deal from Yahoo (Quartz)
Shares in a small-time technology company from Buffalo, New York, are soaring today (May 5) after the firm snatched a major AT&T deal away from Yahoo.
Europe shares, oil snap four-day losing streaks (Reuters)
European stocks and oil prices snapped a four-day losing streak and a rally in bond markets fizzled out on Thursday, as investors began to position themselves for U.S. jobs data.
China's Great Commodity Bubble Loses Air Before It Can Burst (Bloomberg)
The fever that’s gripped Chinese commodity markets is easing.
The Circles of American Financial Hell (The Atlantic)
More than a half-century ago, Betty Friedan set out to call attention to “the problem that has no name,” by which she meant the dissatisfaction of millions of American housewives.
Today, many are suffering from another problem that has no name, and it’s manifested in the bleak financial situations of millions of middle-class—and even upper-middle-class—American households.
Fed’s Bullard says weak growth led him to ‘dial back’ support of April rate hike (Market Watch)
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said weak U.S. growth caused him to temper his support for an interest rate hike at the April policy meeting.
Bank of America: Long robots, short humans (Business Insider)
We're screwed.
Look Out, Loonie, Canada May Have Just Peaked (Bloomberg)
It looks like Canada's surprisingly strong run of economic data is ending, if TD Securities is right, and that means one of the fiercest rallies on record for the Canadian dollar is poised to end as well.
Bass Says Investors Would Avoid China If They Knew Bank Risk (Bloomberg)
Kyle Bass, founder of Hayman Capital Management, said investors wouldn’t be investing in China if they realized how vulnerable its banking system is.
Turkey Premier Said to Give Up as Erdogan Tightens Grip (Bloomberg)
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is expected to step down after losing a market-roiling power struggle with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, clouding the country’s economic prospects and imperiling its relations with the European Union.
Health Insurers Struggle to Offset New Costs? (Wall Street Journal)
Insurers have begun to propose big premium increases for coverage next year under the 2010 health law, as some struggle to make money in a market where their costs have soared.
Politics
Judge says Clinton may have to testify in email lawsuit (Reuters)
A federal judge in Washington on Wednesday ordered that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton may have to testify in a lawsuit related to the private email server she used while secretary of state.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said the parties in the case, the State Department and conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, also struck an agreement about the scope of the testimonies that some of Clinton's former top aides will give in the case.
The Constitution Won't Stop President Trump (Bloomberg View)
My 10-year old put it best: “First you said Trump wouldn’t win any primaries. Then you said he wouldn’t win the nomination. So why exactly are you so sure he won’t become president?” Given this reasonable question, it’s time to start asking: Is the Constitution in danger from a Donald Trump presidency? How far can he push the envelope of our constitutional structure and traditions?
Big-Spending Fracking Family Behind Cruz Won't Back Trump (Bloomberg)
Add the conservative Wilks family of Texas, among the biggest spenders in the presidential race so far, to the list of donors who won't support Donald Trump in the general election.
The fracking billionaires plan to sit out the presidential race after their candidate, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination this week…
Technology
Getting Smarter With Guns (Bloomberg View)
It's impossible, in this day and age, to pick up a stranger's password-protected mobile phone and send a text. It's easy to steal anyone's gun and fire away.
It makes no sense for lethal weapons to be less protected than communications and entertainment devices.
Was gravitational wave signal from a gravastar, not black holes? (New Scientist)
It's one surprise after another. The detection of gravitational waves announced earlier this year sent ripples through the world of physics. The signal was thought to come from two gigantic black holes merging into one, but now a group says it could have come from something even more exotic – a gravastar.
No one is disputing the first detection of gravitational waves.
Health and Life Sciences
HIV-infected organs transplant success (BBC)
HIV-infected organs have been successfully transplanted for the first time into patients with HIV in the UK.
In total, two kidneys and two livers were donated after death to seriously ill people who also had the virus.
Is there a naturopathic standard of care? (Science-Based Medicine)
Public outcry over the death of Ezekiel Stephan, the 19-month-old Alberta toddler who died of bacterial meningitis in 2012, continues to grow following last’s weeks court decision, which found both of his parents guilty of failing to provide the necessaries of life. David and Collet Stephan failed to seek appropriate medical care for their obviously-ill child, instead relying on a variety of vitamins, supplements, and remedies from the family’s own home business, Truehope Nutritional Support.
Life on the Home Planet
Drought-Ridden L.A. Tries Rainmakers to Tap Storm Clouds (Scientific American)
Los Angeles has officially stopped trying to make it rain—for now. During three separate storms in the past two months, contract workers for the L.A. County Department of Public Works ignited 25 special flares in the hills above Pasadena, sending columns of glittering smoke into the clouds to give them a literal silver lining that could boost precipitation.
A massive wildfire in Canada has destroyed 1,600 homes and forced 80,000 people to flee (Business Insider)
Tens of thousands of Canadians have been evacuated while wildfires rage through their homes in Alberta.
The town of Fort McMurray has seen more than 1,600 homes destroyed and 80,000 residents flee. As of Thursday, the fire showed little sign of slowing down, Reuters reports, and it now threatens the local airport.
