Financial Markets and Economy
U.S. Index Futures Signal S&P 500 to Slide After Nearing Record (Bloomberg)
U.S. stock-index futures fell, with the S&P 500 poised to slip from a 10-month high, amid speculation equities may have run too far too fast given the lackluster prospects for global growth.
U.S. stock futures signal a pullback after 3-day rally (Market Watch)
U.S. stock futures tilted lower on Thursday as a recent rally that pushed the Dow average above the key 18,000 level appeared set to run out of steam after oil prices eased off 2016 highs.
Bond Yields Fall to New Lows as Stocks Sink (Wall Street Journal)
Stocks retreated Thursday while European government-bond yields touched all-time lows as investors favored assets perceived as safe.
Rising oil prices don't mean the market is stable (Business Insider)
The United States Energy Information Administration upped its forecasts of average crude oil prices by $1 a barrel and $3 for 2016 and 2017, respectively, on Tuesday, in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook report.
After five lean years, gold miners gear up for growth (Reuters)
For the first time in five years, Barrick Gold and other bullion miners are getting ready to expand, breaking from their monologue on cutting costs and debt because of tumbling gold prices.
Backed by healthier balance sheets, a 17 percent rise in the price of gold since January to $1,244 an ounce and new investors, miners from Canada to Australia and South Africa are studying ways to raise production.
Saudi Property Stocks Named in Kingdom’s Post-Oil Plans Soar (Bloomberg)
Stocks of property companies that Saudi Arabia plans to partner with as it diversifies its economy away from oil have soared this week.
Draghi Says Economic Cost of Reform Delay Too High to Ignore (Bloomberg)
Mario Draghi called on politicians to help the European Central Bank’s bid to restore economic health to the region by accelerating reforms.
There's another banking crisis brewing in Europe and terrible mortgages are to blame (Business Insider)
There's another banking crisis brewing in Europe – and it all has to do with Swiss franc-denominated mortgages.
Colorado Has 40 Times More Natural Gas Than Previously Estimated (Wall Street Journal)
Western Colorado has 40 times more natural gas than previously thought, potentially making it the second-largest formation in the country, the U.S. Geological Survey said Wednesday.
A Bearish George Soros Is Trading Again (Wall Street Journal)
After a long hiatus, George Soros has returned to trading, lured by opportunities to profit from what he sees as coming economic troubles.
San Francisco Is Bracing for Life After This Tech Bubble (Bloomberg)
San Francisco is preparing for a different kind of Big One.
WeChat Pay is expanding to Japan (Business Insider)
Chinese e-commerce giant Tencent partnered with Japanese social data provider Hotto Link to ramp up the expansion of WeChat Pay, the payment service linked to its WeChat messaging platform, in Japan, according to Reuters.
RBA Keeps Ammunition in Reserve as Risks Loom From Fed to Brexit (Bloomberg)
Traders are betting the Reserve Bank of Australia will save its dwindling monetary policy ammunition as international risks mount from Washington to London.
Oil prices fall on profit taking after hitting 2016 highs (Zero Hedge)
Oil prices fell on Thursday as traders took profits after three sessions of gains, though prices remained close to their highest this year thanks to a fall in U.S. crude inventories and supply disruptions.
Politics
Clinton ally Warren weighs potential VP role, sees hurdles (Reuters)
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has considered the idea of serving as Hillary Clinton's running mate but sees obstacles to that choice as she prepares to endorse the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, several people familiar with Warren's thinking told Reuters.
Donald Trump’s Advice to Panicked Republicans: Man Up (NY Times)
Donald J. Trump has some advice for panicked Republicans in Washington who are melting down over his most incendiary statements: Man up.
Wooing Sanders supporters will be tough task for Clinton (Reuters)
Winning over Bernie Sanders supporters who flocked to his insurgent presidential campaign will be the first and possibly toughest order of business for Hillary Clinton after she became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee this week.
Technology
Self-Driving Cars Will Teach Themselves to Save Lives—But Also Take Them (Wired)
If you follow the ongoing creation of self-driving cars, then you probably know about the classic thought experiment called the Trolley Problem. A trolley is barreling toward five people tied to the tracks ahead. You can switch the trolly to another track—where only one person is tied down. What do you do? Or, more to the point, what does a self-driving car do?
How a Supercomputer Is Ready to Mint Money Out of Mexico's Stock Market (Bloomberg)
On a gated residential street about an hour’s drive south of Mexico City’s main business district lives Breogan, a $350,000 computer that Alberto Alonso built to shake up the nation’s stock market.
Health and Life Sciences
Rowan Led Research Team Develops Highly Accurate Blood Test For Alzheimer’s Disease (CBS Local)
The team of researchers was led by Dr. Robert Nagele from the university’s School of Osteopathic Medicine and Durin Technologies.
The group announced that they have developed a blood test that uses the immune system to find early stage Alzheimer’s in patients. The study included 236 subjects.
Is Sugar Really Bad for You? It Depends (NY Times)
The federal government’s decision to update food labels last month marked a sea change for consumers: For the first time, beginning in 2018, nutrition labels will be required to list a breakdown of both the total sugars and the added sugars in packaged foods. But is sugar really that bad for you? And is the sugar added to foods really more harmful than the sugars found naturally in foods?
Let’s revisit the consensus on fat, carbs and health (New Scientist)
Misqouting Hippocrates to defend yourself against charges of medical illiteracy is not the best PR strategy, but those are the depths to which the UK’s National Obesity Forum sank last week.
Forced onto the defensive after publishing a controversial report on dietary fat and health, the pressure group tried to pour (cooking) oil on troubled waters by claiming that the father of medicine advised eating “rich foods” to stay thin, including “fatty meats, especially from grass-fed animals”. Where the obesity forum got this from is not clear, but the wording is very similar to that on a site promoting grass-fed meat for weight loss.
Life on the Home Planet
The World's Population Is Very Slowly Backing Away From The Dangerous Coasts (Fast Company)
Throughout the history of civilization, humans have always congregated around coastal regions, from early societies on the Persian Gulf to today’s largest megacities, like Tokyo, Shanghai, and Jakarta.
But an intriguing new study suggests that the global population is very slowly distributing further away from the coasts than it has in the past.
Israel Revokes Ramadan Permits for Palestinians After Tel Aviv Attack (Wall Street Journal)
Israel’s military on Thursday revoked 83,000 Palestinian permits to visit Israel and travel abroad during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the morning after two Palestinian gunmen killed four Israelis in a rare shooting in Tel Aviv.
