Financial Markets and Economy
Yuan’s Share of World Currency Trading Doubles, BIS Survey Shows (Bloomberg)
China’s yuan has doubled its share of global currency trading in the three years through April 2016, according to the latest triennial survey …
Tim Cook: Apple could move billions back to U.S. next year (CNN Money)
Apple may finally be bringing some of its enormous offshore cash pile back home.
Just days after the EU hit Apple with a $14.6 billion tax bill, CEO Tim Cook said he expects to transfer billions of dollars in profit to the United States next year.
The Italian Referendum Could Result In The Death Of The Euro (Mauldin Economics)
An important election is coming up, and I’m not talking about the US presidential election. The upcoming referendum in Italy this fall will have a major macroeconomic impact on the world. But hardly anyone outside of Italy is paying much attention to it—yet.
Big Decline in U.S. Auto Sales May Signal End of Six-Year Boom (NY Times)
DETROIT — It was a good run while it lasted.<p>But a bigger-than-expected decline in the August auto sales numbers reported on Thursday indicated that the industry’s long and robust growth cycle may have reached its end.
Critics of Brexit could do worse than head down to their local bookshop and buy a copy of the latest economic treatise by Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz.
Small Business Defaults Rise, Borrowing Drops: "What Scares Us Is The Rise In Delinquencies" (Zero Hedge)
Yesterday, we pointed out something disturbing when we looked at the latest NACM Credit Manager Index report: over the past year it had declined steadily, hitting the lowest print since 2009, or as the National Asscoiation of Credit Managers' economist Chris Kuehl said “Overall, it was fun while it lasted – the trends had been up and now they aren’t".
Central bank injects money into market in August (China Daily)
BEIJING – The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, on Thursday said it had adopted measures to ensure ample liquidity of the interbank market in August.
Life Insurance Customers Push Back Over Surprise Cost Increases (The Wall Street Journal)
Americans are starting to fight back against a wave of insurance-price increases on decades-old life policies.
Over the past year, several major insurers have notified tens of thousands of people of higher costs to keep their policies in force, with increases ranging from midsingle-digit percentages to more than 200%, according to financial advisers.
A Chinese Mystery: Who Owns a Firm on a Global Shopping Spree? (NY Times)
Pingyang County’s verdant hills still hint at a long-lost China. Rice paddies and villages surround its bustling towns, and in the fields, farmers wade into the mud to plant seedlings as they have for thousands of years.
Credit cards are going the way of fax machines (BI Intelligence)
The modern smartphone is a remarkable device. A single device that fits in your pocket can do all the tasks that once required cameras, camcorders, GPS devices, watches, alarm clocks, calculators, and even TVs.
Wall Street’s Next Frontier Is Hacking Into Emotions of Traders (Bloomberg)
The trader was in deep trouble. A millennial who had only recently been allowed to set foot on a Wall Street floor, he made bad bets, and in a panic …
Spain Jobless Claims Rise as Politicians Seek to Avert New Vote (Bloomberg)
Spanish jobless claims rose more than expected in August as caretaker Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy struggles to piece together a parliamentary …
Standing up to Apple (Robert Reich)
For years, Washington lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have attacked big corporations for avoiding taxes by parking their profits overseas. Last week the European Union did something about it.
Ireland to join Apple in fight against EU tax ruling (Reuters)
Ireland's cabinet agreed on Friday to join Apple in appealing against a multi-billion-euro back tax demand that the European Commission has imposed on the iPhone maker, despite misgivings among independents who back the fragile coalition.
Hanjin’s Demise: Why Global Shipping Glut Isn’t Going Away (The Wall Street Journal)
A shipping company drowned at sea has kicked up a storm of worries. The gales should subside even if the industry’s long-term problems don’t.
Putin Pushes for Oil Freeze Deal With OPEC, Exemption for Iran (Bloomberg)
Vladimir Putin said he’d like OPEC and Russia, producers of half of the world’s oil, to reach a deal to freeze supply and expects the dispute over …
National debt hits $19.5 trillion (Washington Examiner)
The national debt hit $19.5 trillion for the first time ever this week, a little more than seven months after it hit the $19 trillion mark.
Standard of Living Ratings Rise During Obama Presidency (Gallup)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' ratings of their standard of living have increased since President Barack Obama took office in 2009, with the Gallup Standard of Living Index rising steadily for the past 7 ½ years.
Pending Home Sales YOY Decline -2.2% In July (Somolar To Other US Economic Data) (Confounded Interest)
The Fed’s Stanley Fischer showed some concern about a slowing US economy where he cited sub-2% GDP growth and declining labor productivity.
City of Big Bubbles Chicago Shows Case Shiller Has A Problem (The Wall Street Examiner)
The flaws in the Case Shiller Index national data are bad enough. But Case Shiller’s worst features become most glaring in the metro market data. The problems start with using stale old public record data.
Why Apple's €13 Billion Penalty Is Just A Drop In The Ocean [Infographic] (Forbes)
The European Commission has ruled that Apple should repay up to €13 billion ($14.5 billion) in back taxes to Ireland. After a three year investigation, the Commission concluded that Apple’s tax benefits are illegal and that Ireland enabled the US firm to pay far less tax than other companies between 1991 and 2015.
U.K. Construction Index Jumps Most Since 2013 in Brexit Rebound (Bloomberg)
A U.K. construction index surged in August from a seven-year low as the building industry showed signs of stabilizing following the shock inflicted by the Brexit vote.
Analysis: After brief resurgence, China's oil demand falters yet again (S&P Global, Platts)
China's oil demand fell to 11-month lows in July on the back of erratic weather and feeble industrial growth, crushing hopes of a recovery in consumption which the market had expected after the country in June pulled itself out of the red for the first time in many months.
Eurozone Stagnation: Wrong Diagnosis, Wrong Medicine, No Recovery (Social Europe)
If a doctor misdiagnoses a patient’s malady and prescribes an inappropriate medicine, we would not expect recovery to good health. Should the doctor persist in the faulty diagnosis and prescribe further doses of the wrong medicine, the wise patient seeks a second opinion.
Elon Musk Is Pushing Tesla Hard (Bloomberg)
Tesla Motors Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk stunned investors in May when he announced that, thanks to phenomenal demand for the forthcoming Model 3, he was accelerating the company’s already aggressive build plan by two full years.
Fed's Fischer Says Negative Interest Rates "Seem to Work" – He Is Completely Wrong (Money Morning)
On Aug. 30, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said negative interest rates "seem to work" in a Bloomberginterview.
Teen Retailer Aeropostale Avoids Bankruptcy Liquidation (The Wall Street Journal)
Landlords, liquidators and licensing firm Authentic Brands Group have been declared the winners of a contest for distressed retailer Aéropostale, with an offer of $243.3 million in a deal that preserves part of the business, according to a person familiar with the matter.
London Property Sales Fall Back to 2009 Levels (Bloomberg)
Things have gone quiet in London. Transactions slumped after a sales spike driven by an April increase in property taxes and showed few signs of bouncing back in the period around the June 23 Brexit vote, a Bloomberg analysis of U.K. Land Registry data shows.
The 5,000-Year Government Debt Bubble (Should investors buy the most expensive bonds in recorded history?) (Confounded Interest)
The Wall Street Journal posed this intriguing question: Should investors buy the most expensive bonds in recorded history?
Politics
‘He Used Us as Props’: Conservative Hispanics Deplore Donald Trump’s Speech (NY Times)
Donald J. Trump faced a backlash on Thursday from some of his top conservative Hispanic supporters who said their hopes that he was softening his immigration polic
Leaked Script Shows What Advisers Want Donald Trump to Say at Black Church (NY Times)
DETROIT — Donald J. Trump’s visit to a black church here on Saturday will be a major moment for a candidate with a history of offending the sensibilities of black Americans.
His team was leaving nothing to chance
Putin Says DNC Hack Was a Public Service, Russia Didn’t Do It (Bloomberg)
Vladimir Putin said the hacking of thousands of Democratic National Committee emails and documents was a service to the public, but denied U.S. accusations that Russia’s government had anything to do with it.
Melania Trump sues the Daily Mail for $150m over 'lies' about her past (The Guardian)
Lawyers for Melania Trump on Thursday filed suit for $150m damages against the Daily Mail in Maryland state court. The wife of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is also suing a blogger, Webster Tarpley, from the state in question.
Merkel Feels Political Pressure in Germany as Europe Is in Flux (NY Times)
BERLIN — A year after Chancellor Angela Merkel threw open the doors to hundreds of thousands of migrants, that fateful move is haunting her politically, opening her to a strong electoral challenge from the far right this weekend and complicating efforts to forge a united response to Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.
Obama’s Dwindling China Wish List Topped by Climate Ratification (Bloomberg)
Barack Obama has one last item he may yet achieve on his wish list for China: sealing the deal with Xi Jinping for their nations to implement an international accord to combat climate change.
Technology
Alphabet Ends Effort to Create Modular Smartphone (NY Times)
SAN FRANCISCO — Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is dropping plans to create a customizable, or modular, smartphone with interchangeable parts, two people briefed on the matter said Thursday.
New iPhone VR Headset Plan Revealed (Forbes)
Apple is working every PR angle it can find ahead of next week’s launch of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Today’s news of Apple’s patented VR technology will help counter the arguments of a disappointing update to its smartphone family.
Alienware’s new gaming laptop powers up when you look at it (The Verge)
Alienware is refreshing its line of gaming notebooks today with desktop-class graphics chips, just weeks after Nvidia announced its plans to bring the GTX 1080, GTX 1070, and GTX 1060 to laptops.
Health and Life Sciences
The FDA Just Banned a Bunch of Chemicals Commonly Used in Handsoap (Forbes)
You might want to rethink the way you’re washing your hands.
On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a rule prohibiting the marketing of soaps that contain certain chemical ingredients.
Life on the Home Planet
Watson Goes To The US Open To Bring Fans Closer To The Tennis Action (IBM Voice)
For a long time, sports were considered resistant to the transformative power of technology.
As one industry after another rapidly adopted the hardware and software that has redefined modern life, sports remained a bastion of raw, physical, human competition; a decidedly low-tech pursuit, played out on grass, dirt and hard wood.
NFL players have a new, Deflategate-inspired term for when the league investigates somebody (Business Insider)
On Wednesday, the NFL cleared James Harrison, Clay Matthews, and Julius Peppers of the performance-enhancing drug (PED) allegations stemming from the Al-Jazeera documentary that also claimed Peyton Manning used PEDs.
