Financial Markets and Economy
Everyone should stop acting like the world is going to end (Business Insider)
The headline averages of the major stock indexes appear to be riding high, sitting near all-time records set just a few weeks ago.
A lot of commentary, however, seems to be weighted to the downside. From perma-bears to market skeptics, commentators seem to be waiting for a shoe to drop and the market to crash.
It really is all about the dollar (Business Insider)
When it comes to currency trading, it really is all about the dollar.
Stupid Things Finance People Say (Morgan Housel, Motley Fool)
My job requires reading a lot of financial news. It's one of my favorite parts. But it gives me a front-row seat to the downside of financial journalism: gibberish, nonsense, garbage, and drivel. And let me tell you, there's a lot of it.
Here are a few stupid things I hear a lot.
"They don't have any debt except for a mortgage and student loans."
OK. And I'm vegan except for bacon-wrapped steak.
"Earnings missed estimates."
No. Earnings don't miss estimates; estimates miss earnings.
"Earnings were positive before one-time charges."
This is Wall Street's equivalent of, "Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
By Cliff [CC BY 2.0 or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Under Armour CEO to Sell $72 Million in Stock, Jolting Investors (Bloomberg)
Under Armour Inc. Chief Executive Officer Kevin Plank plans to sell as many as 2.1 million shares in the sportswear company he founded, a stake valued at more than $72 million as of Friday.
Rajan Argues for Independent Indian Central Bank in Final Speech (Bloomberg)
India must have a strong and independent central bank to ensure macroeconomic stability in the world’s fastest-growing major economy, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said a day before his term ends.
Global Steel Glut Concerns Raised in G-20 Draft Statement (Bloomberg)
The global steel glut is shaping up as a hot-button issue as leaders of the Group of 20 major economies meet in China, securing a mention in their communique.
Symphony Commerce raises new funding to increase shipping speeds (Business Insider)
Cloud-based e-commerce platform provider Symphony Commerce has raised $11 million in new funding, reports TechCrunch.
The High Yield Bond Market Has Never Been This Decoupled From Reality (Zero Hedge)
In March we explained how 'this credit cycle was different' as recovery rates of defaulted debt had plunged to record lows.
Two Simple Charts Explaining Everything (Bawerk.net)
The great “science” of economics once discovered an empirical relationship between GDP and unemployment that has been dubbed Okun’s Law. It simply states that the unemployment rate rises as GDP contracts, or vice versa, as production shrinks less people will be employed.
Consumers have a troubling internet habit that is threatening digital media (Business Insider)
New research from Andre Boik at the University of California at Davis, Shane Greenstein at Harvard Business School, and Jeffrey Prince at Indiana University about the internet use of households and how much attention online media demands paints a grim picture for those in the digital media business.
Hanjin Shipping Bankruptcy Unlikely to Ease Glut of Vessels (The Wall Street Journal)
The increasingly likely demise of Hanjin Shipping Co. may temporarily offer short-term relief and hasten consolidation in the industry, but it probably won’t do much to solve shipping’s capacity glut.
VTB’s CEO Says Bank Considers Buying Loans Made to India’s Essar (Bloomberg)
State-run VTB Group, Russia’s second-largest bank, is looking into the acquisition of loans made to Essar Global Ltd. by other lenders as the holding owned by Indian billionaire Ruia brothers is strengthening ties with Kremlin-backed companies.
Could Israeli Injunction On US Sovereignty 'Violating' Tax Law Prompt Rethink? (Forbes)
Tax doesn’t have to be taxing. But the Israeli High Court’s temporary injunction against the enforcement of America’s controversial global tax law FATCA should serve as “a wake-up call” for other nations to rethink enforcing this “toxic, flawed and imperialistic legislation,” according to the boss of a leading independent financial firm that advises high-net-worth individuals (HNWI’s) and expats globally.
Next time you hear “Bond Liquidity Crisis”, show them this (The Reformed Broker)
David Plecha, the global head of fixed income at DFA, doesn’t believe in the bond market “liquidity crisis” meme that the newspapers like to trot out every few weeks.
Why Bull Markets Make Everyone Miserable (The Reformed Broker)
You might have expected a bit of elation on Wall Street about the massive performance the US stock market has exhibited off of the February lows. You’d have been wrong. There’s no joy to be found, with the S&P 500 once again hovering just below last year’s all-time high.
The Vanguard 500 Index Fund Turns 40 (The Reformed Broker)
Today is a major milestone in the history of investing. Forty years ago, on August 31st, 1976, John C. Bogle launched the first-ever S&P 500 index fund.
Politics
South Korea's president calls on Russia, others, to pressure Pyongyang over nuclear program (Reuters)
South Korean President Park Geun-hye called on Russia and other major global players on Saturday to increase pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear program which could open the road for cooperation with Pyongyang.
Clinton tells FBI she could not recall all briefings on preserving documents (Reuters)
Hillary Clinton, under questioning by federal investigators over whether she had been briefed on how to preserve government records as she was about to leave the State Department, said she had suffered a concussion, was working part-time and could not recall every briefing she received.
Hillary Clinton, rarely seen, rarely heard (Politico)
Hillary Clinton has never felt comfortable with the traveling political press.
As first lady, she would sometimes arrange travel for herself and Chelsea separate from her husband, partly to avoid the protective pool of reporters assigned to the president.
Donald Trump Tells Black Church Goers In Detroit That He's 'Here To Learn' (Associated Press)
Donald Trump swayed to songs of prayer, read scripture, and wore a traditional prayer shawl Saturday on a visit to a predominantly black church in Detroit, as he called for a “civil rights agenda of our time” and vowed to fix the “many wrongs” facing African-Americans.
Nearly Half Of Americans Have Gotten Into A Fight About The Election (The Huffington Post)
Forty-five percent of Americans have gotten into a fight over the election with a friend, a family member or a co-worker this year, a new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds ? up from just over a third in May.
Technology
VR Pioneer Chris Milk: Virtual Reality Will Mirror Life Like Nothing Else Before (Singularity Hub)
Chris Milk, founder and CEO of virtual reality company Within (formerly Vrse), has a vision for the future of stories. He was kind enough to take some time at Singularity University Global Summit to sit down and walk me through a wide-ranging conversation touching upon the future of storytelling as a medium, virtual reality as a platform for innovation and the wildly exciting interactions between virtual reality and other exponential technologies.
A VR massage chair made me both happy and sad (Engadget)
One of the delights on show here at IFA was Medisana's VR massage chair, which pairs one of its high end devices with an Oculus Rift. Rather than sitting in a shopping mall and viewing your fellow patrons as a robot paws at your back, you can be transported somewhere more romantic.
Mac users: Download these critical OS X and Safari updates now (CNN Money)
Apple is asking Mac users to update OS X and Safari immediately in order to fix a critical security issue.
Facebook and Google are cracking down on slow mobile websites (BI Intelligence)
Facebook will begin cracking down on businesses with slow mobile web sites, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Health and Life Sciences
Scientists have found a sixth taste – and it explains our love of carbs (Science Alert)
Not only could the discovery see a new flavour added to the list of tastes, which currently includes salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami, but the findings might also explain why we love such starchy foods so much.
NASA just found an ice volcano on Ceres that's half the size of Everest (Science Alert)
For the first time, NASA scientists have found direct evidence of a mysterious form of icy volcanism on a former planet named Ceres, located in the asteroid belt.
Fast-Moving Zika Outbreak in Singapore Continues to Grow (Reuters)
Many of Singapore's five million people are covering up and staying indoors to avoid mosquito bites as health experts warned that the outbreak of the Zika virus in the tropical city-state would be difficult to contain.
An Emergency Polio Vaccination Is Trying to Reach 25 Million Children In Nigeria (Associated Press)
An emergency polio vaccination campaign aimed at reaching 25 million children this year has begun in parts of Nigeria newly freed from Boko Haram Islamic extremists, with fears that many more cases of the crippling disease will likely be found.
Life on the Home Planet
Philippine's Duterte Declares State of ‘Lawlessness’ After Bombing (Bloomberg)
At least 14 people were killed Friday in an explosion at a night market in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s home town of Davao City in the country’s south, spurring him to declare a state of “lawlessness”.
Dubai just opened the world's largest indoor theme park — here's what it's like inside (Business Insider)
Dubai is already home to the world's tallest building, artificial islands, and the world's first hotel with a rainforest. Now it can add the largest indoor theme park to its list of world-firsts.
Unsolved Homicides in Alaska Put Anchorage Residents on Edge: ‘It’s Terrifying’ (Rachel D'Oro, AP, TIME)
Altogether, the deaths of nine people who were killed on Anchorage trails, parks and isolated streets since January remain unsolved — among them three cases involving two victims each.
Earthquake Shakes Swath of Midwest From Nebraska to Texas (AP, TIME)
One of Oklahoma’s largest earthquakes on record rattled other parts of the Midwest on Saturday from Nebraska to North Texas, and likely will turn new attention to the practice of disposing oil and gas field wastewater deep underground.
Turkey pushes west in offensive against Islamic State in Syria (Reuters)
Turkey renewed air strikes on Islamic State sites in Syria on Friday, extending operations along a 90-km (56-mile) corridor near the Turkish border which Ankara says it is clearing of jihadists and protecting from Kurdish militia expansion.
Virginia suffers flooding from Hermine (Mashable Asia)
Hampton Roads, Norfolk and North Carolina's Outer Banks saw some of the worst of the flooding caused by the storm that's moving up the east coast.
