Financial Markets and Economy
Singapore Shuts Falcon Bank, Fines DBS, UBS Amid 1MDB Probe (Bloomberg)
Singapore’s central bank is shuttering Falcon Private Bank in the city-state on anti-money laundering breaches, the second bank to lose its license amid a probe on fund flows linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd. or 1MDB.
A Great Cost Migration Is Upending the Financial Industry (Bloomberg)
Janus saw the writing on the wall. And it wasn’t pretty.
Like many big asset managers, Janus Capital Group is caught on the wrong side of two powerful trends that are reshaping the financial industry.
The market looks eerily similar to the days right before the 1987 crash (Business Insider)
Financial advisers and market strategists usually warn their clients that the market's performance in the past is not a reliable guide for its future moves.
But when Citi's Tom Fitzpatrick and his team overlaid the current chart of the benchmark S&P 500 with the index in 1987 — right before the crash — they got "the chills."
Deutsche Bank bankruptcy would collapse world financial system – Jim Rogers (RT)
The main reason the US government wants $14 billion in penalties from the German bank is that it is deep in debt. They’ve got a gigantic deficit – they are desperate for money. They’ll try to get it anywhere they can, Jim Rogers, financial commentator and investor, told RT.
Emerging-Market Stocks Edge Higher As REITs Tumble (The Capital Spectator)
The major asset classes dispensed a wide range of performances last week, based on a set of proxy ETFs. Although losses dominated the five trading days through Oct. 7, a handful of markets bucked the trend, led by equities in emerging markets. But the week was overshadowed by the red ink brigade, with US real estate investment trusts (REITs) suffering the biggest setback.
Goldman Reveals How China Is Covering Up Hundreds Of Billions In Capital Outflows (Zero Hedge)
In order to mask the tremendous capital outflows leaving its country – in order to prevent and/or delay a depositor panic – China has resorted to various gimmicks: back in October, we reported that the first one involved the PBOC gradually shifting from FX spot intervention to the using forwards as a preferred mechanism of market intervention as it is not as obvious, or as transparent to detect, to wit: "we need to take account not only of the PBoC's non-spot market intervention efforts in the offshore market, but also of banks' forward books if we want to get a better read on capital outflows in China."
Goldman Warns China’s Outflows May Be Worse Than They Look (Bloomberg)
China’s currency outflows may be bigger than they look, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc warning that a rising amount of capital is exiting the country in yuan rather than in dollars.
Goldman Tells Clients To Go To Cash As "Growth Shocks" Are Coming (Zero Hedge)
After last week's warning by Ray Dalio that a 100 bps rise in yields could lead to trillions in cross-asset losses, it was Goldman's turn to pick up the bearish torch with a note in which it warned that stock markets are set for volatility in the remainder of the year as a result of potential "growth shocks" which continue to loom until year-end as political risks remain elevated, given the upcoming US presidential elections and Italian referendum, and the UK government’s plan to trigger Article 50 by March 2017.
My $200,000 college debt is like a growing cancer (The Guardian)
Every credit card rejection letter I get looks the same to me: a form letter, written without care or thought, releasing a new sense of failure as the paper unfolds. It’s not that my credit is bad – far from it, actually. It’s just that I’m incredibly in debt. Which is also why I can’t buy a new house, get approved for a rental or get a new car. I owe more than four times what I make in a year, and I have my education to thank for it.
Harvard and MIT Economists Share Nobel for Contract Theory (Bloomberg)
Harvard University’s Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Economics for laying the groundwork for contract theory and its role in shaping everything from executive pay to privatizations.
The Fed Who Cried Growth (Value Walk)
The FOMC has consistently overestimated future Fed Funds Rate (FFR) hikes. For a body that prides itself on super-scientific research methods and has teams of economists (self-described) and statisticians, it’s interesting that they can’t even predict their own behavior.
Ten Economic Questions for 2016 (Calculated Risk)
At the end of last year, I posted Ten Economic Questions for 2016. I followed up with a brief post on each question. The goal was to provide an overview of what I expected in 2016 (I don't have a crystal ball, but I think it helps to outline what I think will happen – and understand – and change my mind, when the outlook is wrong).
Companies
Target's groceries are shockingly more expensive than Walmart's — and it highlights a huge challenge for the business (Business Insider)
Target charges about 15% more than Walmart for groceries, according to a recent price check.
Business Insider compared prices on 31 identical items at Walmart and Target stores in Richmond, Virginia, to find out which store was cheaper.
J.P. Morgan Enters the ‘Active ETF’ Arena (The Wall Street Journal)
The financial giant launched JPMorgan Diversified Alternatives ETF (JPHF) in September, marking its first foray into actively managed ETFs. The fund aims to provide ETF investors with a variety of hedge-fund strategies, including event-driven, global macro and long/short approaches.
RBS systematically destroyed its customers’ businesses for profit, leaked files show (Independent)
RBS crushed thousands of businesses during the financial crisis to increase its own profits, leaked documents show.
Internal emails handed to BuzzFeed News and the BBC show the bank implemented a plan to squeeze customers facing financial difficulty and gave bonuses to staff for identifying struggling firms.
Coke and Pepsi Give Millions to Public Health, Then Lobby Against It (NY Times)
The beverage giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have given millions of dollars to nearly 100 prominent health groups in recent years, while simultaneously spending millions to defeat public health legislation that would reduce Americans’ soda intake, according to public health researchers.
Politics
Robert Reich: Donald Trump’s tax dodge hides the real scandal of why these loopholes exist in the first place (Robert Reich's Blog, Salon)
According to the New York Times, Donald Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 tax returns – which could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for 18 years.
The loss stemmed from Trump’s investments in the early 1990s.
Warren Buffett fires back at Donald Trump's comments about his taxes (CNBC)
Warren Buffett responded Monday to Donald Trump's attacks on his tax payments, offering income tax information and criticizing the Republican presidential nominee for not releasing his own tax records.
Threat to Jail Clinton Smacks of ‘Tin-Pot Dictators,’ Experts Say (NY Times)
WASHINGTON — As president of the United States, Donald J. Trump would wield the power to carry out his vow to have a special prosecutor reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails — if not to guarantee his threat to her that “you’d be in jail” if he ran the country.
I don’t think there’s ever been a more highly anticipated presidential debate than the one that happened Sunday night in St. Louis. The campaign of Republican presidential nominee Donald had been drastically losing altitude since the first debate and the week after when he proved that he was unprepared, unknowledgeable and unfit for the job. Everyone wondered if he could pull out of it.
WikiLeaks emails purport to show ties between Clinton campaign and allied super PAC (Market Watch)
WikiLeaks’ latest release of what the website says are emails taken from the Clinton campaign reveals the close ties between campaign and its allied super PAC, illustrating a growing trend this election cycle.
Technology
Four Emerging Trends Seen At Japan's Biggest Tech Show (Forbes)
As always, the annual CEATEC technology conference in Tokyo was full of big announcements from the country’s big tech companies. The event, often referred to as the Japanese version of the Consumer Electronics Show, is Japan’s largest IT and electronics trade show and ran from October 4-7.
Massive Disruption Is Coming With Quantum Computing (Singularity Hub)
What Is Quantum Computing?
Moore’s Law (or the exponential growth of integrated circuits) is actually referring to the fifth paradigm of computation. Here’s the list of the underlying technologies: (1) Electromechanical; (2) Vacuum Tube; (3) Relay; (4) Transistors; and (5) Integrated Circuits.
Samsung tells users: Turn off your Galaxy Note 7 phone NOW (CNN Money)
Samsung issued an alert to customers on Monday, asking users to immediately turn off their Galaxy Note 7 smartphones — which have been spontaneously catching fire.
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It’s been more than a month since Samsung first issued a global recall of its Galaxy Note 7 phones and began replacing them as a result of a battery flaw that caused the devices to explode. As of today, at least five of those replacement phones have overheated or caught fire.
On-demand: Ride-hailing apps (Pew Research Center)
For supporters and detractors alike, few services exemplify the modern “on-demand” economy more than ride-hailing apps. Unlike traditional taxi cabs that require customers to hail a car on the street or call into a central dispatch, these apps allow users to request a ride using their smartphone, track the progress of their driver in real-time, and offer an integrated payment and ratings system.
Health and Biotech
Breasts have their own microbiome – and it could influence your cancer risk (Science Alert)
You’ve probably heard that every human on Earth has a unique set of bacterial colonies living in their gut, and this ‘microbiome’ has been linked to everything from stoke and chronic fatigue risk, to your ability to control your appetite and weight.
Writing the First Human Genome by 2026 Is Synthetic Biology’s Grand Challenge (Singularity Hub)
A “top secret" meeting of scientists was held at the Langone Medical Center on Halloween 2015. Their aim? To kickstart a new Human Genome Project and build a functional human genome from the base pairs up by 2026.
Life on the Home Planet
Haiti looks 'like a nuclear bomb went off' (Reuters)
PORT-A-PIMENT, Haiti (Reuters) – Patients arrived every 10 or 15 minutes, brought on motorcycles by relatives with vomit-covered shoulders and hoisted up the stairs into southwest Haiti's Port-a-Piment hospital, where they could rest their weak, cholera-sapped limbs.
What Columbus Day really celebrates: The “most massive act of genocide” in world history (Salon)
Columbus Day might be a federal holiday in the United States, but it marks the onset of one of the worst crimes in all of human history. In fact, some experts, such as American historian David Stannard, have called Columbus’ arrival the beginning of the largest genocide ever.
An Open Letter to the Woman Who Told My Family to Go Back to China (NY Times)
Dear Madam:
Maybe I should have let it go. Turned the other cheek. We had just gotten out of church, and I was with my family and some friends on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. We were going to lunch, trying to see if there was room in the Korean restaurant down the street. You were in a rush. It was raining. Our stroller and a gaggle of Asians were in your way.
The country’s first offshore wind farm will power 17,000 homes (Grist.org, Salon)
A key moment for the future of clean energy in America will take place in the frigid waters of the Atlantic in two months.
That’s when the country’s first offshore wind farm will start sending electricity through a submerged cable line to the mainland and into the electrical grid.
Trump Taj Mahal closes its doors in Atlantic City (CNN Money)
The Trump Taj Mahal finally closed its doors just before 6 a.m. Monday.
The last guests at the hotel checked out on Sunday, and some of the last gamblers at the casino were cashing in their chips while its namesake was debating Hillary Clinton, facing his own increasingly long odds.
ISIS Media Output Drops as Military Pressure Rises, Report Says (NY Times)
WASHINGTON — The vaunted propaganda operations of the Islamic State, which helped lure more than 30,000 foreign fighters to Syria and Iraq, have dropped off drastically as the extremist group has come under military pressure, according to a study by terrorism researchers at West Point.
It Was a Golden Week With a Million Chinese Tourists in Macau (Bloomberg)
Derek Chen and family spent their Golden Week holiday in the world’s biggest gambling center — and didn’t place a single bet.
Climate Change Blamed for Half of Increased Forest Fire Danger (NY Times)
Forest fires are burning longer and stronger across the western United States, lighting up the landscape with alarming frequency. Residents are forced to flee, homes are incinerated, wildlife habitats are destroyed, lives are lost. Last year, the Forest Service spent more than half its annual budget fighting fires.
