Financial Markets and Economy
OPEC likely to extend output pact, bigger oil cut unlikely: delegates (Reuters)
OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers look likely to extend their agreement to limit supplies beyond its June expiry to help clear a glut, three OPEC delegates said on Thursday, downplaying the chance of additional steps such as a bigger cut.
Asian stocks fall for third day as cracks in commodities widen (Reuters)
Asian stocks declined for a third consecutive day on Friday as fresh falls in commodities raised concerns about the health of the global economy, though the euro bucked the broad weakness on receding concerns about France's presidential election.
A technology gap between the rich and poor is deepening US inequality (Business Insider)
US inequality has been rising for decades, but it gained political prominence after the Great Recession gave rise to grassroots movements like Occupy Wall Street, forcing both political parties to start openly debating the issue.
Toppling the Idol of 'Shareholder Value' (Bloomberg)
"Maximizing shareholder value" is one of those concepts that falls under the adage, "Be careful what you wish for." I know this because, a long time ago, I was one of those wishing for it.
How ugly will the gold selloff get? Here’s what Goldman Sachs thinks (Market Watch)
May the 4th be with you. And especially with the precious metals bulls, as the month has gotten off to a pretty rough start for gold.
The pressure on the shiny stuff is not letting up.
China's Hawaii Plans a $3 Billion Medical Tourism Hotspot (Bloomberg)
On the hilly and tropical island of Hainan, local officials and companies are investing billions of dollars to transform a string of riverside villages into a medical tourism destination.
Stocks and bonds are fully valued (JP Morgan Private Bank)
Geopolitical tensions and a shifting policy landscape have challenged investors so far this year. We see the world economy as becoming better balanced and more stable today.
Why a $15 Minimum Wage Is Good Economics (The American Prospect)
In our last column, we offered two bold policy ideas: Medicare for All and a job guarantee. Now, we’re pleased to see Democrats in the House and the Senate step up with an idea of their own: raising the minimum wage to $15.
The Ratio That Predicted The 2001 And 2008 Stock Market Crashes Is Again Flashing Red (Atle Willems, Seeking Alpha)
Savings are not only paramount for economic growth. Frequently ignored altogether these days is the principle that an adequate amount of savings also helps promote economic stability.
How highly controversial 'binary options' work (Vintage Value Investing)
Binary options trading is one of the more polarizing types of investments out there. Some see it as simpler or more enjoyable than the typical purchase and sale of stocks and other assets. Others view it as an activity very much akin to gambling, and subject to rigged conditions and other scams.
May US Market Outlook – Trend, Breadth, Sentiment, and Macro (Financial Sense)
US equities ended the month of April above or near new all-time highs. There are no significant extremes that suggest the trend higher will suddenly end. But the upcoming "summer months" are normally marked by lower price appreciation and larger drawdowns.
GDPNow (FRB Atlanta)
The growth rate of real gross domestic product (GDP) is a key indicator of economic activity, but the official estimate is released with a delay. Our GDPNow forecasting model provides a "nowcast" of the official estimate prior to its release.
Why Germany Still Has So Many Middle-Class Manufacturing Jobs (Harvard Business Review)
Only about 1.1% of the world population is German. However, 48% of the mid-sized world market leaders come from Germany. These firms, which I call “Hidden Champions,” are part of what makes German economic growth more inclusive: by my calculations, they have created 1.5 million new jobs; have grown by 10% per year on average; and register five times as many patents per employee as large corporations.
SEC Approves Quadruple ETFs While Mulling Bitcoin, Ethereum (The Coin Telegraph)
The decision Tuesday means that funds such as one “designed to deliver 400 percent of the daily performance of S&P 500. SPX stock index futures,” Reuters reports, now have the green light.
UPDATE: Cliffs Natural Resources’ CEO is Buying Shares. Should You? (Barron's)
This morning we learned that Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) CEO Lourenco Goncalves had purchased 200,000 shares of the iron miner's stock valued at nearly $1.3 million. Should investors follow his lead?
US Productivity Plunges In Q1 (Zero Hedge)
US productvity has dropped for 4 of the last 6 quarters, plunging 0.6% in Q1 (dramatically worse than the 0.1% decline expected).
UBS Calls It: "The Global Credit Impulse Suddenly Collapsed To Negative" (Zero Hedge)
One month ago, a skeptical Deutsche Bank warned that just as global macro surprises and economic momentum had hit 6 year highs, the bullish story was set to rollover from its current elevated levels.
Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report (US Energy Information Administration)
Working gas in storage was 2,256 Bcf as of Friday, April 28, 2017, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net increase of 67 Bcf from the previous week.
Is The World's Largest Bitcoin Exchange Headed For A Mt. Gox-Style Collapse (Zero Hedge)
Could Bitfinex, the world's largest, Hong-Kong based cryptocurrency exchange, be headed for a Mt. Gox-style collapse? It's starting to look that way.
"Someone Is Blowing Up": RBC Warns China-Induced Unwinds Are Escalating (Zero Hedge)
"Something is off," warns RBC's head of cross-asset strategy Charlie McElligott in the introduction to his latest market noting that the swing in US fiscal policy optimism is coming at a critical time as the China's liquidity tightening is spooking the reflation story.
Bitcoin Soars Above $1,600 On Relentless Japanese Buying Frenzy (Zero Hedge)
Four days ago we reported that bitcoin has surged above $1,400, hitting a new lifetime high, while rising above $1,500 on certain Chinese exchanges.
Companies
Uber’s “upfront” pricing is helping it overcharge passengers (Quartz)
We’ve written several times about how Uber plays games with its fares. The transportation app charges riders when they book a car by estimating how much the trip will cost.
Sinking ship: Does ESPN have anywhere to go but down? (The Conversation)
ESPN’s announcement of more layoffs marked yet another setback for the cable sports network – and it could signal the unraveling of the business model that’s underpinned sports broadcasting for decades.
Apple Buys More Company Debt Than World's Biggest Bond Funds (Bloomberg)
The iPhone-maker has $148 billion of its record $257 billion cash pile invested in corporate debt alone, according to a company filing from Wednesday.
Technology
Only 20% of Americans will own a car in 15 years, new study finds (Business Insider)
By 2030, nearly no one in the US may own a personal car. Instead, most Americans would hail self-driving, electric ride-shares to get around.
That's one prediction by analysts in a new report that examines technology and personal car ownership.
It’s No Myth: Robots and Artificial Intelligence Will Erase Jobs in Nearly Every Industry (Singularity Hub)
With the unemployment rate falling to 5.3 percent, the lowest in seven years, policy makers are heaving a sigh of relief. Indeed, with the technology boom in progress, there is a lot to be optimistic about.
Politics
Trump signs order seeking to allow churches to engage in more political activity (The Washington Post)
President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at making it easier for churches to participate in politics, seeking to deliver on a campaign pledge to a community that overwhelmingly backed in him in last year’s election.
Under the GOP's health plan, sexual assault could be considered a pre-existing condition (Mic)
After failing to bring their Affordable Care Act replacement to a vote in March, GOP legislators have come armed with a new health care plan that may be even more heartless than their last.
Donald Trump's malignant narcissism is toxic: Psychologist (USA Today)
If you take President Trump’s words literally, you have no choice but to conclude that he is psychotic. A delusion is “a fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact.”
Worries About Le Pen Evaporate Before Run Off: French Election Monitor (Bloomberg)
With just three days to go before the final round of French elections, a sense of calm pervades markets as Emmanuel Macron looks set to prevail over rival Marine Le Pen.
Here's What Republicans Are Voting For on Thursday (Mother Jones)
It looks like Republicans are planning to vote on their health care bill on Thursday. Will it pass? Leadership is saying so, but they might just be lying. Who knows? One way or another, it's going to be close.
Just over a month after Vice President Mike Pence said that President Donald Trump was considering moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the president has met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House and vowed to put an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Prince Philip: King of the Awkward and Offensive One-Liner (NY Times)
Brusque, avuncular, and with a reputation for being overly plain-speaking, Prince Philip has over seven decades been a formidable presence at the side of Queen Elizabeth II as she made the countless round of dinners, ceremonies and other engagements expected of the British monarch.
Fox News host says health care for people with pre-existing conditions is a ‘luxury’ (Think Progress)
A host of President Trump’s favorite morning show thinks coverage for preexisting conditions is a “luxury.”
“We are going to stay away from the details right now,” Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade said during a discussion of the Trump/Paul Ryan health care bill on Thursday morning.
Paul Ryan straight up deceives people in a last-ditch attempt to sell Trumpcare (Think Progress)
House Republican leadership hopes to vote later this week on an unpopular health bill that will cause tens of millions of Americans to lose their health coverage.
House Republicans rush to pass Trumpcare before its impact can be calculated (Think Progress)
Without any analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to tell them how their health care bill would affect millions of Americans, House Republicans are nonetheless plowing ahead with a planned vote to replace Obamacare.
McCarthy ‘Confident’ Repeal Bill Will Not Affect Those Covered By Employer Plans (Talking Points Memo)
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Thursday said he is “confident” that the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare will not affect people who receive coverage through large employer plans, though health care experts have suggested that the bill could have major implications for consumers in the large group market.
Hillary Clinton to launch political group as soon as next week (Politico)
The former secretary of state is building a new political group to fund organizations working on the resistance to President Donald Trump’s agenda, spending recent weeks in Washington, New York City, and Chappaqua, N.Y., meeting with donors and potential groups to invest in, and recruiting individuals for the group’s board of directors, multiple people close to the two-time White House hopeful and people familiar with the group’s planning told POLITICO.
Life on the Home Planet
A new NASA video shows exactly what Cassini saw and where during its 'first fantastic dive' over Saturn (Business Insider)
In late April, NASA's Cassini spacecraft began a series of potentially dangerous dives, or "ring crossings," between Saturn and its innermost rings of ice.
Deadly infection spread by contaminated heart surgery machines (New Scientist)
The design of blood-cooling machines is flawed, Daniel Diekema at the University of Iowa told the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Vienna, Austria, last week. “This was an infection risk that was hiding in plain sight for decades,” Diekema said.
Reporter says Fox News fired her for using harassment hotline (Reuters)
A Fox News radio correspondent filed a lawsuit on Thursday claiming she was fired for complaining about sex discrimination, after the U.S. television network encouraged employees to report harassment amid a barrage of legal claims.
Florida gay nightclub to become memorial to shooting victims (Reuters)
A memorial will be created at the gay nightclub in Florida, dedicated to the 49 people who were killed in June 2016 in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, its owner said on Thursday.
