By Emann Charts
Obama Has Asked A Bunch Of Experts To Tell Him Whether Spying Really Keeps Us Safe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday launched a formal review of its electronic intelligence gathering that has come under widespread criticism since leaks by a former spy agency contractor.
The Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies will examine the technical and policy issues that arise from rapid advances in global telecommunications, the White House said in a statement.
Blackstone Said to Acquire GE Apartments for $2.7 Billion
Blackstone Group LP, the largest manager of private-equity real estate funds, agreed to buy 80 U.S. apartment properties from General Electric Co. for about $2.7 billion, a person with knowledge of the deal said.
The firm is acquiring the properties from the conglomerate’s GE Capital unit, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the transaction isn’t public. GE has been paring its real estate holdings as part of a strategy to shrink its finance division.
U.S. Stocks Fluctuate After Weekly Decline Amid Japan GDP
U.S. stocks fell, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its fifth drop in six sessions, as data showed a slowdown in Japan’s economic growth and investors awaited tomorrow’s report on America’s retail sales.
Tesla Motors Inc. declined 3.7 percent as Lazard Capital Markets LLC downgraded the carmaker’s shares. Sysco Corp. fell 5.8 percent after results missed analysts’ estimates. Apple Inc. advanced 2.8 percent after winning a patent-infringement battle against Samsung Electronics Co. BlackBerry Ltd. rallied 10 percent as the company’s board said it is exploring alternatives, including a possible sale.
BRIAN BELSKI: Two Things Missing In The Stock Market Are Analysis And Perspective
It's Becoming Harder To Justify Higher Stock Prices (BMO Capital Markets)
Brian Belski at BMO Capital Markets thinks it's getting harder to justify higher stock prices. This is because it is hard for companies to boost profit margins over a long period of time and at some point we need organic economic growth.
Presenting Elon Musk's Latest Idea
One of these things is an imaginary (but certainly money-losing) idea from a larger-than-life character who appears to live in an alternate fictional universe... the other is The Simpsons' take on 'The Monorail'.
Why Larry Summers' Ego Matters
'Larry Summers for Fed Chair' proponents are working hard to reverse his generally poor reputation and seem to have gained some ground. They’ve tempted even Fed skeptics like me with reports that Summers doesn’t believe much in quantitative easing. But his supporters are also making claims that don’t stand up to the facts.
Elon Musk's 'Extremely Speculative' Hyperloop Reveal
Update, 6 p.m.: Elon Musk has unveiled his Hyperloop proposal — for details click here.
Today we’ll finally learn more about the ambitious Hyperloop project Elon Musk mentioned last month.
I say finally because techies and sci-fi nerds alike (and half the people suffering in traffic on the 405) have been speculating about it for weeks after Tesla and SpaceX billionaire Musk first started talking about it in July.
Every Important Person In Bitcoin Just Got Subpoenaed By New York's Financial Regulator
Things are getting serious for Bitcoin this month: a federal judge declared it real money, Bloomberg gave it an experimental ticker (XBT), and New York’s financial regulator announced an interest in regulating it. Declaring Bitcoin “a virtual Wild West for narcotraffickers and other criminals,” the New York State Department of Financial Services is stepping into the sheriff’s boots.
Has the market correction finally begun?
With the market topping this week just 3 points below my ideal target of 1708 on the E-mini S&P futures that I noted the last two weeks, not hitting the target has actually left me with some questions about whether we have now begun the larger correction we have been expecting.
While the pattern off the high can be viewed as having begun that correction, without minimal follow through with a break of 1680, I cannot yet give the sell signal.
NY ‘stop & frisk’ policy violates minorities’ rights, US Constitution - judge
A US Federal Judge found that stop-and-search tactics used by the New York Police Department have violated the constitutional rights of tens of thousands of citizens and are racist, and called for a federal monitor to oversee reforms to the policy.
Judge Shira A. Scheindlin ruled that police officers have been systematically stopping innocent people in the street without any objective evidence that they had been committing an offence. Cops usually searched young black and Latino men for weapons or drugs before letting them go.
Harvard Student Dilemma Spurs Multimillion-Dollar Startup
At the end of his sophomore year at Harvard, James Hirschfeld faced a dilemma as he planned a party for his 21st birthday.
Snail-mail invitations would seem pretentious, but “there was no way to create an online invitation that would communicate all the effort that had gone into the planning,” Hirschfeld said.
Phantom Markets Part 1: Why The TBAC Is Suddenly Very Worried About Market Liquidity
Perhaps the best source of real, actionable financial information, at least as sourced by Wall Street itself, comes in the form of the appendix to the quarterly Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC, aka the Goldman-JPM chaired supercommittee that really runs the world) presentation published as part of the Treasury's refunding data dump. These have informed us in the past about Goldman's view on floaters, as well as Credit Suisse's view on the massive and deteriorating shortage across "high quality collateral." This quarter was no different, only this time the indirect author of the TBAC's section on fixed-income market liquidity was none other than Citi's Matt King, whose style is well known to all who frequent these pages simply because we cover his reports consistently. The topic: liquidity.Or rather the absolute lack thereof, despite what the HFT lobby would like.
Crypto-currency for NSA leaker: Snowden fund accepts Bitcoin
US fugitive Edward Snowden’s defense fund, launched recently by WikiLeaks to raise money for the legal protection of the NSA leaker, has announced it now accepts donations in virtual currency Bitcoin.
The Journalistic Source Protection Defence Fund (JSPD) was set up on August 9 with the goal to provide legal as well as campaign aid to journalistic sources. Snowden, who is behind the biggest intelligence leak in the history of the US National Security Agency (NSA), has been selected the first such source.
Guardian/ICM poll: public confidence in Tories' economic competence surges
A growing proportion of the public believe David Cameron and George Osborne are more capable of managing the economy than their Labour rivals, according to the latest ICM poll for the Guardian.
The proportion of people prepared to back the Tory team for economic competence has soared to 40% from 28% in June. The findings will make grim post-holiday reading for the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, who along with shadow chancellor Ed Balls has seen a much smaller rise in credibility, with 24% of the public preferring them compared with 19% two months ago.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood goes underground, hides command structure in Gaza
On July 22, DEBKAfile revealed that a group of six Muslim Brotherhood officials escaped from Egypt after the July 3 overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi in a military coup and smuggled themselves into the Gaza Strip to lead an uprising against the military. The group was headed by Mahmud Izzat Ibrahim, known as the Brotherhood’s “iron man” and fourth in rank in its hierarchy after Supreme Guide Muhammed Badie.
Hamas leaders stranded in Tehran by Egypt’s blockade of Gaza
While Israel approves the release of 14 convicted Hamas murderers to the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian military continues to block the Hamas-ruled territory to arrivals and departures. DEBKAfile reports that Hamas leaders, in Tehran for the past three weeks for a bid to restore Iranian support and financial assistance, can’t reach their homes in Gaza or even fly into Cairo international airport. As soon as they land, they will be arrested.
Gibraltar row: David Cameron considers EU legal action against Spain
David Cameron is considering unprecedented legal action against Spain over the imposition of "politically motivated and disproportionate" border checks with Gibraltar, Downing Street said today.
The warning coincided with the departure of a British warship for the territory, played down by the British and Spanish governments as part of a long planned, routine exercise but which underscored heightened tensions over the territory.
Contaminated mist: Workers at Fukushima ‘sprayed’ with radioactive water
Ten workers at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant were exposed to radiation from contaminated mist, TEPCO says. Workers in the building were prohibited from using tap water, which comes from the same tainted source 10 km from the facility.
Exposure levels detected by radiation monitors worn by workers were found to be as much as 10 becquerels per square centimeter – 2.5 higher than the safe radiation exposure level – said Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plant’s operator responsible for decommissioning.
Syrian army retakes villages along Israel, Jordan borders
Syrian troops are slowly and quietly pushing rebels out of their southern village strongholds on the Israeli and Jordanian borders, DEBKAfile reports. In the West, government forces and Hizballah troops reinforced from Lebanon have stalled the drive the rebels launched last week into Assad’s homeland Latakia province and Allawite Mts. The rebels have demonstrated once again their inability to sustain an offensive up to strategic gains against Assad’s combined army and air force.
Saudi prince defects: 'Brutality, oppression as govt scared of Arab revolts' (EXCLUSIVE)
Saudi Arabia, a major supporter of opposition forces in Syria, has increased crackdown on its own dissenters, with 30,000 activists reportedly in jail. In an exclusive interview to RT a Saudi prince defector explained what the monarchy fears most.
“Saudi Arabia has stepped up arrests and trials of peaceful dissidents, and responded with force to demonstrations by citizens,” Human Rights Watch begins the country’s profile on its website.
Fresh sign that Fed is falling out of love with QE
There is more evidence that the Federal Reserve is falling out of love with asset purchases.
Economists at the San Francisco Fed Bank released a paper on Monday estimating that asset purchases, also known as quantitative easing, add only “a moderate boost” to economic growth.
Mark Spitznagel Warns Of Investors' Grave Risk To Themselves
The U.S. stock market’s return to nominal all-time highs amid artificial zero interest rates is sending yield-hungry investors down a dangerous path, one they hope will continue to lead to quick and easy returns. Such pursuits ignore a reality grounded in some of the oldest human wisdom, dating back 25 centuries to the Daoist sages of ancient China, who eschewed the direct in favor of the indirect - the roundabout that leads to better strategic advantage.
Silver Soars; Stock Bores; Bond Bulls Heading For The Doors
Aside from an opening short-squeeze that saw 'most-shorted' stocks surge 0.8% in the first 15 minutes of the day, stocks did very little for the rest of the day. Ranges were extremely narrow with whatever lift stocks got based on small AUDJPY (carry) sparks but the Dow and S&P end the day red (Nasdaq and Russell 2000 green). Nasdaq was driven by AAPL exuberance (what no a new iPhone model??) which grabbed the Tech sector to the best peformance on the day. Utes were the biggest losers as rates reversed early gains andTreasury yields (especially 30Y) surged 6-7 bps from their per-open low yields. The big story was precious metals as Silver and Gold surged on the day. Silver is now up over 9% in the last 3 days - its best run in 22 months. Interestingly, VIX was pushed notably lower on the day (but it appears investors are moving hedges further out in time - to September). Credit notably underperformed. Today was all about pre- and post-Europe (as normal).
Carney Call to End Men-Only Club Puts Pressure on Osborne
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is the new face of gender equality in the City of London.
His comments last week on the lack of women on the central bank’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee have raised pressure on Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to broaden the pool of applicants and ensure the next person he picks is female.
Courtesy - Emann Charts (EconMatters author archive here)
The views and opinions expressed herein are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect those of EconMatters.
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