What I Am Reading

Aug 17 (Thursday) Markets After Surviving Last Week, the Stock Market Is as Resilient as Ever (B) Bull Market Likely to Be Longest on Record, Oppenheimer Says (B) Investors should be wary of overvalued US stocks (FT) Chinese Demand Pushes the Market for Asia’s Dollar Bonds Toward $1 Trillion (B) Wall Street Sale of Once Hot High-Frequency Trading Firm Reflects Industry Troubles (W) Goldman expands algorithmic corporate bond trading (FT) Central banks Fed Officials Split Over Timing of Next Rate Increase (W) Fed Starts to Wonder If Cornerstone Inflation Model Still Works (B) The Fed Is Asking Questions, Not Providing Answers (B) Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, July 25-26, 2017 (FRB) Fed’s Fischer attacks moves to unwind regulations (FT) US Consumers Strain to Prop Up Recovery (B) Builders Pull Back on Home Construction Despite Strong Demand (W) Summer Youth Unemployment Falls to Lowest Level Since 1969 (W) Europe Eurozone Growth Spreads, Helped by Dutch, Italian Economies (W) China The IMF ups its China growth forecast but sounds the alarm on its debt (BI) US politics Trump’s Business Councils Disband After CEOs Defect (W) Read James Dimon’s Memo to J.P. Morgan Employees (W) Baltimore Removes Confederate Statues (W) White House: Health-Insurer Payments Will Be Made in August (W) Trump Order to Speed Infrastructure Reviews (W) Geopolitics Nafta Talks Open With Spat Over Resolving Tariff Conflicts (W) How Negotiations Could Change Nafta (W) U.S. Believes North Korea Produces Its Own Rocket Engines (W) Trump’s Loyal Sidekick on North Korea: Japan’s Abe (W) Industries & companies Autos: Fiat joins BMW’s self-driving car programme (FT) Retail: Icahn and Starboard’s Auto-Parts Retailer Bets Are Taking a Hit Thanks to Amazon (B) Retail: Target’s Lower Prices Pay Off as Sales Rise (W) Technology: Apple Readies $1 Billion War Chest for Hollywood Programming (W) Technology: With a Sales Army of 35,000, Oracle Won Cloud Customers (W)

Aug 16 (Wednesday) Markets Bank of America Warns of an ‘Ominous’ Sign for Stocks (B) When Retail Stocks Dropped, These Funds Went Shopping (W) Why Blackstone Is Betting $7 Billion on Natural Gas (W) Seeking the Next Safe Haven (W) Junk Bonds of the Financial Crisis Were the Decade’s Biggest Winners (B) US Broad-Based Advance in U.S. Retail Sales Shows Solid Spending (B) Auto Loans’ Share of U.S. Household Debt Climbs to Record (B) GDPNow Forecast for Third Quarter Is 3.7 Percent (FRB-ATL) Emerging IMF warns China over ‘dangerous’ levels of debt (FT) India at 70 is still experiencing growing pains (FT) US politics Trump Threat on Obamacare Would Boost Deficit by $194 Billion (B) Three CEOs Quit Trump Advisory Council (W) Group Pressures PepsiCo CEO to Step Down From Trump’s Advisory Council (B) Trump scorns CEO ‘grandstanders’ as more quit panel (B) Across the South, Confederate Statues Become Targets (W) White House power struggle threatens to topple Bannon (FT) Geopolitics North Korea Follows Familiar Playbook With Guam Reversal (W) White House Risks a Backfire Over China and North Korea (W) U.S., Chinese Militaries Seek Closer Ties Amid North Korea Threat (W) Moon Vents Korea Frustration by Asserting Right to Veto U.S. (B) Iranian President Threatens to Back Out of Nuclear Deal (W) Industries & companies FAANGs: Today’s Markets Are Literally All About Amazon (B) Health Care: Health Premiums Would Rise 20% in 2018 If Subsidies Ended, CBO Says (W) Pharma: The New Innovators Dilemma: When Customers Won’t Pay for Better (W) Retail: Chain-Store Stocks Get Hammered on the Day of the Year’s Best Retail Sales (B) Retail: Are Retail Sales Dead? Depends Where You Look (W) Corporate finance Amazon Is Seeking $16 Billion Bond Sale for Whole Foods (B) Computer-Chip Testing Firm Urges Blocking Sale of Rival to China Fund (W) ‘Angry Birds’ Maker Rovio Plans IPO (W) European steel seeks strength through M&A (FT) Technology FT Series: Artificial intelligence in real workplaces (FT) This Robot Lab Has No Idea What Its Robots Are Doing (W) Vacuums that pick up data fuel privacy concerns (FT)

Aug 15 (Tuesday) Markets Markets Are Already Shrugging Off the Selloff That Barely Was (B) One Sign Last Week’s Jitters Are Gone: Financial Stocks (W) Waning North Korea worries push haven assets lower (FT) Vix ETF Investors? Nah, Just Gamblers in This Stock Market (W) Japan’s ETF addiction stores up risk for the future (FT) Commodities, currencies, & credit Oil ‘God’ Blames Weaker Outlook and Algos in His Goodbye Letter (B) Bearish bets on dollar rise ahead of Fed meeting (FT) Investors Take On Mortgage Risk From Taxpayers (W) Central banks Fed’s Dudley Says He Still Favors Another Rate Hike in 2017 (B) Dudley Calls Cohn ‘Reasonable Candidate’ for Fed Chair Position (B) Draghi faces dilemma as strong euro sparks concern (FT) With Next Recession Looming, Central Banks Better Make Peace With Negative Rates (B) Global How income inequality has shifted since the crisis (FT) US Self-Driving Cars Could Affect Jobs of 1 in 9 U.S. Workers (W) Europe Eurozone Factory Output Slides (W) Japan Japan Posts 4% GDP Growth in Second Quarter (W) Japan posts longest unbroken growth streak in a decade (FT) China Now Advising China’s State Firms: The Communist Party (W) US politics Trump Will Get His Tax Cuts, Vast Majority of Economists Say (B) Tax Reform? Here’s Why Mitch McConnell Can’t Get It Done (C) Danger of a Republican Bailout of ACA Is Mounting (WT) Merck CEO Quits Trump Advisory Role in ‘Stand Against Intolerance’ (W) Geopolitics China Bans Key North Korean Imports (W) Amid Korean Tensions, Mattis-Tillerson Show Is Key to the Drama (W) U.S. General Says North Korea Threats Must Be Taken Seriously (W) Industries & companies Airlines: Airlines Dial Up Pampering for Business Class (W) Pharma: Early Peeks at Drug Trials Are Giving Investors Whiplash (W) Media: Netflix Signs ‘Scandal’ Creator as Talent Rivalry Intensifies (W) Corporate finance U.S. Stock Buybacks Are Plunging (B) Offbeat Dark, Cameras, Action: Scientists and Amateurs Prepare for Solar Eclipse (W) Amazon Issues Eclipse-Glasses Refunds (W)

Aug 14 (Monday) Markets The Curse of 2017: Stocks Could Be Headed for a Fall (BR) A Letter From Camp Kotok (BR) Short sellers target high-flying US tech stocks (FT) Funds Record ETF inflows fuel price bubble fears (FT) When Cheaper P/E Ratios Mean Nothing (W) Retiring in 2065: Are Far-Off Target-Date Funds Worthwhile? (W) Credit, currencies & commodities Bond Managers Who Don’t Fear Rising Rates (BR) For More Yield in Junk Bond ETFs, Go Short (BR) Either China’s Bond Market Or Commodities Are Getting It Wrong (B) China’s Speculator Army Train Their Sights on Rocketing Rebar (B) Taming of Asia’s Most Volatile Currencies Is Creating New Danger (B) Dollar Weakness Could Be the Boost U.S. Economy Needs (W) The Bad News Buck (BR) US The Big Villain in Slow U.S. GDP Growth[: Productivity] (BR) Europe The Euro Area Is Due for a Reboot. Here’s What Is Being Proposed (B) Brussels seeks tighter vetting of foreign takeovers (FT) Measuring inflation [in the UK]: A can of worms (E) Japan Japan Second-Quarter GDP Up 4% on Year, Beating Estimates (B) China China: The World’s Best Consumer Story (BR) Chinese Shopping Splurges Are Set to Boost Alibaba’s Revenue (W) US politics White House Says Trump Condemns Extremists (W) City Remains Tense a Day After Clashes (W) Trump Chips Away at Postcrisis Wall Street Rules (W) Scaramucci Says Bannon a ‘Snag’ on Trump’s White House Agenda (B) Geopolitics U.S. Draws Up Plans for North Korea, but Urges Diplomacy (W) China’s Xi Grapples With Rising Cost of Supporting Kim Jong Un (B) China urges restraint over North Korea (FT) Without Oil, North Korea Sanctions Won’t Stop Kim (B) Nuclear War With North Korea Isn’t Imminent, U.S. Officials Say (B) North Korean Tensions Aren’t Deterring Tourists From Guam (B) What U.S. Wants From Nafta Talks (W) Trump Administration to Begin Probe of Alleged Chinese Technology Theft (W) Industries & companies Autos: Volkswagen’s Road to Recovery (BR) FAANGs: Facebook’s Onavo Gives Firm Inside Peek at Rivals (W) Pharma: Dangerous Monopoly of Power (BR) Pharma: Drug groups face ‘tidal wave’ of opioid lawsuits (FT) Technology: Microsoft: Riding High on the Cloud (BR) Technology: 8 Tech Stocks With Growing Dividends (BR) Offbeat Business Book of the Year 2017 — the longlist (FT)

Aug 12 (Saturday) Markets Corporate America Is Having Its Best Earnings Season in 13 Years (B) Junk-Rated Stocks Lead S&P 500 to Worst Week Since March (B) Ageing society spurs flight from US stocks to bonds (FT) US small-caps suffer worst week since February 2016 (FT) Weakening demand growth overshadows aluminum (FT) Wall Street Who Is Winning With the Fiduciary Rule? Wall Street (W) JPMorgan Plans to Charge $10,000 for Entry-Level Equity Research (B) Central banks The Wait for a U.S. Inflation Pickup Drags On, Clouding the Fed Outlook (B) Kashkari Says Fed Concerns Over Inflation Based on ‘Ghost Story’ (B) PBOC to Boost Coordinated Oversight of Key Financial Firms (B) US U.S. Consumer Prices Rose Slightly in July (W) Sticky-Price CPI Increased in July (FRB-ATL) Why Measuring Inflation Is Such a Tricky Business: Q&A (B) The Price Still Isn’t Right for Consumers (W) Number of Americans Caught Underpaying Some Taxes Surges 40% (W) Geopolitics Trump Warns North Korea U.S. Military ‘Locked and Loaded’ (W) Trump matches Kim Jong Un in war of words (FT) Trump Warns of Potential U.S. `Military Option’ in Venezuela (B) How Seoul Would Defend Itself Against a North Korean Attack (W) U.S. Builds Presence in Europe, Despite ‘America First’ Rhetoric (W) Industries & companies Autos: Tesla Feels the Bond Market Love in Debut Sale to Fund Model 3 (B) FAANGs: Facebook Quietly Launches an App in China, But With a Different Name (B) Pharma: Drug groups face ‘tidal wave’ of opioid lawsuits (FT) Technology: Another Snap Investor Has Disappeared (B) Technology Hewlett Packard Enterprise to Send Supercomputer to Space (W)

Aug 11 (Friday) Markets Dow Tumbles as North Korea Tensions Persist (W) VIX’s Highest Close Since Election Sparks Record Rush to Protect (B) Dalio Recommends Gold as Hedge Against Rising Political Risk (B) Oil Oil hits 11-week high as Opec raises demand forecast (FT) Andurand’s $100 oil bet stands out from the herd (FT) Central banks Dudley Says Inflation Will ‘Take Some Time’ to Reach Fed’s Goal (B) US Today’s Financial Crisis: We Forgot the Financial Crisis of 2007 (W) Workers’ Pace Curbs Growth (W) Do Businesses Need Foreign Workers? Martha’s Vineyard Is Finding Out (W) Europe France urges ‘new momentum’ over US tech groups tax (FT) China Chinese economy ‘kidnapped’ by property bubble (FT) In China, Surveillance Cameras Offer Reality TV to Internet Viewers (W) Emerging Brazil Budget Worries Too Much to Take for Foreign Investors (B) EM’s quiet bull run attracts little investor love (FT) US politics Trump Declares Opioid Epidemic a National Emergency (W) Trump ‘Very Disappointed’ in McConnell Over Obamacare Inaction (B) Trump Says He Hasn’t Considered Firing Mueller (W) Talking Taxes: How to Bring Offshore Profits Home (W) Geopolitics & terrorism Trump Escalates Rhetoric Against North Korea (W) North Korea and Trump Leave Beijing With Few Options (W) FBI Says ISIS Used eBay to Send Terror Cash to U.S. (W) Industries & companies Retail: Macy’s and Kohl’s Slow Sales Slump, but Investors Still Spooked (W) Technology: Snap’s Loss Nearly Quadruples (W) Corporate finance US home rental giant created in $20bn deal (FT) Offbeat Lawsuit Says Seattle’s ‘Tax-the-Rich’ Measure Violates State Constitution (W)

Aug 10 (Thursday) Markets Long-Only Mutual Funds Have Turned Into the Stock Market’s Daredevils (B) Forecast-beating US earnings fail to drive stock rally (FT) Central banks Fed’s Evans Sees September Balance Sheet Move (B) Bullard Says Yellen Successor Should Hold More Press Conferences (B) US U.S. Can’t Get Breakout Economic Growth With Productivity This Low (W) Silicon Valley stalls hiring of foreign tech workers (FT) Baby Boomers Who Refuse to Sell Are Dominating the Housing Market (B) Indiana Highway Gives ‘Black Eye’ to Private Investment in Infrastructure (W) Europe Germany’s young voters back ‘grandmother’ Merkel (FT) China China’s Consumer Inflation Slows Unexpectedly in July (W) Japan Abe Tries to Fix His Tarnished Image (B) Japan’s Biggest Bank Is Looking for Overseas Talent (B) US politics FBI Raided Home of Manafort in Russia Probe (W) Mueller Left Millions in Salary, Speeches to Lead Russia Probe (B) Geopolitics Trump Boasts U.S. Arsenal Is ‘More Powerful Than Ever’ (W) Trump’s Nuclear Weapons Arsenal Isn’t Any Different Than Obama’s (B) Mattis Reinforces Trump Warning to North Korea (W) Trump takes ‘try everything’ approach to North Korea (FT) North Korea threatens Guam after Trump ‘fire and fury’ vow (FT) U.S. Trade Actions in China Lag as North Korea Takes Precedence (W) Industries & companies Financials: BofA’s New Premium Rewards Card Comes With a Twist (W) Media: 21st Century Fox Earnings Buoyed by Cable TV Business (W) Media: Disney takes on Netflix with streaming services (FT) Technology: Chinese app developers lodge Apple complaint (FT) Travel: Priceline, TripAdvisor Cut Revenue, Hotel Bookings Forecasts (W) Corporate finance Altice lines up $185bn pitch for cable group Charter (FT) Vantiv strikes £9.3bn deal to buy rival Worldpay (FT) Software Maker Docker Is Raising Funding at $1.3 Billion Valuation (B) Technology Silicon Valley Startup Grail Sees Hope For Cancer Blood Test (B) The Quant Fund Robot Takeover Has Been Postponed (B) Offbeat NYC Council Approves Midtown Rezoning, Paving Way for New Towers (B) Aug. 9, 2007: The Day the Mortgage Crisis Went Global (W)

Aug 09 (Wednesday) Markets Five things we learnt from the US earnings season (FT) What Could Possibly Ruin Traders’ Summer Vacations? (W) Block Traders Are Strong-Arming the Tamest Bond Market Ever Seen (B) Dimon Sides With Bears, Says Sovereign Bonds Are Too Pricey (B) California, Once Compared to Greece, Is Now Trading Better Than AAA (B) Oil EIA Raises Both 2017, 2018 U.S. Crude Production Forecasts (B) Asset Management Blackstone Buys Billions in Spanish Real-Estate Assets (W) Great Year for Pensions, but Many Still in Crisis (W) Central banks New Study Says Aging Populations Will Drive Higher Interest Rates (B) US U.S. Job Openings Climb to Record 6.2 Million at End of June (W) In a Job Market This Good, Who Needs to Work in the Gig Economy? (W) More Americans are working 2 or more jobs than at any point in the last 20 years (BI) Sick of Slow Wage Growth? Here’s Who to Blame (B) U.S. Growth Seen Steadying, Soothing Slowdown Fears (W) Americans hold more credit-card debt than ever, and a ‘major tipping point’ isn’t far off (BI) Europe European Lenders Face Uphill Battle Tackling Bad Loans (W) Italy’s banks step up exit from sovereign bonds (FT) France pushes for top posts in eurozone reshuffle (FT) China China’s Dream Is Apple’s Nightmare (W) US politics Tax-Overhaul Effort Shaped by Debate Over Corporations (W) Few expect Trump’s 15-percent corporate tax rate: Deloitte survey (R) Who Ultimately Pays for Corporate Taxes? (W) Trump makes ‘Real News’ in war against media (FT) Geopolitics Trump warns North Korea will be met with ‘fire and fury’ if threatens U.S. (R) North Korea Warns U.S., Rejects Talks To Give Up Nukes (W) Tillerson Presses Asian Nations to Clamp Down on North Korea (W) Japan defense review warns of enhanced North Korea threats (R) Cybersecurity Cyber Risk, Market Failures, and Financial Stability (IMF) Industries & companies Aerospace: Boeing Copies Flying Geese to Save Fuel (B) Autos: Bill Ford Thinks His Company Lacks Vision—and That He Can Fix It (W) Financials: J.P. Morgan Chase Quietly Axes Liked Debit Card Feature (W) Financials: Wells Fargo Faces a New Auto-Loan Headache (W) Media: Disney posts profit drop, to take bigger stake in streaming firm BAMTech (R) Real estate: Mall Owners Wave a Finger: We’re Not Dead Yet (W) Real estate: If Retail Is Dying, Why Is Money Pouring Into Malls? (B) Restaurants: McDonald’s to double number of China restaurants (FT) Technology: Apple’s Expensive Game of Catch-Up (W) Offbeat Americans Are Dying Younger, Saving Corporations Billions [in Pension Costs] (B) Why Stock Analysts and Computers Should Just Get Along (W) You Could Buy 100 Boxes of Avocados for the Price of One Bitcoin (B)

Aug 08 (Tuesday) Markets Wall Street marches on as tech stocks set pace (FT) A bunch of indicators are warning of ‘a break in the stock market.’ (BI) Morgan Stanley: Warnings about a stock market crash are “out of whack” with reality (BI) Everyone’s a ‘Buy and Hold’ Investor–For Now (W) The Infrastructure Rally Crumbles (W) Currencies & credit The Dollar Swoon Lifting U.S. Stocks Is Poised to Continue (W) Investors Jump Back Into the Euro (B) European blue-chip borrowing costs near record low (FT) Central banks Fed Officials Keen to Shrink Balance Sheet Despite Low Inflation (B) Fed’s Bullard Says Low Inflation Warrants Keeping Rates on Hold (B) | Speech Monetary Policy’s Role in Fostering Sustainable Growth (Williams, FRB-SF) US With market and economy chugging along, some see fewer reasons for tax cuts (C) GDPNow Forecast for Third Quarter Is 3.7% down from 4% (FRB-ATL) U.S. Credit-Card Debt Surpasses Record Set at Brink of Crisis (B) China China’s Debt Crackdown Gets a Big Shrug From Global Investors (B) China’s Great Property Pullback (B) US politics Recess, Full Plate Keep Heat on GOP Lawmakers (W) ‘Sanctuary City’ Chicago to Sue Trump Administration (W) Geopolitics North Korea Says It Would Use Nukes Only Against U.S. (W) Industries & companies Autos: Avis, Stung by Falling Used-Car Prices, Reports Disappointing Results (W) Energy: Keystone XL’s Path Is Up for Grabs (B) FAANGs: Brands Strike Back: Seven Strategies to Loosen Amazon’s Grip (W) Tech: United Tech in Takeover Talks With Rockwell Collins (W) Corporate finance Tesla to Sell $1.5 Billion in Debt Amid Launch of Model 3 Netflix Makes Its First Acquisition Technology The End of Typing: The Next Billion Mobile Users Will Rely on Video and Voice Robots lack smart, strong, sensitive human touch Offbeat Bitcoin’s explosive gains could spell good news for stocks (BI)

Aug 07 (Monday) Markets Hot-Stock Rally Tests the Patience of a Choosy Lot: Value Investors (W) Energy Stocks: Good, Bad, and Ugly (BR) Is It Time to Return to Active Stock-Picking? (BR) Credit & commodities Where to Find 11% Yields (BR) It’s High Season for Italian Corporate Bonds (W) US Jobs Growth Contributes to Uncommonly Strong U.S. Economic Picture (W) You’re Fired! No, Wait, Please Keep Working (W) Emerging Investing in Developed Markets? Think Small (BR) Local EM Debt a Good Bet Amid Bubbling Bonds (BR) US politics New Chief of Staff Reins in White House Aides—and Trump’s Tweets (B) Senate Republicans Nod at Bipartisan Push for Insurer Payments (B) Don’t hold your breath Cutting taxes will not be easy (E) Pence Rejects Report He’s Preparing to Run for President in 2020 (B) How the Democrats Lost the White Working Class (BR) West Virginia Defection Complicates Democrats’ Push in States (W) Geopolitics Enforcing Sanctions on North Korea Poses Challenge (W) China Confident UN Sanctions Can Block North Korea’s Nuclear Push (B) China says NK missile threat reaching ‘crisis point’ (FT) How a nuclear war in Korea could start, and how it might end (E) How to avoid nuclear war with North Korea (E) How close is North Korea to having a missile that can hit LA? (E) China, Asean to Test Waters on South China Sea Talks (W) Industries & companies Airlines: Delta Air Lines: Ready for Takeoff (BR) FAANGs: Apple Plans to Release Watch With Wireless Functionality (W) Financials: Former MetLife Unit Brighthouse Has Tough Task: Selling Insurance (W) Pharma: Behind the Push to Keep Higher-Priced EpiPen in Consumers’ Hands (W) Tobacco: Big Tobacco’s Next Big Thing? Tobacco (W) Corporate finance Penalties Against Wall Street Are Down Sharply in 2017 (W) Chubb CEO Greenberg on his winning M&A formula (FT) Offbeat The Problem With Electric Cars? Not Enough Chargers (W)