Dr. Ed's Blog

July 11 (Wednesday)

Markets
Global Markets Are Shaking Off China’s Flashback to 2015 (B)
China Bulls Keep Faith in Soaring Earnings After Stock Rout (B)
What Foreign Investors are Buying and Selling After China’s Rout (B)
Trade Conflict Ripples Through Emerging Markets (W)
Investors face ‘devastating losses’ if this ‘remarkably accurate’ indicator flashes (MW)

Earnings
Amid Market Lull, Investors Pin Hopes on Earnings Boom (W)
Tech companies and banks are expected to post big numbers this earnings season (C)
Bank earnings are expected to shine, but their stocks may not (MW)

Commodities
U.S. Is Set to Become World’s Top Oil Producer, Government Says (B)
Supply Crunch Lifts Oil to 3½-Year High (W)

Central banks
Chart of Century Gives Powell Gloomy Glimpse of Trade-War World (B)

US
Tax Law May Stimulate Economy Less Than Expected, or Maybe Not at All (W) | FRB-SF Economic Letter
Employers are looking to fill millions of jobs. Here’s where to find one (C)
Americans quitting their jobs at fastest rate since 2001 — and that’s a good thing (MW)
Factory Workers Don’t Get Laid Off Like They Did Before the Recession (W)

Europe
Germany’s Interior Minister Unveils ‘Master Plan’ to Cut Immigration (W)

US politics
Kavanaugh Could Usher In Even More Business-Friendly Era on Supreme Court (B)
Kavanaugh’s Record: Regulations, Guns, ACA and Abortion (W)
Kavanaugh paper chase threatens to draw out confirmation battle (PO)
Supreme Court Pick Fuels Senate and Midterm Battles (W)

Trade
Tariff Dispute Threatens Exports of American-Made Cars (W)

Industries & companies
Autos: Tesla to Build Shanghai Plant (W)
Autos: Tesla’s Missing Number in China Factory Agreement: The Price Tag (B)
Consumer: PepsiCo Reports Slowing Decline in Beverage Sales (W)
FANGs: Apple put Google’s former AI boss in charge of Siri and machine learning (C)
Financials: Morgan Stanley Elevates CEO Contender (W)
Media: AT&T’s Troubling Plan to Change HBO (The Atlantic)
Retail: Stitch Fix jumps 9 percent after launching kids clothing service, bullish analyst call (C)
Tech: Microsoft Adds a Lower-Cost Tablet in Challenge to Apple’s iPad (W)

Corporate finance
Why a $1 Trillion Mountain of Private-Equity Cash Matters (W)

Offbeat
All 12 Thai Boys, Coach Rescued From Cave (W)
China Bans Ads on Booming Video App (W)

July 10 (Tuesday)

Markets
Don’t Worry About the Earnings Slowdown Yet (W)
Stellar Earnings Season Turns Sideshow With Traders Fretting Trade War (B)

Credit & currencies
Muni Bonds Are Scarce. That’s Good News for Borrowers (W)
Emerging Markets Fight Back to Bolster Currencies (W)
Emerging-Market Carry Trade Makes Comeback (B)
JPMorgan Maps Out Currencies to Buy If Recession Is Coming (B)

Central banks
How Fears of an Inverted Yield Curve Could Be Self Fulfilling (B)

US
Wall Street Is Raising More Cash Than Ever for Rental-Home Gambit (W)
Homeowners are sitting on a record amount of cash at $5.8 trillion – but still not tapping it (C)

US politics
President makes Supreme Court pick as pro-Trump group targets red-state Democrats in nomination fight (C)
With 36 governorships up for grabs in the midterm elections, Republicans have most to lose (C)

Geopolitics & trade
German and Chinese Leaders Hail Rules-Based Trade, With Eye to U.S. (W)
Trump Confident North Korea Will ‘Honor the Contract’ to Denuclearize (W)

Industries & companies
Autos: Tesla Buyers in China Are Early Casualties in Trade Wrestle (W)
FANGs: Lawmakers Press Alphabet and Apple on Privacy (W)
FANGs: Streaming TV or Movie? Why It Matters to Amazon’s Profits (W)
Financials: Business-Loan Drought Ends for Banks (W)
Media: Mickey Mouse Works His Magic in China (N)
Media: The spectacular rise and fall of MoviePass (MW)
Pharma: Trump Tweets Again on Drug Prices, Investors Mostly Shrug (B)
Retail: Nordstrom plans to open more stores with no inventory in Los Angeles, New York (C)
Shipping: Trade Tariffs Could Push Shipping to the Edge (W)

Corporate finance
IPO boom has opened the window for some scary companies (MW)
Half of ICOs Die Within Four Months After Token Sales Finalized (B)

Technology
High-Skilled White-Collar Work? Machines Can Do That, Too (N)

Offbeat
How Buddhist meditation kept the Thai boys calm in the cave (Vox)
A Mountain Of Surplus Cheese, Brought To You By The Federal Government (IBD)
Starbucks to Eliminate Plastic Straws by 2020 (W)

July 09 (Monday)

Markets
Big Opportunities in Tiny Stocks (BR)

Central banks
Fed Officials Debate Signal From Flattening Yield Curve: Is This Time Different? (W)
Jockeying Begins to Take European Central Bank’s Reins From Draghi (W)

US
Investors Stand to Lose From Wage Gains (BR)
Aging Bull Produces a Booming Jobs Market (BR)
Want more skilled workers? Create them (P)

Europe
May’s Brexit Plan: The Details, The Overtures and The Meaning (B)

China
For China, Tech Giant Tencent Is a National Champion and a Threat (W)

US politics
Trump Zeroes In on Supreme Court Pick (W)
Democrats are tying Trump’s Supreme Court pick to the special counsel’s Russia probe. Here’s why (C)
Administration Halts Payments Expected by Health Insurers (W)

Geopolitics & trade
Economic Strength Gives Trump Leeway in China Trade Fight (W)
How Tariffs Could Affect the U.S. Economy (BR)
Here’s where we are in the trade war – and what it means (C)
German Cars and American Steak: Early Trade War Victims Emerge (B)
North Korea Reminds Trump Its Nuclear Weapons Won’t Come Cheap (B)

Industries & companies
Financials: Betting on Banks Rebounding (BR)

Corporate finance
Stock Buybacks Are Booming, but Share Prices Aren’t Budging (W)
Technology companies have bought back $1 trillion worth of their stock since the bull market began (C)
Xiaomi has a lot to prove to US investors who are skeptical of Chinese tech (C)

Technology
This drone can fly dangerous missions for the military in areas where helicopters can’t reach (C)

Offbeat
Four Boys Rescued From Flooded Thai Cave (W)
LeBron James brings more than NBA championships — he has a track record of boosting local economies (C)

July 07 (Saturday)

Markets
The Selloff in Chinese Markets Isn’t Like 2015. It Looks Worse. (W)
This Metric Shows Emerging-Market Stocks Are Cheap, Cheap, Cheap (B)
Vanguard Isn’t Taking in as Much Money; Neither Is Anyone Else (B)

Central banks
Participation Rate Emerges as Fed’s Big Job-Market Mystery (B)
Analysis: June Jobs Report Offers Fed Officials Comfort With Current Rate Policy (W)
A Brief History of White House Officials Trying to Jawbone the Fed (W)

US I
The five most important numbers from the June jobs report (C)
The jobs ‘conundrum’ continues: ‘How are we not getting higher wages?’ (C)
How the higher unemployment rate is actually a good sign (P)
Here’s where the jobs are — in one chart (C)

US II
U.S. Trade Gap Narrowed 6.6% in May (W)
U.S. Soybean Exports Surged Last Quarter (W)
Where’s the Money? Up to Two-Thirds of U.S. Cash is Held Abroad (W)

US politics
Here’s where Mike Bloomberg will likely spend his $80 million to flip the House in the 2018 midterms (C)

Geopolitics & trade
U.S., China Dig In for Long Trade Fight as Tariffs Take Effect (W)
Trump Eyes Even Higher Tariffs While China Trade War Escalates (B)
In Trump’s trade battle, this next move could be the heavy artillery that hits global growth (C)
USTR Announces ‘Exclusion’ Process for Products Hit by U.S. Tariffs on China (W)
The U.S.-China Trade Relationship: A Dispute in Five Charts (B)

Industries & companies
FANGs: Amazon will print toy catalog to fill Toys ‘R’ Us void (P)
Health Care: Tech giants could finally win in health care because they’re sticking to what they know (C)
Retail: Stitch Fix just went on a two-day rally, adding more than half a billion in market cap (C)

Corporate finance
Silicon Valley company that automates ‘mundane’ tasks with robots gets nearly $2 billion valuation (C)
Disney’s Deal Playbook: Target a Company That’s Not for Sale (W)
Lawmakers Question KKR, Bain Capital Over Toys ‘R’ Us Failure (W)

Technology
Swiss bank digitally ‘clones’ chief economist (P)

Offbeat
Shaquille O’Neal on LeBron: ‘You must win at some point’ (C)
Mark Zuckerberg Tops Warren Buffett to Become the World’s Third-Richest Person (B)
‘Beryl’ Strengthens, Expected to Hit Caribbean as Hurricane (W)

July 06 (Friday)

Markets
U.S. Stocks Rise as Investors Shrug Off Looming Tariffs (W)
Tax Wrinkle Spurs Pension Funds to Buy More Treasurys (W)

Credit
Opinion: To invert or not to invert? That is the Fed’s question (MW)
Here’s the new recession indicator presented to Fed officials (MW)

Central banks
Fed: Letting inflation run too hot could lead to ‘a significant economic downturn’ (C)
Fed Expects to Keep Raising Rates, Ending Years of Stimulus (W)
Fed says businesses are scaling back spending because of Trump’s uncertain trade policy (C)
Fed balance sheet runoff hits another snag (C)

US
U.S. Private Sector Continues to Expand (W)
U.S. Nonmanufacturing Activity Accelerated in June (W)
High-Income Americans Are the Most Upbeat on Record (B)

Europe
EU’s Nativist Swing Casts Shadow Over Bloc’s Future (W)

US politics
Trump privately indicated that he has settled on a Supreme Court nominee (C)
Scott Pruitt Resigns as EPA Chief (W)

Geopolitics & trade
Trade War Threat Gets Real as Trump Confirms China Tariffs​ (B)
China says U.S. ‘opening fire’ on world with tariffs, vows to respond (R)
U.S. Industries Fear Worst Is Yet to Come From Trump’s Tariffs (B)
Why Made in China 2025 Will Succeed, Despite Trump (W)
Take Our Cheese, Please: American Cheese Makers Suffer Under New Tariffs (W)

Industries & companies
Industrials: Boeing to Take Over Embraer’s Commercial-Jet Business (W)
Retail: Walmart Takes a Stand on Guns, Gay Rights to Get People to Like It More (W)
Tech: Micron to Challenge Chinese Court Ruling Over Alleged Patent Infringement (W)

Corporate finance
Glencore Looks to Shore Up Investor Confidence With Buyback (W)
Doubts Grow Aramco IPO Will Ever Happen (W)

Technology
Crypto Hunters Get the Call for Tracking Down Lost Bitcoin (W)

Offbeat
Elon Musk’s Team Is Talking With Thai Officials for Cave Rescue (B)

July 05 (Thursday)

Markets
Technology Stocks Feel the Heat of Trade Tensions (W)
Super-Safe Corporate Debt Is Starting to Look Attractive (W)
Trump feels the heat on rising gas prices, demands oil cartel do more to ‘reduce pricing now’ (C)

US
Car Sales Maintain Near-Record Pace (W)
Home prices make the biggest jump in four years (C)
Interest rates are dropping, but it’s not enough to lure homeowners back into the mortgage market (C)
More Employees Are Saying ‘I Quit’ (W)

Europe
Merkel’s Fight for Survival Could Hit Another Bump (W)

US politics
Trump Winnows Down Supreme Court Picks, Focusing on Three (W)
Democrats Weigh Politics of Calls to Eliminate ICE (W)

Trade
In Tariff Fight With Trump, China Pulls Plan to Strike First (W)
Trump China Tariff Decision Will Be Yuuuge For Stocks (IBD)
China’s Export Growth to U.S. Abruptly Slows as Tariffs Near (W)
Exclusive: China presses Europe for anti-U.S. alliance on trade (R)
The EU is reportedly considering international talks to cut car tariffs (C)
Trump knocks Harley-Davidson again, says administration working to bring other motorcycle companies to the US (C)

Geopolitics
Vote Resets U.S.-Mexico Relations (W)
As ‘Health Attacks’ Persist, U.S. Pulls More Americans Out of China (W)

Industries & companies
Autos: Street is not impressed by Tesla’s Model 3 milestone; stock plunges 7% on negative notes, brake test report (C)
FANGs: Google Cloud’s COO has left after less than a year (C)
FANGs: How Google and Facebook Are Monopolizing Ideas (W)
FANGs: How Google’s parent company is paving the way to become a transportation giant (C)
Financials: Financials still look pretty bleak after snapping their worst losing streak on record (C)
Materials: Glencore Roiled by Subpoena (W)

Corporate finance
China created 46 startups worth at least $1 billion in the five years since 2012 (BI)
Dell Confirms Deal That Would Mark Return to Public Markets (W)
The Myth of Corporate America’s Short-Term Thinking (N)

Offbeat
Buffett: Never bet against America (NN)
LeBron James Takes Big Step Toward Goal Of Being A Billionaire (FR)
New York’s Iconic Plaza Hotel Sold to Qatar Fund for $600 Million (W)

July 03 (Tuesday)

Markets
Watch out for one big economic risk in the second half of 2018, market watcher warns (C)

Central banks
Fed Faces Decisions on Shrinking Huge Bond Portfolio (W)

US
Factory Activity Heats Up as Manufacturers Position for Tariffs (W)
Unpaid Internships Are Going Out of Style (W)

Europe
Merkel, Coalition Partner Strike Deal (W)

US politics
The Millennial Socialists Are Coming (N)
Trump Meets With Four Potential Supreme Court Nominees (W)
Wilbur Ross says he shorted two more stocks during his time as Commerce secretary (C)

Geopolitics & trade
Trump makes veiled WTO threat after EU warning (R)
Canada not helping itself by hitting U.S. with tariffs-White House (R)
Opinion: Stop the trade war, businesses shout at Trump (MW)
U.S. to Consider Iran Sanctions Relief on a ‘Case-by-Case’ Basis (W)

Industries & companies
Autos: Tesla Raises Model 3 Output Target to 6,000 a Week (W)
Autos: Tesla will be profitable by September, says Gene Munster (C)
Consumer: A Toothpaste Club? Colgate to Invest in Online Startup (W)
FANGs: Probe into Facebook’s data breach broadens: Washington Post (R)
Financials: Fed Gave Wall Street Titans Path Around Stress-Test Failure (W)
Retail: New Era at Amazon’s Whole Foods Grates on Some Employees (W)
Tech: Tech’s ‘Dirty Secret’: The App Developers Sifting Through Your Gmail (W)

Corporate finance
Companies buying back their own shares is the only thing keeping the stock market afloat right now (C)
IPO Market Posts Blistering First Half (W)
Dell Confirms Deal That Would Mark Return to Public Markets (W)
Nestlé in Talks to Buy Pet-Food Maker for $2 Billion (W)

Offbeat
Yes, Hollywood Did Influence That Helicopter Jailbreak in France (W)

July 02 (Monday)

Markets
Halfway through, 2018 delivers little to S&P 500 investors (R)
Investors look to the second half of 2018 expecting growth—amid rising uncertainties (MW)
Why the Bull Market Could End in 2020 (BR)

Credit & commodities
U.S. dollar share of global currency reserves fall further: IMF (R)
Iran urges OPEC members to refrain from unilateral actions (C)

Central banks
Federal Reserve’s Eric Rosengren Discusses Economic Outlook and Risks (W)
Germany’s Weidmann says next ECB boss must be able to tighten money taps (R)

Emerging
Mexico’s presidential election: Investors need to know these key factors (MW)

Geopolitics & trade
Trump ‘not happy’ with NAFTA, says he wants to wait until after the midterms to sign a new deal (C)
Retaliation for US tariffs begins with Canada on Sunday–and take aim at ketchup, whiskey and soup (C)
Trump says threat of auto tariffs is biggest weapon in trade disputes (MW)
G.M. Says New Wave of Trump Tariffs Could Force U.S. Job Cuts (N)
U.S. has plan to dismantle North Korea nuclear program within a year: Bolton (R)

Industries & companies
Autos: Tesla hits Model 3 manufacturing milestone (R)
FANGs: Amazon’s PillPack Deal Gives It Access to Sensitive Health Data (W)
FANGs: Why Amazon Needs to Do Everything (W)
FANGs: Facebook gave preferential treatment to 61 companies after restricting user data back in 2015 (C)
Tech: Big Tech: You Want the Good News or the Bad News? (BR)

Offbeat
Go Home Already! South Korea Pulls the Plug on Overworked Desk Warriors (W)
Can Smart Earbuds Instantly Translate Foreign Speech? (W)

June 30 (Saturday)

Markets
QT Has Been Bad News for S&P 500, So Look for a Market Drop Monday (B)
Investors Doubled Down on Tech Stocks in a Rocky Quarter (W)
Why Value Investing Works (Morningstar)
Emerging markets are in a death cross, and a technical analyst sees another big drop ahead (C)

Central banks
Inflation Gauge Hits Fed Target After Six-Year Run of Soft Prices (W)
Kudlow Bucks Tradition in Urging Fed to Hike Rates ‘Very Slowly’ (B)
Draghi Warns Risks From Trade War May Be Understated (B)

US
U.S. Consumer Spending Moderated in May (W)
Americans Worked Less Despite Job Growth (W)

Europe
EU’s Migrant Deal Reflects Ascendance of Nativist Parties (W)

China
China Taps the Brakes on Its Global Push for Influence (NYT)
China’s Biggest Movie Stars Get a Pay Cut (From the Government) (NYT)

US politics
Trump says he will interview Supreme Court candidates this weekend and announce pick on July 9 (C)
Trump Narrows List of Supreme Court Candidates to Five (W)
Opinion: Yes, corporations have brought home cash after the tax cut, but they haven’t put it to work (MW)
The new IRS tax forms are out: Here’s what you should know (C)

Geopolitics & trade
Trump: U.S. not withdrawing from the WTO (PO)
Macron on Trump suggestion to leave EU: ‘You can imagine my response’ (PO)

Industries & companies
Autos: GM Warns Trump Tariffs Could Lead the Carmaker to Shrink in the U.S. (B)
Media: Netflix is moving television beyond time-slots and national markets (E)
Retail: Amazon’s Pharmacy Deal Threatens Retail Drugstores (W)

June 29 (Friday)

Markets
Energy Topples Tech as Top Sector (W)
Worried About a Tech Bubble? Don’t Be (BR)
Why stocks still look cheaper than bonds, in one chart (MW)

Central banks
Fed’s Rosengren Says It’s Time to Take Away Monetary-Policy Punch Bowl (W)

US
People are worried about these economic warning signs. They can relax. For now. (WP)

US politics
Both Parties Mobilize for Supreme Court Battle (W)
Trump Consults on Successors for Chief of Staff Kelly (W)
Despite Ocasio-Cortez upset, Democratic primaries have not gone as far left as some argue (C)
California Passes Sweeping Data-Privacy Bill (W)
New 1040 Tax Form: Shorter, but There Are More Forms to Fill Out (W)

Trade
Trump’s trade threats could end up boosting China’s global economic clout (C)

Industries & companies
Autos: Musk Races to Exit Tesla’s ‘Production Hell’ (W)
FANGs: As Amazon moves deeper into health care here’s what we suspect about its plans (C)
FANGs: Facebook Launches Tools to Stop Fake Accounts (W)
Financials: Deutsche Bank fails Fed stress test while three U.S. lenders stumble (R)
Financials: Visa, Mastercard Near Settlement Over Swipe Fees (W)

Corporate finance
Amazon Buys Online Pharmacy PillPack for $1 Billion (W)
Amazon is buying companies at an unprecedented rate — and why it matters (C)
Buying PillPack would have cost Walmart $700 million. Not buying it wiped $3 billion off the stock (C)
Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, Citi will hike dividends, buy back more stock (C)

Technology & cybersecurity
Kroger Plans to Introduce Driverless Grocery Deliveries (W)
Adidas Reports Data Breach (W)