Dr. Ed's Blog

Apr 17 (Tuesday)

Markets
U.S. Stocks Jump On Strong Corporate Results (W)
Trump Bucks Treasury in Ripping China, Russia as FX Meddlers (B)
Aluminum prices surge to highest level since 2011 as US sanctions on Russia take out big producer (C)

Central banks
Trump Is Planning to Name Pimco’s Richard Clarida as Fed Vice Chair (B)

US
Retail Sales Growth Sluggish Despite Higher Employment, Fatter Paychecks (W)
Facing Historic Labor Shortages, Companies Snap Up Teenagers (W)
Pay Your Interns, Corporate America (B)

China
Boom time for China’s billion-dollar start-ups (FT)

US politics
Tax Hit Looms for Online Shoppers (W)

Geopolitics
UK and US move on China group over national security (FT)

Industries & companies
FANGs: Stock Pickers Ready to Take the Facebook Out of ‘FANG’ (W)
FANGs: Amazon has shelved a plan to sell drugs to hospitals, and insiders say there are two reasons why (C)
Financials: Bank of America’s Profits Lifted by Tax Law, Interest Rates (W)
Financials: What We’ve Learned From Bank Earnings So Far (B)
Industrials: GE Falls Most on Dow After Goldman Warns of Profit Forecast Cut (B)
Pharma: Merck Tightens Its Grip on the Lung-Cancer Market (B)
Pharma: Bristol-Myers has Farther to Fall (W)

Corporate finance
Shire to Sell Cancer Unit for $2.4 Billion as Takeda Mulls Bid (W)
Volkswagen Unit Considers Full Takeover of Truck Maker Navistar (W)

Offbeat
Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s mystery client is Fox News host Sean Hannity (C)

Apr 16 (Monday)

RI
Investors Stuck Between Rock and Hard Place (BR)
Daily Markets Overview

Markets
Dow Closes the Week Up 427 Points–the Hard Way (BR)
Will Booming Earnings Save the Bull Market? (BR)
Energy: Looks Like a Comeback (BR)
Rate Rises Begin to Bite, With More Pain to Come (BR)
The outlook for US government debt (E)

Central banks
Fed Officials Dispel Specter of Deflation (W)

US
Inflation’s Mild Reappearance (BR)

Europe
The mystery of the eurozone slowdown (FT)

Emerging
Emerging Market Debt Gets Riskier (BR)

US politics
Supreme Court Weighs Widening States’ Reach on Online Sales Taxes (W)

Geopolitics
Trump Bowed to Pentagon Restraint on Syria Strikes (W)
Russia Faces Sanctions for Syria Chemical Attack, Haley Says (B)
Japan’s Abe to Meet Trump, With North Korea Testing Their Ties (W)

Trade
How Trade Tensions Will Test Companies and Investors (BR)
U.S.’s Re-Entry in Pacific Trade Deal Would Come at a Price (W)

Industries & companies
Pharma: Why Merck Is Betting Big on One Cancer Drug (W)
Retail: Decline of a Retailer: Bed Bath & Buybacks (BR)

Corporate finance
Corporate America poised to unveil record buybacks (FT)
SoftBank’s Billions Spur Global Race to Pour Money Into Startups (W)

Technology
How Blockchain Could Displace Facebook (BR)
Morgan Stanley: 5 Disruptive Trends

Offbeat
What Mark Zuckerberg Didn’t Say About What Facebook Knows About You (W)

Apr 14 (Saturday)

YRI
A Trade War Could Leave Investors With Few Places to Hide (NYT)
Daily Markets Overview

Markets
Dow Theory Sends Concerning Signal on Trade Tensions (B)
Investors Aren’t Quitting Stocks—Yet (B)
Yield curve flattens as investors brace for rate rises (FT)

Central banks
Fed’s Rosengren Worried Fiscal Stimulus Won’t Be There for Next Downturn (W)

US
Consumer Sentiment Slips on Trade Fears (W)

US politics
Trump Forced to Juggle Syria Response, Rage Over Mueller Probe (W)

Geopolitics & trade
U.S., U.K. and France Launch Strikes Against Syria (W)
Trump Adviser Kudlow Says ‘Calmer Heads’ Can Prevail in China Trade Dispute (W)
China Stalls U.S. Chip Deals (W)
Sanctions on Russia are having the desired effect (FT)

Industries & companies
Biotech: Bloodied Biotech Stocks Unlikely to Be Healed by Earnings Season (B)
FANGs: At Post Office, Amazon Isn’t the Only Big Shipper Getting Discounts (W)
Financials: Banks Delivered on Earnings. So What Gives, Investors? (B)
Financials: JPMorgan record profit signals Wall Street spring (FT)
Financials: Citi sees further lift from tax cuts as earnings rise (FT)
Industrials: GE’s Credit Rating Is at Risk (B)
Industrials: GE reveals bigger hit from accounting changes (FT)

Apr 13 (Friday)

YRI
Ed Yardeni on the markets and Trump (Yahoo Finance video)
Book Review of Dr. Ed’s New Book (Seeking Alpha)
Daily Markets Overview

Markets
Why earnings may not be the rescue stock investors are hoping for (MW)
Next Up: The Forgotten Earnings Season (W)
Earnings Season Usually Means the Biggest Stock Gains (B)
What Happened to the Oil Glut? (W)
The Weakening of the US Dollar (FRB-SL)

Central banks
The Yield Curve Is Sending a Message About the Fed (B)
ECB Worried About Trade Wars, Euro’s Strength at March Meeting (W)

Global
IMF Global Financial Stability Report (IMF)
US-China tensions hitting global growth, says WTO (FT)

US
Millennials are the largest generation in the U.S. labor force (Pew)
Homes with multigenerational family members are a growing trend (WP)
Powerful Forces Seen Restraining U.S. Pay Growth (W)

US politics
Changes to Social Safety Net Less Likely Without Ryan (W)
Mulvaney Backs Turning CFPB Into Bipartisan Commission (W)

Geopolitics & trade
Trump Tells Advisers to Study Rejoining Pacific Trade Pact (W)
Trump Adviser Hopes to Avoid U.S.-China Trade War (W)
Silicon Valley Powered American Tech Dominance—Now It Has a Challenger (W)
Study Shows Big Benefits to Chinese Companies From Joint Ventures with U.S. Firms (W)
China Parades Its Military Might in Disputed Waters (W)

Industries & companies
Biotech: How Big Biotech Can Win Back Investors (W)
FANGs: Facebook Doesn’t Expect Privacy Concerns to Hurt Revenue (W)
FANGs: ‘We’ll get back to you’: questions Zuckerberg dodged (FT)
Tech: Amazon’s Rivals Fear They Will Lose Out on Pentagon’s Cloud-Computing Contract (W)

Offbeat
Two-thirds of tweeted links to popular websites are posted by automated accounts (Pew)
Banks Refusing Gun Industry Business Is ‘Troubling,’ Says CFPB Chief (B)

Apr 12 (Thursday)

Markets
Dow Industrials Slide on Syria, Inflation News (W)
Morning Movers: Dow Slumps 200 Points as Trade War Takes Back Seat to Actual War (BR)

Central banks
Fed Minutes Signal Greater Confidence in Reaching 2% Inflation (W)
Fed minutes discuss possibility of steeper rate rises (FT)

US
Underlying Inflation Shows Signs of Pickup (W)
U.S. Budget Deficit Widens on Lower Revenue, Higher Spending (W)
Big U.S. Companies Reveal How Much They Rely on Overseas Workers (W)

Europe
Are the Wheels Coming Off the Eurozone Recovery? (W)

Japan
Japanese Workers Call It Quits on a Firm Tradition: The Job for Life (W)

US politics
House Speaker Ryan to Leave Congress at the End of His Term (W)
Republicans Are Moving to Protect Mueller After Trump Unleashes Attacks (B)

Geopolitics & trade
Trump Warns Russia U.S. Missiles ‘Will Be Coming’ to Syria (W)
South Korea to Defund Group That Watches North (W)
IMF Chief Christine Lagarde Warns Governments Off Protectionism (W)
Bringing Home the Bacon Gets Costly for Chinese Firms With U.S. Units (W)

Industries & companies
Airlines: Airlines Know You Hate the Airport, and Are Trying to Do Something About It (W)
FANGs: In Facebook Hearings, Lawmakers Ramp Up Talk of Regulation (W)
Financials: U.S. Proposes Loosening Big-Bank Capital Rule (W)

Corporate finance
Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Could Depend on Trump Staying Out of It (B)
Toys ‘R’ Us Receives Multiple Bids of Over $1 Billion for Asian Business (W)

Technology
The Solar Highway That Can Recharge Electric Cars on the Move (B)
These Robots Are Learning to Conduct Their Own Science Experiments (B)

Offbeat
I Downloaded the Information That Facebook Has on Me. Yikes. (NYT)
What You Don’t Know About How Facebook Uses Your Data. (NYT)
Former House Speaker John Boehner joins marijuana company: ‘My thinking on cannabis has evolved’ (C)

Apr 11 (Wednesday)

Markets
Dow jumps 425 points after Xi Jinping calms trade fears
Bank of America knows what it’ll take to send the market into a ‘full bull detox’ — and we’re dangerously close (BI)
GOLDMAN SACHS: There’s one huge mistake traders should avoid making this earnings season (BI)
Don’t Use the 200-Day Moving Average as a Sell Signal (B)

Central banks
Fed Floats First Major Big-Bank Rule Change of Trump Era (W)
Two More Rate Increases This Year, Fed’s Kaplan Says (W)

US
U.S. Business Price Growth Came in Hotter Than Expected Last Month (W)
For Many New Homeowners, Debt Consumes Half of Income (W)
How Death Strikes Around the U.S. (W)

Europe
Euro area’s banking union enters ‘critical phase’ (FT)

US politics
Trump Decries FBI Raid on His Lawyer in Morning Tweets (W)
White House Says Trump Can Fire Mueller. Republicans Warn It’d Be a Mistake (B)
Trump to Sign Executive Order for Revamp of Federal Aid Programs (W)

Geopolitics & trade
Xi Pledges a More Open China, Increased Imports and Lower Auto Tariffs (W)
China Talks Stalled Over Trump’s Demands on High-Tech Industries, Source Says (B)
Chinese Investment Into the U.S. Fell Sharply in 2017 (W)
U.S. Accuses Chinese Firms of Rerouting Goods to Disguise Origin (W)
Trump to decide on Syria response ‘very quickly’ (FT)
Watchdog Agency to Investigate Syria Chemical Strike Site (W)

Industries & companies
FANGs: Facebook co-founder says data use debate is ‘overdue’ (FT)
FANGs: Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon have too much power — so it’s time for regulators to take on tech’s titans (BI)
Financials: Big Banks Find a Back Door to Finance Subprime Loans (W)
Tech: MORGAN STANLEY: Internet companies could be stuck ‘in the penalty box’ for a while — here are the corners of tech we’d rather own (BI)

Corporate finance
Sprint, T-Mobile Restart Deal Talks, Once Again (W)
Ma’s Ant Financial to Raise $9 Billion, Become Biggest Unicorn (W)

Technology
The Key to Smarter AI: Copy the Brain (W)
Miami Real-Estate Developer Readies for Flying Cars (W)
Can Humans Understand How Robots Invest? (B)

Offbeat
How Pizza Night Can Cost More in Data Than Dollars (W)
A $105 Billion ‘Fat-Finger’ Accident Is Samsung’s Latest Headache (W)

Apr 10 (Tuesday)

Markets
Dow’s 400-point rally is nearly erased in final hour on report of FBI raid of Trump’s lawyer (C)
The Trump administration is giving Wall Street whiplash. (NN)
Aluminum rallies as US sanctions upend market (FT)

US
U.S. Manufacturers Worry Tariffs Could Undermine Recovery (W)
Employment Trends Index Rose in March (W)
How to Clean Up the Student Loan Mess (NYT)
One Year of ‘College’ With No Degree, But No Debt and a Job (W)

Europe
Europe’s Boom Reawakens the Ghost of Crisis Past: Debt (W)

Japan
Should you invest in Japan’s robotmakers? (FT)

China
China Installed Military Jamming Equipment on Spratly Islands, U.S. Says (W)

Emerging
Why Emerging Markets Are Still Worth the Trouble (W)
Russia’s Richest Lose $16 Billion in Selloff Over U.S. Sanctions (B)

US politics
CBO Sees Annual Deficits Exceeding $1 Trillion by 2020 (W)
CBO Sees Benefits of Republican Tax Cuts Peaking in 2022 (B)
FBI Raids Office of Trump’s Lawyer; President Calls It a ‘Witch Hunt’ (W)
Slammed by Trump, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Chooses Silence (W)

Geopolitics & trade
Trump Hints at Deal on Trade With China; Xi Readies Response (B)
Trump Readies U.S. Response to Syria Chemical Attack (W)

Industries & companies
Financials: PayPal Makes a Move Toward Traditional Banking (W)

Corporate finance
U.S. to Allow Bayer’s Acquisition of Monsanto (W)
Novartis buys US gene therapy group AveXis for $8.7bn (FT)
Alibaba Invests in Chinese Facial-Recognition Startup (W)
HNA aims to raise $6bn from Hilton Worldwide stake sale (FT)
Saudi Arabia’s Tiny Exchange Prepares to Host World’s Biggest IPO (W)

Technology & cryptocurrency
Yes, These Chickens Are on the Blockchain (B)
Bitcoin, the Biggest Bubble in History, Is Popping (B)

Offbeat
Your Alexa and Fitbit can testify against you in court (cnet)

Apr 09 (Monday)

Markets
Can earnings season lift the US stock market? (FT)
Tariff Talk Isn’t the Only Problem for Stocks (BR)
Cracks Form in Global Growth Story, Rattling Investors (W)
European Dividend Yields Look Enticing (BR)

Central banks
Powell Says Fed’s Gradual Rate Increases Should Keep Economy Strong (W)
Credibility at stake as BoJ’s Kuroda starts new term (FT)

China
Xi to outline economic reforms amid trade tension (FT)
Chinese carriers are the new disrupters in air travel (E)

Geopolitics & trade
North Korea Leader Prepared to Discuss Denuclearization (W)
Trump Predicts China Will Be First to Buckle in Trade Dispute (B)
Trump Administration Officials Soften Tone on China Trade (W)
Why China’s a Tough Target for U.S. Tariffs (BR)
German Steel Town Fears U.S. Tariffs Would Deal Big Blow (W)

Industries & companies
Autos: Tesla is heading for a cash crunch (E)
FANGs: Apple, Amazon, Google Also Brace for Privacy Regulation (W)
FANGs: Facebook Suspends Data Firm Cubeyou in Wake of Privacy Scandal (B)
FANGs: Google’s Parent Is a Bargain in Big Tech (BR)
Retail: Toys Were Us: The Perils of Debt (BR)
Tech: Many Investors Aren’t Losing Sleep Over the Tech Rout (W)
Tech: TSMC is about to become the world’s most advanced chipmaker (E)

Technology
AI: Coming to a Portfolio Near You (BR)

Apr 07 (Saturday)

Markets
Stocks Dive on Growing Trade Concerns (W)
Trump Rattles Stocks With His Tweets (B)
Can Big Tech Stocks Grow Without Limits? (W)

Central banks
Powell, Williams See More Gradual Fed Hikes Despite Trade Uproar (B)
Fed Chairman Powell Unravels Inflation Riddle (B)
Fed chair takes goldilocks approach in first speech (FT)

US
Unemployment isn’t fixed, and workers are still suffering (WP)
Top 20% of Americans Will Pay 87% of Income Tax (W)

Emerging
A year of EM resilience despite fears of trade war (FT)

US politics
What’s Driving Trump’s Attacks on Amazon? It’s Personal (W)

Trade
Wall Street’s biggest bull explains why trade war fears are way overblown (BI)
China Vows to Strike Back at Threatened New U.S. Tariffs (W)
The Architect of Trump’s Threatened China Trade War (W)
U.S.-China Tensions Simmer While Both Say There’s No Trade War (B)
Kudlow Says U.S. and China Are Holding ‘Back-Channel’ Trade Talks (B)
U.S. Looks to Protect Domestic Car Makers From Foreign Competition (W)

Geopolitics
U.S. Sanctions Target Putin Allies (W)

Industries & companies
Biotech: Biotech Gets a Reality Check (W)
FANGs: Facebook to Require ‘Issue’ Advertisers to Confirm Identities (W)

Offbeat
New York’s Nor’easters Join List of 2018 $1 Billion Disasters (B)

Apr 06 (Friday)

Markets
Why Trump’s Tariffs Won’t Trigger a Bear Market (BR)
Bond Bears Renewing Attack on 3% May Find Ammo in Jobs Report (B)

US
U.S. Consumer Comfort Climbs to Fresh 17-Year High on Finances (B)
U.S. trade deficit rises to near nine-and-a-half-year high in February (R)
Dimon warns on risk of ‘drastic action’ by Fed (FT)

Geopolitics & trade
EU, Japan Join U.S. WTO Complaint Over China Tech (B)
China takes US to WTO over trade tariff plan (FT)
Tariff Showdown Shifts to Intense Negotiation Period (W)
The Big Risk of a Trade War: Inflation (W)
Despite New Tariffs, Aluminum Is Actually Cheaper (W)
Steeling the U.S. Economy for the Impacts of Tariffs (FRB-Dallas)

Industries & companies
FANGs: Trump says taking a serious look at policy options on Amazon (R)
FANGs: Trump’s anti-Amazon crusade could actually help the company (BI)
FANGs: Facebook’s Zuckerberg Says Lax Policy Was a ‘Huge Mistake’ (W)
Financials: Dimon Confident in Firm’s Tech, Despite ‘Very Smart’ Challengers (B)
Financials: The same 2 words keep coming up in Jamie Dimon’s annual letter (BI)
Financials: Wells Fargo Plans to Integrate Corporate, Investment Banks (W)
Industrials: Boeing may get slammed if Trump sets off a full-blown trade war with China (BI)
Retail: Walmart is unleashing 2 key weapons against Amazon in 700 stores (BI)

Corporate finance
Spotify’s Slump Raises Questions About Listing Process (W)
Sonos posted multiple legal job openings that look like it’s gearing up for an IPO (BI)

Technology & cybersecurity
Delta Says Several Hundred Thousand Customers Affected by Breach (B)