Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 04 July 2016
Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
Global
Australia shares shrug off election limbo to rise amid Asia market rally (CNBC) Australian shares advanced on Monday, shrugging off uncertainty over its inconclusive election outcome over the weekend, to join the continuing post-Brexit rally across Asia markets.
European stocks open higher amid global rally (CNBC) European stocks opened slightly higher on Monday amid a continuing recovery in global stocks after the Brexit vote. The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3%. European markets followed gains In Asia where markets traded higher on Monday, continuing a post-Brexit global recovery, with major indexes in Australia and Japan reversing early losses.
$10 a Barrel Oil Coming Soon? Market Expert Warns the Worst is Yet to Come (Seemorerocks) In an editorial this week, acclaimed oil market expert Gary Shilling stood by a prediction he made in August 2015 that oil prices would collapse to $10 per barrel citing higher than expected North American fracking outputs and OPEC’s refusal to limit production. (See Oil Is Still Heading to $10 a Barrel – Bloomberg – and Shilling’s graph below.) This blogger gives his arguments why this prediction will be wrong. See also first article under U.S.
U.S.
Oil Rally Threatened as Gasoline Supply Surge Swamps U.S. Demand (Bloomberg) Refineries across the nation are operating full-out and imports are pouring into the East Coast, boosting gasoline supplies to a record. At the same time, consumption has turned out to be less robust than thought. That’s weighed on prices, threatening to stem oil’s rebound from a 12-year low.
12 Worst States For Lyme Disease (24/7 WallSt.) Lyme disease is a debilitating, sometimes deadly infection, transmitted to humans through bites of black-legged ticks, commonly known as deer ticks. Lyme disease typically induces flu-like symptoms, including sore joints, and headaches. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, 300,000 Americans are infected with Lyme disease each year. (Econintersect: It is likely that the CDC number is very much too low. Many people infected with Lyme disease are not properly diagnosed.) In the last 10 years, Lyme disease has been diagnosed in every state except for Hawaii. However, 96% of all confirmed cases of Lyme were isolated to only 14 states in 2014. Maine is the state with the highest infection rate. The states on the top 12 list are all in the northeastern U.S. and Great Lakes regions.
CIA knew it had the wrong man, but kept him anyway (Tribune Washington Bureau, MSN News) A 90-page 2007 report has become public after a Freedom of Information Act suit by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Khaleed al-Masri in his decade-long attempt to get an official apology from the United States for his unwarranted imprisonment in 2004. He was detained for 5 months even though the CIA quickly determined he had nothing to do with terrorism or terrorists. He was detained apparently because the agents didn’t know how to hide their mistake.
‘Homemade’ explosive that sounded ‘like a cannon’ blows off student’s foot in Central Park (WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES) (New York Daily News)
A “homemade” explosive left in Central Park for more than 24 hours blew off the foot of a college student Sunday, authorities said, raising fears on the eve of the Fourth of July.
Connor Golden, 18, of Fairfax, Va., had just climbed down off a rock near E. 60th St. and Fifth Ave. about 10:52 a.m. when he stepped on the “shock-sensitive” explosive, Lt. Mark Torre, the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Bomb Squad, said. It was inside a black plastic bag when it exploded, a high-ranking police source said.
A disintegrated matchbook was found nearby, leading investigators to believe that someone tried to set it off sometime Friday, but left it behind when it didn’t work, the high-ranking police source said.
There was no evidence the incident was connected to terrorism, NYPD Deputy Chief John O’Connell said. Police officials believe it is an isolated incident.
UK
UK government faces pre-emptive legal action over Brexit decision (The Guardian) A prominent law firm is taking pre-emptive legal action against the government, following the EU referendum result, to try to ensure article 50 is not triggered without an act of parliament.
Looking behind the Brexit anger (Flip Chart Fairy Tales) While there were economic correlations with how people voted in the EU referendum (see first graph below), there were also strong cultural factors (see second and third graphics below).
India
Smell of rotting flesh overwhelms Uttarakhand town, as rescuers clear debris (The Hindustani Times) Monsoon storms have claimed more than 40 lives across India. Incessant rains have hampered rescue and relief efforts in the cloudburst-hit villages in Pithoragarh, where the death toll climbed to 27 with nine more deaths and three more bodies being recovered on Sunday. In the village of Bastadi in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district, an 80 meter wide and 500-meter long landslide killed nine people and left 16 missing.
India Needs Water Before It Can Become the World’s Next Factory (Bloomberg) Water is perhaps the biggest barrier to India’s industrial development. India is home to nearly a sixth of the world’s population but gets only 4 percent of the Earth’s fresh water. Already more than half of Asia’s third-biggest economy faces high water stress. By 2030, demand is expected to outstrip supply by about 50%, according to the Water Resources Group. The problem is made worse because of government inaction: Cheap water, lax enforcement lead to persistent shortages.
Visakhapatnam to host BRICS’ meeting on energy efficiency (The Hindustani Times) BRICS nations will chalk out a plan for enhancing cooperation in energy efficiency when they meet at Visakhapatnam for a two-day deliberation starting from Monday.
India, a member of BRICS, will also showcase its efforts in energy saving, energy efficiency, particularly the LED street lighting programme and PAT (Performance Achievement & Trade) programme for industrial energy efficiency.
“The first meeting of the BRICS Working Group on ‘Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency’ will be held during July 4-5, 2016. Participation from all BRICS countries, viz., Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa has been confirmed,” a statement from power ministry said.
According to the statement, during the deliberations, the BRICS countries will make presentations on measures taken by them in the field of energy saving and energy efficiency.
Japan
Japan Has a Negatively Sloped Negative Yield Curve (Zero Hedge, Twitter) This is an amazing occurrence. Negative yields indicate a depressed economy and flat or negatively sloping yield curve indicates a recession is coming. Is this what you call a double whammy?
