Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 12 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
Asian markets higher; Nikkei jumps as Abe promises ‘bold’ stimulus (CNBC) Asian markets were positive on Tuesday, with the Nikkei extending a banner rally as stimulus comments made by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe late on Monday helped to weaken the yen.
Europe opens higher as investor sentiment holds up (CNBC) European stocks opened higher on Monday as uncertainty over the U.K.’s political scene diminishes with the imminent appointment of Home Secretary Theresa May as U.K. prime minister. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index opened 0.3% higher.
Global Cloud Coverage Shifting in Ominous Sign of Climate Change (Bloomberg) A new study in Nature analyzes almost 30 years of weather observations to show that clouds and cloudiness are changing in the way scientists would expect in a warming world. Continental storm tracks – think jet stream – are shifting poleward, leaving populous subtropical latitudes uncovered. And the clouds that are forming more often aren’t the low-lying, reflective ones that cool the planet – they’re the huge cottony anvils that rise high in the sky, trapping more heat. For the latest detailed research on weather see Sig Silber’s weekly column, the latest just published an hour ago.
Newly discovered dwarf planet takes 700 years to orbit the sun (CNN) A new dwarf planet has been discovered in the icy realms of space beyond Neptune, researchers said Monday. An international team of astronomers spotted the tiny world using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope as part of the ongoing Outer Solar System Origins Survey. Michele Bannister of the University of Victoria in British Columbia said:
“The icy worlds beyond Neptune trace how the giant planets formed and then moved out from the Sun. They let us piece together the history of our Solar System. But almost all of these icy worlds are painfully small and faint: it’s really exciting to find one that’s large and bright enough that we can study it in detail.”
Big Banks, Big Losses (Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture) Very good graphic for a very bad situation.
U.S.
Pennsylvania Crash Amid Autopilot Probes (Bloomberg) Tesla Motors Inc.’s Autopilot technology continues to draw scrutiny, with drivers claiming it was engaged during accidents and a news report that federal regulators are probing a possible securities law violation. The federal Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing whether Tesla, which sold $1.4 billion in stock in mid-May to pay for expanded production, withheld material information about a fatal crash in Florida earlier in the month, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
EU
QuickTake Q&A: How U.K. and Europe Might Relate After Breakup (Bloomberg) The “divorce” of the UK from the EU won’t be like moving the two entities to different planets. Bloomberg has a graphic representation of how things might work out.
UK
FTSE enters bull market territory as it closes more than 20 per cent up on February’s low (City A.M.) The FTSE100 has entered bull market territory, closing yesterday at 6,682.86 – more than 20% higher than the low of 5,537 that it hit on 11 February this year. The bounce has been led by a recovery in mining stocks, plus a boost from the falling pound which has augmented the Sterling value of overseas earnings streams generated by many of the big blue chips. Analysts say the positive mood was helped by the confirmation of Theresa May as Conservative party leader, along with the expectation of an interest rate cut and possibly news of more quantitative easing from the Bank of England on Thursday.
Over 1,000 barristers write to Cameron branding the Brexit outcome “not legally binding” (City A.M.) ​The legal clamor against the result of the EU referendum is growing, with over 1,000 barristers branding the outcome “not legally binding” and demanding that leaving the EU be subject to an Act of Parliament. The barristers are writing to Prime Minister David Cameron this week to call for MPs to be given a free vote on any such Act and for the creation of a Royal Commission, or other equivalent independent body, to examine the consequences of triggering Article 50, the mechanism by which a member state starts the process of leaving the EU.
The government has quietly been testing blockchain technology for benefits payments (City A.M.) The government has quietly been testing out blockchain technology to make benefit payments, it has been revealed. The department of work and pensions (DWP) has worked with Barclays, Npower, University College London and a UK-based distributed ledger platform startup called GovCoin to create an app which tracks spending. Welfare reform minister Lord Freud said at a payments conference earlier this week:
“Claimants are using an app on their phones through which they are receiving and spending their benefit payments. With their consent, their transactions are being recorded on a distributed ledger to support their financial management.”
Syria
Syrian army declares temporary, nationwide truce (Associated Press) The Syrian military declared a unilateral, three-day cease-fire for the entire country on Wednesday, coinciding with the start of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, state media reported. The military’s nationwide truce is set to expire at midnight Friday, according to a state TV report. The truce is not expected to affect the fight against the Islamic State group, which is battling government troops, rebels and other forces on a number of fronts. IS claimed a suicide bombing outside a bakery on Tuesday in a Kurdish-controlled part of the northeastern Hassakeh province. It was the third major attack claimed by the group in the final week of Ramadan, following a massive bombing in Baghdad that killed 175 people and an assault in Bangladesh that killed 22. The Kurdish Hawar News Agency said Wednesday that 20 people died in the bakery bombing, while the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put it at 25. Syrian state media had initially reported 10 dead on Tuesday.
India
Nation That Suffered Worst Drought in Decades Is Water Exporter (Bloomberg) India is running out of water due to wasteful local practices, government mismanagement of resources and simple lack of understanding of the limited nature of the resource. Things are going to get worse – see graphic.
Brazil
How the Megarich Soak Brazil (Bloomberg) For the first time in the country’s history the rich and powerful are endiong up in courts, charged with corruption. The state/oligarchy compex corruption is at least a century old; the cases being brought in courts are new.
