Random Market News, 11 September 2017

 

Market Info. 1

Real Assets. 4

Logistics. 5

Tech. 6

Random.. 7

Events on 9/12 (ET) 7

 

 

Market Info

 

"Asia Extends Global Equity Rally as Bonds Slide: Markets Wrap.

Asian equities took another leg higher after the S&P 500 Index rose to a record high and Treasuries tumbled, with less damage than originally feared from Hurricane Irma supporting the case for a gradually improving U.S. economy."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-11/asia-to-extend-global-equity-rally-as-bonds-slide-markets-wrap

 

"$150 Billion Misfire: How Forecasters Got Irma Damage Wrong.

By one estimate, the total cost dropped to about $50 billion Monday from $200 billion over the weekend. The state escaped the worst because Irma’s powerful eye shifted westward, away from the biggest population center of sprawling Miami-Dade County."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-11/-150-billion-misfire-how-forecasters-got-irma-damage-so-wrong

 

"France, Germany, Italy, Spain seek tax on digital giants' revenue.

France, Germany, Italy and Spain want digital multinationals like Amazon and Google to be taxed in Europe based on their revenues, rather than only profits as now, their finance ministers said in a joint letter.

Currently such companies are often taxed on profits booked by subsidiaries in low-tax countries like Ireland even though the revenue originated from other EU countries.

They urged the Commission to come up with a solution creating an “equalization tax” on turnover that would bring taxation to the level of corporate tax in the country where the revenue was earned."

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-tax-digital/france-germany-italy-spain-seek-tax-on-digital-giants-revenues-idUSKCN1BK0HX

Seems consistent with broader BEPS implementation.

 

"Volkswagen plans electric option for all models by 2030.

Volkswagen, the world's biggest carmaker, will offer an electric version of all its 300 models by 2030, becoming the latest manufacturer to move away from petrol and diesel.

The German firm plans to offer 80 new electric cars across the group by 2025.

It comes as Mercedes-Benz also promised electric versions of all its cars.

Mercedes chief Dieter Zetsche said the entire range would have electric or hybrid versions by 2022."

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41231766

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-frankfurt-electrics/carmakers-face-electric-reality-as-combustion-engine-outlook-dims-idUSKCN1BN00X

 

"ISM report takes deep dive on impact of Harvey on manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.

In its Supplemental ISM Report on Business Hurricane Harvey Report, the ISM asked members of its Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing Business Survey Committees to assess how Harvey may impact various business metrics and whether they may be impacted by shortages of input materials resultant from Harvey."

http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/ism_report_takes_deep_dive_on_impact_of_harvey_on_manufacturing_and_non_man

 

"Buy-side looking to overhaul sec finance activities – consultant.

Agent banks, responding to regulatory capital pressures, are looking to offer more flexible and creative solutions to their customers.

These include dynamic indemnification and fee split structures as well as exploring ways to allow customers to make loans on a peer-to-peer basis, manage their own cash collateral and clear trades in central counterparties (CCPs).

On the demand side, extendable structures on collateral transformation trades are popular as borrowers seek relief under Basel III’s liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) requirements, which require banks to hold sufficient high quality liquid assets (HQLA) to satisfy cash outflow needs over a 30-day stress period."

https://globalinvestorgroup.com/articles/3688558/buy-side-looking-to-overhaul-sec-finance-activities-consultant

 

Data dump.

 

VIX ~10.73. 10-yr treasury volatility (TYVIX) ~4.27.

http://www.cboe.com/products/vix-index-volatility/volatility-on-interest-rates

 

Implied Fed rate hike/cut probability for September 20th is ~0.0%/1.4%, November 1st is ~2.0%/1.3%.

http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/interest-rates/countdown-to-fomc.html/

 

10yr Sovereigns.

https://www.investing.com/rates-bonds/government-bond-spreads

https://tradingeconomics.com/bonds

 

FX.

https://www.investing.com/currencies/streaming-forex-rates-majors

https://tradingeconomics.com/currencies

 

Equity.

https://www.investing.com/indices/major-indices

https://tradingeconomics.com/stocks

 

Commodities.

https://www.investing.com/commodities/real-time-futures

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodities

 

News feed.

https://tradingeconomics.com/stream

http://www.marketwatch.com/newsviewer#

https://global.handelsblatt.com/

 

Logistics

 

"Irma causes chaos at US ports and airports.

Florida was in shutdown mode this morning as Hurricane Irma made landfall late afternoon local time on Sunday and battered the US state’s east and west coasts.

Airports and ports across the state were closed all weekend and key transport hubs in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia were braced for high winds and storm surges later today as Irma- now downgraded to Category 1 – moved northwards. Miami International Airport reportedly received water damage during the storm, although some limited flights are expected to resume tomorrow."

http://www.lloydsloadinglist.com/freight-directory/news/Irma-causes-chaos-at-US-ports-and-airports/70301.htm

 

"Two EU Ports Plan $1.2 Billion Merger.

The authorities of the Belgian Port of Ghent and the Dutch port of Zeeland have penned a merger agreement for submitting to shareholders and works councils.

If proposals are accepted, a new name for the unified cross-border port area and the merged company will be announced. This is provisionally planned for December 8, 2017."

https://www.porttechnology.org/news/two_eu_ports_plan_1.2_billion_merger

 

Tech

 

"As global startup exits grow, Europe sees its profile rise.

Looking at the number of exits produced and the total dollar volume those liquidity events commanded, the European startup scene has shown growth over the past year."

https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/11/as-global-startup-exits-grow-europe-sees-its-profile-rise/

 

"U.S. to unveil streamlined autonomous vehicle guidelines Tuesday.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao will unveil on Tuesday streamlined safety guidelines for automakers that want to deploy self-driving vehicles, a person briefed on the matter said Monday, as members of Congress push their own proposals to remove regulatory barriers to the technology."

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-vehicles/u-s-to-unveil-streamlined-autonomous-vehicle-guidelines-tuesday-idUSKCN1BM2TM

 

"A New Source of Private Credit: the Crowd.

Venture capital-backed Orchard seeks to bring a crowdfunding approach to the institutional private lending market, a space dominated by banks and other intermediaries.

Orchard, which operates an online crowdfunding marketplace for small business owners and others, launched a product on Tuesday that connects hedge funds, institutional investors, and others directly to loan originators.

The new offering, called Deals, aims to give investors access to a wide range of investments, including secondary loans and credit facilities, as well as underlying data."

http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/3750242/banking-and-capital-markets-corporations/a-new-source-of-private-credit-the-crowd.html

 

"UPS Foundation to test drones for Hurricane Harvey disaster relief in Texas.

The tethered drone will be able to go up to 400 feet at a fixed location for aerial observation with a 30x zoom camera with 10 miles of visibility. Because it is tethered and powered from the ground, and can be hooked up to a generator, it can continue operating for days or weeks."

http://www.myajc.com/business/ups-foundation-test-drones-for-hurricane-harvey-disaster-relief-texas/4lqcGe8wdsd6Wi2fXdlemI/

 

"Why U.S. Battery Startups Fail, and How to Fix It.

Battery startups in the United States have largely failed, even when supported by major investors such as Bill Gates, Hanson adds. For instance, only 36 battery startups received more than $500,000 in funding since 2000, and of these only two returned more money than was invested into them, according to tech industry analysis firm CB Insights.

Based on the pharmaceutical industry's track record of success with startups, the researchers propose a number of recommendations for battery startups..."

https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/consumer-electronics/portable-devices/why-us-battery-startups-fail

Areas with broad ecosystems (including research and government) tend to do better, and this is prevalent in Asian hubs where batteries are made at industrial scale.

 

"Otoy is planning a blockchain peer-to-peer GPU rendering network.

Urbach’s latest plan is to create a peer-to-peer network that can get owners of GPUs (graphics processing units) paid for letting their idle machines be used by others for complicated rendering tasks. As part of the plan, the company aims to raise $134 million through the distribution of so-called “Render Tokens,” enabling Urbach and cofounder Alissa Grainger to build out the technology."

https://venturebeat.com/2017/09/09/otoy-is-planning-a-blockchain-peer-to-peer-gpu-rendering-network/

 

"Shoe sensor will protect your back from heavy lifting.

People often don’t realise that they’re not adopting the right posture when lifting heavy items, says Eya Barkallah at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi in Canada. So Barkallah and her colleagues created a pair of wearable sensors that can detect when someone isn’t using the right posture while they’re lifting or carrying something heavy."

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2146973-shoe-sensor-will-protect-your-back-from-heavy-lifting/

 

"Autonomous Robots Plant, Tend, and Harvest Entire Crop of Barley.

During the Hands Free Hectare project, no human set foot on the field between planting and harvest—everything was done by robots."

https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robots/autonomous-robots-plant-tend-and-harvest-entire-crop-of-barley

 

"Watch Out for Hype: Science 'Spin' is Prevalent, Researchers Warn.

More than a quarter of biomedical scientific papers may utilize practices that distort the interpretation of results or mislead readers so that results are viewed more favorably, a new study published in the open access journal PLOS Biology, suggests."

https://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2017/09/watch-out-hype-science-spin-prevalent-researchers-warn

 

Startup/SME of the Day.

 

"Have it Back.

You have lost something? You want to not only search on your own, but want others to help you as well? Just enter your lost item here – quickly and easily."

https://www.haveitback.com/

 

Random

 

"Curzon Hall.

The fight to make Bangladesh an official language started in this stunning university hall.

In 1948, when Pakistan and Bangladesh were one country, the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan chose Urdu and English to be its official languages. This event occurred within the walls of this impressive Bangladesh university building and sparked the Bengali Language Movement, which advocated the use of Bengali as an official language."

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/curzon-hall

 

Events on 9/12 (ET)


Italy  IT: Unemployment Rate, 4:00 AM ET

Great Britain  GB: CPI, 4:30 AM ET

Great Britain  GB: Producer Price Index, 4:30 AM ET

USA  US: NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, 6:00 AM ET

India  IN: CPI, 8:00 AM ET

India  IN: Industrial Production, 8:00 AM ET

USA  US: Redbook, 8:55 AM ET

USA  US: JOLTS, 10:00 AM ET

Japan  JP: Producer Price Index, 7:50 PM ET

 

http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3063-globalEconomicCalendar.html

https://tradingeconomics.com/calendar (More complete listing, including consensus)