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By David Alexander NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (Reuters) – The Pentagon is teaming up with Apple, Boeing, Harvard and others to develop high-tech sensory gear flexible enough to be worn by people or molded onto the outside of a jet. The rapid development of new technologies is forcing the Pentagon to seek partnerships with the private sector rather than developing its technology itself, defense officials say. “I’ve been pushing the Pentagon
China’s largest banks warned of a tough year after posting their weakest half-yearly profit growth in at least six years as a slowing economy forces the lenders to make even more provisions for soured loans and squeezes interest income.
The market selloff hasn’t run its course, even with two-straight trading sessions ending sharply higher, Strategas’ Jason Trennert warns.
U.S. consumer sentiment fell in August, a survey released on Friday showed. The University of Michigan’s final August reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 91.9, down from 93.1 in July. It was lower than the survey’s preliminary reading of 92.9.
The price of oil has tumbled 58% this year to reach a six-year low earlier this week. Even if prices stay at these levels, chances are they won’t impact the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate plans.
Last week I wrote about the dangers of vacant seats at the financial regulatory agencies. Bloomberg reported this week that regulators are privately discussing giving the biggest Wall Street firms a break on rules guarding against excessive leverage. Just looking at the Chinese stock market crash, fueled by “margin trading” funded through borrowing, reveals the hazards of excessive leverage.
There are at least three core challenges facing the market: A badly broken trend, the still-dangerous winds of this volatility storm, and the Fed’s response to all the noise.
Investors pulled a record amount of money out of global equity funds in the week to Aug. 26, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, a measure of the alarm that China’s markets and economy have aroused around the world. The $29.5 billion outflow, including $19 billion in just one day, was the largest since the series began in 2002, surpassing any weekly outflow engendered by the collapse of Lehman
U.S. consumers increased their spending moderately in July, as wages and salaries made their biggest jump in eight months. Spending rose 0.3 percent in July, helped by purchases of big-ticket items such …
The carnage of the last week – even with Wednesday’s and Thursday’s rebound – has been particularly acute for investors who have seen their overweight positions in companies such as social media site Facebook, pharmaceutical company Valeant, internet retailer Netflix, carmaker Tesla Motors and renewable energy company SunEdison get pummeled in the last days. As a result, people who have money with David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital, Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors,
