Authored by Patrick O’Shaughnessy via InvestorsFieldGuide.com, My guest this week is Danny Moses, who was directly in the middle of the biggest trades in market history, chronicled by Michael Lewis in his book the Big Short. Danny was the head trader on the Frontpoint team led by Steve Eisman, which was one of a small group of firms that figured out, in real time, the dire situation […]
Forget high-speed cameras capturing 100,000 images per second. A research group has developed a camera that can film at a rate equivalent to five trillion images per second, or events as short as 0.2 trillionths of a second. This is faster than has previously been possible. (via WSJ)
By Liana B. Baker and John Tilak Shaw Communications (SJRb.TO) is looking for a buyer for ViaWest, the U.S. data center company it bought three years ago, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Canadian cable company continues to shed assets it considers non-core. The sale of ViaWest would be Shaw’s latest step to streamline its operations. Last year it sold its media assets to […]
Combining digital and analog components in nonlinear, chaos-based integrated circuits can improve their computational power by enabling processing of a larger number of inputs, new research shows. (via WSJ)
Authored by Jeffrey Snider via Alhambra Investment Partners, Back on March 10, the New York Fed’s attempt at real-time GDP forecasting predicted that the Q1 2017 estimate would be 3.2%. That would have qualified as another decent quarter, the second out of the past three and somewhat in keeping with “reflation.” As we know today, the advance figure calculated by the Commerce Department amounted to just 0.69% […]
Airline stocks were grounded on Thursday after American Airlines unexpectedly offered to raise wages for its crew members, exacerbating investor concerns over industry costs. American Airlines fell the most in 10 months, dropping 8.6 per cent to a two-week low of $42.41, after the company proposed giving its pilots and flight attendants an average pay bump of 8 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. The pay […]
By Giselda Vagnoni and Agnieszka Flak | ROME/MILAN ROME/MILAN Italians are watching their flag carrier Alitalia go into yet another financial tailspin, and a growing number of them believe it would be better for the country if it crashed. Outraged at repeated state bailouts that have cost taxpayers more than 7 billion euros ($7.62 billion) over a decade, many Italians are taking to social media to urge […]
ABU DHABI // Driving behaviour needs to change if laws are to be effective in improving safety and compliance, according to the experts. Robert Hodges, a driver education and road safety expert, said new laws are beneficial but they will be workable only if motorists are willing to adapt their driving to them. “The underlying problem, which continues to exist, is that the authorities need to change […]
President Donald Trump’s populist views, reality television stardom, and penchant for Twitter insults all but guaranteed an out-of-the-ordinary first 100 days for the billionaire political neophyte. A look at the data reveals how Mr Trump compares with previous Oval Office occupants. Bills signed into law Enacted legislation for last seven presidents in first 100 days Source: govtrack.us The White House touts that Mr Trump has accomplished more […]
Of 35 bridge collapses analyzed, floods caused 13, erosion of sediments around bridge foundations — scour — caused 16, a hurricane caused 1 and other influences (such as waterborne or hydraulic debris) caused 5. Superimposed H denotes sites where a hurricane or tropical storm occurred and may have influenced bridge collapse. Area of circles is proportional to drainage area of bridge sites. Credit: Flint, et al. The […]
A team of researchers has managed to generate cartilage tissue by printing stem cells using a 3-D-bioprinter. The fact that the stem cells survived being printed in this manner is a success in itself. In addition, the research team was able to influence the cells to multiply and differentiate to form chondrocytes (cartilage cells) in the printed structure. (via WSJ)
By Ahmad Sultan | MEHTAR LAM, Afghanistan MEHTAR LAM, Afghanistan In his first public speech since signing a peace deal with the Afghan government, one of Afghanistan’s most notorious warlords on Saturday called for the Taliban to stop fighting and begin negotiations. “I invite you to join the peace caravan and stop the pointless, meaningless and unholy war,” Gulbuddin Hekmatyar said to a gathering of his followers […]
Hotels in Saudi Arabia suffered during the first quarter of 2017 with occupancy, rates and revenues all showing double-digit decreases, according to new figures. Data released by hospitality analysts STR revealed that hotel occupancy across the Gulf kingdom averaged 58.3 percent in Q1, down 10.4 percent on the year-earlier period. STR also said that average daily rates (ADR) in Saudi Arabia slumped by 12 percent to SR578.09 […]
Researchers have used a nanosecond pulsed electric field to extract hydrocarbons from microalgae. By using the shorter duration pulse, they were able to extract a large amount of hydrocarbons from the microalgae in a shorter amount of time, using less energy, and in a more efficient manner than current methods. (via WSJ)
By Jeffrey Dastin | SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Amazon.com Inc’s ventures far beyond online retail, from cloud computing to movie making, are raising questions among corporate strategy experts about its focus. The Seattle-based company wowed Wall Street again this week with a 23 percent jump in sales, pushing its shares to an all-time high. But there are concerns that if blockbuster growth stops, investors may come to […]
Liberia is once again under the close watch of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after a mystery illness has claimed 11 lives to date. While symptoms of the mystery illness mimic those of early stage Ebola, samples from the deceased tested negative for the disease. Mystery Illness Investigations are now underway after 11 individuals, most of whom […]
At Al Azhar, he embraced the mosque’s Grand Imam, Ahmad al-Tayeb, who urged the West not to hold an entire religion “accountable for the crimes of any small group of followers.” Continue reading the main story Pope Francis then turned to matters of state, seeking to encourage progress on human rights from his host, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Mr. Sisi ousted the Muslim Brotherhood in a military […]
The gelatinous jaw of a sea worm, which becomes hard or flexible depending on the environment around it, has inspired researchers to develop a new material that can be applied to soft robotics. Despite having the texture of a gel, this compound is endowed with great mechanical resistance and consistency, and is able to adapt to changing environments. (via WSJ)
The press freedom situation in the United States is worsening not only because of President Trump’s anti-press rhetoric but because of a constellation of factors including arrests, detainment, lawsuits, physical violence and outright censorship, according to a new report. The report, released by the London-based Index on Censorship this week, chronicles the recent threats to journalist safety and freedom of expression and takes a holistic view of […]
Average apartment sales prices in Abu Dhabi fell by 1 percent in the first quarter of 2017 while villa prices slumped by 9 percent amid wide-scale downsizing in the emirate, according to Chestertons. The real estate agency’s Abu Dhabi Residential Market Q1 2017 report also said rents for apartments and villas fell by 3 percent in the same period. “Sales prices are expected to further decline due […]
The Government Accountability Institute, a conservative investigative research group run by conservative writer Peter Schweizer, received roughly $1.7 million. Schweizer is the author of “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.” Bannon helped found the group, which the Washington Post reported paid Bannon $376,000 over four years for serving on its board, even as he ran […]
‘Demagogic’ populism does not help cause of peace. The pope invoked Egypt’s “glorious history” as an ancient cradle of civilization to argue on Friday that the delivery of a more peaceful future required a new civility that appreciated differences, resisted the violent path of close-minded absolutism and condemned extremists who camouflage terror in religious language. Continue reading the main story “An education in respectful openness and sincere […]
New day, new leak. A US online pet store has exposed the details of more than 110,400 credit cards used to make purchases through its website, researchers have found. In a stunning show of poor security, the Austin, TX-based company FuturePets.com exposed its entire customer database, including names, postal and email addresses, phone numbers, credit card information, and plain-text passwords. Several customers that we reached out to […]
Researchers have found that a material which incorporates atomically thin layers of water is able to store and deliver energy much more quickly than the same material that doesn’t include the water layers. The finding raises some interesting questions about the behavior of liquids when confined at this scale and holds promise for shaping future energy-storage technologies. (via WSJ)
