August 13
Stocks drifted lower toward the close as oil touched a six-year low (paywall). Light sweet crowd dropped 2.5%, to $42.23/barrel — 31% below its June high this year and 60% below June 2014. Nonetheless, economists are betting on a September rate hike, which sent Treasury bonds down, breaking a three-day rally. Stocks were mostly unchanged, trading in a narrow range after Wednesday’s wild ride. On deck for earnings Thursday afternoon: Nordstrom’s (Macy’s disappointed); Applied Materials, and China’s social media company Weibo.
Here’s what else you need to know:
Syriza ready to split as far-left calls for “new movement.” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is asking parliament to approve higher taxes and spending cuts so Greece can access 85 billion euros in new loans. The vote is slated for early Friday. Reuters
If you have small hands, you’re out of luck. Samsung is launching two ginormous phones. The Galaxy Note 5, which comes with a pen, and Galaxy S6 Edge+, which has a curved screen. Wired
Jessica Alba’s valuation is poppin’. Alba’s hot new company The Honest Co. raised $100 million at a $1.7 billion valuation. The actress’s company has taken off, despite controversy over the quality of products. It appeals to parents who want all-natural and eco-friendly products for their families and homes. Business Insider
Big Bird and John Snow are now best friends. HBO struck a deal with Sesame Street to air the next five seasons of the show first. PBS and its member stations will get a second shot at the beloved show, airing it for free later. Fortune
The Donald made millions from multi-level marketing firm. Donald Trump has made millions of dollars over the last decade from ACN, a multi-level marketing firm that has come under regulatory fire globally for sketchy business practices. Trump has endorsed ACN and featured it on “The Celebrity Apprentice.” Wall Street Journal
Head of AQR trading fired. Hitesh Mittal was fired from his position as head of trading at AQR Capital Management due to his previous role at Investment Technology Group. Before 2012, Mittal worked as head of liquidity management at ITG, which just agreed to pay $20.3 million in fines to the SEC over a secret trading project. Wall Street Journal
The PBOC held a rare and possibly ominous presser. The bank asserted, among other things, that reports about them wanting a 10% deval were “groundless” and that there was no basis for continued currency depreciation. Hearing nothing new, the A-share markets went ballistic, sending the Shanghai Index down 0.62% and the Shenzhen Composite down 0.6%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index meanwhile rallied on the back of the less-aggressive fix, finishing the morning up 0.3%, while over in Japan, retail giant Fast Retailing and software juggernaut Trend Micro helped the Nikkei rebound 0.6%.
China sets renminbi fix down 1.1%. Fed faces rate dilemma. Again. markets were feeling pretty confident about a rate hike in September but the wild currency moves overseas may prompt the Federal Reserve to reconsider its next move. Stocks globally have been hit as the weaker yuan makes imports pricier and crushes commodity prices even further.
Unless there is no dilemma for the Fed. NY Fed president Bill Dudley expressed some concern over the recent lowering of the yuan, saying that while it’s too early to tell, “what is going on in China has…very significant implications for commodity prices” as well as “huge implications for the world economy.” As for the Fed’s lift-off timing, he said “I am not going to tell you when…but we are certainly getting nearer to that point.” Wall Street Journal
Vice President Biden mulls presidential run further. The vacationing vice president is sounding out friends. Bad news for Hillary Clinton, who has yet to command the full-throttled support of the Democratic Party despite being the clear front-runner. Clinton has been plagued with scandal, most recently surrounding her use of a private email server while Secretary of State. Wall Street Journal (paywall)
Lenovo to cut 3,200 jobs. After posting a nasty, 51% drop in net profits, Chinese personal computer giant Lenovo announced that it plans to cut expenses by $650 million for the second half of the year by axing up to 5% of its total workers. SCMP (paywall)
Japanese machinery orders sunk in June. Month-on-month machinery orders in the land of the rising sun came fell 7.9% in June – its most in over a year – raising concerns over the nation’s economic situation for the second quarter. Reuters
Explosions shake China port, killing dozens. Blasts erupted in Tianjin, in northeast China, Wednesday night. The eruption was likely from a shipment of explosives in the port city. Forty-four people were killed and more than 500 people were wounded. Wall Street Journal
Blockbuster piece on ISIS and the “theology of rape.” It’s a recruiting tool. The New York Times. (paywall)
Noted: Former President Jimmy Carter, 90, has cancer that has spread through his body…. More than 50 people killed in truck bomb in Iraq… Tinder CEO Christopher Payne steps down after five months. BBC, CNN Money
You won’t believe this:
Warren Harding had a love child. Genetic tests confirmed that the 29th president of the U.S. fathered a love child with a woman 31 years younger than him while in office. The Nan Britton-Harding scandal had long left fingers pointing at Britton for being a liar and a “pervert” looking for money. Turns out, she was right. New York Times
Tinder CEO steps down. Christopher Payne is leaving Tinder after just give months as CEO. Sean Rad, the founder and president of Tinder, will replace him. Maybe that Vanity Fair piece just upset him too much. Wealth-X
This man is living life as a goat. Really. In the Swiss Alps, with the help of goat prosthetics. He consulted experts to achieve this de-evolution. Vice
Photo: Joshua Doubek