Links for 12/28

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This is one of the most hotly debated topics in the field of nutrition. Just as fat used to be, carbs are now accused of causing weight gain, heart disease and all sorts of other problems.

9 reasons people shouldn't fear carbs - Business Insider

Comcast announced this week that it has successfully tested the world's first DOCSIS 3.1 modem in Philadelphia. That probably sounds like a mumbo-jumbo to you, so let's put it in simple terms. This means Comcast has figured out how to use its existing cable lines to deliver superfast gigabit-internet speeds without having to do major work on its current infrastructure.

Comcast activates first DOCSIS 3.1 modem

"One of my big themes for 2016 is that German exporters are really going to outperform," said Boris Schlossberg, managing director at BK Asset Management. "They have a lot of tailwind behind them with the lower euro." Specifically, Schlossberg sees potential in the Wisdom Tree German Hedged Equity ETF (DXGE). What makes this ETF particularly compelling to Schlossberg is the fact that the DXGE hedges out currency exposure. "I not bullish on the euro, so I think this is a good trade," Schlossberg said Tuesday on CNBC's "Power Lunch."

Buy these two ETFs for 2016: Traders

"If we do see some rate increases coming, because it reflects a stronger economy, nobody is going to not buy a house because the mortgage rates went up," Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf said the Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference earlier this month. "They can choose a different product and probably get the same rate. The same thing is true for small businesses." But Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan doesn’t agree with Stumpf. "If you see rates rise, you'll see the mortgage market slow down," Moynihan said at same event earlier this month, before the Federal Reserve raised rates. At still the same event, Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwarzman noted that most interest-rate hikes have typically resulted in an uptick in home prices. "Twenty-five out of 26 times when interest rates went up, home prices went up," Schwarzman said.

Housing impact of rising interest rates

It’s in a popular part of London, it has a long lease, it’s handy for the station – and it’s on the market at a guide price of just £75,000. A Christmas miracle? Not quite. The property, being marketed as “the least expensive flat in London”, does come with a catch: its compact size means you will need to pay in cash to secure it. The online estate agent Purplebricks, which is handling the sale, describes it as “an exceptionally rare opportunity for a first-time buyer, landlord or commuter seeking a bolthole to purchase a property in a desirable part of London for the same price as a high-end family car”. There’s just 75 sq ft (just under 7 sq metres) of living space, but the agent promises “bright accommodation that includes a sleeping area with compact kitchenette (mini fridge and microwave included) plus a separate wet room with shower and WC”.

The cheapest flat in London? Clapton 'studio' on sale for £75k | Money | The Guardian

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Her apologia draws on a contentious study by Fed staff in Washington that there is more slack in the economy than meets the eye. She argues that after seven years of drought and "supply-side damage" it may make sense to run the economy hotter than would normally be healthy in order to draw discouraged workers back into the labour market and to ignite a long-delayed revival of investment.

Chinese devaluation is a bigger danger than Fed rate rises - Telegraph

While the notion that fossil fuels are to blame for global warming is still hotly debated, the negative health effects from coal mining and coal-fired power-gen cannot be refuted. The release of mercury, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, plus other hazardous substances, cause respiratory problems, congestive heart failure, cancer, nervous system damage, and in the end, shortened life expectancy. Clean coal and carbon-capture and storage (CCS) technologies alleviate the emissions problem, but can never eliminate it. CCS technology has also been slow to progress: to date, only one commercial-scale plant is operating.

5 reasons for the death of coal - Business Insider

Commercial rents hit a record £1,000 per sq ft this year, pricing out many retailers. And Oxford Street is one of the world’s most polluted streets, even though almost all its traffic is made up of buses and taxis. The half-a-million daily visitors are taking their lungs in their hands, and even their lives – three of its pedestrian crossings number among the 10 most dangerous in the country, according to the Department of Transport.

Death and shopping: the story of Oxford Street, London's 'urban nightmare' | Cities | The Guardian

The GoTenna accessory can help you text and share locations from your smartphone, even when you don't have any cell service. WSJ's Geoffrey Fowler took it into the woods to test it out.

How to Use Your Smartphone When There's No Service

The effect of Sinatra’s popularity on his audience and his background in street politics were enough for the FBI to open a file on him in the 1940s, a file that eventually grew to over 2,000 pages, covering his rumoured (and hotly contested) connections with organised crime, his anti-racist views and liberal politics and his burgeoning relationship on the campaign trail with Jack Kennedy.

BBC - Culture - Frank Sinatra at 100: Was Ol’ Blue Eyes really dangerous?

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For a one-time payment of 6,800 yuan ($1,050), Liu’s firm provides a crash course on stock manipulators in China: how to anticipate their targets, how to spot their trades and -- most importantly -- how to profit by following in their tracks. The three-month class is one of at least 100 across the country that promise insight into Zhuang Jia, a local term for market manipulators that portrays them as holding the upper hand.

Dancing With Wolves: Why Chinese Traders Love Manipulated Stocks - Bloomberg Business

"The reason why Wall Street guys party so hard is because they're not happy with their jobs," she explained to me. "You make money, but you're not happy, so you go out and splurge on strip clubs and drinking and drugs, then the money depletes and you have to make it again. The dancers are the same way. You make money, but then you're depressed, so you end up shopping or going on vacation, and the money depletes, so you go back ..."

Ex-stripper's theory on why Wall Street men go to strip clubs - Business Insider

"Prime is really the story for Amazon," Schachter told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Wednesday. "Right now, we can confidently state that about 25 percent of all U.S. homes are already Prime. If you grow that 30 percent in '16, 20 percent in '17, and 10 percent thereafter by 2020, you get to 50 percent of U.S. homes being Prime. We think that is a game changer."

Amazon’s growth might mean 'game over' for competition: Analyst

While Amazon is traditionally tight-lipped about sharing exact numbers on Prime membership, in 2013, the company said that it had "tens of millions" of Prime members worldwide, and at the end of 2014, the company said global Prime subscriptions were up 53% and North America subscriptions were up 50%.

Amazon (AMZN) Was Definitely the Biggest Winner This Christmas Season - TheStreet

Spanish shops are now hiring at pre-crisis levels, while business confidence is also holding up in Italy, according to official figures. Spain's national statistics agency said retail hiring in November grew 1.8% on last year, the fastest rate since Spain entered a deep recession in 2008. In Italy, figures on Tuesday showed business confidence fell in December, but remained close to recent highs.

Spain and Italy receive economic recovery boost - BBC News

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"And the Sahara desert is so big that if there is cloudy weather, it's localised, and with thermal storage, it can provide absolutely reliable power. "Where I'm from in the US, Boston gets a huge amount of electricity from northern Quebec, which is about 1,000 miles away, via a single power cable. They're not hard to build as long as you get political approval from all the jurisdictions you're going through. "They don't lose much power. Maybe over 1,000 miles you lose 2%.

Should we solar panel the Sahara desert? - BBC News

Global economic growth will be disappointing next year and the outlook for the medium-term has also deteriorated, the head of the International Monetary Fund said in a guest article for German newspaper Handelsblatt published on Wednesday.

Global growth will be disappointing in 2016: IMF's Lagarde - Yahoo Finance

Players comfort referee who was reduced to tears after abuse from supporters

Tunisian referee cries after abuse from supporters – comforted by players | Metro News

Throughout history, borders have caused unfathomable bloodshed, ageless feuds and decades-old legal disputes, which makes plans for a friendly exchange of land between the Netherlands and Belgium all the more remarkable. The reason for such magnanimity? “Because it makes sense to do so,” says Marcel Neven, the mayor of Vise, Belgium.

Belgium and the Netherlands swap land – because it 'makes sense' | World news | The Guardian

Samsung, the Korean electronics conglomerate, wants to take it up a notch. The company said Tuesday that it's working on a so-called "bio-processor" packed with sophisticated measuring tools that can track metrics like body fat, stress level, skeletal muscle mass, heart rate and rhythm, and skin temperature.

Samsung's working on a chip that may finally make fitness trackers useful - CNET

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"Smart beta" was the most searched-for term on investing dictionary website Investopedia.com in 2015. And this tells you everything you need to know about how anxious investors have felt this year.

'Smart beta' most searched term of 2015 - Business Insider

Zweig's description of Europe in the years leading up to 1914 is intoxicating. Everything seemed to be getting better: wealth was spreading, people were healthier, women were breaking free.

The world's political and economic order is stronger than it looks - Telegraph

We experience Canadian nice as soon as we reach customs. The US border guards are gruff and all business. The Canadians, by contrast, are unfailingly polite, even as they grill us about the number of wine bottles we’re bringing into the country. One year, we had failed to notice that our 9-year-old daughter’s passport had expired. They, nicely, let us enter anyway. The niceness continues for our entire trip, as we encounter nice waiters, nice hotel clerks, nice strangers.

BBC - Travel - Can Canada teach the rest of us to be nicer?

Congratulations, my fellow Americans! We’re not the rudest nation on the planet. We’re not even in the top 5. USA! USA! The travel search site Skyscanner.com surveyed its users about where the locals never smile and people are particularly unfriendly, and the nation with the most votes for rudest locals was… Wait for it… France (félicitations, mes amis!), followed by Russia. The survey received over 1,200 responses, 65 percent from the UK and Ireland, plus elsewhere in Europe, North America and Australia.

The World's Rudest Nations For Travelers - Forbes

Drinkers will be advised to cut back on alcohol for at least two days a week under new public health guidelines, according to reports. The chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, is also expected to announce a reduction in the recommended maximum daily intake of alcohol for men, dropping to the same level as that for women, the Daily Mail said. The guidelines are to say there is no safe alcohol limit and even drinking small amounts could cause illnesses including cancer.

No safe alcohol limit, new guidelines to say | Society | The Guardian

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But 2015, believe it or not, was also a year of positive developments, many of which were underreported. Generally speaking, good-news stories aren’t as dramatic or as salient as bad news, so journalists and news organizations tend to give them short shrift.

Six Bits of Good News from 2015 - The New Yorker

In a client note on Thursday, they outlined what they believe will be the top-10 themes across global markets in the new year, which inform their various forecasts for stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, and everything else in between.

Goldman Sachs' top-market themes for '16

Goldman Sachs' Global Markets Team just released its top trade recommendations for 2016. They include both long and short positions in every financial-asset class, and they span the world. In other words, it's how Goldman Sachs recommends trading the world.

Goldman Sachs 6 top trade recommendations for 2016 - Business Insider

If you are ever in the unfortunate situation of being bound by captors, there may be a chance to get out quickly and safely. Tim Macwelch, Author of "How to Survive Anything" shows how to break out of duct tape and zip ties in a matter of seconds.

Break out of duct tape and zip ties in seconds

A recent study by University College London found patients who stopped drinking alcohol for four weeks saw benefits for their liver function, blood pressure and cholesterol levels and were also at lower risk of developing diabetes and liver disease.

No safe alcohol limit, new guidelines to say | Society | The Guardian

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Corporate insiders sell their own companies' stock for a number of reasons.  They might need the cash for a big personal purchase such as a new house or yacht, or they might need the cash to fund a charity. Sometimes they sell as part of a planned selling program that they have put in place for diversification purposes, which allows them to sell stock in stages instead of selling all at one price. Other times they sell because they think their stock is overvalued and the risk/reward is no longer attractive. Some even dump their own stock because they have inside knowledge that a competitor is eating their lunch and stealing market share.  But insiders usually buy their own shares for one reason: They think the stock is a bargain and has tremendous upside.

5 Stocks Insiders Love for 2016: Angie's List (ANGI), Land's End (LE), Actuant (ATU), Sears (SHLD), Calamos Asset Management (CLMS) - TheStreet

"Drinking more alcohol when you have a hangover, only works temporarily by raising your BAC -- blood alcohol concentration," LabDoor tells TheStreet. "A hangover will return once BAC begins to drop." Don't expect simple sugars to relieve that upset stomach and pounding headache, either. "Glucose or fructose taken after intoxication produced no change in hangover symptoms in a clinical study," the company states. Slugging down a few cups of hot coffee isn't necessarily a great idea, some say. "Alcohol and caffeine are both diuretics, so lots of coffee just leads to more dehydration, which will make a hangover worse," Glass Door points out.

New Year’s Day Hangover Cure? Chances Are, You’re Doing It Wrong - TheStreet

Chilled juices do offer some healthy benefits for Americans who over indulge on New Year's Day (or any day). "Number one, they're packed with potassium," the company explains in an email to TheStreet. "And potassium are naturally occurring electrolytes that hold onto water to decrease dehydration." Healthy juices can promote blood sugar boosting, too, which can alleviate a hangover.

New Year’s Day Hangover Cure? Chances Are, You’re Doing It Wrong - TheStreet

I’ve dated a lot of beautiful women. A friend pointed out I didn’t actually like them, and advised me to make an Excel spreadsheet to find out who I really loved. It came down to Kate [Davey, his long-time PA]. We’d worked together for many years; thankfully she felt the same way and now we’re engaged. I feel I’ve learned more with her in the last three years than the rest of my life.

Paul McKenna: ‘I made a spreadsheet to find out who I really loved’ | Life and style | The Guardian

Ormerod’s team tried something different – and managed to identify the fake passengers in the vast majority of cases. Their secret? To throw away many of the accepted cues to deception and start anew with some startlingly straightforward techniques.

BBC - Future - The best (and worst) ways to spot a liar