10-20-2015, 09:51 PM
The flu season arrives so predictably, and affects so many of us, that it’s hard to believe that scientists have had very little idea why cold weather helps germs to spread. Over the last five years, however, they have finally come up with an answer that might just offer a way to stem the tide of infection – and it revolves around a rather grim fact about the ways that your sneezes linger in the air.
BBC - Future - The real reason germs spread in the winter
First, the Fed says things aren't strong enough to hike rates. Second, we see China putting up very weak numbers. Third, we have major industrial companies like Caterpillar (CAT - Get Report) say things have slowed down. Fourth, we have housing weakening while non-residential construction surveys show a definite pause in building. Fifth, we have major mineral and mining companies like Alcoa (AA - Get Report) say things have gotten quite weak in basic metals. Sixth, we have Delta (DAL - Get Report) yesterday talking about a developing wide-body airplane glut. Seventh, that great job-creating engine, oil and gas, has gone almost full stop because of a huge glut in anything energy. Finally, eighth, the coup de grace: We have the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart (WMT - Get Report) , singing the blues about the need to stop the death by a thousand cuts of weaker same-store sales.
Investing Moves for a No-Growth World; ETF Distortion: Jim Cramer's Best Blogs - TheStreet
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the chief information officer of San Jose called for vendors to develop Wi-Fi phones for the homeless. “What a powerful concept to give a homeless person a Wi-Fi calling smartphone that can charge by solar power, albeit slowly, and has data about city services stored on it -- suddenly we have transformed that person’s life,” said Vijay Sammeta, in a panel discussion at a carrier Wi-Fi event here.
Cellular, Wi-Fi clash heats up - Electronics Eetimes
The NEXT FUNDS Nikkei 225 Leveraged Index ETF–which uses derivatives to provide twice the daily performance of the Nikkei 225 Index–is up 260 percent since launching and despite a big dip over the past two months. That's actually more than two times the return of the index–a phenomenon in leveraged ETFs known as the compounding effect.
Here’s Why Japanese Investors Have Gone Ga-ga Over That Leveraged ETF - Bloomberg Business
The 2015 deficit fell to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, the lowest since 2007 and less than the average of the last 40 years. Last year's deficit was $483 billion, with a deficit-to-GDP ratio of 2.8 percent. Accounting for calendar adjustments, the 2015 fiscal year deficit was $445 billion.
U.S. fiscal year budget deficit narrows to $439 billion | Reuters