01-24-2016, 10:28 PM
Since the stock market began falling at the beginning of this year, there seems to have been a palpable change in the stories we have been hearing. Suddenly there is more willingness to entertain the possibility of a major stock market correction, or of an economic recession. It is no surprise that this kind of talk appears after a market drop: The stock market is perhaps the most famous leading indicator of a recession, though hardly a perfect one. That status has been well known at least since the 1920s. Narrative psychology, as in the work of the New York University psychologist Jerome Bruner, for example, suggests that popular narratives, particularly human interest stories, are fundamental drivers of motivation. Several such narratives are worth looking at more closely.
How Stories Drive the Stock Market - The New York Times
Financial markets seem to be bracing for a global recession. One example of this in action is the bond market, which has "recessionary" fund flows as investors shift their money out of high-yield funds and into government bonds. The economic fundamentals, however, do not signal a recession with such certainty, as my colleague Myles Udland has pointed out.
There's really only one question on Wall Street right now - Business Insider
According to JPMorgan strategist Jan Loeys, US stocks fall on average 30% from their cycle peak in a recession, putting the recession-level S&P500 at 1,500. If there is no recession, stocks should hit 2,200, he said.
There's really only one question on Wall Street right now - Business Insider
Communal spiders work together to build, maintain, and clean their webs. They cooperate in capturing prey, and dine together when they snare a large feast. The females feed their offspring by vomiting up food for them, just like mother birds. They even regurgitate food for juveniles other than their own. In other words, they work together to care for the youngest in the colony. It is a sort of spider day-care.
BBC - Earth - Meet the spiders that have formed armies 50,000 strong
Just two months ago, researchers in China identified a gene that can make bacteria resistant to a last-resort antibiotic called colistin. It was a bombshell discovery for people who follow superbugs. Now that gene has been detected in at least 19 countries, and scientists are alarmed. Colistin is what doctors give you in the U.S. when nothing else works. Because it’s toxic, it can have some harmful side effects, but colistin can help defeat infections that shrug off every other antibiotic in their arsenal. If bacteria resist everything, including colistin, you're out of luck.
A Scary New Superbug Gene Has Reached at Least 19 Countries - Bloomberg Business