Links for 4/6

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A newly released report from Credit Suisse updates the very extensive Top Picks list. With 150 top stock ideas from across every sector, there is a little something for everybody. With almost 10% of the old stocks out, we wanted to focus on the new additions, and we picked these five: Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN), Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) and Triumph Group Inc. (NYSE: TGI).

Credit Suisse Has New Top Picks List of Stocks to Buy - The Allstate Corp (NYSE:ALL) - 24/7 Wall St.

The note also included a table of the stocks they see having the most upside as well as those with the most downside. Top names include Chesapeake Energy, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines.

Goldman: Here's Where U.S. Investors Should Put Their Money for the Rest of the Year - Bloomberg Business

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has reported that its forecast for U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth dropped to zero on April 1 and ticked back up to 0.1% on April 2. The bank uses a unique model called GDPNow to prepare its forecasts, and the model typically estimates growth well below the rate projected by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

US Growth Forecast Chopped to Zero - 24/7 Wall St.

The story I said Summers (as well as David Autor) demolished is the second. There’s no evidence that we are having a technology renaissance right now, or that technology has contributed in a major way to the weak recovery, or that a skills gap or other educational factor is holding back employment, or that highly skilled workers are having a great time in the labor market.

What are the Robots Doing? Rebalancing our Inequality Intellectual Portfolio | Next New Deal

The good news for U.S. stocks is that the bad news isn’t a secret. Expectations as we head into the start of earnings season are very low. However, stocks are a discounting mechanism. If guidance continues to disappoint even an earnings beat won’t be enough.

David Nelson, CFA — Why the stock market is running on empty

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Jim Cramer often teaches investors about game changing elements of the stock market that can impact a portfolio. He has spoken in the past about everything from earnings to commodity prices, but this time he sees something different. This is one thing that could bring down the entire market, and perhaps change history.

Watch out! The market's No.1 enemy right now

Holidays are meant to be a break from the stresses of everyday life - unless you're standing at the airport's baggage carousel an hour after your flight touched down, everyone else has left, and you're facing two weeks on the beach with nothing but the clothes you're wearing. Since 2007, airlines have got better at sending on our luggage to the correct destination. For every 1,000 passengers who fly, there are 7.3 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers today, compared with 18.9 in 2007. But why do our bags disappear in the first place?

Who, What, Why: How is lost luggage found? - BBC News

Earnings expectations have been falling sharply in the past weeks, with the most recent estimate showing a 2.8 percent decline in earnings growth, squeezed by dwindling expectations for the energy sector. The concern about economic growth will increase following Friday's weaker-than-expected data on jobs growth.

Stock markets hope earnings offset weak economic data - Yahoo Finance

Beyond being emblematic of the dollar’s return to its role as the world’s undisputed dominant currency, the drop in reserves has several potential implications for global markets. It could make it harder for emerging-market countries to boost their money supply and shore up faltering economic growth; it could add to declines in the euro; and it could damp demand for U.S. Treasury bonds.

Once Over $12 Trillion, the World’s Reserves Are Now Shrinking - Bloomberg Business

The Congressional Budget Office confirms this self-feeding slowdown. Its potential GDP estimate for 2017 has fallen by 7.3% since its estimate at the start of the recession, which translates into over $320 billion in lost economic activity.

Where are the good jobs? (Opinion) - CNN.com

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According to the Economic Policy Institute, between 1948 and 1979, the gap between overall productivity growth and hourly compensation was 14.7%. But between 1979 and 2013, the gap ballooned to 56.9%

Where are the good jobs? (Opinion) - CNN.com

“The boys want to be like them and the girls want to be with them,” he said. “That’s what they used to say about the Beatles and more recently One Direction and Justin Bieber. The propaganda the terrorists put out is akin to marketing, and too many of our teenagers are falling for the image. “They see their own lives as poor by comparison, and don’t realise they are being used. The extremists treat them in a similar way to sexual groomers – they manipulate them, distance them from their friends and families, and then take them.” Afzal, who has just stepped down as head of the Crown Prosecution Service in the north-west, said he fears that “another 7/7” could happen unless Britain introduces a community-led approach to counter-terrorism.

Senior Muslim lawyer says British teenagers see Isis as 'pop idols' | World news | The Guardian

For the UK, the exchange rate is the most important price in the economy. If it goes seriously wrong, then the economy will suffer. It has been going seriously wrong.

The exchange rate is the most important price in our whole economy - Telegraph

Over the long run, the correlation between U.S. stocks and the dollar is near zero. In other words, their movements have little to do with each other. In the short run, however, periods of dollar strength have correlated with equity gains and equity weakness

What a rampaging dollar means for stocks - MarketWatch

Moreover, the Dutch economy is recovering after years of recession. The national forecasting body predicts 1.7% growth this year. Unemployment has dropped from 7.9% to 7.2%, and consumer sentiment has turned positive for the first time since 2007. One might expect the public’s feelings about politics to grow less bitter as well. Instead Dutch voters seem as grumpy as ever, and not just about bankers’ pay.

An angry Dutch mood: A low-spirited country | The Economist

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This column analyses the effect robots have had in 14 industries across 17 developed countries from 1993 to 2007. Industrial robots increase labour productivity, total factor productivity, and wages. While they don’t significantly change total hours worked, they may be a threat to low- and middle-skilled workers.

Robots, productivity, and jobs | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal

The Global Crisis has forced a revaluation of the standard macroeconomic models in use worldwide. This column discusses an enrichment that include a formal concept of ‘confidence’ about the short-medium term economic outlook – one that relates to market psychology rather than expectations about technology and policy. This extension helps the model predictions better match reality. It also offers a formalisation of the popular view that depressed spending, arising from a drop in confidence, is a major cause of recessions and that recoveries often hinge on ‘restoring confidence in the economy’.

Confidence, aggregate demand, and the business cycle: A new framework | VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal

The lack of pressure would force the air in your lungs to rush out. Gases dissolved in your body fluids would expand, pushing the skin apart and forcing it to inflate like a balloon. Your eardrums and capillaries would rupture, and your blood would start to bubble and boil. Even if you survived all that, ionising radiation would rip apart the DNA in your cells. Mercifully, you would be unconscious in 15 seconds. But one group of animals can survive this

BBC - Earth - Tardigrades return from the dead

The decade-long surge in foreign-currency reserves held by the world’s central banks is coming to an end. Global reserves declined to $11.6 trillion in March from a record $12.03 trillion in August 2014

Once Over $12 Trillion, the World’s Reserves Are Now Shrinking - Bloomberg Business

"Estimates are down and the market has already absorbed that," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey. "All you need is some positive surprises for shorts to have to cover," she said, speaking of investors who borrow a stock to sell it, betting on a price decline. "Positive guidance can change the tone of the market quite rapidly."

Stock markets hope earnings offset weak economic data - Yahoo Finance

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Facebook is a great tool for reconnecting with old friends, learning about potential job opportunities, and now… serving your spouse with divorce papers.

You Can Now Serve Divorce Papers on Facebook | TIME

Ever since the industrial revolution, humanity been fighting an uphill battle against deforestation. Despite the best efforts of conservationists, the world either burns or cuts down about 10 billion more trees than it replants each year — a problem that has big implications for climate change. Environmental organizations have been trying (and failing) to reverse this trend for decades, but UK-based outfit BioCarbon Engineering thinks it can succeed where others have failed. How? By enlisting an army of seed-bombing drones to autonomously replant trees faster than mere humans ever could.

Could seed-bombing drones put an end to deforestation? | Digital Trends

Those, in case it needs saying, are examples of bubbles and major rallies supposedly following some sort of basic pattern, which essentially amounts to reasoning for price increase, price increase, fall. It’s a pattern HSBC thinks the dollar is following over the past 10 months or so. As they say, “participants now seem to be buying the USD not based on a change in fundamentals but instead because they believe the rally will extend further. This is a classic mentality associated with unsustainable moves”.

This time is not different, USD edition | FT Alphaville

A new survey by U.K. mattress company Ergoflex reveals that young, single British men are the worst offenders, changing sheets a mere once every three months.

Single Guys Hardly Ever Change The Sheets | TIME.com

The women, hailing from an unspecified African country, are described as “powerfully built” and standing about 1.8 m tall. They pretend to be customers at bars, where they strike up conversations with their victims. They then flirt or offer sex, get the men drunk and subsequently mug them either on the street or in their hotel rooms.

Gangs of ‘Powerfully Built’ Women Are Mugging Tourists on the Streets of Hong Kong | TIME

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Americans' views on the state of the economy reached new heights in the latest CNBC All-America Economic survey with a record 27 percent judging the economy as excellent or good, the highest level in eight years.

Americans' view on economy reaches 8-year highs

Hopeful local media reports and a weaker yen are raising hopes that Japanese companies will move their factories back home, but we're unlikely to see an increase in 'made in Japan' labels anytime soon, analysts say. "While the speed of offshoring may slow somewhat if the yen depreciates further, offshoring cannot be stopped, barring a long-term change in the Japanese economy's declining presence in the global economy," Goldman Sachs said in an April 2 report.

Why Japan's factories won't be going home

S&P 500 earnings are set to fall year-over-year in 2015, according to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The decline in earnings year-on-year is considered an "earnings recession."

Bank of America cuts S&P 500 EPS target - Business Insider

Scientists at Stanford have just developed an aluminum battery that could enable your phone to go from empty to full in as little as one minute. It’s also long-lasting, relatively inexpensive, and safer than the batteries we’re currently using.

This Aluminum Battery Can Charge Your Phone in 1 Minute | Digital Trends

In an economy where wage growth has been virtually stagnant for almost six years, everyone is scanning the skies for the first sign of a pick-up. Today's Labor Department report on job openings and labor market turnover may offer some clues.

Here Are the Industries That May Soon See Faster Wage Growth - Bloomberg Business

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The DragonBoard 410c is roughly the same size as a Raspberry Pi 2, but it has a faster 64-bit CPU, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS connections -- four features which the 32-bit Pi 2 lacks. The DragonBoard 410c costs $75, but its beefier specs could make it a better all-in-one solution for creating Internet of Things (IoT) devices. This means that the board can power smart home devices, robots, drones, or wearables which can be remotely tracked. This partnership will help Microsoft boost its presence in the booming IoT market

Microsoft just gained a key ally with Qualcomm partnership - Business Insider

South Koreans are getting older and spending less, making it more difficult for the central bank to stoke spending and price gains to keep the nation's tiger economy powering along.

Retirees Who Cherish Savings Have South Korea in a Bind - Bloomberg Business

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley said the pace of interest-rate increases is likely to be “shallow” once the Fed starts to tighten, and recent weakness in the economy was largely the result of temporary conditions.

Dudley Says Fed Tightening Pace Will Probably Be Shallow - Bloomberg Business

Even ahead of Friday's employment report, concerns were mounting about a growing pile of weak data. JPMorgan's economic research team cut their first quarter GDP growth forecast to a mere 0.6 percent on Thursday, citing poor consumer spending data. Recent manufacturing data have also looked especially bad, with the ISM manufacturing index's March reading showing the slowest growth since May 2013. Separately, housing market indicators have been mixed, perhaps due to the harsh winter weather.

Jobs data suggests economy is in real trouble

the U.S. coal sector is facing – a double-whammy of abundant supplies of cheap shale gas coupled with the regulatory noose that the Environmental Protection Agency is continuously tightening around the industry. Together these two forces are undermining the economics of coal.

Peak coal is coming sooner than previously expected - Business Insider

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The Japanese are hoarding over $300 billion under their mattresses and that cash will likely stay there unless a crisis of epic proportions sparks capital flight, analyst say. "The money has been sitting there so long, it's difficult to pin down what will prompt people to spend the cash," Mizuho Securities' chief market economist Yasunori Ueno told CNBC by phone.

Japanese hoarding $300B under mattresses

We tend to speak of short-termism as though it’s a problem that only afflicts investors or corporate leaders, but that’s not the case. Short-term thinking pervades our most important institutions, from government to households. We’ve created a gambling culture in which we tune out everything except the most immediate outcomes. If we’re going to meet our commitments to our children and grandchildren, and to society as a whole, we need to open up the lens and start taking a more responsible, longer-term view of the challenges we face.

Our gambling culture | McKinsey & Company

For some of the approximately 10 million people worldwide with traumatic brain injury (TBI), forming and holding onto new memories can be one of the hardest things they’ll do in a day. Now imagine a device implanted in the brain that can help them encode memories by means of small electric shocks.

DARPA Brain Stimulator Searches for Memories | MIT Technology Review

Imagine, for a moment, living in a nursing home. Your meals are in a cafeteria, your recreation is at scheduled times, and you're surrounded by other old people, mostly strangers. You've been robbed of your autonomy, maybe even your identity — the very things that make you you may be more tied to your past than your present, and nobody expects very much of you anymore. No matter your age, this is not an environment in which most people thrive. But Langer thought that maybe, just maybe, if you could put people in a psychologically better setting — one they would associate with a better, younger version of themselves — their bodies might follow along. "Wherever you put the mind, you're necessarily putting the body," she explained many years later, on CBS This Morning.

Ellen Langer's reversing aging experiment - Business Insider

The Bank of Japan is set to conclude its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, and one trader is gearing up for a rally in Japanese equities. "I'm looking for ways to play for upside ahead of the Bank of Japan meetings, while limiting my downside risk," said Stacey Gilbert, head of derivative strategy at Susquehanna. Specifically, Gilbert turned to DXJ options for opportunity. The DXJ is a hedged Japanese equity fund, which removes currency exposure.

This trade on Japan can double your money: Trader

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Bouroudjian believes the market is currently overextended and is due for a correction, likely 5 to 10 percent. "There are a lot of headwinds, one of which is the fact that we're in a quiet period and companies can't buy back stock anymore. They've really been the ones that have been holding up market in a lot of cases," he noted.

Sell in April, buy in May: Expert

And much like last earnings season, investors should expect a fair amount of disappointment. Research firm FactSet says 85 companies in the S&P 500 have issued negative earnings guidance, compared to 16 with positive guidance — the lowest since the first quarter of 2006.

Is this finally the quarter when earnings will sink stocks? - MarketWatch

Morgan Stanley is out with its latest U.S. equity strategy note, and in it the firm lays out the possibility that the S&P 500 could hit 3000 within five years.  Chief Equity Strategist Adam Parker argues that if the credit cycle is like the 1990s, stocks have a long ways to go.

Morgan Stanley: Here's How the S&P 500 Could Get to 3000 by the Year 2020 - Bloomberg Business

Japanese shares were probing 15-year peaks Wednesday as investors favored Asian assets on expectations of more stimulus from countries such as China and Japan, as well as a delayed start to any tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Japan shares test 15-year highs, dollar in demand | Reuters

The ECB said that since launching the effort March 9, it had bought 52.52 billion euros in bonds issued by EU governments or euro-area supranational institutions such as the eurozone's collective rescue fund for troubled countries. The 60 billion euro goal was reached by additional purchases of private-sector bonds.

European Central Bank's $1.2 trillion stimulus program is off to a running start - Business Insider

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The world's growth potential took a big hit after the 2007-2009 financial crisis and is likely to lag for years, implying that interest rates should likely stay low for quite a while, the International Monetary Fund said in a study on Tuesday. Potential growth, which gauges how fast economies can grow over time without hitting inflationary speed bumps, already was slowing in richer economies before the financial crisis due to ageing populations and a drop in technological innovation. But declines in private investment and employment growth cut annual potential growth in these countries to 1.3 percent between 2008 and 2014, half a percentage point lower than before the crisis, according to the IMF study.

IMF sees low potential economic growth around world - Yahoo Finance

Here’s another entry for Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Declining corporate profits may be bullish for U.S. stocks. Most investors believe the opposite, which is why they are dreading the soon-to-begin earnings season.

Why an earnings recession can be bullish for stocks - MarketWatch

Bloomberg's Richard Frost reports on what's behind the rally in China's equity market. He speaks with Bloomberg's Rishaad Salamat on "Trending Business."

What's Driving the Rally in Chinese Equities? - Bloomberg Business

After jealous friends kept asking him how he does it, Keyes decided to write his e-books “How To Fly For Free” and “How To Find Cheap Flights.” He even made an email list to send friends updates on any amazing travel deals he comes across on Twitter or his RSS feed.

How man flies for free - Business Insider

Russia is witnessing a spate of sporadic, locally organised popular protests in a sign of profound public dissatisfaction with the authorities, despite sky-high support ratings for President Vladimir Putin over the past year.

Protests bubble up across Russia in sign of public discontent - FT.com