Links for 9/16

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As Wall Street excitedly awaits the near-$24 billion Alibaba Group initial public offering next week, traders have been bidding up shares in two big tech companies with hefty stakes in the Chinese e-commerce megalith: Yahoo Finance parent Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), which owns 22%, and Japan’s SoftBank (SFTBY) conglomerate, which holds 34%.

Buying Yahoo to play Alibaba? History hints at future moves - Yahoo Finance

Almost half of China’s wealthy are considering relocating to a developed market within the next five years to find better education and job opportunities for their children, according to a report by Barclays Plc.

Almost Half of Rich Chinese Consider Move, Barclays Says - Bloomberg

As entrepreneurs and business owners, it can be very easy at times to fall into a rut and get in the habit of having just average days where we seem to not get much of anything done. Here are 20 ways that will hopefully rekindle that passion of yours and help make each day amazing.

Daily Habits That Will Enrich Your Life - Business Insider

Audiences interested in viewing material that’s critically-acclaimed increasingly have to go to TV to get it as studios continue to churn out movies that perform horribly with critics. Fans of big-name actors are now turning on the TV to catch their latest projects rather than heading to the movie theaters as many actors are saying that TV is where the best work is.

People Aren't Going To The Movies - Business Insider

Seven years have passed since Nick Faldo said that a supposedly golden generation of English players were more interested in the trappings associated with a wealthy lifestyle than tangible reward. Ian Poulter was among those to rebuke Faldo, with the insistence that the top players earned so much that money had actually diminished in relevance.... “Money’s never been the biggest deal to me at all,” added the Northern Irishman. “Even my closest friends and family will tell you that. It’s nice to have it, and you can do a lot with it and you can help a lot of people with it, but it’s never been one of my main focuses or priorities about becoming a professional golfer.

Rory McIlroy says winning titles motivates him far more than money | Sport | The Guardian

Like most Chinese, she doesn’t have the financial resources and extensive qualifications necessary to invest in securities listed outside the mainland. Alibaba, based in Hangzhou, is listing its stock in the U.S.

Chinese Gripe at Being Left Out of Alibaba’s IPO - Bloomberg

The OECD slashed its growth forecasts for major developed economies on Monday, urging much more aggressive ECB stimulus to ward off the risk of deflation in a subdued euro zone.

OECD slashes growth forecasts, urges aggressive ECB action - Yahoo Finance

Stocks fell and the ruble dropped to a record low as oil, Russia’s main export earner, slid to the weakest level in two years and fresh U.S. and European Union sanctions stoked concern the Ukraine crisis will deepen.

Russian Stocks Drop as Ruble Slips to Record on Sanctions, Crude - Bloomberg

We see multi-year gains ahead for US equities, driven by the favorable combination of: (i) pent-up demand; (ii) repaired household, corporate, and bank balance sheets; (iii) attractive relative value for stocks and (iv) low conviction by investors," Lee wrote.

Fundstrat Thomas Lee S&P 500 Target - Business Insider

This is therefore the time to reverse the ill-advised decisions made since 2010 to reduce public investments. This can be done at very little cost. The country that should lead this public investment program is Germany. Public investments as a percent of GDP in Germany are among the lowest of all Eurozone countries. In 2013 public investment in German amounted to a bare 1.6% of GDP versus 2.3%  in the rest of the Eurozone. Such a public investment program would do two things. It would stimulate aggregate demand in the short run and help to pull the Eurozone out of its lethargic state. In the long run it would help to lift the long-term growth potential in the Eurozone. The prevailing view in many countries is that governments should not increase their debt levels lest they put a burden on future generations. The truth is that future generations inherit not only the liabilities but also the assets that have been created by the government. Future generations will not understand why these governments did not invest in productive assets that improve their welfare, while these governments could do so at historically low financing costs.

Ivory Tower: Stop structural reforms, start public investments in the Eurozone

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the $375 Elife S5.5. At 5.55mm thick, this svelte beauty currently claims the title for the thinnest smartphone on the market. To put that in perspective, that's a full two millimeters skinnier than the iPhone 5s. I spent a few days with the device to see if thinner really is better.

IRL: A week with the thinnest phone on the market

William Gale and Andy Samwick have a new Brookings paper out on the relationship of tax rates and economic growth in the U.S. [Apologies to whichever blog/site led me to the paper, I can't remember.] Short answer, there is no relationship. They do not identify any change in the trend growth rate of real GDP per capita with changes in marginal income tax rates, capital gains tax rates, or any changes in federal tax rules.

Taxes and Growth | The Growth Economics Blog

About 47 percent of stocks in the Nasdaq Composite (CCMP) Index are down at least 20 percent from their peak in the last 12 months while more than 40 percent have fallen that much in the Russell 2000 Index and the Bloomberg IPO Index.

Record S&P 500 Masks 47% of Nasdaq Mired in Bear Market - Bloomberg

While recent economic data out of China has painted a grim picture of the world's second largest economy, Mark Mobius says he's not worried about a hard landing.

No hard landing for China: Mobius

Is anyone trading? Not really. Except HFT players and corporate CFOs executing the buybacks that generate their compensation packages.

HFT Players And CFOs Only Ones Tradin - Business Insider

Corporations bought back $338.3 billion of stock in the first half of the year, the most for any six-month period since 2007, according to research firm Birinyi Associates. Through August, 740 firms have authorized repurchase programs, the most since 2008.

HFT Players And CFOs Only Ones Tradin - Business Insider

According to Barclays, companies in the second quarter spent 31% of their cash flow on buybacks, the most since 2008 and up from 14% at the end of 2009. At the end of the second quarter, nonfinancial companies in the S&P 500 index held $1.35 trillion of cash, down from a record of $1.41 trillion at the end of last year, according to FactSet.

HFT Players And CFOs Only Ones Tradin - Business Insider

"There's some downside still on prices, but I think we're near the bottom here," says Andrew Lebow, a senior VP for energy derivatives at Jefferies Bache. "Maybe another dollar or two on WTI and maybe another dollar or two on Brent.... We’re near the lows."

Oil prices falling, but maybe not for long: Jefferies - Yahoo Finance

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Behind the drop in oil prices is a decline in demand coupled with an increase in supply despite all the turmoil in the Mideast and between Russia, a major energy producer, and Ukraine. Global oil demand has fallen to its lowest level in 2-1/2 years because of the weakening economy in Europe and China, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). That's contributing to a glut in supply which also reflects an explosion in U.S. oil production.

Oil prices falling, but maybe not for long: Jefferies - Yahoo Finance

The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) slipped 0.4 percent to 2,328.80 at 10:41 a.m. The index has gained 17 percent since mid-March, fueled by prospects for stimulus and speculation an exchange link between Shanghai and Hong Kong will fuel inflows. Data showed FDI into China, a gauge of external confidence, slumped to a four-year low amid widening antitrust probes into multinational companies.

China Stocks Fall Most in Two Weeks After Rally as FDI Declines - Bloomberg

“Shadow” banking: a surprisingly colorful term for our staid economics profession. Intended or not, it conjures images of dark, sinister, and even shady transactions. With a name like “shadow banking” it must be bad. This is unfair. While the profession lacks a uniform definition, the idea is financial intermediation that takes place outside of banks—and this can be good, bad, or otherwise.

What’s Lurking in the Shadows of China’s Banks | iMFdirect - The IMF Blog

"We believe Apple is in the midst of another 'super cycle' that begins with the rapidly growing 'phablet' market via the iPhone 6 Plus and extends into the wearable category in early 2015 with Apple Watch," said Brian White, managing director and global head of technology hardware, software and equity research at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Apple on the brink of another 'super cycle' - Yahoo Finance

Exxon Mobil Corp.’s work on a $700 million Arctic well in Russia could be stopped before it’s finished under new U.S. and European Union sanctions that outlaw the drilling partnership. New sanctions ban U.S. and EU companies from working with Russian officials or companies to find or produce crude from deep seas, shale fields or the Arctic. The decrees, reported earlier this week by Bloomberg, were imposed Sept. 12, the 35th day of drilling at the 9 Bbbl Universitetskaya prospect off Russia’s northern coast that was scheduled to last for 70 days.

Exxon’s $700 million Russian Arctic oil well hangs on sanctions

Ukrainian MPs have granted self-rule to parts of two eastern regions, and an amnesty to pro-Russian rebels there. The law affecting Donetsk and Luhansk regions - which is in line with the 5 September ceasefire - was condemned by some MPs as "capitulation".

BBC News - Ukraine crisis: Rebels granted self-rule and amnesty

A 65-year-old woman from Bangkok has killed herself by jumping into a pit of crocodiles at a reptile farm near the capital, police say.

BBC News - Thailand woman dead after jumping into crocodile pit

The New York Stock Exchange measure of margin debt set an all-time high of $466 billion in February, and the latest reading is $460 billion for July. Meanwhile, the American Association on Individual Investors Asset Allocation Survey shows that the level of cash was at a 14-year low at 16% in August.

Bubble Talk: What High Margin Debt, Low Cash Levels Mean for Stocks - TheStreet

The NYSE measure of margin debt has tracked the ups and downs of the stock market very well. The chart below sends a clear message -- margin debt rises with the S&P 500 and declines with the S&P 500. If margin debt starts to decline, so should the S&P 500.

Bubble Talk: What High Margin Debt, Low Cash Levels Mean for Stocks - TheStreet

But he told TheBlaze Apple wouldn’t grant him special permission to exceed its $999.99 cost limit on apps, so that’s where it stands. What’s so grand about a smartphone app to merit such a high price tag?

The $999.99 iPhone App - Business Insider

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Four centuries ago, a whole country went completely crazy for tulip bulbs. But why do we still talk about these flower-obsessed Dutch traders.

The History Of Tulipmania - Business Insider

In 1919, when the victors of World War I were concluding their settlement against Germany — in the form of the Treaty of Versailles — one of the leading British representatives at the negotiations angrily resigned his position, believing the debt imposed on the losers would be too harsh. The official, John Maynard Keynes, argued that because Britain had benefitted from export-driven growth, forcing the Germans to spend their money paying back debt rather than buying British products would be counterproductive for everyone, and slow global growth. Keynes’ argument, outlined in his popular 1919 book, “The Economic Consequences of the Peace,” proved prescient.

Making the case for Keynes | MIT News Office

The Labor Department said on Wednesday its Consumer Price Index declined 0.2 percent last month as a broad decline in energy prices offset increases in food and shelter costs.

U.S. consumer prices post first decline in 16 months - Yahoo Finance

The Fed has a dilemma. It, of course, would like to come off of its present policy stance, but people are accustomed to it and if interest rates go up, you get an inverted yield curve with bad consequences.

Janet Yellen’s dilemma: No way out - Yahoo Finance

The Nasdaq composite index may be up 8 percent year to date, but there’s an ominous statistic that’s worrying some investors. Out of the Nasdaq composite's 2,558 stocks, 1,269 are down more than 20 percent off their 52-week highs as of Tuesday’s close, based on data from FactSet. Another 636 are down between 10 percent and 19.98 percent.

The Nasdaq's creeping bear market | Talking Numbers - Yahoo Finance

But the practice has broader implications. If a company is putting its spare cash toward buying its own stock, it is not investing in growing the business or increasing company wages. Critics also say the practice could be masking underlying weaknesses in the stock market, propping up stock prices and padding the pockets of executives who have stock options.

Apple, IBM buying back billions in stock: WSJ - Yahoo Finance

Over the past few years, there's been an influx of Chinese money into the U.S., increasing from about $58 million in 2000 to $14 billion in 2013.

Why Chinese money is flooding American markets

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He warned that a lot of US and European companies are still denying the significance of Chinese internet companies, and that  the Alibaba IPO will only make more people aware of the booming Chinese tech industry. Moritz also stressed how the work ethic of Chinese people is contributing to Alibaba’s massive growth. When you combine that with the talent they have, he said, it becomes a “formidable combination.”

Billionaire Investor Says Chinese People Work Harder And Western Companies Could Face Deep Trouble After Alibaba IPO - Yahoo Finance

In turn, Cramer says making money in the market, involves looking at the environment through the lens of the Fed. "The trick is to remember that they speak for the common person," Cramer said. "The Fed wants the common person to make money." With that backdrop always in mind, Cramer says it becomes easier to pick stocks.

As Fed takes baby steps, Cramer's trick for profit - Yahoo Finance

Who doesn’t want “high-quality stocks,” right? And for most of a decade, if you wanted to buy the “quality” stocks in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index you could just load up on the PowerShares S&P 500 High Quality Portfolio ETF (SPHQ) issued by Invesco Ltd. and call it a day. Then, about 14 months ago, BlackRock Inc. got in the mix with its iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF and, well, it appears not all “quality” stocks are created equally. And that no-brainer is now a, uhm, brainer.

BlackRock Quality Stocks Top Invesco; Guess Who Beat Both - Bloomberg

A video from Elite Daily chronicling the exploits of a homeless millennial who gets by on going home with women he meets in bars and on the streets of New York City is making the rounds online. The 26-year-old Joe panhandles during the day to make money — up to $150 a day — and at night he cleans up his look and focuses on meeting women he can go home with. He says this tactic provides shelter about three to four nights out of every week.

One Night Stand Homeless Man - Business Insider

Perhaps owing to its freedom from French influence, the Brazilian Portuguese accent has a more colorful, puerile flair than its coarser European counterpart. The resulting yowl of drawn-out vowels reveals a flirty freedom of spirit that suggests a permanent vacation. Sounds like: The near, then far, then near again hum of a low-wattage vacuum cleaner that runs on dance sweat

Are these the world's sexiest accents? - CNN.com

Nearly 1,400 people have been executed in the US since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. Even though women commit about 10% of all homicides they comprise 1% of inmates put to death, according to figures from the Death Penalty Information Centre.

Lisa Coleman executed by lethal injection after final appeal rejected | World news | theguardian.com

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned an emergency meeting of the council that the number of Ebola infections was doubling every three weeks. More than 2,600 people have now died in the worst Ebola outbreak on record. Mr Ban said the "gravity and scale of the situation now require a level of international action unprecedented for a health emergency".

BBC News - Ebola 'threat to world security'- UN Security Council

SaneBox is smart email management tool that analyzes your email relationships and decides whats important based on your past behavior. It then automatically filters out unimportant email into a separate folder (check) and summarizes it in a daily digest so you dont miss anything (check). This means your inbox is filled exclusively with important/high-priority email. It literally saves me at least 2 hours every day (check).

If you’re using Gmail, you’ll hate you didn’t know about this sooner | Buzztrick

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Subsidies accounted for four-fifths of the profits reported by Chinese steel companies in the first half of this year, a dramatic increase in reliance on state support that illustrates starkly the industrial weakness that is an increasing drag on the economy.

Steel industry on subsidy life-support as China economy slows

Japan’s household wealth rose to a record as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reflates the world’s third-biggest economy, giving a cushion to consumers facing higher costs of living.

Abenomics Spurs Record Wealth in Solace for Price Rises - Bloomberg

Nearly one in three migrant workers in Malaysia’s thriving electronics industry toils under forced labor conditions, essentially trapped in the job, a factory monitoring group found in a report issued on Wednesday.

Report Cites Forced Labor in Malaysia’s Electronics Industry - NYTimes.com

Peter Thiel says he’s trying to get entrepreneurs to go after bigger problems than the ones Silicon Valley is chasing.

Peter Thiel Says Computers Haven’t Made Our Lives Significantly Better | MIT Technology Review

Their closeness continues, and if Messrs. Musk and Rive can achieve their shared vision, the result will be a transformation of the world's, or at least America's, energy infrastructure. The companies the two men run—Tesla Motors Inc. and solar energy system provider SolarCity Corp.—are uniquely compatible.

The Musk Family Plan for Transforming the World's Energy - Yahoo Finance

I’ve just been reading two new reports on the economics of fighting climate change: a big study by a blue-ribbon international group, the New Climate Economy Project, and a working paper from the International Monetary Fund. Both claim that strong measures to limit carbon emissions would have hardly any negative effect on economic growth, and might actually lead to faster growth. This may sound too good to be true, but it isn’t. These are serious, careful analyses.

Economist's View: Paul Krugman: Errors and Emissions

Charles Lane has a column in the Washington Post arguing that the Fed has contributed to inequality with its low interest policy. Essentially the argument is that low interest rates have helped to push up asset values, most importantly stock prices. Since the rich have stock and most people don't, this means the rich are getting richer relative to everyone else. Since a lot of people who should know better have made this argument, it is worth addressing.

The Fed and Inequality | Beat the Press

Grid-scale energy storage doesn’t have to come in the form of batteries. Electric-powered water heaters and space heaters have a lot of virtual energy storage capacity as well, and they’re already out there in millions of homes and businesses. That makes them a cheap resource for grid storage -- if they can be managed in a way that allows them to respond to the grid’s needs, while still keeping the building at the right temperature.

Aggregating Water Heaters as Grid Batteries: Steffes’ Secret Sauce : Greentech Media

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Russia has said the conduct of the Scottish referendum "did not meet international standards", with its observers complaining the count took place in rooms that were too big and that the procedure was badly flawed.

Russia cries foul over Scottish independence vote | Politics | theguardian.com

“Money is pouring in” from investors even though shale gas is “inherently unprofitable,” an analyst from PNC Wealth Management, an investment company,  wrote to a contractor in a February e-mail. “Reminds you of dot-coms.”   “The word in the world of independents is that the shale plays are just giant Ponzi schemes and the economics just do not work,” an analyst from IHS Drilling Data, an energy research company,  wrote in an e-mail on Aug. 28, 2009.

Shale Fracking Is a “Ponzi Scheme” … “This Decade’s Version of The Dotcom Bubble” … “A Lot In Common With the Subprime Mortgage" | Zero Hedge

A looming gas glut worldwide is prompting Japanese and Indian firms to resell to European traders and utilities big chunks of U.S. liquefied natural gas they had committed to buy several years ago, signaling tempered enthusiasm for U.S. energy.

Exclusive: Asian buyers of U.S. LNG dial back as exuberance dims - Yahoo Finance

A paper just published in Nature bolsters that view. It provides a big dollop of evidence in support of an emerging idea that artificial sweeteners are not directly bad for people (humans cannot even digest most of them). Rather, they may be bad for the zillions of microbes that live in people’s guts—and this, in turn, may be bad for their human hosts.

Artificial sweeteners: Saccharin solution? | The Economist

This narrowing of the tax base is partly the natural consequence of widening inequality. Since an ever bigger share of overall income goes to the highest earners, and since income taxes are progressive (with a higher rate levied at higher income), it is inevitable

Inequality and the narrowing tax base: Too reliant on the few | The Economist

We expect Chinese module prices to move higher from the current 56-57c/W range (some companies are suggesting prices have ticked up to 60c/W recently). Tier 1 Chinese solar companies are sold out and we expect this to result in volume upside during the 2H earnings season. While Q3 ASPs could decline by 1c/W or stay relatively flat (due to greater mix of lower priced Chinese shipments), we expect most companies to report upside to Q3 margins and guide to Q4 margins above consensus.

China Solar: Deutsche Sees Strong Demand Pick-Up, Module Price Rising - Asia Stocks to Watch - Barrons.com

Investors should steer clear of Alibaba , valuation expert Aswath Damodaran said Wednesday.

Don't buy Alibaba stock: 'Dean of Valuation' - Yahoo Finance

Priceline recently took a 10% ownership stake in Ctrip, receiving a $500 million investment on Aug 6. Priceline apparently likes the growth opportunities in China, too.

Why is Priceline investing in this stock? - MarketWatch

Worries that China's economy may be slowing further intensified on Thursday as data showed home prices fell for the fourth straight month, adding to expectations that Beijing will need to do more to stimulate activity.

China's house prices fall further, economic gloom deepens - Yahoo Finance

Clearly the company thinks there is a place out there for a premium e-reader and, while we can't vouch for the vibrancy of the high-end e-reader market, we can confirm that Amazon has put together a stunner of a device. The familiar Kindle software has even picked up some neat new software tricks that the Voyage taught its more budget-minded siblings.

Amazon's $200 Kindle Voyage is the Rolls-Royce of e-readers

Until recently, he was best known for his studies in cosmology, undertaken in 25 years at Cambridge and Imperial College. Above all, he is renowned for his work towards demonstrating that the speed of light is variable. This week, though, that lofty achievement has been displaced, at least for a while, by something rather less cerebral: a short book explaining why we Brits are a bunch of sex-mad, pissed-up, overweight hooligans and snobs.

Who said Britons were drunk, dirty and deplorable? | UK news | The Guardian

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Meanwhile, one of his rivals was in the midst of a streak so extraordinary it threatened to overshadow anything Carlsen had ever done. All of which, in confluence, transformed the Sinquefield Cup into one of the most emotional, dramatic, newsworthy chess events of the past 40 years. At most 300 people were in St. Louis to see it.

Sinquefield Cup: One of the most amazing feats in chess history just happened, and no one noticed.

several factors about this outbreak have some of the world’s top health professionals gravely concerned: Its kill rate: In this particular outbreak, a running tabulation suggests that 54 percent of the infected die, though adjusted numbers suggest that the rate is much higher. Its exponential growth: At this point, the number of people infected is doubling approximately every three weeks, leading some epidemiologists to project between 77,000 and 277,000 cases by the end of 2014. The gruesomeness with which it kills: by hijacking cells and migrating throughout the body to affect all organs, causing victims to bleed profusely. The ease with which it is transmitted: through contact with bodily fluids, including sweat, tears, saliva, blood, urine, semen, etc., including objects that have come in contact with bodily fluids (such as bed sheets, clothing, and needles) and corpses. The threat of mutation: Prominent figures have expressed serious concerns that this disease will go airborne, and there are many other mechanisms through which mutation might make it much more transmissible.

Why Ebola is terrifying and dangerous: It preys on family, caregiving, and human bonds.

Beckenbauer: If Bale and Ronaldo are worth €100m, Cruyff would be worth billions

Beckenbauer: If Bale and Ronaldo are worth €100m, Cruyff would be worth billions - Goal.com

Individuals who work in the finance sector enjoy a significant wage advantage. This column considers three explanations: rent sharing, skill intensity, and task-biased technological change. The UK evidence suggests that rent sharing is the key. The rising premium could then be due to changes in regulation and the increasing complexity of financial products creating more asymmetric information.

Finance sector wages: high and rising rent extraction | vox

Engineers in the US have invented a battery, made of three molten metals, which could help smooth the power supply from renewable energy sources.

BBC News - Molten metal batteries aimed at the grid

The recent strength evident in much of the incoming survey and activity data suggests that we were right to believe GDP growth would accelerate once credit conditions eased and the fiscal drag faded. We expect the economy to expand at an annualised pace of 3% over the next 18 months, prompting the Fed to begin raising its policy rate from near-zero next March.

Capital Economics Yellen Early Rate Hike - Business Insider

US private equity group Blackstone is “giving up on Russia”, highlighting how even well-connected western investors are shying away from doing business in the country.

Blackstone to pull out of Russia - FT.com

Before following asset purchase policies practiced by the Fed, I believe the ECB might wish to address the reasons why the transmission mechanism of the cheap and abundant loanable funds it keeps supplying to the banking system fail to find their way into strong business and consumer lending to support the euro area recovery.

Germans would shoot down a 'Helicopter Mario'

The economic costs of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa will escalate to “catastrophic” proportions if the virus spreads to other countries in the region, Francisco Ferreira, World Bank chief economist for Africa said.

World Bank Says Further Ebola Spread Would See Catastrophic Cost - Bloomberg

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American companies have seldom spent more money than they are now buying back shares. The same can’t be said for their executives.

Insider Buying Dries Up Defying $275 Billion of Buybacks - Bloomberg

Between 2009 when Obama took office and 2013, the latest for which numbers are available, median annual household incomes fell by more than $2,100 in inflation-adjusted terms, Census Bureau data showed last week.

There's A Crucial Difference Between Obama's Economy And Reagan's Economy - Business Insider

Tesla and Solar City say their vast manufacturing operations will make solar the cheapest source of electricity in the United States.

Solar City and Tesla Combine Manufacturing Plans | MIT Technology Review

They exist, friendly lions! {video}

But the paper did not break the story. The whole article, including verbatim quotes, was "borrowed" from a Swedish-based website without attribution.

The Sun rips off website exclusive without seeking permission | Media | theguardian.com

Billionaires are holding mountains of cash, offering the latest sign that the ultra-wealthy are nervous about putting more money into today's markets.

Billionaires are hoarding piles of cash

According to the new Billionaire Census from Wealth-X and UBS, the world's billionaires are holding an average of $600 million in cash each—greater than the gross domestic product of Dominica. That marks a jump of $60 million from a year ago and translates into billionaires' holding an average of 19 percent of their net worth in cash.

Billionaires are hoarding piles of cash

I'm fortunate enough to have worn every Oculus Rift since the first prototype was revealed to the world almost two years ago at CES 2013. Each time I put on one of the company's new headsets, it has been a markedly improved experience over prior iterations. Crescent Bay is no different.

New Oculus Rift prototype brings out the best in virtual reality

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Finance ministers from the Group of 20, which includes the United States, the U.K, the European Union and China, warned at their latest meeting that financial markets may be headed for a slump

G20 finance ministers add to fears of a stock-market bubble - Yahoo Finance

Brazil may be the best place to put your money in 2014. At least, according to one of the world's largest hedge fund firms.

Fortress: Brazil is 'most amazing trading opportunity' this year

Enter the “most important chart” investors should be focusing on right now. “The next phase of the global currency wars may have begun,” he writes ominously. Here’s that chart

SocGen’s Albert Edwards says you should worry about this dollar chart - The Tell - MarketWatch

Given all of these factors, says Galbraith, we shouldn’t be wondering why the economy isn’t recovering quickly, but should instead be asking why things haven’t gotten worse.

Social Security and natural gas saved our economy: James Galbraith - Yahoo Finance

The price of natural gas is volatile. Last year's cold winter depleted inventories. This summer inventories were rebuilt, but remain below last year's level and the five-year average. A cold winter this year will cause natural gas prices to explode.

Natural Gas: Injections Soon To Turn Into Withdrawals - The United States Natural Gas ETF, LP (NYSEARCA:UNG) | Seeking Alpha

Robo-advisors suffer from what we could call Bitcoin syndrome: It sounds cool, but who actually uses it? According to a new report from Swiss research company MyPrivateBanking Research, a lot of people do — and more of us will get on board in the near future. By the end of 2014, the report finds, robo-advisors may be managing $14 billion, 83% of that in the US.

Robo-Advisors Will Manage $255 Billion Within 5 Years - Business Insider

China has launched a fresh effort to boost its flagging economy with cash injections by the central bank, but signs are mounting that monetary stimulus is losing its effectiveness as debt-ridden companies lose their appetite for borrowing even at low rates.

China risks ‘balance-sheet recession’ as stimulus impact wanes - FT.com

Corporations, someday, will care less about maximizing profits and more about employees and society, former President Bill Clinton told listeners on Tuesday... "We're going to share inequality, misery and conflict, or we're going to share prosperity, responsibilities and a sense of community," Clinton said. Those predictions were echoed by a panel of business leaders who followed the former president.

Bill Clinton: Firms will care more about people, less about profits