Economy
47 attorneys general are investigating Facebook for antitrust violations (Adam)
Facebook already faces a separate antitrust investigation launched by the Federal Trade Commission in July. The probe was announced on the heels of the FTC’s $5 billion fine against Facebook over its privacy policies.
A crack team of quant traders are training their algorithms to invest like Warren Buffett (Thomas R.)
“At the heart of what we do is estimating what a company is worth based on the economics of its underlying business (aka intrinsic value),” Beddall told Markets Insider. “We then place much more weight on our view of the value of a company, than that of the current market price.
2019 Cost Burden Report: Half of Renter Households Struggle With Affordability (Adam)
Although the rate is still well below its 2011 peak, that improvement has been primarily driven by compositional changes in the rental market, namely, an influx of high-income renter households. Housing costs have amplified growing economic inequality in recent years — those at the low-end of the income distribution have seen their housing costs grow disproportionately fast, while the highest earners have actually seen their housing costs fall. In this report, we explore what the most recent data is telling us about the current state of the housing affordability crisis.
Fidelity drops Fisher’s money management firm as withdrawals accelerate (Thomas R.)
In a memo to his firm’s employees on Oct. 11 and sent to Reuters by a spokesman, Fisher said: “It pains me to know that my comments have caused you grief, concern, and indignation. I sincerely apologize.”
At Fidelity, assets previously managed by Fisher have been reallocated within the fund, said Fidelity spokesman Vincent Loporchio.
How a major farm lender left a trail of defaults and lawsuits (Don R.)
The plight of BMO Harris and its customers reflects broader distress in the U.S. farm sector. Farmers are struggling to pay back their loans or obtain new ones. Shrinking cash flow is pushing some to retire early and a growing number of producers to declare bankruptcy, according to farm economists and legal experts.
Study finds lead in 95 percent of baby foods: Dr. Siegel says parents should not worry (Thomas R.)
Siegel, a practicing internist and a professor at NYU Langone Medical Center, pointed out that the study found that one out of five products showed “ten times” the allowable amount of lead. He said exposure to heavy metals hinders early childhood development, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made headway in reducing the levels of arsenic and lead in foods.
Is this “one of the worst scientific scandals of all time”? (Thomas R.)
Eysenck also published work validating aspects of astrology to do with the correlation between personality and astrological signs and was seemingly rather partial to parapsychology and the world of psychics.
But now another aspect of his work has come in for serious scrutiny, the research he carried out with his junior collaborator Ronald Grossath-Maticek on relationships between personality and fatal illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.
Diaper rush: conquering a $9 billion market no one wants to talk about (Thomas R.)
The company is focusing particularly on people with mild bladder issues where it sees the biggest growth as people lead more active lives. Unicharm’s sales of absorbent pads and liners that target this market were up 8% last year.
In the U.S., market leader Kimberly-Clark has this year given its 35-year-old Depend brand a makeover, introducing thinner, softer and more fitted products that can be worn discreetly, in an effort to make them more acceptable.
Boris Johnson’s Brexit-deal timetable rejected by Parliament (tmn)
Johnson’s defeat follows several days of stymied parliamentary votes on his EU divorce deal and comes as he has been locked in a battle with lawmakers to ensure that Brexit takes place by Oct. 31. Johnson has referred to this date as “do or die” and said that he would rather “die in a ditch” than not deliver Brexit by Halloween.
Yet it was not all bad news for Britain’s leader Tuesday.
Clean getaway: Meat waste joins biofuels at luxury jet show (Thomas R.)
The latest waste-based fuels include “fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food industry,” said Bryan Sherbacow, chief commercial officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste used by Gulfstream.
“All of our product is inedible.”
Putin’s Plan To Take Control Of The Middle East (Michael S.)
Having secured pivotal economic and political influence in recent months with Iraq (both north and south), Syria, Iran (and by dint of this, the rest of the countries constituting the Shia arc of power, including Lebanon, Jordan, and Yemen), Russia appears to be in the process of ‘completing the set’. Last week saw a range of done deals and hints at more secretive deals that point to Russia taking full advantage of the power vacuum created in the Middle East by U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed isolationist policy focus.
A new round of PG&E power outages could put 500,000 Californians in the dark for days (Thomas R.)
PG&E, however, defends the outages as crucial to the safety of its customers. The company already has filed for bankruptcy after being held liable for tens of billions of dollars in damages resulting from deadly wildfires blamed on downed power lines.
The company has given preliminary notification to more than 200,000 homes and businesses impacting several hundred thousand residents.
Facing unbearable heat, Qatar has begun to air condition the outdoors (Herban Cowboy)
Ghani, an engineering professor at Qatar University, designed the system at Al Janoub, one of eight stadiums that the tiny but fabulously rich Qatar must get in shape for the 2022 World Cup. His breakthrough realization was that he had to cool only people, not the upper reaches of the stadium – a graceful structure designed by the famed Zaha Hadid Architects and inspired by traditional boats known as dhows.
“I don’t need to cool the birds,” Ghani said.
Gold & Silver
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The post Daily Digest 10/22 – How A Farm Lender Left A Trail Of Defaults And Lawsuits, The $9B Market No One Wants To Talk About appeared first on Peak Prosperity.
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