A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading this morning on the World Wide Web.
Finance website Pragmatic Capitalism has helpfully summarized a Goldman Sachs report highlighting the three biggest investment risks in the current market – geopolitics, China and rising interest rates.
"We see a move in bond yields as the most likely cause of market volatility in coming months and think our new allocation lowers the risks to the portfolio from this," said the Wall Street banking giant.
"Goldman Sachs: The three biggest stock market risks" – Pragmatic Capitalism
I read an article called "Data-driven health care" in the M.I.T. Technology Review a few days ago and I'm still reeling. The report details the incredible developments in health-care technology, setting up a future for patients that is both wondrous and deeply unsettling.
The chess-playing IBM supercomputer Watson, for instance, is being programmed to "turn oncology expertise into a commodity" as part of a mechanized process that can sequence the DNA of a cancerous tumour in hours rather than weeks to speed treatment. Google Inc. has developed a contact lens that can measure glucose levels through tears to keep diabetics informed of blood sugar levels. Ginger.io has developed an app that tracks the eating, socializing and sleeping patterns of depression sufferers to alert doctors of at-risk patients.
At the same time, the prospect of completely non-personal diagnoses and treatment by a computer for loved ones with potentially fatal diseases is not attractive.
Health care-related financial pressure on provincial governments is set to soar in the coming decades because of demographics. This will motivate technological efficiencies to save money. Canadians will have a lot of decisions to make on health care.
"Data-driven health care " – M.I.T. Technology Review
"Samsung's Simband" – Corporate site
German two-year bonds are trading with a negative yield – that's right, investors are paying a fee to put money in government bonds. That's only one sign the euro zone economy is a complete mess. Germany is supposed to be the healthiest member of the currency union, and is, but as Business Insider's headline "German Economic Data Has Been Astonishingly Bad" suggests, things there are going south in a hurry.
Canada, despite major diplomatic efforts, doesn't trade much with Europe so there's little immediate danger to the domestic economy. But the European Union is still the world's largest trading bloc, and it does buy a ton of things from Asia. More economic cratering in Europe will contribute to an accelerating global slowdown that will definitely affect domestic corporate profits through resource demand.
"German economic data has been astonishingly bad " – Business Insider
George Mason economics professor, former chess prodigy and all-around polymath Tyler Cowen summarizes his view of the economic effects of technology on employment and output. It is concise, but nuanced, surprising and highly interesting.
"Will you lose your job to a robot?" – Marginal Revolution.
Tweet of Day is from my good virtual friend @pcdunham, presenting a Goldman Sachs chart showing the cost curves for various methods of oil and gas extraction. Good one to save.
"@pcdunham I always like these cost curves from GS. Shows breakeven for deepwater, ultra deep, shale, various types of oil. pic.twitter.com/2Rig3oduGx"
Diversion: @groveatlantic 30 Authors on Movie Adaptations of Their Work ow.ly/zZ85s "The misunderstandings will pursue me till I die."—Anthony Burgess
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Scott Barlow