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A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading today on the Web

What I have yet to understand about the Bombardier Airbus deal is how, for a company where governments are seemingly involved at every stage, the deal got done when the feds are completely consumed by NAFTA negotiations and the small business tax kerfuffle. I have other questions, but that one has me stumped,

"Bombardier hands control of C Series airliner to Airbus" – Report on Business

"Airbus takes control of Bombardier CSeries in rebuff to U.S. threat" – Reuters

"Minister Bains comments on Airbus/Bombardier strategic partnership" – Government of Canada

"Bombardier Is Stuck Between Boeing and a Very Hard Place" – Businessweek (Oct. 16)

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Morgan Stanley strategists warn that future investment returns are likely to stink,

"Strong returns today mean lower returns tomorrow: The recent rally has further depressed 10-year expected returns across regions. We estimate that a 60/40 equity/bond portfolio will earn 4.2% per annum in USD and 4.7% per annum in EUR over the next decade, near historical lows"

"@SBarlow_ROB MS: Future market returns likely to stink." – (Research excerpt) – Twitter

"@SBarlow_ROB MS "5 charts you can't miss" for low return world" – Twitter

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Josh Brown from Ritholtz Wealth Management argues that FANG stocks are popular because investors are hedging against their own obsolescence,

"If you think Donald Trump's mentally ill outbursts on Twitter should be scaring investors, then perhaps you failed to consider the possibility that there is something even scarier out there.

"A 45 year old married father of two with a mortgage and a pair of college educations to fund. The remote yet persistent threat of a nuclear war is not what keeps him up at night….What's frying his nerves and impinging on his amygdala all day long is something far scarier, after all. He, like everyone else, is afraid that he doesn't have a future. He is petrified by the idea that the skills he's managed to build throughout the course of his life are already obsolete. .. The only way out? Invest in your own destruction. In this context, the FANG stocks are not a gimmick or a fad, they're a … life raft."

I'm keeping an open mind but this doesn't feel right to me. For one, the people most at risk of obsolescence don't have any money to invest. It also implies a degree of investor rationality that Richard Thaler just won a Noble prize for refuting.

"Just own the damn robots" – Brown, Reformed Broker

"Richard Thaler Wins the Nobel in Economics for Killing Homo Economicus" – The Atlantic

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Bloomberg argues that long copper, short iron ore could be 2017's best trade in commodity markets,

"Three-month copper burst above $7,000 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange this week to the highest since 2014. It's gained 29 percent this year, aided by global growth, disruptions at mines, and expectations for a deficit. There's extra luster from the fervor surrounding electric vehicles… Spot ore with 62 percent content has lost 20 percent after a switchback ride that's seen it dip into the $50s a dry ton. "

"Copper's Hot, Iron's Not in Surprise Tale of Two Commodities" – Bloomberg

"Iron Ore Seen Back in $40s as China Challenges Loom in 2018" – Bloomberg

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Tweet of the Day: "@MaximeBernier Ok, let me get this straight: This means Ottawa recently gave $372M in aid to a... European plane maker?! " – Twitter

Diversion: "Obese kids will soon outnumber underweight kids in the world" – Macleans

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