This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Frontrunning: December 26
- Japan inflation slows to 14 month low, output, wages, disposable income slips (Reuters)
- Russia says ruble crisis over as reserves dive, inflation climbs (Reuters)
- Ruble rebounds sharply from lows as exporters sell dollars (Reuters)
- Xbox, PlayStation Networks Attacked, Hackers Claim Credit (BBG)
- Sony’s ‘The Interview’ Packs Theaters Without Violence (BBG)
- Oil edges above $60 as Libyan output slumps (Reuters)
- Shoppers’ Late Rush Gives Hope to Retailers (WSJ)
- Japan says close to deal with South Korea and U.S. on North Korea defense (Reuters)
- NYPD Arrests Seven for Threats After Slayings of Officers (BBG)
- Putin Blames Russian Government for Economic Situation (Sputnik)
- Credit Suisse Told to Face New York’s Mortgage-Fraud Claims (BBG)
- Tesla Helps Chinese Buyers Trade in Old Cars for Model S (BBG)
- Turkish boy arrested for insulting Erdogan is freed pending trial (Reuters)
- Libya: Fighters Clash With Troops Defending Oil Sites (NYT)
- RBI may lift embargo on banks lending against gold (Hindu Businessline)
- BofA Fired Hong Kong Banker to Avoid Paying Bonus, Judge Rules (BBG)
Bulletin headline summary
WSJ
* The Obama administration is increasingly concerned about a wave of digital extortion copycats in the aftermath of the cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, as the government and companies try to navigate unfamiliar territory to fortify defenses against further breaches. (http://on.wsj.com/1zltw1I)
* China's central bank is taking more steps to boost banks' lending abilities in an effort to shore up the world's second-largest economy, according to banking executives with knowledge of the matter. (http://on.wsj.com/142WJqi)
* Officials at the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services are looking for ways to reduce fraud and abuse without restricting access to medical care. (http://on.wsj.com/1xiKZcR)
* Standard & Poor's Ratings Services is nearing a settlement with regulators over their investigation of how the company graded real-estate bonds, according to people familiar with the matter. (http://on.wsj.com/1zX9woM)
* About 300 small, niche theaters are showing the movie "The Interview," which was yanked by Sony last week after big theater chains refused to show it due to a terrorist threat. (http://on.wsj.com/1APnCdq)
* RadioShack Corp has shut more stores in the past two months than the rest of the year, though it's hard to tell the difference. The chain still has a heavy surplus of stores in many local markets. (http://on.wsj.com/1EmMtZV)
* Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc said it would purchase Citigroup Inc's Japanese retail operations, leaving the New York bank to focus on corporate banking, investment banking and other institutional businesses in the world's third-largest economy. (http://on.wsj.com/1AaI9cs)
NYT
* The mysterious murder of a top executive is one of many troubles that have shaken Doral Financial Corp and unnerved investors. (http://nyti.ms/13IbxtF)
* "The Interview" improbably became a symbol of free speech over the last week as hackers first managed to get it withdrawn from theaters and then, after a groundswell of support for releasing it that reached the White House, watched it open after all. (http://nyti.ms/1wM6jsJ)
* The Environmental Protection Agency is trying to complete a regulation governing emissions from power sources, and a formula for how to treat nuclear plants is proving contentious. (http://nyti.ms/1H1ccF9)
* With a crackdown on payday lenders, subprime borrowers are increasingly using auto title loans, whose high interest rates can lead to repossession and financial ruin. (http://nyti.ms/13ykci2)
* Security researchers are increasingly voicing doubts about the United States government assertions that North Korea was behind the attack on Sony Corp's computer network. (http://nyti.ms/1vutbZa)
* With the help of the technology giants Google and Microsoft, Sony Pictures began distributing "The Interview" online Wednesday after a terror threat led the major theater chains to cancel the film's release. Among the Internet services that offered the film were the Google Play store, Google's YouTube and Microsoft's Xbox Video. (http://nyti.ms/1zXdYnG)
* Leading business schools are breaking from traditional approaches and picking up the digital-age arts of speed and constant experimentation. Business plan competitions have become common. Students' ideas usually have a digital component - websites, smartphone apps or sensor data. Innovation and entrepreneurship centers have proliferated. Dual-degree programs, with a science or engineering degree added to an MBA, are increasing. (http://nyti.ms/1zXdYnG)
Canada
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Two of Canada's largest telecom giants have reached a deal over control of wireless phone retailer Glentel Inc . A news release from BCE Inc issued late Wednesday says it has reached an agreement with Rogers that will see each company own 50 per cent of Glentel. (http://bit.ly/1wMR82k)
** In the coming days, the Ontario government will unveil details of the new Jobs and Prosperity Fund, rolling all existing corporate handouts into one C$2.5-billion ($2.15 billion) program. But economists warn it is not clear the province does the rigorous analysis necessary to see if those subsidies are working. (http://bit.ly/1AQpCCf)
** Brookfield Asset Management Inc has hiked its offer to other shareholders of Brookfield Residential Properties Inc by 5.4 percent as it seeks to acquire full ownership of the North American land developer and homebuilder. (http://bit.ly/1HKiPKE)
** Cliffs Natural Resources Inc is feeling more pain from its foray into Canada. As the Cleveland-based company pulls up stakes at its money-losing Bloom Lake iron ore mine in northeastern Quebec after investing billions in what its chief executive dubbed a "disaster," the company's subsidiary, Bloom Lake General Partner Ltd has been hit with a record C$7.5-million fine for environmental infractions at the site. (http://bit.ly/16TGP2L)
NATIONAL POST
** Almost three quarters of Canadian businesses have experienced data loss or downtime in the past year, to the tune of C$16.8 billion, according to a global data protection study released this month by EMC Corporation. Those problematic workloads are the ones that have had the Information Technology world buzzing this year: hybrid cloud, big data, and mobile. (http://bit.ly/1xjPsfp)
** In his annual Christmas message, Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked Canadians to pray for members of the military as they battle Islamic extremists in northern Iraq. Harper said Canadians are doing what they are known for - "protecting the vulnerable, promoting peace, and defending the freedom of all people". (http://bit.ly/1Eo9ewH)
** Almost two-thirds of Canadians believe homegrown terrorism is a serious issue, but most do not perceive a threat from radicalized individuals in their communities, according to a new survey. The national poll, conducted in the wake of deadly attacks on Canadian soldiers, found that just over half of respondents supported new anti-terror legislation that would boost the powers of Canada's spies. (http://bit.ly/1HKmLLq)
China
CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL
- China is preparing draft regulations on financial marketing and will publish them as soon as possible, said Wang Ou, vice-director of the innovation department of China Securities Regulatory Commission.
SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS
- The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China said in an announcement it encouraged private funds to invest in the broadband market.
- The country's top competition regulator will strengthen its anti-monopoly efforts next year to ensure fairer market conditions. Zhang Mao, head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, said its priority for 2015 remains cracking down on monopoly and illegal competition in key sectors, and any actions that infringe upon commercial intelligence rules.
SHANGHAI DAILY
- China's job market has proved resilient, despite slowing economic growth, with more than 13 million new jobs expected to be created this year, said Yin Weimin, human resources and social security minister, adding that China's registered urban jobless rate will stay at a "relatively low" level.
CHINA DAILY
- The application to set up Shanghai Huarui Bank Co Ltd, which would have been the first private lender in the city, has been rejected following assessments, according to an announcement by one of the shareholders. Analysts said the regulators might not have approved the proposed bank because Juneyao Group holds shares, through direct and indirect shareholding, amounting to 39 percent of the proposed bank, exceeding the 30 percent ceiling set by the government.
- 3100 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -


It's almost 8:00 AM, time to slam the PMs. (WHORES)
"Xbox, PlayStation Networks Attacked, Hackers Claim Credit "
The bigger money is if they get into the big trading firms and their algos.
Or the Federal Reserve.
Imagine hackers beating William Dudley at his own game.
So Obama is worried about a wave of digital extortion threats. It's funny how it hurts when the shoe is on the other foot. Perhaps he can now understand how the planet feels about being eavesdropped by the USA.
it's not a market, it's a central bank policy tool.
Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God The odds of life existing on another planet grow ever longer. Intelligent design, anyone? In 1966 Time magazine ran a cover story asking: Is God Dead? Many have accepted the cultural narrative that he’s obsolete—that as science progresses, there is less need for a “God” to explain the universe. Yet it turns out that the rumors of God’s death were premature. More amazing is that the relatively recent case for his existence comes from a surprising place—science itself. Here’s the story: The same year Time featured the now-famous headline, the astronomer Carl Sagan announced that there were two important criteria for a planet to support life: The right kind of star, and a planet the right distance from that star. Given the roughly octillion—1 followed by 24 zeros—planets in the universe, there should have been about septillion—1 followed by 21 zeros—planets capable of supporting life. With such spectacular odds, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a large, expensive collection of private and publicly funded projects launched in the 1960s, was sure to turn up something soon. Scientists listened with a vast radio telescopic network for signals that resembled coded intelligence and were not merely random. But as years passed, the silence from the rest of the universe was deafening. Congress defunded SETI in 1993, but the search continues with private funds. As of 2014, researches have discovered precisely bubkis—0 followed by nothing. What happened? As our knowledge of the universe increased, it became clear that there were far more factors necessary for life than Sagan supposed. His two parameters grew to 10 and then 20 and then 50, and so the number of potentially life-supporting planets decreased accordingly. The number dropped to a few thousand planets and kept on plummeting. Even SETI proponents acknowledged the problem. Peter Schenkel wrote in a 2006 piece for Skeptical Inquirer magazine: “In light of new findings and insights, it seems appropriate to put excessive euphoria to rest . . . . We should quietly admit that the early estimates . . . may no longer be tenable.” As factors continued to be discovered, the number of possible planets hit zero, and kept going. In other words, the odds turned against any planet in the universe supporting life, including this one. Probability said that even we shouldn’t be here. Today there are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life—every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart. Without a massive planet like Jupiter nearby, whose gravity will draw away asteroids, a thousand times as many would hit Earth’s surface. The odds against life in the universe are simply astonishing. Yet here we are, not only existing, but talking about existing. What can account for it? Can every one of those many parameters have been perfect by accident? At what point is it fair to admit that science suggests that we cannot be the result of random forces? Doesn’t assuming that an intelligence created these perfect conditions require far less faith than believing that a life-sustaining Earth just happened to beat the inconceivable odds to come into being? There’s more. The fine-tuning necessary for life to exist on a planet is nothing compared with the fine-tuning required for the universe to exist at all. For example, astrophysicists now know that the values of the four fundamental forces—gravity, the electromagnetic force, and the “strong” and “weak” nuclear forces—were determined less than one millionth of a second after the big bang. Alter any one value and the universe could not exist. For instance, if the ratio between the nuclear strong force and the electromagnetic force had been off by the tiniest fraction of the tiniest fraction—by even one part in 100,000,000,000,000,000—then no stars could have ever formed at all. Feel free to gulp. Multiply that single parameter by all the other necessary conditions, and the odds against the universe existing are so heart-stoppingly astronomical that the notion that it all “just happened” defies common sense. It would be like tossing a coin and having it come up heads 10 quintillion times in a row. Really? Fred Hoyle, the astronomer who coined the term “big bang,” said that his atheism was “greatly shaken” at these developments. He later wrote that “a common-sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with the physics, as well as with chemistry and biology . . . . The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.” Theoretical physicist Paul Davies has said that “the appearance of design is overwhelming” and Oxford professor Dr. John Lennox has said “the more we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a Creator . . . gains in credibility as the best explanation of why we are here.” The greatest miracle of all time, without any close seconds, is the universe. It is the miracle of all miracles, one that ineluctably points with the combined brightness of every star to something—or Someone—beyond itself.
What does that mean?
I think it means just what Roger Penrose calculated it meant, the odds of the Theory of Evolution being correct (and not a theory) are pretty long ;-)
http://wolfstreet.com/2014/12/25/leaked-secret-negotiations-to-let-big-brother-go-global/ The ugly ramifications of the Trade in Services Act (TiSA)