Global Macro, Commodities and Markets
- A pessimists guide to global macro in 2015 – Bloomberg
- Natural gas futures collapse under $3 – CNBC
- As Russian Gas raises head in European winter – BloombergView
- The best and worst of global politics in 2014 – Bloomberg
- Business cycle theory – Pragmatic Capitalism (good read as usual from Cullen Roche)
Americas
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- US retailers may only just meet sales forecasts this Xmas – CNBC
- Where to find US shale energy (chart) – BI
- S&P500 earnings and revenue slashed by one third for 2015 – ZH (but new highs! Buy! Buy!)
Europe
- How can Europe escape recession in 2015? – Bruegel (get Germany to employ some Spaniards and Greeks….)
- Russian economy to shrink 4% – Reuters
- Most unpredictable elections in UK in decades – FT (the rise of the 3rd party)
- Switzerland starts to dismantle its Cold War defences – FT
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Asia
- China’s dangerous road into deflation – FT
- Japan’s real wage collapse continues into negative savings rates – ZH
- Demand for “The Interview” rises in North Korea – BI
- Asia marks 10th year anniversary of the Tsunami – USAToday
- China’s growth story no longer strong as once thought – AFR (better late than never)
Australia and New Zealand
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- Women rate Abbott poorly on all fronts – Fairfax (as they should)
- Commsec reckons no rate cuts in 2015 – Fairfax (I reckon you should short Commsec and their economic team if possible)
- Australians now live in energy poverty – Fairfax (pity about that energy reservation policy hey?)
- Top 10 numbers in the NZ economy – Interest.co.nz (parity with AUD on the way for 2015? I hope not….)
- How to survive 2015 for investors – Chris Joye at AFR (solid piece)
- House price growth will “slow” in 2015 – AFR (oh yes.)
Science, Technology and the Future
- Unexpected life found in deepest underwater trench– NPR
- Ways to avoid email tracking – NYT
- House assembled in 3 hours! – Gizmag (how it should be, not 3 bloody months!)
- Tesla updates its cars with a 600km range – BI
- 2014: a year in space – Gizmag (what a year, some sadness with SpaceShipTwo and a lot of joy elsewhere!)
Miscellaneous
- Why Sweden has so few road deaths – The Economist
- The importance of parody “The Interview” – The Diplomat
- Pope Francis takes on the Catholic Mafia – FT (good luck to the best Pope in decades)
- How to pick a bad forecaster – A wealth of common sense (how about don’t rely on forecasting?)
Some inspiration from the late philosopher, George Carlin:
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And watch a drone fly through Christmas fireworks: