Weekend Links August 17-18

Global Macro/Markets:

• A vulnerable stock market – Barrons
• QTD and YTD country stock market performance – Bespoke
• That’s what’s up – Reformed Broker
• Fall tapering in the air – Tim Duy

North America:

• Water Shortages Pose Greatest Threat to US Economic Growth – OilPrice
• Philly Fed Misses Expectations; Industrial Production Unchanged; Manufacturing Declines; Treasury Yields Soar Anyway – Mish Shedlock
• Housing Starts increased in July to 896,000 SAAR – Calculated Risk
• U.S. retailers say uneven recovery keeps consumers cautious – Reuters
• Fed’s Bullard Floats Idea of Small Cuts to Bond Buying – WSJ
• J.C. Penney Heads for Ninth Quarter of Plunging Sales – Bloomberg
• Weekly initial unemployment claims continue to trend lower. – Calculated Risk
• BofA Plans to Dissolve Merrill Lynch to Simplify Company – Bloomberg

Europe:

• Europe’s Slow Financial Reforms – New York Times
• EU wants one definition of bad loans for bank tests – Reuters
• What does 0.3% growth mean to the EZ – FT

Asia:

• Easy Credit Dries Up, Choking Growth in China – New York Times
• Critics Decry Risks Posed by Link Between China’s Banks and Bonds – WSJ
• Misery, Indian Addition – FT
• India’s crisis brings back memories of 1991 – Sober Look
• A new development in the China bad bank story – FT

Local:

• Voters reject Rudd factor – SMH
• Beattie face thrashing in Forde – AFR, The Oz
• ANZ’s Smith upbeat despite weaker margins – AFR
• PM’s $500million boost for car industry – TheOz

Other

• The crisis in living standards & how to solve it – Touchstone
• Death toll soars to 638 in Egypt violence – AP
• Snowden downloaded NSA secrets while working for Dell, sources say – Reuters
• NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds – Washington Post
• How the wealthy keep themselves on top – FT
• Samsung Said to Introduce Wristwatch-Like Smartphone Next Month – Bloomberg