Links 31 January 2018

Global Macro / Markets / Investing:

• Record Crypto Heist Raises the Appeal of a New Type of Exchange – Bloomberg
• The revaluation of international banks following the crisis – VOX
• Dow drops 177 points on rising rate fears in biggest decline of the year so far – CNBC
• Why Apple’s chip arsenal keeps growing – Bloomberg
• Governments Worry That Cryptocurrencies Could Be the ‘Next Swiss Bank Account’ – Bloomberg
• Bitcoin is the mother of all bubbles, Roubini says – MarketWatch
• Pros call the stock market’s parabolic up move this year a ’melt-up’ and they think it can keep going – CNBC
• Blackstone in talks to buy majority stake in key Thomson Reuters unit  – Reuters
• Steve Wozniak says he doesn’t trust Elon Musk or Tesla anymore – MarketWatch
• How to Launder $500 Million in Digital Currency – Bloomberg
• The Highest-Yielding Treasury Bond Isn’t Declining Like Its Peers – WSJ
• Risk Assets in Danger Zone as Bull Feeding Time Becomes Frenzy – Bloomberg

Americas:

• House Republicans Vote to Release Secret Memo on Russia Probe – NY Times
• U.S. rejects proposals to unblock NAFTA, but will stay in talks – Reuters
• What the U.S. Economy Is Still Missing – Bloomberg
• Trump is winning – VOX
• Deficit hawks have flown the coop – Washington Post
• Ex-campaign manager: Clinton ‘overruled’ firing staffer accused of harassment – Politico
• FEMA To End Food And Water Aid For Puerto Rico – NPR
• The Subway Is Next Door. Should New Yorkers Pay Extra for That? – NY Times

Europe:

• How Benito Mussolini Took Power – qcurtius.com
• Will the Conservative party ever recover from Brexit? – Mainly Macro
• ECB Officials Assume QE Will End in Short Taper – Bloomberg
• Cost of British passport to increase – BBC
• Shaking the magic money tree – BBC
• London’s Bankers Haven’t Been This Gloomy Since 2008 – Bloomberg

Asia:

• Asian Junk Bond Deluge Spurs Concerns About Debt Protection – Bloomberg
• Japanese chipmaker Renesas is in talks to acquire Maxim, in a deal that could approach $20 billion in value – CNBC
• Japanese Don’t Need Digital Currency as They Love Cash, BOJ Says – Bloomberg
• Powerful Ally of Xi Jinping Makes Political Comeback in China – NY Times
• Japan’s Cryptocurrency Whiz Kid Faces $530 Million Reckoning – WSJ
• Chinese Investors Keep Losing Billions Online. Here’s Why. – NY Times
• Kim Jong Nam met U.S. national on Malaysian island before he was killed, police say – Reuters

Trans-Tasman:

• Bill Shorten promises federal anti-corruption watchdog if he wins the next election – The SMH
• Bernard Tomic To Become New Face of Quitline – The Shovel
• Scott Morrison tried to delay asylum seekers’ permanent protection visas, documents reveal – ABC
• Decline in strike action linked to slow wages growth – The SMH
• ABC dismantles sound libraries and axes staff to improve budget – The Guardian
• ASIC alleges Commonwealth Bank involved in rigging key market interest rate – ABC
• The Senate acts as an anti-corruption body? Barnaby Joyce is having a laugh – The Guardian
• Australia’s largest floating solar farm switches on – Northern Star
• Retailers suffer through Christmas as profits and sales slump further: NAB business survey – ABC
• Victorian networks blow a fuse in heatwave – Coalition blows its mind on Twitter – Renew Economy
• Tiny home batteries propping up Victoria’s coal-fired power plants – The Age
• ‘The Franklin would be dammed today’: Australia’s shrinking environmental protections – The Guardian
• Government’s proposed language test blamed for fewer migrants taking citizenship pledge, MP says – ABC
• Nick Xenophon pledges to raise legal smoking age – New Daily
• $1 billion Circular Quay project sold to family of Chinese political donor – The SMH
• Away from the public gaze, serious threats to the environment keep rising – The Guardian
• Welcome to the ‘dormitory suburbs’: Experts question quality of life on Perth’s fringe – ABC
• Govt unveils its child poverty reduction bill – Interest.co.nz
• Positives and negatives compete for housing market influence – Interest.co.nz
• Gross Domestic Problems – Interest.co.nz