GOOD MORNING QUARTZ READERS!
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR TODAY:
Big indicator: Here comes the US jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Recent good news has economists expecting that 111,000 new jobs were created in the US last month. A sharp swing up would validate the Fed’s new stimulus policy. Politically, President Obama’s campaign could use some good news right now, but a tough labor market will reinforce the criticism of his challenger, Mitt Romney.
Spain’s bank run. People are still pulling money out of Spanish banks, despite successful bond auctions and implicit backing from the European Central Bank.
Shares in social game maker Zynga. The California company that rode the success of Facebook with social videogames such as FarmVille wrote down the value of a recent acquisition and cut its 2012 outlook. Its shares are down 70% this year already.
Huawei mulls an IPO. The Chinese telecom gear maker, #2 by world sales, reached out to bankers for advice on a listing, the WSJ reports.
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:
Japan’s central bank declined to expand its economic stimulus efforts. The yen rallied from two-week lows against the dollar, but political pressure on Japan’s Central Bank remains.
Samsung Electronics reported a $7.3 billion quarterly profit. Galaxy smartphone and TV sales were strong.
Google and five publishers settled a 2005 suit over Google’s scanning of library books. US publishers can now choose to have their books removed from Google’s digital database. The settlement is a retreat for the Internet company, which had defended on fair use grounds its displaying portions of the content to users without publishers’ permission.
Turkey’s legislature approved future attacks on Syria. A year-long mandate for incursions the executive deems necessary. This sounds…ominous. NATO thinks so, too.
Russia’s energy minister is considering granting Western companies oil licenses in the Arctic. Russia normally grants such concessions to state-owned firms like Gazprom, so the move is a bit of a shocker.
Morgan Stanley plans more job cuts and smaller bonuses amid profit pressure. The CEO of the US financial firm told the FT that “the industry is still overpaid.”
QUARTZ OBSESSION INTERLUDE:
Steve LeVine on Energy Shocks: “The chain-reaction of a global flood of new oil and gas supplies: a comparatively weak OPEC, a struggling Russia, a revitalized US, a less-menacing China, and—unless there is serious mitigation—quite possibly a surge in greenhouse gases. The reason for OPEC’s disadvantage is that it will no longer be a single center of gravity: it currently satisfies 34% of the world’s daily consumption, or 31 million barrels of the 89 million consumed each day. North America would be a competing locus, producing 25 million barrels a day by the early 2020s. This flood of oil, along with expected new volumes from Africa and South America, would diminish the chance of a conflict over resources with China. With its cheap natural gas, the US could experience a new industrial boom. As for Russia, it along with other single-commodity economies could face economic trouble if a global fossil fuel surplus drives down global oil prices.” Read more here.
MATTERS OF DEBATE:
Why China lacks Gangnam style. A certain lack of irony.
Qatar is pouring money into France. Surely it’s not for all the wine!
How the Syria-Turkey conflict could ignite the region. Surprise: the international system failed.
SURPRISING DISCOVERIES:
Want to survive a plane crash? Sit here.
J.P. Morgan Chief Jamie Dimon was almost the CEO of Home Depot. You can imagine, can’t you?
The most popular Hermes scarves were designed by a Texas postman. And yes, there’s an amazing—and sad—story behind it.
Mouse eggs were created from stem cells for the first time. Science marches on at the University of Japan.
ALSO TODAY: Canada announces its unemployment rate. On this day in 2000, Slobodan Milosevic was ousted from the Serbian presidency in the “bulldozer revolution.”
Best wishes from Quartz for a productive day. Please send any news, queries, Arctic oil licences, and Hermes scarves to hi@qz.com.