What to watch for today
More cracks in the US housing market. Sales of previously-owned homes are expected to fall 2.6% in August, in another sign rising mortgage rates are hampering housing demand.
British shoppers get only a bit more bullish. Consumers are expected to have pushed sales just 0.5% higher from July to August, as against 1% from June to July. UK retailers have said that the talk of a recovery in consumer spending is premature.
Analysts get to grill Microsoft. At its first analyst meet in two years (paywall), the software giant will have to answer questions on a host of issues including the search for a new CEO and the Nokia acquisition. On Tuesday, Microsoft increased dividends and announced a $40 billion buyback program.
Gloomy earnings reports. Packaged-foods company ConAgra, which cut its full-year earnings outlook (paywall) earlier this month, is likely to report muted earnings due to weakness in the consumer foods segment. Pharmacy chain Rite Aid’s losses are likely to narrow, but the focus will be on what the management has to say on the latest takeover rumors.
While you were sleeping
The Fed didn’t taper, to widespread surprise. The US Federal Reserve said it wanted to see more evidence of sustained economic recovery before winding down its stimulus measures. The move sent US interest rates plunging and powered the S&P 500 to a fresh all-time high. Here are four reasons why the Fed held its fire.
The pay gap may become public. The US Securities and Exchange Commission proposed rules that would require public companies to reveal the salary gap between chief executives and their employees, which has widened massively in recent decades.
Cyprus was warned to watch out. The European Commission and International Monetary Fund issued reports saying that the impact of the island’s banking crisis on its economy could be worse than expected, and unemployment could come close to 20% next year.
Google wants you to live longer. The internet giant launched a new venture, Calico, which will use big data to determine what really extends lives. Calico will be headed by Apple’s chairman, Art Levinson.
BlackBerry is swinging the axe. The struggling smartphone maker is reportedly preparing to lay off (paywall) up to 40% of its 12,700 workers by the end of the year. BlackBerry also launched its flagship Z30 smartphone on Wednesday, though most people were probably too busy downloading Apple’s new iOS 7 to notice.
Iran released 11 political prisoners. The country’s most prominent human rights activist, Nasrin Sotoudeh, was among those released ahead of president Hassan Rouhani’s visit to the UN general assembly in New York next week.
Quartz obsession interlude
Ritchie King on how most Americans except for the young have been progressively losing health coverage. “The big dump of data from the US Census Bureau yesterday shows that a higher portion of Americans had health coverage in 2012 than in 2011, but it was a minor uptick: 84.6% as opposed to 84.3%. The overriding trend is that the number of uninsured Americans has been growing faster than the population at large. That is, except for two age groups: children under 18 and those between 18 and 24.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Janet Yellen is the Fed chair the economy needs. She supports monetary easing to juice growth, opposes sharp deficit reductions, and favors tougher regulations to prevent bubbles.
A shorter working week is good for both the economy and society. Part-time workers are more productive hour-for-hour, and can be better parents and citizens.
Why international adoptions are failing. Older children are a growing share of adoptees, and they have a harder time adjusting to new families.
Fighting brain drain kills innovation. If you keep talented people from leaving jobs, it’ll be even harder to find talented employees to fill jobs.
Surprising discoveries
Market bubbles are an artefact of the brain. New research suggests that they’re driven by a biological impulse to try and predict how others behave.
Designer insects join the fight against pests. Genetically modified insects could soon be preventing their natural counterparts from ruining olive crop in Spain.
Snakes in space. European researchers are exploring the feasibility of sending snake-like, highly-manueverable robots to explore other planets.
The man who brewed beer in his gut. A patient who claimed he kept getting drunk without drinking turned out to have an excess of brewer’s yeast in his intestines.
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