Perspective

WP – Texas flood disaster: Harvey has unloaded 9 trillion gallons of water – Matthew Cappucci 8/27

Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice

Bloomberg Quint – Traders Ditch Risk as Dalio to Gundlach Warn on Emerging Markets – Ben Bartenstein 8/27

• “More investors are joining the cast of Wall Street veterans from Jeff Gundlach to Ray Dalio in warning that risky assets are overvalued.”
• “They point to rising global turmoil underscored by the recent terrorist attacks in Barcelona and the racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, as well as valuations that no longer compensate for potential flare ups in North Korea and Venezuela. That’s not to mention the unpredictability in the U.S., where President Donald Trump is feuding with members of Congress before a critical vote to increase the country’s debt ceiling.”
• “Among the assets under scrutiny are emerging-market bonds, which for only the third time in history are yielding less than U.S. junk debt. Some of the world’s largest money managers, from Pacific Investment Management Co. to T. Rowe Price Group Inc., are advising investors to reduce risk by trimming holdings of developing-nation assets.”

FT – Big Tech can no longer be allowed to police itself – Rana Foroohar 8/27

FT – Why the oil market should not misread Venezuela – Nick Butler 8/27

• Despite the political turmoil and the country on the verge of becoming a failed state, it is unlikely that oil supply disruptions will be permanent or significant enough to effect global oil prices materially.

Markets / Economy

WSJ – Slowing SUV Sales Could Signal a Turn in the Market – Mike Colias and Christina Rogers 8/26

Real Estate

TechCrunch – VC doors are wide open for real estate startups – Joanna Glasner 8/26

China

FT – China tech groups to demand ID verification for online posts – Yuan Yang 8/26

• “The Chinese government will oblige tech companies to keep a record of the identities of people posting comments online, in an extension of this summer’s crackdown on internet speech.”
• “Under the new regulations announced on Friday, all message board providers must authenticate users’ identities from October 1.”
• “’Online comments . . . give rise to false rumors, filthy language and illegal messages, which damage the online environment,’ said a government spokesperson.”
• “’This is a way of threatening the general population and media, especially online media,’ said Beijing-based historian Zhang Lifan. ‘It affects everyone.’”
• “’They are using lots of different methods to restrict people’s ability to criticize or mock officials — this is not normal, even for China,’ Mr. Zhang added.”
• “…The new regulations are being implemented under the aegis of China’s first cyber security law, which came into force in June and gives regulators the power to punish tech companies that disobey.”
• “’Now there is a clear legal basis and a process,’ said a Beijing-based lawyer who wished not to be named. ‘This is the cyber space administration saying, ‘I’m going to monitor content, and I’m going to directly regulate tech companies’.”