“Yahoo said a major security breach in 2013 compromised all three billion accounts the company maintained, a three-fold increase over the estimate it disclosed previously.”
“It wasn’t always this way. We never used to get a giant, speculative bubble every 7–8 years. We really didn’t. In 2000, we had the dot-com bubble. In 2007, we had the housing bubble. In 2017, we have the everything bubble. I did not coin the term ‘the everything bubble.’ I do not know who did. Apologies (and much respect) to the person I stole it from. Why do we call it the everything bubble? Well, there is a bubble in a bunch of asset classes simultaneously. And the infographic below that my colleagues at Mauldin Economics created paints the picture best. I don’t usually predict downturns, but this time I bet my reputation that a downturn is coming. And soon.”
Read more: http://www.mauldineconomics.com/editorial/infographic-the-everything-bubble-is-ready-to-pop
“Currently, according to Ned Davis Research, stocks represent 40% of total household financial assets, much higher than the 28.2% average allocation since 1951. There’s been only one other occasion since 1951 in which stock allocation was higher than it is today — at the top of the late 1990s internet bubble, when it rose to 47.5%. Every other major stock market top of the last seven decades, in contrast, occurred when households’ equity allocation was lower than today’s level. At the 2007 stock market top, for example, the allocation peaked at 37.1%.”
Read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-your-neighbors-stock-buying-should-worry-you-2017-10-03
“In the U.S., margin debt is at more than three times the level recorded before the 2008 financial crisis began, and is even greater than its peak in 2000 before the dotcom crash, according to research released last week from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Journal indicates.”
Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/news/margin-selling-biggest-threat-stocks-right-now/
“Even those making over six figures said they struggle to make ends meet, the report said. Nearly 1 in 10 of those making $100,000 or more said they usually or always live paycheck to paycheck, and 59 percent of those in that salary range said they were in the red.”
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/24/most-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck.html
“The information came mostly from US residents, but a percentage also involved UK and Canadian citizens and the company is working with authorities from these countries. Equifax reports that it discovered the leak on July 29th and took steps to stop the intrusion. It then hired a cybersecurity firm to determine the extent of the intrusion and what damage was done. The company reports that it has involved law enforcement, but it’s not clear at this point how the intruders entered the system or exactly what they took.”
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/07/equifax-data-leak-could-involve-143-million-consumers/
“The order to leave the consulate and an official diplomatic residence in San Francisco — home to a longstanding community of Russian emigres and technology workers — escalated an already tense diplomatic standoff between Washington and Moscow, even for those who have long monitored activities inside the closely monitored building.”
Read more: https://www.apnews.com/9549026d1ed946e98d5119c785f2a388
“Pacemakers from Abbott Laboratories contain critical flaws that allow hijackers within radio range to seize control while the pacemakers are running. The update will require patients to visit a clinic where doctors will put the pacemakers in backup mode while the firmware is being patched. The Abbott letter said that, for certain patients, the update should be performed ‘in a facility where temporary pacing and pacemaker generator change are readily available, due to the very small estimated risk of firmware update malfunction.'”
“Wall Street brokerages have been selling billions of dollars in loans backed by stocks and bonds, a trend that yields lucrative fees for the firms but poses risks for borrowers.”
“While President Trump has praised Duterte’s approach to combating drug addiction — namely, encouraging vigilantes to extrajudicially murder drug users by the thousands — Tillerson suggested that this policy was not good, but also irrelevant to the question of whether the U.S. should intervene against ISIS on Duterte’s behalf.”
Read more: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/08/u-s-may-bomb-isis-in-the-philippines-report.html