The 10-Point: The Global Selloff, Biden’s Bid, Oil Prices and More
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World on Fire
The selloff in global stocks is gathering pace this morning. European stocks and U.S. stock futures fell sharply after the Shanghai Composite Index closed down 8.5% and wiped out gains for the year while oil tumbled to fresh lows. China’s struggles reflect a black-box economy increasingly failing to cooperate with the playbook of the country’s leaders. We report that Beijing is planning to flood its banking system with new liquidity by reducing the reserve-requirement ratio by a half-percentage point to offset effects of its recent surprise currency devaluation, which raised the alarm that the world’s second-largest economy may be in worse shape than many investors had thought. Meanwhile, the winners and losers on Wall Street are being upended, with bonds once again getting the upper hand. In China, even the car factories are feeling the squeeze. Follow our live markets coverage here. (Pictured above: Investors monitor stock data on an electronic board at a securities brokerage house in Beijing on Monday.)
Joe’s Moment
Vice President Joe Biden is leaning toward entering the presidential race, though he would do so as a clear underdog. Polling shows Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton running far ahead of the vice president. Still, Mr. Biden’s deliberations illustrate how both major parties’ primary campaigns are in a state of flux. Democrats are increasingly insecure about Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy and Republicans are struggling to find the proper tone in reacting to Donald Trump’s no-holds-barred campaign style that has nudged top contenders into uncomfortable sound bites. Mr. Biden’s surprise weekend trip to meet with Sen. Elizabeth Warren fueled speculation that he is sounding out support he might receive from the party’s progressive base.
Pumping Prices
Crude oil prices may be down more than 60% in a little more than a year, but good luck finding those savings at the gas pump. After running full-tilt for more than a year to take advantage of low crude prices, American refineries appear to be hitting their limits. U.S. oil prices briefly dropped below $40 a barrel, but cheap gas isn’t a sure bet everywhere, as California drivers in particular miss out due to refinery outages. Higher prices stemming from production woes spread across the Midwest last week, where gasoline had its largest weekly price increase in the decade since Hurricane Katrina, and far more refineries in the region are scheduled to go down for maintenance this fall than in prior years. Diving into oil now is just a good way to get hurt, writes Heard on the Street’s Liam Denning.
Burrito Binge
Chipotle plans to hire 4,000 employees in a single day next month, dangling the possibility that high-performing recruits could someday earn six-figure salaries and company stock. Restaurant chains have responded to a tightening labor market by boosting wages and offering more perks, such as tuition reimbursement, while vying for consumers’ attention. Chipotle’s hiring push comes as the chain faces at least nine lawsuits in state and federal courts from workers who claim that it failed to pay them for working overtime. Meanwhile, McDonald’s signed a license agreement to open restaurants in remote Siberia.
TOP STORIES
U.S.
The Fed Has a Theory. Trouble Is, the Proof Is Patchy
White House Door Isn’t Always Open to Ex-Cons
WORLD
Two Koreas Struggle to End Military Standoff
Crime Soars in Oil Region of Southern Iraq
BUSINESS
Mondelez CEO Stands By Efforts to Cut Costs
For Publishers, Mobile Readers Abound; the Ads, Not So Much
MARKETS
Gauge Shows Trader Unease on Merger Outcomes
Global Finance Returns to Iran
NUMBER OF THE DAY
9.2%
The amount the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF, which tracks shares of companies ranging from home builders to mattress makers, is up in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has fallen 4.3% in the same period. Many investors point to the housing sector as evidence the recent plunge in stocks won’t become an outright collapse.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
‘He seemed like he was ready to fight to the end. So were we.’
—Airman First Class Spencer Stone, one of the three Americans who subdued a heavily armed gunman on a Paris-bound train Friday, speaking at a news conference on Sunday. Mr. Stone was among four men awarded the Legion of Honor, France’s most prestigious decoration for civilians, by French President François Hollande this morning.
TODAY’S QUESTION
Going back to our story above, what are your thoughts on Joe Biden leaning toward a 2016 run? Send your comments, which we may edit before publication, to 10point@wsj.com. Please include your name and location.
—Compiled by Margaret Rawson
READER RESPONSE
On Friday’s question about GMO foods, Judith Dollenmayer of Washington, D.C., and New York wrote: “With so many more pressing issues threatening us--from climate change to mass migrations--it’s tiresome to battle the anti-GMO ranters, who parallel the anti-vaxxers in ignorance of science.” Doug Flessner of Michigan commented: “I suggest all the critics of GMO go on a subsistence diet for 30 days, and really experience hunger, before they form an opinion on GMO. Because that is what much of the world is or will be faced with without the use of proven safe technologies like GMO.” And David Schools of South Carolina weighed in: “It is surprising to me that many of the same people, some of whom are prominent ‘celebrities,’ choose to ignore the science that declares GMO foods safe and simultaneously show disdain for those who ignore the science of climate change.” But Massimo Piras wrote from Finland: “The problem with GMOs is that one is playing God with nature. Who knows what the long-term effects will be?” And Mike Furlong of Alabama observed: “I think we lack an ‘objective’ research source we can trust. Those who oppose GMOs will find research to back their claims as will those who support them. Who can say science does thoroughly understand the consequences of GMOs?”
This daily briefing is named "The 10-Point" after the nickname conferred by the editors of The Wall Street Journal on the lead column of the legendary "What's News" digest of top stories. Technically, "10-point" referred to the size of the typeface. The type is smaller now but the name lives on.
Photo: European Pressphoto Agency
Register nurse Practitioner midwife
9yI agree the effect of GMO on hunger point of view ,but not sure about long term effect of GMO on global environment matter?
Building strong relationships is a cornerstone of my approach - Ex-Visa
9yFifty shades of red going around in all the world markets!! hold on to those stocks and shares people!!
Conservative Journalist and Blogger. Political activist. Author of over 4,000 magazine and newspaper articles and blogs. Ivy-educated Ph.D.
9yThe significant thing about right now is not "Markets" per se. It is once again the major Commodity Indices, which today reached 16-year lows. Look up what happened almost exactly 16 years ago. That's right! In the last week of September, 1999, Washington Agreement One. But you can turn on any major US business channel and hear the same idiotic Mantra we've heard over and over for the past 25 years or so: *** The developing world can just skip the "Industrialization" stage and move directly to a shiny, new, all-Tech post-Industrial future. *** The US no longer needs its various resources industries or manufacturing industries. We are The Empire, and the rest of the world must produce what we consume. And they better do it at the lowest possible prices, because They don't need growth and jobs (and food and shelter and infrastructure and other necessities of life). No, only Bwana does. The above - and the Media idiocy which supports it - is the only real cause of the "gulf between Rich and Poor." In our economy. In the world economy. In the U.S. In the world.