Close up Gilead Sciences Inc.'s Truvada pill in their lab in Foster City, Calif., Monday, May 2006.Paul Sakuma/The Associated Press
A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading this morning on the Web
Markets are an ocean of calm after a weekend rife with ideological barbarism, and I'm not sure how to take that at the moment.
A research report from Standard and Poor's, echoing the work of M.I.T. economist Daren Acemoglu, underscores the high stakes inherent in current political upheaval, ,
"Sounding the alarm over the rise of populism in Europe and the U.S., the credit agency said key historic drivers of the creditworthiness of advanced economies over their emerging-market counterparts — the strength of institutions and quality of policy making — can no longer be taken for granted.
"We believe it may no longer be possible to separate advanced economies from emerging markets by describing their political systems as displaying superior levels of stability, effectiveness, and predictability of policy making and political institutions," wrote Moritz Kraemer, chief sovereign ratings officer, in a 2017 outlook report entitled "A Spotlight On Rising Political Risks.""
Mr. Acemoglu's highly regarded book Why Nations Fail argued that the primary driving factor behind developed world economic growth was the strength and trustworthiness of political, social and financial institutions. S&P is finding that there's little distinction between emerging and developing economies when the Department of Homeland Security is told to ignore judge's rulings.
"S&P Just Demolished One Big Distinction Between Emerging and Developed Markets" – Bloomberg
"The stock market has boomed under Trump. What happens next might scare you" – Lawrence Summers, Washington Post
"Is liberalism to blame?" – Globalinequality (via economist and inequality scholar Branko Milanovic)
"America's New President Is Not a Rational Actor" – Foreign Policy
"Why Nations Fail", (blog by Acemoglu, Robinson)
====
Oil markets are flat this morning despite comments from the International Energy Agency Director Fatih Birol arguing that peak oil demand is a long way into the future,
"Birol also warned that oil markets could enter a period of high volatility unless companies develop new projects after two years of sharp drops in investments sparked by low oil prices.
"We do not see in the near and medium terms oil products can be substituted by other fuels. More than one third of growth comes from trucks in developing Asia... We do not subscribe to oil demand peaking anytime soon," Birol said at the GE Oil and Gas annual meeting in Florence, Italy."
"IEA does not foresee oil demand peaking soon, Birol says" – Reuters
"Oil Trades Near $53 as U.S. Drilling Accelerates Amid OPEC Cuts" – Bloomberg
====
The always-useful Motley Fool site presents evidence that biotech stocks are undervalued,
"Don't fret about political uncertainties; now is a great time to buy biotech stocks. Three big biotechs, in particular, look to be solid picks. Here's why AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV), Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG), and Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) are three top biotech stocks you can buy right now."
"3 Top Biotech Stocks to Buy Now" – Motley Fool
====
Tweet of the Day: "@SBarlow_ROB HSBC's downbeat view on Canadian growth, "residential investment to fall 2.1%" – (HSBC research excerpt) Twitter
Diversion: "How to prepare for CRISPR" – Marginal Revolution