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Scott Barlow

A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading this morning on the Web

Science Alert reports that Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (or CRISPR) – a technology that can change the human genome – may not be as accurate as previously thought. I suspect this is a temporary problem that can be addressed. It's also a reminder that one of the most important revolutions in human history is not an issue for future generations, but is happening now.

CRISPR has remarkable potential to ease human suffering,

"The technique works like a biological 'cut and paste' tool, where researchers use a protein to seek out a particular gene and cut it out of the genome, replacing it with DNA of their choice …In recent years, it's been used to tap into cancer's 'control centre,' repair a mutation that causes blindness, treat genetic disease in living animals, and even modify human embryos to figure out what causes infertility and miscarriage."

The ability to change our genetic make-up also brings up some tough questions. Are we comfortable with the U.S. military using it? If the Chinese military is already creating super-soldier X-Men do we have a choice? How do we feel about technology billionaires like Peter Thiel, a man with an alleged strong interest in the blood of teenagers to extend longevity, having the ability to make a la carte adjustments to his own genetic code?

"CRISPR Gene-Editing Can Cause Hundreds of Unexpected Mutations" – Science Alert

"China's About to Rewrite Human DNA Using a Revolutionary Tool For The First Time" – Science Alert

Stock chart, CRISPR Therapeutics AG – Bloomberg

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The Canadian corporate bond market is so red hot that underwriters are expecting a correction,

" 'The market's getting saturated at this point and we see that being reflected in spreads,' Jason Parker, Toronto-based head of fixed-income research at BMO Capital Markets, said by phone. 'I would be hard-pressed to say we'll surpass $10-billion in June, just because investors have to consolidate and absorb all the supply that was transacted in May.' "

"Record Sales Halt 10-Month Narrowing in Canada Corporate Spreads" – Bloomberg

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Merrill Lynch strategists are concerned about overbought conditions in technology stocks and are offering trade strategies to account for frothy conditions,

"Remarkably, FANG stocks contribute the most to the recent record overweight in Tech by active funds, having greatly outperformed the SPX YTD (30 per cent versus 8 per cent). .. we believe investors should position for a Tech overshoot via: i) stock replacement strategies (long six month ATM calls), or ii) long six month outperformance calls of FANG versus SPX."

"@SBarlow_ROB ML: Trade strategies for a tech overshoot" – (research excerpt) Twitter

"Investors Go All-In on Tech Giants" – Bloomberg

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In the oil patch, crude prices are hitting three week lows.

"Oil prices at three-week low as rising output risks OPEC-led deal" – Reuters

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Tweet of the Day: "@a_coops1 Saudi oil min Falih says OECD #oil inventories down 30 mln bbls YTD. IEA said stocks at a slim errm 3.025 bln bbls in March, to rise in Apr " – Twitter

Diversion: "The Rise and Fall of Toronto's Classiest Con Man" – The Walrus

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