A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading this morning on the World Wide Web.
The Wall Street Journal reports that bazillionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates both consider Business Adventures by John Brooks to be their favourite business book. At first glance, the collection of New Yorker magazine articles from the 1960s is an odd choice, but as Mr. Gates writes, "Brooks's work is a great reminder that the rules for running a strong business and creating value haven't changed. For one thing, there's an essential human factor in every business endeavor. It doesn't matter if you have a perfect product, production plan and marketing pitch."
"Bill Gates's favorite business book " – Wall Street Journal
A Bank of Canada study highlights Canada's falling share of U.S. imports and the widely disparate growth paths of Canadian exporters. In total, Canada now accounts for six per cent less of U.S. imports relative to 2013. Some of the industries that were expected to benefit from an expanding U.S. economy – autos and chemical manufacturers specifically – are lagging.
"In Canada, a case of the missing U.S. exports" – Wall Street Journal
CNBC writes that the latest source of anxiety for Wall Street is the flagging U.S. consumer. U.S. retail stocks have been among the weakest market sectors so far in 2014 and disturbingly, the stress seems particularly acute with the lowest wealth segments of the population, "Wal-Mart to Rent-A-Center have warned that slack consumer demand will weigh on results."
"Here's the new worry that's consuming Wall Street" – CNBC
"Family Dollar CEO offers an ominous insight about his customers" – Business Insider
It's just my opinion, but of all the commentators on economics, I think Steven Randy Waldman is the wisest. (That's not a term I use lightly.) His most recent post makes a compelling argument that, no matter what the pundits say, developed world economies value the protection of creditors over every other economic goal. He writes, "We are in a depression because it is our revealed preference, as a polity, not to remedy the problem... the preferences of developed, aging polities — first Japan, now the United States and Europe — are obvious to a dispassionate observer. Their overwhelming priority is to protect the purchasing power of incumbent creditors. That's it. That's everything."
"Depression is a choice" – Waldman, Interfluidity
Tweet of the Day: @TomOrlik Here's a scary number: China truck sales down 24% YoY in June. Economy grinding to a halt? pic.twitter.com/729rogu6RF
Diversion: Medical researchers are finding out that our gastrointestinal system not only has its own nervous system, but that the GI tract is actual in charge of our brains to a much greater extent than previously imagined. CBC news has a recent post on studies showing how nutrition can determine mental health.
Here's another fascinating fact from an older piece in Scientific American: "The second [GI] brain contains some 100 million neurons, more than in either the spinal cord or the peripheral nervous system."
"Gut feeling: How intestinal bacteria may influence our moods" – CBC
"How the gut's 'second brain' influences mood and well-being" – Scientific American
Follow Scott Barlow on Twitter @SBarlow_ROB
Scott Barlow