Technology

One week ago we said that Category 1 storm clouds are gathering over what has traditionally been one of the most lucrative, and perhaps only profitable, sectors to come out of Silicon Valley in decades: online advertising. We directed readers' attention to the recent Global Retailing Conference organized by Goldman Sachs, in which Restoration Hardware's delightfully colorful CEO, Gary Friedman, divulged the following striking anecdote about the company's online marketing strategy, and the state of online ad spending in general. What Friedman revealed - in brief - was the following:

After an exuberant overnight session - ignoring the slump in USDJPY and bond yields - the US cash session open appears to have triggered a wave of selling (especially in tech stocks)...

Nasdaq is getting whacked at the open...

Bank stocks are bid once again - back to pre-FOMC Minutes levels - as Tech rolls over...

The S&P is back to unchanged...

As VIX spikes back above 10...

And as a reminder, yesterday's open was the opposite - a panic-bid...

Following July's collapse in housing data (from permits to sales), August data for Housing Starts were supposed to bounce back but didn't (falling 0.8% MoM vs +1.7% exp) and Permits were expected to fall 0.8% but spiked 5.7% MoM (thanks to a big jump in multi-family units).

So it appears last month's ugly Housing Starts data was revised sharply higher on the back of a jump in multi-family units...

And Multi-family Permits jumped notably...

Via The Daily Bell

Cable television has long been the coveted propaganda arm used to program American sentiments. But because of the internet, viewer choice for news, sports, and entertainment has proliferated. Content is becoming decentralized, and that makes it harder to control the attitudes of the masses.

Since 2013, pay tv subscriptions have been declining, losing more customers than they gain. Over one million people per year are fleeing from paying for cable TV from companies like Verizon, Time Warner, and Comcast.

Authored by Tom Luongo via TomLuongo.me,

The big boys, Apple and Google, are now actively developing a payment API for cryptos to use within their browsers.  This is a double-edged sword and possibly indicates a shift in tax policy.

I don’t trust either Apple or Google at all.  The news from Coindesk about Apple and Google developing a payment API on the heels of multiple avenues of officaldom cracking down on cryptocurrencies is enough to give you whiplash.