Daily Archives: July 20, 2017

Nasdaq signage is seen in New York City, USA. on Oct. 17, 2015 The NASDAQ Stock Market, is an American stock exchange. It is the second-largest exchange in the world by market capitalization. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)Roberto Machado Noa LightRocket via Getty Images

A broad barometer of global stock s posted a ninth straight session of gains on Wednesday as earnings season in the United States and Europe heated up, while the dollar clawed back from 10-month lows and oil prices jumped.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq marked record highs in the United States, picking up from strong performances by major European stock indexes, with the tech sector giving a boost in both regions.

MSCI's world stock s index marked its longest winning streak since October 2015. The global index gained 0.46 percent, setting a record high for a fifth straight session.

In the U.S., the earnings season seems to be surprising a little bit on the upside," said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland.

"What we have seen recently in the economic reports suggests it should be even better overseas ... So we have come to the point where things looks pretty good in the U.S. and it looks even better in prospect overseas, so whats not to like about equities."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66.02 points, or 0.31 percent, to 21,640.75, the S&P 500 gained 13.22 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,473.83 and the Nasdaq Composite added 40.74 points, or 0.64 percent, to 6,385.04.

Morgan Stanley shares climbed 3.3 pct after the bank's profit report.

Biotech Vertex soared 20.9 pct after stunning cystic fibrosis drug data.

Not all was rosy in earnings season, as IBM shares dropped 4.2 pct after its report, holding back the Dow's gains.

About a week into the heart of second-quarter reporting season, S&P 500 earnings are now expected to rise 8.7 percent, up from an expectation of an 8-percent rise from the start of July, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"Coming off a first quarter which was the strongest in terms of corporate earnings growth since 2011, this market needs to see a continuation of that trend to support these valuations," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. "And I think, so far so good."

In Europe, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.71 percent. Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML's shares gained 5.8 pct after the firm's quarterly report, lifting the region's tech sector to its biggest daily percentage gain since September.

The dollar edged higher against a basket of currencies a day after the greenback's sharp decline was sparked by a fresh setback to President Donald Trump's domestic agenda.

The dollar index rose 0.21 percent, with the euro down 0.33 percent to $1.1514.

But the greenback hit a more than three-week low against the yen as traders awaited meetings of the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan (BoJ). Market watchers will be looking to see if the recent strength of the euro and the yen influence their policy outlooks.

"FX investors had a very substantial long dollar/yen position," said Greg Anderson, global head of foreign exchange strategy at BMO Capital Markets in New York. "I think theyre just squaring up ahead of the BoJ," he said.

U.S. Treasury yields were little changed on light trading volume with benchmark yields hitting their lowest levels in nearly three weeks in advance of Thursday's ECB meeting.

Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 2/32 in price to yield 2.2678 percent, from 2.263 percent late on Tuesday.

Oil prices jumped after a U.S. report showed a bigger weekly draw than forecast in crude and gasoline stock s along with a surprise drop in distillate inventories.

U.S. crude rose 1.51 percent to $47.10 per barrel and Brent was last at $49.69, up 1.74 percent on the day. The New York Stock Exchange is seen on Wall Street on May 1, 2012 in New York City.

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Nasdaq and S&P 500 Reach Record Highs Thanks to Technology Stocks - Fortune

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Sex is one of the most powerful, fundamental human drives. Its caused wars, and built and destroyed kingdoms. It occupies a significant percentage of most peoples thoughts. As such, its worth a conversation about how exponential technologies will change our relationship with sex.

Dating in past generations was local and linear. You had access to a small number of potential mates based on where you lived, where you went to school and your social status. In the 1960s, over 50% of marriages globally, and 95% of marriages in India, were arranged. Today that number has dropped to less than 15% (globally). In 1960, the median age at first marriage for the bride was 20 and the groom was 23 years old. Today, the median age is closer to 29 for women and 30 for men. A cultural shift is happening, and its changing the game. Dating has gone digital. As such, it has gone from local and linear to global and exponential. Today, 40 million Americans use online dating services (thats about 40% of the single population in the U.S.), driving the creation of a $2.4 billion online dating industry.

These services transcend geography and social strata. People are matched from around the world. Between 1995 and 2005, there was exponential growth among heterosexual couples meeting online. (See the green line in the chart below.)

For same-sex couples, the online dating trend has been even more dramatic, with more than 60% of same-sex couples meeting online in 2008 and 2009 (see the green line in the chart above).

The implications of this are staggering. Besides moving the marriage age back, there are a number of sociological effects such as decision fatigue, gamification of dating, and the commoditization of people that will start to have population-level effects as mating behaviors change. And this is just the beginning.

In the very near future, we will see machine learning / artificial intelligence-based matchmakers that will find the perfect match for you based upon everything from your genomics to your psychographics. Once youre on a date, your augmented reality glasses will give you real-time dating info, calling up any info you want to know, as you need to know it. Perhaps you want to understand how she/he is feeling about you, and your AR camera is watching her pupillary dilation and capillary flushing. Like all technology, these applications are double-edged swords. My hope is that this tech actually increases the number of successful, meaningful relationships in the world and, in turn, has a net positive impact. But while dating is one side of the coin, sex is another and the implications of exponential technology on sex can be shocking.

Today, sex has been digitized; as such, it has been dematerialized, demonetized and democratized. Sex, in the form of pornography, is free, available to anyone with an internet connection and pervasive across many platforms. In 2015, just one pornography website reported that their users watched over 4.3 billion hours of porn (87 billion videos) that year. The proliferation of internet connectivity, online video players and streaming, mobile phones, and advertisement delivery networks have propelled pornography into a $97 billion industry. This is causing a number of negative social phenomena. More than half of boys and nearly a third of girls see their first pornographic images before they turn 13. In a survey of hundreds of college students, 93% of boys and 62% of girls said they were exposed to pornography before they turned 18. Pornography is influencing everything from how teens language and frame sexuality to how and why they pierce certain body parts to what they expect to give and receive in intimate relationships, says Jill Manning, Ph.D, Witherspoon Institute.

In Japan, a growing population of men report that they *prefer* having virtual girlfriends over real ones (i.e. they believe they are dating virtual avatars that they largely control). 45%of Japanese single women, and 25 %of Japanese single men aged 16 to 24 claim they arent even interested in sexual contact. Given these trends, unless something happens to boost Japans birth rate, its population will shrink by a third between now and 2060. In other words, there is serious concern of significant UNDERpopulation. But again, this is only the beginning as virtual reality (VR) becomes more widespread, one major application will inevitably be VR porn. It will be much more intense, vivid, and addictive and as AI comes online, I believe there will be a proliferation in AI-powered avatar and robotic relationships, similar to those characters depicted in the movies Her and Ex Machina.

VR porn promises to offer a virtual world filled with more sex, better sex, endless sex, and new varieties of sex. The dark secret, however, is that the further a user goes into that fantasy world, the more likely their reality is to become just the opposite. Many psychologists believe that VR porn may numb us to sexual desire and pleasure in the real world, leading to less and less satisfying sex. For many, VR (as well as other exponential technologies such as robotics, sensors and A.I.) will act as a complete replacement for intimacy and human relationships, as it is more easily accessible, cheaper, on-demand, and, well, controllable. As the father of two five-year-old boys, this is really concerning to me. That said, are there upsides too? Perhaps a bit of intimacy (if even technological) for those who are infirmed, aged, crippled and thereby alone. We shall see. One thing is for sure: as with every technology in history, from the printing press to VHS and the internet, pornography will be on the front line funding the advance of technology.

This is the sort of conversation we explore in my digital communitycalled Abundance 360. The program is highly selective. If youd like to be considered, apply here.

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The Next Sexual Revolution Is Going to be All About Technology - Futurism

In her recent post, In Defense of Personal Relationships in the Practice of Law, my fellow columnist, Jill Switzer writes how technology has killed the art of interaction between lawyers. Switzer observes that lawyers rarely have opportunities to meet in person sincehearing conferences that were once handled face to face before a judge now take place by phone; the meet and confer requirements of various civil procedure rules are satisfied through an exchange of emails and nasty-grams, CLE courses are viewed alone via webinar rather than in a room filled with colleagues and depositions are conducted remotely by phone or Skype.Yet while Switzer mourns the changes wrought by technology because theyve displaced the personal relationships that meant almost everything to us dinosaurs, I celebrate technology changes precisely because theyve enabled me to create meaningful personal relationships, and indeed, to build a career that might have otherwise been foreclosed to me as a woman and a parent.

As Ive written many times, when I started my law firm back in 1993, the most advanced technology available to me was word-processing and email which wasnt much use since few others were using email for business at that time. Researching legislative history back then entailed a trip to the bowels of the House Office Building, Annex 2 which could consume several hours. Filing a brief required at least a full day of lead time to allow sufficient time for production of an original and fourteen bound, 50-page copies and that too, necessitated a drop off at the copy store. As for networking, two of the bar committees that I was involved with at the time (back when I still could tolerate bar activities) each met monthly during lunch, (which is also when brown bag CLE programs were held) all of which took over two hours out of my day when taking into account travel from my office to the event then back.

As for personal connections I didnt make any. As a young lawyer starting out in my practice, most colleagues wouldnt even return my phone calls. I managed a couple of meetings by trekking over to colleagues offices under the guise of young lawyer seeking advice, but honestly, I cant recall a single occasion when another lawyer reciprocated or invited me out. The so-called personal connections among lawyers only work when one a lawyer stands to gain something be it a referral or new connection and as a young lawyer, I had nothing to give so I was persona non-grata in networking circles. I wonder, how many times Ms. Switzer or her colleagues have actually introduced themselves to a newbie lawyer at a networking function, asked about their practice and then called to invite them out to lunch. My guess is somewhere between one and zero.

In any event, I could have tolerated the networking and committee lunches and long trips to courthouses and Congress and worked longer hours to make up lost time. But once I had kids, all of that changed. Because I wanted to spend time with my daughters, I moved my practice back to my home but I was able to continue working because most of my clients were remote. Back then, I workedin the short stretches of time when my daughters napped or were in pre-school or with a part-time nanny, then after they were in school and at night between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. when my husband was able to take over. Back then, every minute counted and suddenly a lunchtime meeting with the bar committee wasnt just a lost lunch time, but a lost work session since it would consume the entire period that my girls were in pre-school. A two-hour deposition two hours away amounted to a six hour day where my husband might have to step in to do pickup. I barely had enough time to get my existing client work done then to go out evenings and network. I very nearly lost my practice .

But then, shortly after my younger daughter was born in 1999, technology happened. Of course, it had been around for years before, but it wasnt until the late 90s that it really began to penetrate the legal profession.Now, instead of spending an afternoon to carry a brief over to the D.C. Circuit, I could zap it out a few seconds before midnight. Legislative history and other legal research were available at my fingertips so my research wasnt confined to the hours when the law libraries were open. And with scheduling conferences now taking place by phone, I could expand my practice to federal courts several hours away without having to worry that Id have to drive 4 hours for a 10-minute conference.

Meanwhile, rather than take away personal interaction, technology facilitated connections with other lawyers all over the country. In 2000, I joined the ABAs Solosez list serve which gave me 800 welcoming people from all over the country to talk to about my practice and personal matters as well. In fact, it was through Solosez that I met one of my best friends, a woman a few years younger than me who was also balancing a home-based practice with raising kids. A few years after that, came blogging which is how I found clients and bolstered my reputation in my industry and also met and befriended three other ATL columnists, Bob Ambrogi, Kevin OKeefe and Nicole Black. Finally, social media like Facebook and Twitter and Instagram emerged, which provided an opportunity to learn more about my lawyer-colleagues personal lives their hobbies, their recipes, vacations, their triumphs and sorrows.Ive since met many of my online friends as well either when they or I am traveling to another city or at conferences. Those relationships also go far beyond the professional.After my husband died two years ago, only a small handful of my colleagues here in D.C. lawyers whom Ive met and worked with on multiple occasions reached out to me. By contrast, dozens of lawyers whom I knew only through social media sent cards, condolences and donations to my husbands designated charities.

Technology has enabled hundreds of female lawyers who 20 years ago might have left the law to stay home with children to instead remain in the legal profession or reinvent themselves within it. And its given lawyers access to a far more varied and diverse group of colleagues than any of us could find even in a metropolitan area such as Washington D.C. where I am based.For me, its not even a close call that technology has improved the legal profession in large part because it has provided more opportunity for personal interaction, not less.

Meanwhile, those close, collegial relationships of yore that Switzer longs for, if they did exist as she recalls were only open to a small select circle of insiders but not to young lawyers with few clients or contacts or to mom-lawyers working the 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. shift. Lets never return to that world again.

Carolyn Elefanthas been blogging about solo and small firm practice atMyShingle.comsince 2002 and operated her firm, theLaw Offices of Carolyn Elefant PLLC, even longer than that. Shes also authored a bunch of books on topics likestarting a law practice,social media, and21st century lawyer representation agreements(affiliate links). If youre really that interested in learning more about Carolyn, just Google her. The Internet never lies, right? You can contact Carolyn by email atelefant@myshingle.comor follow her on Twitter at@carolynelefant.

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Has Technology Really Killed The Personal Touch In Law Practice And Is That Really A Bad Thing? - Above the Law

The Sun

These are the nostalgic technology struggles that only 90s kids will understand The Sun THESE DAYS if a page takes more than a 1.6 seconds to load, we're ready to hand the computer back to the shop and claim a new one. But remember when you could leave the screen to make a cup of tea and still be waiting for your webpage on your return?

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These are the nostalgic technology struggles that only 90s kids will understand - The Sun

On-skin sensors that monitor vital signs can often cause inflammation, but that may be about to change. According to a new study in Nature Nanotechnology, a new approach to this technology using a nanomesh structure could have positive implications for long-term health monitoring.

The new sensors are inflammation-free, are very gas permeable, and theyre thin and lightweight, without the use of any pesky substrates that can contribute to skin discomfort. That means they can be directly laminated onto human skin for longer periods of time. The sensors mesh structure is made of biocompatible polyvinyl alcohol, which enables that gas permeability without blocking sweat glands, and its stretchable without causing any additional discomfort, even if its affixed for a considerable amount of time. In tests, only one case of inflammation was discovered, and that was due to a patients metal allergies. Theyre also versatile. The mesh conductors can attach to irregular skin surfaces -- say, the tip of a persons finger -- and maintain their functionality even when a persons natural body movements folds and elongates the skin. Nanofibres with a diameter of 300 to 500 nm were prepared by electrospinning a PVA solution, and were intertwined to form a mesh-like sheet. When the nanomesh conductors were placed on the skin and sprayed with water, the PVA nanofibers easily dissolved, and the nanomesh conductor attached to the skin. According to the study, the approach has opened up a new possibility for the integration ofelectronic devices with skin for continuous, long-term health monitoring.

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Nanomesh technology results in inflammation-free, on-skin health monitoring electronics - MobiHealthNews

One measure of technology stocks is now higher than during the dotcom boom.

The S&P information technology sector grouping closed above $992 on Wednesday, smashing through the $988.49 dotcom bubble high from March 27, 2000, according to FactSet.

The constituents of that group have changed considerably since then: Facebook for instance, wasn't even around in 2000. And the technology sector SPDR ETF, a slightly different grouping that includes some telecom companies with the ticker "XLK," was only around $57 on Wednesday, well below dotcom-boom highs of $65.44.

Still, it marks a milestone in the growing dominance of technology companies in the stock market, as companies like Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft have grown more valuable than most other public companies around the world.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also hit fresh all-time highs on Wednesday. Shares of Amazon.com, Microsoft, Facebook and Adobe traded at highs not seen since their IPOs, and Priceline shares were also at an all-time intraday high.

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Tech sector finally gets back to where it was in the bubble 17 years ago - CNBC