PANIC: U.S. Stocks Lose Sense of Humor
Posted: January 5, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Economics, U.S. News | Tags: Associated Press, Blue chip (stock market), Chevron Corporation, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Economic data, Information technology, Intel, MarketWatch, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 Leave a comment
The decline in oil prices has proved a mixed blessing for stocks in recent months. Though it has led to lower gasoline prices and boosted the fortunes of ordinary consumers, the slide has also curbed profits within the once-booming energy sector, which makes up a growing piece of the U.S. economy amid resurgent domestic oil production.
The Dow industrials tumbled more than 300 points Monday, kicking off the new year on a sour note as a renewed slide in oil prices sent energy shares sharply lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 329 points, or 1.9%, to 17504 in late afternoon trading. The S&P 500 index slid 37 points, or 1.8%, to 2021.
“Oil is first and foremost on everybody’s mind. People are thinking if it’s going to $40, where does that leave the economy?”
— Jesse Lubarsky, senior vice president and equity trader at Raymond James in New York
The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 73 points, or 1.6%, to 4654.
Monday’s losses began at the opening bell and picked up steam as oil prices plumbed new lows, with beleaguered shares of energy companies leading the push lower. U.S. oil prices fell below $50 a barrel for the first time in nearly six years Monday, sending shares of S&P 500 energy companies tumbling nearly 4%.
The euro tumbled to a nine-year low Monday as new worries flared over Greece, where a woman in Athens passed a currency-changing business. Associated Press
“It seems like everyone is taking a step back instead of running into the new year,” said Viren Chandrasoma, managing director of equity trading at Credit Suisse . “There hasn’t been a real buying-on-the-dip mentality today.”
The decline in oil prices has proved a mixed blessing for stocks in recent months. Though it has led to lower gasoline prices and boosted the fortunes of ordinary consumers, the slide has also curbed profits within the once-booming energy sector, which makes up a growing piece of the U.S. economy amid resurgent domestic oil production.
“Oil is first and foremost on everybody’s mind,” said Jesse Lubarsky, senior vice president and equity trader at Raymond James in New York. “People are thinking if it’s going to $40, where does that leave the economy?”
Despite Monday’s rout, Wall Street trading desks said activity was relatively light given the scale of the move lower. Rather than sell en masse, many investors started the new year with a more cautious posture following double-digit gains in major indexes last year. Read the rest of this entry »
Robotic Wine Tasting Nanosensor Can Perform Better than Inferior Human Wine Critics
Posted: September 23, 2014 Filed under: Food & Drink, Robotics | Tags: Aarhus University, ACS Nano, Denmark, MarketWatch, Nanosensor, Robotics, Surface plasmon resonance, Wine Leave a comment
Artificial Tongue Application Potential Not Yet Fully Explored But We Suspect You Have Ideas Not Mentioned Here
This might the first post we’ve done that falls into the categories “Food & Drink” and “Robotics”. I have a feeling it won’t be the last. TechCrunch reports:
Researchers in Denmark have created an artificial tongue to find out whether expensive wine actually tastes any better than the
cheap stuff.
The research, first published in ACS Nano, claims that an optical nanosensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) can discern how you experience the sensation of dryness in wine. And they say this nanosensor can judge the way the tannins will hit your flavor sensors better than the finest wine critic can.
Some may argue that it takes a human, not a robot, to discover what is worth a sip. However, the researchers at Arhaus University argue that the nanosensor is free from the human critic’s personal prejudice. They may have a point. There’s a lot that goes into making wine taste a certain way. Everything from the variety of the grape to the minerals in the soil to what kind of sunlight the grapes received chemically affects the taste and smell of the wine from season to season – in even the same grape.
According to MarketWatch, over 31.4 billion 750 ml bottles of wine are bought and sold throughout the world every year. While some standard ratings have been placed on wine and 
there’s a decent following in wine personalities and what they recommend, everyone has different tastes in what they like. This makes it particularly hard to decide which wine will do at the local grocery store. Read the rest of this entry »
pundit from another planet 