TheStreet: How Social Media Boosts Trading -- Without Helping Traders

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK -- Just as YouTube prompted a deluge of cat videos, so social media seems to stimulate more trading in the financial markets. But unlike the cat videos, it isn't all laughs: The phenomenon seems to leave traders worse off than before.

In other words, social media boosts the quantity of trades but not the quality.

Read more here.

OZY: How England's Worst King Spawned Capitalism

By SIMON CONSTABLE

“What’s that smell?” I asked my dad as we approached Rievaulx Abbey on a visit to Yorkshire, England. “It’s wild garlic,” he said — which I’d later learn was a surprising crop to find so far north, though the story behind the monastery would prove even more surprising.

The monastery was established in 1132 by Cistercian monks from France’s Clairvaux Abbey and remained in operation until the 1500s. But it plays a part in a uniquely English story — one that begins, as many do, with church and crown but ends with the Industrial Revolution. Read more here.

Photo by Tom Podmore on Unsplash

WSJ: What Is the Interest Coverage Ratio?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

What is the interest coverage ratio, and why might it matter for investors? 

The interest coverage ratio is a measure of how affordable a company’s debt is given the company’s earnings. Or put another way, how much cushion there is for a firm to withstand hiccups in the business and still make its debt payments—an important consideration for investors.

Read more here.

WSJ: Money-Fund Flows Are a Risk Meter

By SIMON CONSTABLE

When investors start piling into money-market funds, it is a remarkably accurate indicator that credit markets are getting dicey, according to new research conducted by a pair of finance professors.

The study says the money-fund indicator can be just as accurate as more-wonky indicators of market risk, such as credit-default-swap spreads, which show the cost of insuring corporate debt against default.

Read more here.

Forbes: How To Be The Worst Boss Possible -- Part 2

By SIMON CONSTABLE
Part two of a continuing series, which outlines how you too can become a truly awful manager instead of just mediocre. (Why write such a series? It’s fun.)
Some people believe they aren’t cut out to be a terrible manager. Please be assured that some gentle mind training will get you there faster than your employees would ever wish for. Here’s how:

Photo by Boston Public Library on Unsplash

Fortune: How the Fed's 'schizophrenia' could be holding back the economy

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The Federal Reserve’s latest proposal to limit the need for big bank bailouts has some claiming it could curtail something the Fed wants and economy needs: More lending.

The new rule, announced last week, would force the big banks to raise long-term debt that could be turned into equity if the banks needed addition capital to absorb lending losses. The Fed estimated that the rule would cost the nation’s eight largest banks $1.5 billion in additional financing expenses a year. That may sound like a lot, but it only equals roughly 2% of the combined profits of the banks, and they will have years before they have to fully comply with the law.

Read more here.

TheStreet: Why Now May Be the Time for a Dose of Pharmaceutical Stock

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Maybe it's time to give your portfolio a dose of pharmaceutical stocks.

The sector has taken a beating lately with the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Indexdown around 10% in the three months through Friday, while the  Market Vectors Pharmaceutical exchange-traded fund  (PPH) , which tracks the sector, was off 13% in the same period. The S&P 500 Index was down 1% over that time span.

At least part of the selloff was a media circus that erupted when one company raised the price of an HIV drug by 5,000% and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton weighed in on the topic. What it means is that the sector is getting a lot of unwanted (and perhaps in some cases, unwarranted) attention, which adds to concerns about government interference in the industry. That, in turn, is making the stockholders nervous. Read more here.