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QuickTake
NEWS IN CONTEXT
JANUARY 2016
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SHORT SELLING
BY TRISTA KELLEY
THE SITUATION
THE BACKGROUND
THE ARGUMENT
Buy low, sell high and youre rich and everybodys happy. Sell high,
buy low and you may be rich but odds are that quite a few people are
anything but pleased. Thats the short sellers predicament, and why
shorts, as theyre known, get threatened with everything from temporary
restrictions to serious jail time, particularly during times of stock market
turmoil. Shorts say theyre keeping markets and companies honest.
Critics say their practices can blur into market manipulation, a charge
that has some regulators taking note.
shorts any more than pump and dump
schemes by investors who whip up interest
in a stock to push it higher and then sell
it. Short sellers say they are skeptics who
alert investors to bouts of market euphoria,
identifying mispricing or deception that
analysts, auditors and investors overlook.
The name of Chanoss firm is Kynikos
the Greek term from which the English
word cynic was derived. Often vilified
as market outlaws, shorts are portrayed
as the good guys in the film The Big
Short. They have some backing from
researchers: One paper found that short
selling discourages the manipulation of
earnings reports, while another showed
shorts making more accurate predictions
of the share performance of U.S.-listed
Chinese firms than stock analysts. A third
concluded that activist shorts were usually
factually right.
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
2013
2014
2015
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Iron is one of the worlds most common elements, making up about 5 percent of the Earths crust. But one place
that doesnt have nearly enough is China. So when the countrys furious urbanization took off more than a decade
ago, China began to import huge quantities of iron ore to produce the steel it needed to build factories, highways
and skyscrapers. Thus began an epic race to meet Chinas needs, fueled by soaring prices, with metal from the
furthest corners of the globe. Now that Chinas economic growth is slowing, the boom is looking like a bust. Iron
ore prices have collapsed, and the big producers miners in Brazil and Australia are squeezing out highercost rivals from Sweden to Iran. In Australia, the slump has sparked a debate about whether the nation is now
squandering its iron ore riches.
THE SITUATION
THE BACKGROUND
Iron replaced bronze as the metal of choice for tools and weapons
in Europe and the Middle East in about 1200 B.C., giving the Iron
Age its name. Major deposits were uncovered in the U.S. and
Australia in the mid-19th century, bringing an era of commercial
mining to fuel industrial growth. Australias main market was Japan,
though exports were curbed in 1938 amid concern shipments were
bound for munitions factories during the Second Sino-Japanese
War. During those tense prewar years, Australians worried that
the countrys reserves were limited. Discoveries from the 1950s
revealed that Australia holds about a quarter of the worlds iron ore,
followed by Brazil with 17 percent. The $225 billion annual market
for iron ore is bigger than that of any other commodity except oil
and gas.
THE ARGUMENT
Iron ore prices are simply returning to their historical range, some
observers argue, and the drop benefits users of steel including
3
$200/ton
160
120
80
40
0
1980
1984
1989
1993
1998
2002
2007
2011
2015
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THE BACKGROUND
THE ARGUMENT
Sept. 11
Sept. 12
Sept. 13
Sept. 14
Sept. 15
BY DAVID BILLER
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THE SITUATION
THE BACKGROUND
THE ARGUMENT
March 08
March 09
March 10
March 11
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THE SITUATION
THE ARGUMENT
Hazardous
(6%)
22 21
Moderate
(17%)
37
Very unhealthy
(10%)
63 days
THE BACKGROUND
For many people in China, the most visible problem isnt the countrys
slowing economy, corruption or social harmony. Its dirty air. China is
home to some of the worlds most polluted cities, and when its thick
blanket of smog blows into urban areas, frantic citizens pick up their
mobile phones to check air-quality levels. Pollution is shortening lives in
the worlds most populous nation and, by some accounts, is the main
cause of social unrest. Its a reminder of the trade-offs at the heart of
Chinas transition from developing country to prosperous, modern nation,
forcing the Communist Party to balance the rush for economic growth
against the threats to life and health. Can China clear the air?
Unhealthy
for sensitive
groups
(16%)
60
Unhealthy
(44%)
162
Source: Greenpeace using Chinese government data and U.S. EPA standards
76 percent of 2014
days were
unhealthy or worse
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The U.S. Constitution lays out just three requirements to be eligible to become president: You must be at least 35
years old, have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years and be a natural-born citizen. Not much else about becoming
president is simple. Americans have the longest, most expensive and arguably most complex system of choosing
a head of state in the world. And after two years of debates, caucuses, primaries and conventions, the person who
gets the most votes can still lose. Its a system that baffles non-Americans and many Americans, too.
THE SITUATION
Source: Bloomberg
early. Thats why some contenders formally step into the race
almost a year before the first votes take place. By the time a dozen
states hold primaries on so-called Super Tuesday (March 1), the
field is winnowed down, as campaign cash, news coverage and
debate invitations dry up for those who have fared poorly. After the
primaries and caucuses end in June, each state sends delegates
to the Democratic and Republican conventions, where their job is
to translate the popular vote into a formal nod for a party nominee.
Though its been decades since the outcome of a convention has
been in doubt, the events serve as made-for-TV spectacles to tout
the achievements of the partys nominee and that persons pick to
be the vice-presidential running mate.
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THE BACKGROUND
The U.S. has had an elected president since the Constitution took
effect in 1789. Since Abraham Lincoln took the job in 1860, all
presidents have been members of the Republican or Democratic
parties. Third-party candidates have a hard time getting on state
ballots for the November general election and have never done
better than the 27.4 percent won in 1912 by former Republican
President Theodore Roosevelt, then running on the Bull Moose
Party ticket. The quirkiest part of the contest is the Electoral
College, created by the nations founders as a compromise
between those who favored a direct popular vote and those who
wanted lawmakers to pick the president. Every state is assigned
as many Electoral College votes as it has members of Congress,
a formula that amplifies the importance of small states. In the early
19th century, states seeking to maximize their impact adopted a
winner-take-all approach that awards all Electoral College votes to
whichever candidate wins the most votes in that state on Election
Day. Maine and Nebraska are the only exceptions; they award one
electoral vote to the winner of each Congressional district and two
electoral votes to the winner statewide.
THE ARGUMENT
Votes for
Barack Obama,
Democrat
(332)
Oregon
7
Votes for
Mitt Romney,
Republican
(206)
Nevada
6
California
55
Montana
3
Idaho
4
Utah
6
Arizona
11
Alaska
3
Hawaii
4
Wyoming
3
Colorado
9
New Mexico
5
Vermont - 3
North Dakota
Minnesota
3
10
New York
Wisconsin
Michigan
29
10
16
Iowa
Pennsylvania
Nebraska
Ohio
6
20
5
Illinois
18
20 Indiana West Virginia
11
5 Virginia
Kansas
Missouri
Kentucky
6
13
10
8
North Carolina
Tennessee
15
Oklahoma Arkansas
11
7
South Carolina
6
Georgia
9
16
Alabama
9
Texas
38
Louisiana
South Dakota
3
Mississippi - 6
Florida
29
Maine
4
New Hampshire - 4
Massachusetts - 11
Rhode Island - 4
Connecticut - 7
New Jersey - 14
Delaware - 3
Maryland - 10
District of
Columbia
3
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THE SITUATION
Hoping to win over more women and widen the gender gap,
Labour Party leaders in Britain made direct appeals to female
voters in Parliaments 2015 general election, focusing on
child care, domestic violence and social care. Labour lost to
the Conservatives, but women did win a record number of
seats thanks to the Scottish National Party, which increased
its female MPs to 20 from one in 2010. In the U.S., Democrat
Hillary Clinton, who is running for president again, begins with
a presumptive edge among female voters after she scored an
average gender gap of 8 percentage points among voters in
her 2008 primary races against Barack Obama. She achieved
that even while playing down her gender during the race.
Clinton advisers have concluded that was a mistake and a lost
opportunity to maximize female support.
THE BACKGROUND
THE ARGUMENT
WOMEN
50
MEN
40
30
20
10
0
56
64
72
80
88
96
04
12
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FAMILY LEAVE
Photo: Getty Images
BY JENNIFER OLDHAM
In 183 countries around the world, a working mom can take time off to be with a newborn or young child and
have an income while she does so. Fathers can count on that too, in almost as many nations. On average, a
couples combined paid leave for childbirth and child care amounts to 63 weeks. Theres one big exception
the United States, where theres no national requirement for paid family leave. Instead theres a hodgepodge of
state and company policies that mean a familys circumstances depend on where they live and who they work for.
Overall, just 12 percent of workers have access to paid leave. Managers and professionals in large companies are
most likely to be eligible, while in Silicon Valley companies scrambling to hire or hold onto scarce tech workers offer
up to a year to new parents.
THE SITUATION
THE BACKGROUND
THE ARGUMENT
Bulgaria
90%
59
U.K.
31%
39
Slovakia
65%
34
Croatia
100%
30
28
Poland
100%
26
Ireland
35%
26
Hungary
70%
24
Italy
80%
22
Estonia
100%
20
OECD average
78%
17
U.S.
None
None
Source: OECD
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GUNS IN AMERICA
BY ESM E. DEPREZ
THE SITUATION
THE BACKGROUND
THE ARGUMENT
The well-funded NRA and its allies argue that gun regulations
only hurt law-abiding gun owners because criminals simply ignore
them. They note that since Congress let a ban on assault weapons
expire in 2004, violent crime in America has fallen significantly,
while fatal and non-fatal shootings are also down slightly.
Meanwhile gun-control advocates (some backed by Michael
Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent
Bloomberg LP) say limiting weapons will drive down gun-related
crimes. Australia enacted strict gun ownership laws after a historic
massacre that left 35 people dead in 1996; since, thereve been
zero mass shootings, and the firearms homicide and suicide rates
have plummeted. An editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine
said the level of gun violence in the U.S. amounts to a public health
crisis; the left-leaning magazine Mother Jones calculated direct
and indirect costs of $229 billion a year.
270.0
India
46.0
China
40.0
Germany
25.0
Pakistan
18.0
Mexico
15.5
Brazil
14.8
Russia
12.8
Yemen
11.5
Thailand
10.0
Others
Source: Small Arms Survey 2007
186.4
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TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
BY FLAVIA KRAUSE-JACKSON
Most of us grew up thinking there were boys and girls, and who was which was determined by the sex organs a
person was born with. The transgender rights movement challenges that. Its advocates say how a person feels
determines whether that individual is male, female, both or neither. People who identify as transgender suffer
from discrimination and persecution. Still, their efforts to gain acceptance and equal rights have made headway
in recent years in Westernized countries, especially in the U.S. Supporters cast their campaign as the next
chapter in the civil rights movement and as a way of liberating all people from gender stereotypes.
THE SITUATION
THE BACKGROUND
THE ARGUMENT
Policy by
country:
Gender cannot
be legally changed
Gender can be
legally changed
Varies by
locality
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Sam Hall
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David Ingold
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Art Director
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