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Cooling down.

Stocks in Asia were set for a muted open after a mixed US session that saw Treasuries and the dollar rally on signals of a cooling jobs market and renewed concerns about the health of regional lenders. Data showed US initial jobless claims reached the highest since October 2021 while producer prices rose 0.2% in April, trailing economists’ estimates for a 0.3% increase. US-listed Chinese stocks climbed the most in three months after earnings from JD.com boosted e-commerce stocks, and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with China’s Wang Yi.

Demand for tail-risk hedges that pay out in a fall as precipitous as 30%, or three deviations — a Black Swan event — has risen to levels last seen at the peak of March’s banking turmoil.

Debt ceiling doomsday scenario has Wall Street traders taking up hedges

In Washington debt-ceiling brinkmanship is threatening to push the US into default. And on Wall Street, traders are gaming out what could be a rare Black Swan event. Open interest for VIX calls reached the highest level in 5 years. Parallels with 2011 spur hedging for an extreme selloff. (Bloomberg Markets | May 11)

SEC's Gensler warns about 'last effects' of US debt default

The head of Wall Street’s main regulator says a US default could cause deep and lasting damage to markets. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler on Wednesday warned that a failure by Democrats and Republicans in Washington to reach a deal on raising the US debt ceiling would impact trading, the ability of businesses to raise money, and investors. A default would send markets on ‘roller-coaster,’ he said. (Bloomberg Markets | May 10)

Fed gets room to hold in June as inflation shows sign of cooling

Signs of moderating price pressures in April will give Federal Reserve officials room to pause their aggressive tightening campaign next month, though inflation is still running too hot for policymakers to consider cutting interest rates. (Bloomberg Markets | May 10)

US lenders warned that commercial property is ‘next shoe to drop’

Fund managers are warning of growing problems in the $5.6tn US commercial real estate industry that could prove painful for lenders already shaken by turmoil in the banking sector. Rising interest rates, falling prices, and waning demand for office space following the pandemic had strained the commercial property market. But these troubles intensified after this year’s failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic raised worries about other regional banks that account for the bulk of commercial real estate loans. (Financial Times | May 9)

White House debt-ceiling meeting fails to yield breakthrough as deadline nears

President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy remained at loggerheads after a meeting at the White House on Tuesday, making little progress in averting the first-ever default by the federal government but setting plans for a new round of talks. (The Wall Street Journal | May 9)

Cybersecurity is a critical foundation of the wider digital economy. Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The cybersecurity skills gap is a real threat — here's how to address it

The rapid expansion of the digital economy — and our growing reliance on it — make cybersecurity an absolutely critical profession. The world needs 3.4 million cybersecurity experts to support today’s global economy, but the industry is struggling to fill that gap. The World Economic Forum is convening a multistakeholder initiative to help fill the global cybersecurity skills gap.

— World Economic Forum

Risk managers warn cyber insurance could become ‘unviable product’

A body representing risk managers across Europe has warned cyber insurance could become an “unviable product” for companies as concerns grow over insurers failing to cover big state-backed attacks. The Federation of European Risk Management Associations, an umbrella body representing 22 trade associations, said the cyber insurance market is “evolving in isolation from the industries it serves”.

— Financial Times

Why disinformation and misinformation are more dangerous than malware

Combatting misinformation and disinformation online is no easy task, but the cybersecurity community needs to fight it anyway, experts argue at RSAC 2023. When it comes to misinformation, it's a Herculean task to rein it in once it's bounced around the internet, security experts argued at the RSA Conference. Combatting misinformation and disinformation online is no easy task, but the cybersecurity community needs to fight it anyway, experts argued.

— PC Mag

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Photo illustration: Elena Scotti | WSJ, iStock, Pixelsquid

The lies we tell ourselves about multitasking

Multitasking is a way of life for most of us. We eat lunch while we work, take calls at the gym, and reply to messages while logged on to Zoom. The tools of our lives, from car dashboard screens to buzzing phones, fracture our attention while promising that we can do it all, all the time. Except we can’t... our brains aren’t wired to juggle tasks.

— The Wall Street Journal

The No. 1 workplace distraction that kills productivity, according to Microsoft

New research from Microsoft shows how out of hand our work calendars have gotten. Since February 2020, people are in 3 times more Microsoft Teams meetings and calls per week at work, a whopping 192% increase. The heaviest Teams users are spending close to 8 hours, or an entire workday, each week in online meetings alone.

— CNBC

Spotify ejects thousands of AI-made songs in purge of fake streams

Spotify has removed tens of thousands of songs from artificial intelligence music start-up Boomy, ramping up policing of its platform amid complaints of fraud and clutter across streaming services. In recent months the music industry has been confronting the rise of AI-generated songs and, more broadly, the growing number of tracks inundating streaming platforms daily.

— Financial Times