Physicists Inch Closer to Proof of Elusive ‘God’ Particle

Why do things in the universe have mass? Physicists are set to announce the discovery on Wednesday. Read the article here.

Instead, they’ll likely only raise taxes.

“It will require both an unprecedented curb on public expenditure and an increase in taxes,” Mr Migaud said.

Or, they could blame Bush. I mean Sarkozy.

But the report revealed no “black hole” in the state books and gave credit to Mr Sarkozy’s administration for a significant improvement in the deficit since 2010. It appeared at odds with the government’s plans for tax hits on big business and the wealthy.

Two strikes. Perhaps France can just grow growth and competitiveness through big social spending?

“In health, education, vocational training, for example, France spends much more than other countries where the outcome in these areas is considerably better than ours,” Mr Migaud said.

Read the article here.

A rough calculation looks like a 50/50 chance of recession, based on this chart…

But will it last for long? Read the article here.

Ole’ Sandusky will be in a world of butt-hurt tonight. Let’s hope it goes on for weeks. Perhaps some broom handles and stolen cafeteria silverware will be involved.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (CBS/AP) —The jury in Jerry Sandusky’s child sex abuse trial has found him “guilty” on 45 counts and “not guilty” on three counts. His bail has been revoked and he was handcuffed and sent to the Center County Correctional Facility

Read the article here.

Bespoke is out with an interesting study:

Only two other times have we seen Utilities have a higher P/E than Technology.  One period came in late 2008 during the financial crisis and the other came during last summer’s version of the Euro-crisis.

See the graph and read the rest of their analysis here.

How come all of the great ball players for which I have rookie cards seem to wind up in a scandal?

Federal prosecutors and securities regulators are trying to determine whether Murray, a star slugger for the Baltimore Orioles, traded on inside information that Abbott Laboratories was about to announce a deal in January 2009 to acquire Advanced Medical Optics for $2.8 billion, the sources said.

Read the rest here.

The McKinsey Global Institute is estimating that 2.6% of the global population will be vulnerable to permanent joblessness. How can this be prevented?

Read the article here.

An analysis of Greece’s near-term future is presented and the author concludes, “I expect the rally to be short, as this election has just returned us to the utterly unsustainable status quo.”  The author goes on to predict a collapse of the Greek government by the end of this year.

Read the article here.

If young Americans knew what was good for them, they would all be in the Tea Party.

Governments should be more honest about the size of their debts and young voters would be wise to get politicians to pay them off as soon as possible, says economic historian Niall Ferguson in the first of his BBC Reith Lectures.

Read the article here.

As Fly has so often proclaimed, the status quo will not just roll over.

The outcome of the Greek election sparked a rally in risk assets in Asia as investors were cheered by the victory of pro-bailout New Democracy party, as the results pushed up both currencies and stocks, with Japan’s Nikkei Average reaching a one-month high.

The winning party has already started informal talks with the country’s socialist party to form a new government, with a cross-party coalition likely to be formed by Wednesday.

Read the article here.

A computer scientist goes all in for poker.

Read the article here.

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Sunday with Greek parties that support a bailout for the country set to win a slim parliamentary majority, bringing some relief to a world braced for fresh financial turmoil.

Read the article here.