Via: Source

Amid increasing signals from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen that the first US interest rate hike in 9 years may be coming down the pipeline this year (as analysts have been predicting), it appears that those statements are having an effect on commodity prices, sending those markets sharply downward Monday morning.

Gold was down as markets opened on Monday morning.

The connection between the information coming out of the Fed and the price drop on commodities is a pretty obvious one. Higher borrowing costs make investing in commodities like gold less appealing because they don’t offer pay interest, or offer returns like assets, including equities or bonds.

Also, any interest rate increase on the dollar would increase the demand for the currency, likely continuing the capital outflow from metals, other commodities, or emerging market investments. As of this writing, the Bloomberg Intelligence Global Senior Gold Valuation Peers Index had dipped as much as 8.4% during trading.

As you surely have heard by now, notorious Mexican drug lord El Chapo escaped in an elaborate tunnel from his cell in a high security prison.

The escape triggered a flurry of different story lines, but one of the stranger ones to surface on the internet in the past few days is a video of the exact moment El Chapo drops out of his cell and into the tunnel. We will have updates as this story develops.

Via: Source

When she first stepped in as interim CEO almost 2 years ago now, the decision was almost immediately controversial. Whether that was fair or not, is still up for debate in the eyes of most.

However, over those past 2 years, what has become less debatable, was how vocally the users of Reddit, who are amongst the most passionate (sometimes questionably so) communities on the internet, were beginning to speak out against her stewardship of the website.

The news of her resignation comes after what others have described as a full-scale user revolt took place, following the firing of a popular Reddit employee named Victoria Taylor, which many Reddit users attributed directly to Ms. Pao, often in vitriolic, sexist, or hateful ways (or all 3). A petition with over 200,000 signatures circulated around the site as well. As was previously mentioned, Reddit is a site with an incredibly passionate user base.

In terms of commentary on this sensitive subject, we would offer only this; the internet is a strange, roiling, and sometimes scary place. But the users of Reddit got their way, which although an unfortunate example, shows a positive side of the internet; the ability for people to organize themselves for a cause. Even if in this case it was a pretty mean-spirited one.

News coming today out of Microsoft as CEO Satya Nadella has announced that he will be undoing the last major action of his predecessor, Steve Ballmer, and will be moving on from their Nokia smart phone division

Acquired by Ballmer in 2013 for 7.6 billion, the news is a bit shocking for a reason other than the quick about face, and what seems to be total abandonment of the program. The move comes with a steep round of job cuts attached to it as well; up to 7,800 people.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

A move which potentially, just may send stock prices, and the morale of the remaining workforce, a tad bit downward for the time being. Stay tuned as this, and other tech, business, and stock stories develop throughout the day.