My weekly roundup of financial news

What We've Been Reading - Week of Oct. 2
Markets & Economy:

• Why did Google fall behind Amazon on home devices? (NYT)
• On Jack Dorsey’s one year anniversary, Twitter remains a mess (Wired)
• Only 22% of everyday investors know the basic principles of bonds (Business Insider)
• Oil crosses $50 a barrel (Reuters)
• How chaos broke loose during flash crash on Friday (FT)

Asset Management:

• Janus Henderson merger - active managers get defensive together (WSJ)
• The Culture Ate Our Corporate Reputation (WSJ)
• Passive investing is on a tear and for a very good reason (CNBC)
• How Fidelity’s owners get richer at everyday investors’ expense (Reuters)
• Smart Beta - the next frontier in the fee fight? (WSJ)
• Merrill to end commission-based option for retirement savers (WSJ)

Long Reads:

• New Yorker profile of Y Combinator’s Sam Altman (New Yorker)
• Mail Chimp and the Un-Silicon Valley Way to Make it As a Start-Up (New York Times)
• The dizzying grandeur of 21st-century agriculture (NYT photo essay)
• Florida’s Feud Over Zika-Fighting Mosquitoes Heats Up (Bloomberg)
• The billionaires’ pawn (WSJ)

Alternatives:

• Ides Capital targets companies’ weakness: the gender gap (NYT)

Media Industry and Journalism:

• The Goldman Sachs-backed 'Bloomberg killer' has 116,000 customers a year after launch (Business Insider)
• ​​Bloomberg moves to 24 hour schedule (TalkingBizNews)