Your genes say a lot about you, including who your friends are (8/15/14)

Reports that Ukraine attacked a Russian military convoy today erased early gains in the markets and initially sent shares sharply lower. However, by the end of the day, the markets reversed those losses and closed mixed.

The Dow fell 50 points, with 22 of its 30 components declining; the S&P 500 Index lost 0.12; and the Nasdaq rose 11. Decliners led advancers by four to three on the Nasdaq and were even on the NYSE. The prices of Treasuries strengthened, driving the 10-year Treasury yield to its lowest point in over a year. Gold futures lost $9.50 to close at $1,306.20 an ounce, and the price of crude oil gained $1.77 to settle at $97.35 a barrel.

For the week, the Dow was up 0.6%, the S&P 500 Index increased 1%, and the Nasdaq climbed 2%.

In Earnings News:

-       Shares of J.C.Penney (JCP) jumped after it announced second-quarter earnings beat estimates; however, the stock closed down 2%. Revenue increased 5%, and same-store sales rose 6%. The company still lost 75 cents a share, but it was better than its loss of 93 cents a share a year ago, giving investors hope that J.C.Penney’s turnaround plan might be working.

In Other Business News:

-       The Producer Price Index rose by just 0.1% in July, according to the Labor Department. When more volatile categories such as food, energy, and trade are excluded, prices increased by 0.2%. It was another sign that inflationary pressures have been kept in check. 

-       Market volatility and global tensions dragged consumer sentiment down to its lowest level in nine months. The University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index fell from 81.8 to 79.2. Economists had expected the improving labor market and lower gas prices to push the reading higher to 82.3.

-       A 10% jump in auto manufacturing helped drive U.S. industrial output higher by 0.4% in July, according to the Federal Reserve. Growth in the first quarter was hampered by poor weather, so factories are ramping up production to meet pent-up demand for goods by consumers and businesses.

-       Coca-Cola is buying a 16.7% stake in energy drink maker Monster Beverage for $2.15 billion, a position that could eventually grow to 25%. Coke will transfer its current energy drink brands to Monster, while Monster will send its non-energy drinks to Coke. Soda sales have fallen flat lately, and the move allows Coke to plug into the $27 billion global market for energy drinks. Shares of Coke (KO) gained 1%, but Monster (MNST) jumped 30%.

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There’s an old saying that you can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family. (There’s also a version from George Carlin about picking other things, but we’ll let that one go.) 

Anyway, despite the grumblings of my siblings (and the grumblings of siblings going back to the beginning of time), we’re stuck with our families, but at least we can take solace in the fact that we have control over who our friends are. Or do we?

Often, people are drawn to others that share the same physical characteristics. For example, one of my best friends from college and I were often mistaken for sisters. But a recent study suggests that the connection between people goes even deeper and that we may choose our friends based on their genes.

The researchers found that the genetic similarities between friends reflected those of fourth cousins, or people that shared the same great-great-great grandparents (or 1% of their genetic markers). In fact, they say if they have all of the genetic data from two people, they can determine the likelihood of those people becoming friends.

This kind of goes against the whole “opposites attract” theory, because subconsciously, we’re looking for people just like us. But that brings us to another part of the research. Opposites do attract…in a way. The researchers claim we tend to gravitate to people with different immune systems. If one person is immune to virus 1, and their friend is immune to virus 2, they can’t pass the disease back and forth. 

More work needs to be done in the field, but scientists are intrigued about how these findings relate to the evolution of humans over the years. If these theories are true, “survival of the fittest” no longer applies just to an individual, but to that individual’s broader support group. 

So the next time you hear two people say they were meant to be together, don’t roll your eyes. Their fate may not be written in the stars, but it may be written in their genes.