Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

N. Korea calls for investigation into Madrid embassy attack

North Korea says it wants an investigation into an attack on its embassy in Spain last month, calling it a "grave terrorist attack" and an act of extortion that violates international law.

The incident occurred ahead of President Donald Trump's second summit with leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi on Feb. 27-28. A mysterious group calling for the overthrow of the North Korean regime has claimed responsibility.

The North's official media quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying that an illegal intrusion into and occupation of a diplomatic mission and an act of extortion are a grave breach of the state sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international law, "and this kind of act should never be tolerated."

He claimed an armed group tortured the staff and stole communications gear.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

U.S. senators propose more aid, international sanctions for Venezuela

FILE PHOTO - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who many nations have recognized as the country's rightful interim ruler, talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas
FILE PHOTO - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who many nations have recognized as the country's rightful interim ruler, talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela April 2, 2019. REUTERS/Manaure Quintero

April 3, 2019

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Keeping up pressure for political change in Venezuela, 15 U.S. senators introduced sweeping bipartisan legislation on Wednesday to provide $400 million in new aid, internationalize sanctions and ease penalties on officials who recognize a new government in Caracas.

The Republicans and Democrats introduced the Venezuelan Emergency Relief, Democracy Assistance and Development (Verdad) Act more than two months after President Donald Trump’s administration recognized opposition leader Juan Guiado as the country’s legitimate leader, pushing for the departure of President Nicolas Maduro.

Senator Bob Menendez, ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and a lead sponsor, said the act should “put teeth behind” support for the Venezuelan people and provide tools for a “substantive and peaceful” strategy.

“This legislation will offer needed humanitarian assistance and support for Venezuela’s long path to democratic order,” said Republican Senator Marco Rubio, another lead sponsor, who has worked closely with Trump on Venezuela.

The act would also revoke visas for relatives of Venezuelans sanctioned in connection with corruption or human rights abuse, remove sanctions on those not involved in human rights abuses if they recognize Guiado and require work with Latin American and European governments to implement their own sanctions.

It also requires U.S. agencies to lead efforts to recover “corrupt financial holdings” of Venezuelan officials and accelerate planning with international financial institutions on Venezuela’s economic restructuring.

The bill does not address temporary protected immigration status, or TPS, which would allow 70,000 Venezuelans already in the United States to remain. TPS proposals have faced some opposition in the Trump administration, which takes a hard line on immigration.

Menendez said on a conference call with reporters that he hoped separate legislation seeking TPS for Venezuelans could move concurrently with the Verdad Act.

He also said he thought the bill stood an excellent chance of moving ahead in the Senate, given its bipartisan support.

The bill’s sponsors included eight Republicans – Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Cornyn, Todd Young, Lindsey Graham, John Barrasso, Bill Cassidy and Josh Hawley – and seven Democrats – Menendez, Dick Durbin, Ben Cardin, Tim Kaine, Jeanne Shaheen, Michael Bennet and Chris Coons.

That level of bipartisan support is not typical of major legislation in the current, fiercely partisan, Congress.

“I think we have very good prospects here,” Menendez said.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: OANN

0 0

Trump: Democrats Are “Border Deniers”

President Trump slammed Democrats ahead of the crunch vote on the border today as his detractors prepare to shoot down his national emergency declaration.

“The Democrats are “Border Deniers.” Trump tweeted.

“They refuse to see or acknowledge the Death, Crime, Drugs and Human Trafficking at our Southern Border!” the President further declared.

Trump earlier announced that “I am prepared to veto, if necessary.” regarding the vote, adding that “The Southern Border is a National Security and Humanitarian Nightmare, but it can be easily fixed!”

In a message to Rand Paul and other Republicans who are considering voting against the national emergency declaration, Trump said that GOP Senators “are overthinking” the situation.

According to the AP, during a closed-door lunch Wednesday, Trump refused to support a separate measure proposed by GOP Senators to curb a president’s powers to declare future emergencies.

Trump said that he told senators to “vote any way you want” on the resolution, but added “Anybody going against border security, drug trafficking, human trafficking, that’s a bad vote.”

The President also claimed that the vote is weighted in favor of Democrats:

The White House also issued a video highlighting an incident in January when 247 illegal migrants rushed the border in New Mexico.

The GOP lawmakers who are likely to vote against Trump are Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and, as of Wednesday, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah.

The Democrats need four Republican votes to rescind Trump’s emergency.

Source: InfoWars

0 0

Africa's largest democracy finally goes to vote, a week late

A voting card and a metal rod for self-defense are both close at hand in Christopher Obiorah's tiny bookshop but he hopes to use just one of them when Africa's largest democracy goes to the polls on Saturday, one week after a surprise delay.

Four years after one of Nigeria's most peaceful elections, heated rhetoric in a tight race threatens a return to violence along fault lines as ancient as this city, the oldest in West Africa. Northerners versus southerners, farmers against herders, the corrupt savaging the poor.

"This is Nigeria. Anything can happen," the 45-year-old Obiorah said, casually mentioning that his family has machetes at home. "We are ready for them. We are many here. We have done it before."

Nigerians have waited impatiently for the election that was delayed because of logistical "challenges," just hours before polls were set to open. It echoed the abrupt power cuts of daily life, with the grind of generators marking the sound of Africa's most populous country forever revving its engines.

The delay is costly in several ways, Nnamdi Obasi with the International Crisis Group explained . Faith in the electoral commission is shaken. Fewer people might vote, dispirited or broke after rescheduling their lives to travel to their registered location. Monitoring could suffer as "numerous organizations, particularly Nigerian ones, may be reluctant or unable to do it all over again."

President Muhammadu Buhari, an ailing 76-year-old former military dictator, this week threatened death to anyone found disrupting the election, then told Nigerians on Friday they would be able to vote without fear. In the latest political violence, at least two people died as supporters of the two main parties clashed with machetes and clubs on Thursday outside Kano, witness Ahmed Garba said.

Buhari seeks a second term after widely seen as failing to deliver on key issues of security, the economy and fighting corruption. Extremists are making a deadly resurgence. Scores of people were killed last week alone in farmer-herder clashes. The oil-dependent economy is still weak after a recession, with unemployment now over 23 percent.

Buhari's main challenger is 72-year-old former vice president and billionaire Atiku Abubakar, who promises to tap his business success to "Make Nigeria Work Again" but has not managed to shake corruption allegations.

Many Nigerians are underwhelmed by the choice between the two Muslims from the north, who between them have run for president nine times.

"I feel as a people, we don't realize how bad things are and that we have the right to demand better," said author Abubakar Adam Ibrahim. He was 5 when Buhari was toppled in 1985, then watched his 5-year-old son cheer at Buhari's win in 2015. "We are essentially not going anywhere," Ibrahim said.

The rise of young contenders in a country where the majority of voters are between 18 and 35 has been limited by the high costs of running.

Salisu Mubarak Muhammad, a 35-year-old who is running to be Kano state's governor, said his family refused to donate to his campaign, seeing it pointless when top parties are believed to spend far in excess of campaign limits and vote-buying is widespread.

Buhari and Abubakar's parties have sniped at each other over the election delay that the electoral commission blamed in part on the weather, alleging it was orchestrated to create space for vote-rigging.

But "this is largely just a colossal mess based on logistics, the massive work that needed to be done," said John Tomaszewski, African regional director with the International Republican Institute, one election observer team.

Some Nigerians have used the delay to cause mischief. Fake news blooms. "I have not resigned!" Vice President Yemi Osinbajo declared Thursday on Twitter.

"There is quite a lot of ratcheting of divisive narratives on social media," said Amara Nwankpa with the Yar'Adua Foundation, who oversees a project flagging hate speech to an election crisis center under Nigeria's national security adviser.

Most of the country's 190 million people, however, are offline and deep in poverty, and they could determine Saturday's election. A cement block seller in Kano held up his battered mobile phone. It now costs three times as much as before Buhari took office, he said.

Bookseller James Eze has no idea what Abubakar might bring to the presidency, but he can't take four more years of Buhari.

Business has dropped dramatically, Eze said. He shooed away a child beggar hovering at the door, saying people no longer have spare money for such charity.

Considering everything God blessed Nigeria with, political elites have ruined it, he said. "They're not fighting for Nigeria, they're fighting among themselves."

He spends the quiet hours reading books in stock, choosing one self-empowerment title after another. "We need fresh brains," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Sam Olukoya in Lagos, Nigeria contributed.

___

Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa

Source: Fox News World

0 0

‘Pollmageddon’ spotted blanketing North Carolina before downpour, amid rough allergy season

It's a full-blown pollen-pocalypse.

A combination of high pollen levels and approaching storms created a scene out of a movie earlier this week as the skies over Durham, North Carolina turned an eerie yellow/green from all the pollen in the air.

The stunning aerial photos were captured Monday by photographer Jeremy Gilchrist, who described it as "Pollmageddon"

A thick, green cloud of pollen can be seen over Durham, North Carolina on Monday.

A thick, green cloud of pollen can be seen over Durham, North Carolina on Monday. (Jeremy Gilchrist)

"No tricks here. Yes you are looking at a green haze made up of tree pollen from the pines of central NC! This is Durham," he posted to Facebook.

'HISTORIC' BLIZZARD MAY DROP UP TO 2 FEET OF SNOW ACROSS CENTRAL US

The photos show the thick haze over communities as the storms approached.

The clouds of pollen could be seen before thunderstorms moved into the region on Monday.

The clouds of pollen could be seen before thunderstorms moved into the region on Monday. (Jeremy Gilchrist)

Allergy sufferers in North Carolina have been dealing with a rough spring so far, with the tree pollen count in Raleigh reaching the highest level in 6 years, WRAL reported.

The tree pollen count in Raleigh, North Carolina recently reached the highest level in 6 years.

The tree pollen count in Raleigh, North Carolina recently reached the highest level in 6 years. (Jeremy Gilchrist)

"In April in North Carolina we have an overlap for a couple weeks where we have pretty high counts of tree and then grass also gets started," Heather Gutekunst, a doctor with Allergy Partners of Raleigh, told WTVD-TV. "So when we see that, if you are allergic to both, we tend to see an escalation in symptoms."

Last Wednesday, the pollen count in Raleigh reached 3,524 grains per cubic meter, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In Winston-Salem, the count was nearly 3 times higher – 9,632 grains per cubic meter.

‘BOMB CYCLONE’ SLAMS HEARTLAND, CUTTING POWER AND DISRUPTING TRAVEL

The thick, hazy air was broken up by the storms on Monday and Tuesday to provide temporary relief for allergy sufferers.

Pollen levels returned to "very high" after the storms, and are expected to stay that way through the weekend.

Pollen levels returned to "very high" after the storms, and are expected to stay that way through the weekend. (Jeremy Gilchrist)

But even after washing away some pollen, levels have spiked again to "very high" in Raleigh as of Wednesday.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Medium to high pollen levels are expected Thursday across the state before a slight drop to medium levels for Friday and Saturday, according to FOX46.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

The precarious perch of a potential Pentagon chief

With no other candidate emerging as the clear front-runner, expectations inside the Pentagon are that Patrick Shanahan will soon be nominated as the next secretary of defense and that he likely would win Senate confirmation.

Shanahan, a former Boeing executive, would be the first career defense industry executive to serve as defense secretary.

He has been the acting secretary since Jim Mattis left Dec. 31. Since then, Shanahan has avoided public missteps while handling such politically sensitive issues as sending military reinforcements to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Some have questioned whether his background amounts to an inherent conflict of interest for a defense secretary presiding over a multi-billion-dollar procurement budget. But Michael O'Hanlon, an analyst at the Brookings Institution, says that experience in defense industry issues could work to Shanahan's benefit.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Report: China, Not Mueller Focus of National Security Gathering

During a recent meeting of current and former members of the nation's intelligence community, China was fingered as the top major threat of the United States.

According to Yahoo News, the gathering was hosted by national security website Cipher Brief and took place on Sea Island, Georgia. Retired Gen. David Petraeus, who served as CIA director from 2011-2012, was there and told the website China was the hot topic.

"I think it's all China, all the time," Petraeus said.

Added Bill Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, "I believe economic security is national security. "If we don't fix this, the existential threat is only from China."

The meeting took place over the weekend as the Department of Justice was releasing the key findings of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on whether the Trump campaign conspired with the Russians to win the 2016 election. But the attendees, according to Yahoo, had no interest in talking about Mueller or his two-year investigation.

"Most people here are career officials," one unnamed national security official told Yahoo. "They're not going to talk about that."

Several officials and analysts are worried about China's potential to become a major threat to the U.S. The communist nation has flexed its military muscles by building artificial islands — and arming them — in the South China Sea and is thought to be behind laser attacks on U.S. military aircraft.

The Trump administration is negotiating with China on a trade deal that would be beneficial to both countries.

Source: NewsMax America

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain's far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville
FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain’s far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville, Spain April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By John Stonestreet and Belén Carreño

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Vox party, aligned to a broader far-right movement emerging across Europe, has become the focus of speculation about last minute shifts in voting intentions since official polling for Sunday’s national election ended four days ago.

No single party is anywhere near securing a majority, and chances of a deadlocked parliament and a second election are high.

Leaders of the five parties vying for a role in government get final chances to pitch for power at rallies on Friday evening, before a campaign characterized by appeals to voters’ hearts rather than wallets ends at midnight.

By tradition, the final day before a Spanish election is politics-free.

Two main prizes are still up for grabs in the home straight. One concerns which of the two rival left and right multi-party blocs gets more votes.

The other is whether Vox could challenge the mainstream conservative PP for leadership of the latter bloc, which media outlets with access to unofficial soundings taken since Monday suggest could be starting to happen.

The right’s loose three-party alliance is led by the PP, the traditional conservative party that has alternated in office with outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists since Spain’s return to democracy in the 1970s.

The PP stands at around 20 percent, with center-right Ciudadanos near 14 percent and Vox around 11 percent, according to a final poll of polls in daily El Pais published on Monday.

Since then, however, interest in Vox – which will become the first far-right party to sit in parliament since 1982 – has snowballed.

It was founded in 2013, part of a broader anti-establishment, far-right movement that has also spread across – among others – Italy, France and Germany.

While it is careful to distance itself from the ideology of late dictator Francisco Franco, Vox’s signature policies include repealing laws banning Franco-era symbols and on gender-based violence, and shifting power away from Spain’s regional governments.

TRENDING

According to a Google trends graphic, Vox has generated more than three times more search inquiries than any other Spanish political party in the past week.

Reasons could include a groundswell of vocal activist support at Vox rallies in Madrid and Valencia, and its exclusion from two televised debates between the main party leaders, on the grounds of it having no deputies yet in parliament.

Conservative daily La Vanguardia called its enforced absence from Monday’s and Tuesday’s debates “a gift from heaven”, while left-wing Eldiario.es suggested the PP was haemorrhaging votes to Vox in rural areas.

Ignacio Jurado, politics lecturer at the University of York, agreed the main source of additional Vox votes would be disaffected PP supporters, and called the debate ban – whose impact he said was unclear – wrong.

“This is a party polling over 10 percent and there are people interested in what it says. So we lose more than we win in not having them (in the debates),” he said

For Jose Fernandez-Albertos, political scientist at Spanish National Research Council CSIC, Vox is enjoying the novelty effect that propelled then new, left-wing arrival Podemos to 20 percent of the vote in 2015.

“While it’s unclear how to interpret the (Google) data, what we do know is that it’s better to be popular and to be a newcomer, and that Vox will benefit in some form,” he said.

For now, the chances of Vox taking a major role in government remain slim, however.

The El Pais survey put the Socialists on around 30 percent, making them the frontrunners and likely to form a leftist bloc with Podemos, back down at around 14 percent.

The unofficial soundings suggest little change in the two parties’ combined vote, or the total vote of the rightist bloc.

That makes it unlikely that either bloc will win a majority on Sunday, triggering horse-trading with smaller parties favoring Catalan independence – the single most polarizing issues during campaigning – that could easily collapse into fresh elections.

(Election graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2ENugtw)

(Reporting by John Stonestreet and Belen Carreno, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the OPEC is seen at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

April 26, 2019

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he called the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and told the cartel to lower oil prices.

“Gasoline prices are coming down. I called up OPEC, I said you’ve got to bring them down. You’ve got to bring them down,” Trump told reporters.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy near Lyon
Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy in Meyzieu near Lyon, France, April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot

April 26, 2019

By Julien Pretot

MEYZIEU, France (Reuters) – Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas was wringing out his women’s team shirts in the locker room on a rainy London day eight years ago when he decided it was time to take gender equality more seriously.

It was halftime in their Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal at Meadow Park with 507 fans watching and Aulas realized that his players did not have a another kit for the second half.

“Next time, there will be a second set just like for the men, that’s how it’s going to work from now on,” he said.

Lyon have since won five Champions League titles to become the most successful women’s team in Europe and recently claimed a 13th consecutive domestic crown.

They visit Chelsea on Sunday in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, with a fourth straight title in their sights.

At the heart of their achievements is a pervasive ethos that promotes gender equality throughout the club, starting in the youth academy.

In 2013, Aulas appointed former Lyon and France player Sonia Bompastor as head of the Women’s Academy — the female equivalent of one of France’s top youth set-ups that has produced players such as Karim Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette and Hatem Ben Arfa.

At the Youth Academy, girls and boys share the same facilities.

“Pitches, physiotherapy rooms are the same for all,” the 38-year-old Bompastor told Reuters.

As the girls train under the watch of former Lyon and France international Camille Abily, the screams of the boys practicing can be heard nearby.

The boys and girls also benefit from the same psychological support that includes hypnosis sessions and yoga.

“We have a ‘mental ability’ cell and the hypnotist acts on the girls’ subconscious, on their deeply held beliefs after observing them on and off the pitch,” Bompastor added.

SAME TREATMENT

One message the Academy staff are trying to convey is that girls are as good as boys.

“Women’s nature is such that we have low self-esteem. So self-esteem is a big topic for our girls,” said Bompastor.

This is not the case with the boys, she added.

“Some 14, 15-year-old boys still think they would beat our professional players, we tell them this would not be happening. We still need to work on those beliefs,” she said.

Female players also have to face questions that their male counterparts do not, Bompastor explained.

“In France there is a problem with the way women are considered, there are high aesthetic expectations. So we get heavy questions on femininity, intimate questions that men don’t get,” she said.

OL’s Academy has been held up as a shining example for others to follow, even in the U.S., where women’s soccer has a wider audience than in Europe.

“About one third of the (senior women’s) squad comes from the Academy, we have a good balance,” said Bompastor.

“I’m getting tons of requests from American universities and foreign clubs, who want to come and visit our facilities.”

‘ONE CLUB’

The salaries of the senior players is one area where there remains a large discrepancy between Lyon’s men’s and women’s teams.

While the three best-paid women players in the world are at Lyon with Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg earning 400,000 euros ($445,520) a year, this figure is dwarfed by the around 4 million euros earned annually by men’s player Memphis Depay.

There is, however, a level of interaction between the men’s and women’s players that is not present at many other clubs.

“When you talk about OL you talk about women and men, you talk about one club and you feel it when you are here or outside in the city,” Germany defender Carolin Simon told Reuters.

“We see it when we play in the big stadium. It’s not ‘normal’ for women’s football,” the 26-year-old, who joined the club last year, added.

Lyon’s female players also enjoy respect from their male counterparts, Simon said.

“It’s very cool, it’s a big honor to feel that it doesn’t matter if you are a professional man or woman. We talk with the men, there are handshakes, it’s a good atmosphere and it’s also why we are successful,” said Simon.

“The men respect us and it’s not just for the cameras.”

Her team mate, England’s Lucy Bronze, sees the men’s respect as key to improving women’s football.

“We might not be paid the same but they are just normal with us, they see us as footballers the same as they are,” Bronze told Reuters.

“Being at Lyon has really opened my eyes. To improve women’s football, it starts with having the respect of your male counterparts. It’s the biggest thing because they can influence so many people.”

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo

April 26, 2019

GENEVA (Reuters) – Yemeni authorities have rounded up about 3,000 irregular migrants, predominantly Ethiopians, in the south of the country, “creating an acute humanitarian situation,” the U.N. migration agency said on Friday.

“IOM is deeply concerned about the conditions in which the migrants are being held and is engaging with the authorities to ensure access to the detained migrants,” the International Organization for Migration said.

The migrants are held in open-air football stadiums and in a military camp, it said in a statement.

The detentions began on Sunday in the city of Aden and the neighboring province of Lahj, which are under the control of the internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Iran-aligned Houthi rebels control Sanaa, the capital, and other major urban centers.

Both sides are under international diplomatic pressure to implement a United Nations-sponsored ceasefire deal agreed last year in Sweden and to prepare for a wider political dialogue that would end the four-year-old war.

Thousands of migrants arrive in Yemen every year, mostly from the Horn of Africa, driven by drought and unemployment at home and lured by the wages available in the Gulf.

(Writing by Maher Chmaytelli, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
U.S. dollar notes are seen in this picture illustration
U.S. dollar notes are seen in this November 7, 2016 picture illustration. Picture taken November 7. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Following are five big themes likely to dominate thinking of investors and traders in the coming week and the Reuters stories related to them.

1/DOLLAR JUGGERNAUT

The dollar has zipped to near two-year highs, leaving many scratching their heads. To many, it’s down to signs the U.S. economy is chugging ahead while the rest of the world loses steam. After all, Wall Street is busily scaling new peaks day after day.

Never mind the cause, the effect is stark. The euro has tumbled to 22-month lows against the dollar and investors are preparing for more, buying options to shield against further downside. Emerging-market currencies are also in pain, with Turkish lira and Argentine peso both sharply weaker.

Now U.S. data need to keep surprising on the upside or even just meet expectations. The International Monetary Fund sees U.S. growth at 2.3 percent this year. For Germany, the forecast is 0.8 percent. The U.S. economy’s rude health has given rise to speculation the Fed might resume raising interest rates. Unlikely. But as other countries — Canada, Sweden and Australia are the latest — hint at more policy easing, there seems to be one way the dollar can go. Up.

(GRAPHIC: Dollar outperforms G10 FX – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dz17S5)

2/FED: UP OR DOWN?

Wall Street is near record highs and recession worries are receding, so as we mentioned above, investors might wonder if the Federal Reserve will start raising rates again.

Such a pivot is unlikely after the Fed killed off rate-rise expectations at its March meeting. And the latest Reuters poll all but puts to bed any risk of rates will go up this economic cycle, given inflation remains below the Fed’s alarm threshold and unemployment is the lowest in generations.

Before the March rate-pause announcement, a preponderance of economists penciled in one or more increases this year. But that has flipped. A majority of those surveyed April 22-24 see no further tightening through December and more are leaning toward a cut by the end of next year.

Indeed, interest rate futures imply Fed Funds will be below the current 2.25-2.50 percent target range by this December.

Recent positive consumer spending and exports data have eased market concerns of a sharp economic slowdown. But inflation probably needs to run hot for a long period to panic policymakers off their wait-and-see course.     

(GRAPHIC: Federal funds and the economy – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DzjTZz)

3/HEISEI TO REIWA

Next week ends three decades of Japan’s Heisei era. Heisei, or Achieving Peace, began in 1989 near the peak of a massive stock market bubble and closes with the country trapped in low growth, no inflation, and negative interest rates.

The new era that dawns on May 1 is called Reiwa, meaning Beautiful Harmony. It begins when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne. But do investors really want harmony? What they want to see is a bit of economic growth and inflation to shake up the status quo.

The Bank of Japan’s stimulus toolkit to revive a long-suffering economy is anything but harmonious and yet it’s set to stay. The central bank confirmed recently rates will stay near zero for a long time. But the coming days may not be harmonious or peaceful for currency markets. A 10-day Golden Week holiday kicks off on April 29 and investors are fretting over the risk of a “flash crash” – a violent currency spasm that can occur in times of thin trading turnover.

The year has already seen two yen spikes and many, including Japan’s housewife-trader brigade – so-called Mrs Watanabes – appear to have bought yen as the holiday approaches. Their short dollar/long yen positions recently reached record highs, stock exchange data showed.

(GRAPHIC: Japan stocks: from Hensei to Reiwa – https://tmsnrt.rs/2W6a7Fe)

4/EARNING TURNING

Quarterly earnings were supposed to be the worst in Europe in almost three years, but with a third of results in, things are looking a little rosier.

Two-thirds of companies’ results have beat expectations, and they point to earnings growth of 4.5 percent year-on-year. Financials have delivered the biggest surprises, according to analysis by Barclays.

That might just show how low expectations were. In fact, analysts are still taking a red pen to their estimates.

The latest I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv shows analysts on average expect first-quarter earnings-per-share for STOXX 600-listed companies to fall 4.2 percent. That would be their worst quarter since 2016 and down sharply from an estimated 3.4 percent just a week earlier.

Those estimates may end up being a little too bearish as earnings season goes on, quelling worries that Europe is heading toward a corporate recession.

GSK and Reckitt Benckiser will give the market a glimpse of the health of the consumer products market and spending on everything from toothpaste, washing powder and paracetamol.

(GRAPHIC: Earnings forecasts – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DuO2ZF)

5/WAITING FOR THE OLD LADY

Sterling has gone into the doldrums amid the Brexit delay and unproductive talks between the UK government and the opposition Labour party on a EU withdrawal deal. The resurgent dollar, meanwhile, has taken 2 percent off the pound in April. It is unlikely the Bank of England will be able to rouse it at its May 2 meeting.

Despite robust retail and jobs data of late, the economic picture is gloomy – 2019 growth is likely to be around 1.2 percent, the weakest since 2009, investment is down and Governor Mark Carney says business uncertainty is “through the roof”.

Indeed, expectations for an interest rate increase have been whittled down; Reuters polls forecast rates will not move until early 2020, a calendar quarter later than was forecast a month ago. The hunt for a new governor to replace Carney in October adds more uncertainty to the mix.

The recent run of UK data has fueled hopes of economic rebound. That’s put net hedge fund positions in the pound into positive territory for the first time in nearly a year. The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street might temper some of that optimism.

(GRAPHIC: Sterling positions – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XJwUXX)

(Reporting by Alden Bentley in New York, Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore; Karin Strohecker, Josephine Mason and Saikat Chatterjee in London; compiled by Sujata Rao; edited by Larry King)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist