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AP: Trump Campaign to Report $30 Million Haul in 1st Quarter

President Donald Trump's re-election campaign is set to report that it raised more than $30 million in the first quarter of 2019, edging out his top two Democratic rivals combined, according to figures it provided to The Associated Press.

The haul brings the campaign's cash on hand to $40.8 million, an unprecedented war chest for an incumbent president this early in a campaign.

The Trump campaign said nearly 99% of its donations were of $200 or less, with an average donation of $34.26.

Trump's fundraising ability was matched by the Republican National Committee, which brought in $45.8 million in the first quarter — its best non-election year total. Combined, the pro-Trump effort is reporting $82 million in the bank, with $40.8 million belonging to the campaign alone.

Trump formally launched his reelection effort just hours after taking office in 2017, earlier than any incumbent has in prior years. By contrast, former President Barack Obama launched his 2012 effort in April 2011 and had under $2 million on hand at this point in the campaign.

Obama went on to raise more than $720 million for his reelection. Trump's reelection effort has set a $1 billion target for 2020.

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement that Trump "is in a vastly stronger position at this point than any previous incumbent president running for re-election, and only continues to build momentum."

Trump's fundraising with the RNC is divided between two entities: Trump Victory, the joint account used for high-dollar gifts, and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, the low-dollar digital fundraising operation known internally as "T-Magic." The campaign is set to launch a traditional "bundling" program — which it lacked in 2016 — in the coming weeks. Bundlers are mid-tier donors who bring in contributions from their associates.

Together, the Trump entities have raised a combined $165.5 million since 2017.

Trump is benefiting from the advantages of incumbency, like universal name recognition and his unrivaled position atop the Republican Party.

Among Democrats, dollars are divided across a candidate field of well more than a dozen, while the Democratic National Committee remains in debt and has suffered from being dramatically outraised by the RNC in recent months.

Bernie Sanders topped the Democratic field in the first quarter, raising slightly more than $18 million, followed by Kamala Harris with $12 million and Beto O'Rourke with $9.4 million. Trump is reporting a haul of $30.3 million.

Republicans have trailed Democrats in online fundraising ever since the medium was invented roughly two decades ago. But Trump has closed the gap, driving small-dollar donors who make recurring donations to the GOP like the party has never seen before. According to RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Trump's campaign has already had eight seven-figure fundraising days this year, and has taken in money from more than 1 million new online donors since Trump's inauguration — including 100,000 this year.

The Republican committee said it is planning on spending $30 million on maintaining and growing Trump's email list alone, recently expanded its headquarters space to an annex in Virginia and will soon invest in developing an app.

In 2015, Trump swore off outside money, declaring in his opening speech: "I'm using my own money. I'm not using the lobbyists'. I'm not using donors'. I don't care. I'm really rich."

He quickly reversed course on high-dollar donations after he won the GOP nomination, bowing to the financial pressures of running a general election campaign, and he'd already raised millions online through the sale of merchandise like his signature red Make America Great Again hats.

Trump gave or loaned $66 million to his 2016 campaign, but has yet to spend any of his own cash for his reelection effort. Aides don't expect that to change.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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U.S. may mull cutting debt issuance: Bank of America Merrill Lynch

FILE PHOTO: Company logo of the Bank of America and Merrill Lynch is displayed at its office in Hong Kong
FILE PHOTO: The company logo of the Bank of America and Merrill Lynch is displayed at its office in Hong Kong March 8, 2013. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo

April 25, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department may float the idea of reducing the issuance of coupon-bearing debt at its upcoming May refunding after the Federal Reserve’s decision to end its balance sheet normalization later this year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said.

Any cuts in issuance will likely be among two-year, three-year and five-year maturities, where the Treasury has ramped up issuance to fund the widening of the federal deficit, Bank of America strategists Mark Cabana and Olivia Lima said.

“We expect the idea of coupon cuts to be discussed at the May refunding as the Fed’s decision to end their (balance sheet) unwind in (September) was likely earlier than (the Treasury) anticipated,” they wrote in a research note.

The issuance reductions could be up to $4 billion for each of these maturities, they said.

They said any decision on issuance changes will likely be announced at Treasury’s August refunding.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Energy Secretary Rick Perry Planning to Leave Administration

Energy Secretary Rick Perry is planning to leave the Trump administration, but his departure is not imminent, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

Perry, a former governor of Texas who has taken a leading role in President Donald Trump's policy of boosting energy production, has been finalizing his departure, the source said.

Perry's plan was first reported by Bloomberg.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Interserve set for pre-pack administration if debt deal fails: source

FILE PHOTO: The Interserve logo is seen on a flag at Interserve offices in Twyford
FILE PHOTO: The Interserve logo is seen on a flag at Interserve offices in Twyford, Britain January 17, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo

March 9, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Banks for Interserve have lined up a so-called pre-pack administration that will wipe out existing shareholders but enable the troubled outsourcer to keep operating, a person familiar with the situation said on Saturday.

Seeking to avoid a collapse like rival Carillion, the plan would come into force if investors reject Interserve’s debt-for-equity swap at a vote on Friday.

The British company, which employs 68,000 people globally to provide cleaning and building services, is fighting for survival after struggling to service debt due to project delays, a weak construction market and a mistaken push into the energy-from-waste market.

A pre-pack administration enables the company to sell itself or its assets before it appoints administrators who take over the running of the business to protect creditors.

Interserve struck a deal in February under which existing shareholders would retain 5 percent of the group while creditors take control.

However its biggest shareholder Coltrane Asset Management has objected to the deal and a vote will take place on Friday.

Interserve declined to comment but the company’s chairman, Glyn Barker, told the Telegraph newspaper on Saturday that Coltrane would be to blame if the company has to opt for a pre-pack deal.

“If we lose that vote because of Coltrane, then it will be because of Coltrane that shareholders get nothing out of this,” he said.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Source: OANN

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Paul Ryan on advice to AOC: ‘I don’t think she really listened to a thing I said’

In an interview Tuesday night at an event in his home state, Wisconsin, former House speaker Paul Ryan told attendees he offered New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez some pointers for life in Congress as a young freshman representative -- and insisted that she didn't appear to listen to "a thing" he said.

Ryan, addressing several hundred members of the business and civic organization Forward Jainesville, began by reflecting on his election at age 28 to the House in 1998. Ryan opted not to run for re-election in 2018, and now serves on the board of the Fox Corporation, which owns the Fox News Channel.

"It was different then," Ryan said, noting that only one other member of Congress was, like him, in his 20s. "Everybody else was like, 15, 20 years older than us. So, we were sort of the beginning of that trend of younger people coming. For a while, they stopped me from coming on the [House] floor because they thought I was a staffer."

Ryan said with youth came "energy" and the chance to make a real difference -- but he also discussed some of the possible pitfalls.

FEC COMPLAINT ACCUSES OCASIO-CORTEZ OF ORGANIZING 'SUBSIDY SCHEME'

"The best advice that I gave myself -- that my mom gave me, that others gave me -- was, you got two ears and one mouth, use it in that proportion," Ryan said. "You come in ready to go, but you have to know that you don't know everything. There's a lot you can learn from, listen and apply."

Prompted by a moderator's question, Ryan added: "Actually, I talked to AOC -- AOC, everybody calls her AOC. She's a year older than when I came in -- she's the youngest person now there. I gave her just a few little tips on just being a good member of Congress, new. I don't think she really listened to a thing I said," Ryan said as the audience laughed.

"Take it easy, just watch things for a while, don't ruffle any — see how it works first," he said, recounting his advice.

Ocasio-Cortez has emerged as one of the most vocal members of a Democratic freshman class in the House that includes some other prominent names -- including Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib (who has vowed, sometimes using colorful language, to impeach President Trump) and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (whose repeated use of tropes called anti-Semitic has prompted rebukes from her own party).

From her sweeping environmental and social proposal called the Green New Deal, which some estimates say could cost more than $90 trillion, to her public spats with everyone from Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney to Trump and the White House, Ocasio-Cortez has made clear she has no plans to lie low -- even telling critics in February, "I'm the boss."

"I don't think she really listened to a thing I said."

— Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, on AOC

On Wednesday, Trump fired back, deriding Ocasio-Cortez as a "young bartender, 29 years old," and mocking senior Democrats for being "petrified" of her political clout.

"The Green New Deal. The first time I heard it, I said, 'That’s the craziest thing,'" Trump told House GOP lawmakers. "You have senators that are professionals, that you guys know, that have been there for a long time ... and they’re standing behind her shaking. They’re petrified of her."

Ocasio-Cortez worked as a bartender and political organizer in New York City before unseating incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley in a Democratic primary last year.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

For Ryan, though, age may not be the best line of attack for Republicans hoping to minimize Ocasio-Cortez's influence.

"A wave of young people started coming in more and more" starting in the early 2000s, Ryan said. "I think it's fantastic."

Source: Fox News Politics

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US says Alabama woman who joined Islamic State isn't citizen

An Alabama woman who joined the Islamic State group in Syria won't be allowed to return to the United States with her toddler son because she is not an American citizen, the U.S. said on Wednesday. Her lawyer is challenging that claim.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Hoda Muthana, who is now in a refugee camp in Syria along with others who fled the remnants of the Islamic State, has no legal claim to citizenship and will not be permitted to enter the country.

But her lawyer, Hassan Shibly, insisted she was born in the United States and had a valid passport before she joined the Islamic State in 2014. He says she has renounced the terrorist group and wants to come home to protect her son regardless of the legal consequences.

"She's an American. Americans break the law," said Shibly, a lawyer with the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "When people break the law, we have a legal system to handle those kinds of situations to hold people accountable, and that's all she's asking for."

In a brief statement, Pompeo gave no details as to how the administration determined that Muthana, 24, is not a citizen.

"She does not have any legal basis, no valid U.S. passport, no right to a passport nor any visa to travel to the United States," he said.

Shibly said that the administration argues that she didn't qualify for citizenship because her father was a Yemeni diplomat. But the lawyer said her father had not had diplomatic status "for months" before her birth in Hackensack, New Jersey.

President Donald Trump said later Wednesday on Twitter that he was behind the decision, tweeting that "I have instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and he fully agrees, not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!"

The announcement came a day after Britain said that it was stripping the citizenship of Shamima Begum, a 19-year-old who left the country in 2015 with two friends to join the Islamic State and recently gave birth in a refugee camp.

It also comes as the U.S. has urged allies to back citizens who joined IS but are now in the custody of the American-backed forces fighting the remnants of the brutally extremist group that once controlled a vast area spanning parts of Syria and Iraq.

Muthana's lawyer said she was "just a stupid, naive, young dumb woman," when she became enamored of Islamic State, believing it was an organization that protected Muslims.

Shibly said she fled her family in Alabama and made her way to Syria, where she was "brainwashed" by IS and compelled to marry one of the group's soldiers. After he was killed, she married another, the father her son who is now 18 months old.

After her second husband was also killed she married a third IS fighter but she "became disenchanted with the marriage," and decided to escape, the lawyer said.

Shibly, based in Tampa, Florida, said he intends to file a legal challenge to the government's decision to deny her entry to the country.

Muthana's status had been considered by lawyers from the departments of State and Justice since her case arose, according to one U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official would not elaborate but said Pompeo's statement was based on the lawyers' conclusions.

The State Department declined to disclose details about her father or Muthana's case, citing privacy law.

Most people born in the United States are accorded so-called birthright citizenship, but there are exceptions. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a person born in the U.S. to an accredited foreign diplomatic officer is not subject to U.S. law and is not automatically considered a U.S. citizen at birth.

However, Muthana's case is unusual, if not unprecedented in that she once held a U.S. passport. Passports are only issued to citizens by birth or naturalization, according to Seamus Hughes, the deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, who has studied the phenomenon of foreign Islamic State fighters and families.

Hughes said the decision is also unusual because it comes just days after the Trump administration urged European nations to repatriate extremists from Syria as the Islamic State nears collapse.

"If you are trying to make the case that others should take back their people, it stands to reason that you would do that, too," he said.

Muthana, who dodged sniper fire and roadside bombs to escape, is ready to pay the penalty for her actions but wants freedom and safety for the son, her lawyer said.

In a handwritten letter released by Shibly, Muthana wrote that she made "a big mistake" by rejecting her family and friends in the United States to join the Islamic State.

"During my years in Syria I would see and experience a way of life and the terrible effects of war which changed me," she wrote.

"To say that I regret my past words, any pain that I caused my family and any concerns I would cause my country would be hard for me to really express properly."

Shibly said Muthana was brainwashed online before she left Alabama and now could have valuable intelligence for U.S. forces, but he said the FBI didn't seem interested in retrieving her from the refugee camp where she is living with her son.

Muthana's father would welcome the woman back, Shibly said, but she is not on speaking terms with her mother.

Ashfaq Taufique, who knows Muthana's family and is president of the Birmingham Islamic Society, said the woman could be a valuable resource for teaching young people about the dangers of online radicalization were she allowed to return to the United States.

"Her coming back could be a very positive thing for our community and our country," Taufique said.

___

Reeves reported from Birmingham, Alabama. Joshua Replogle in Tampa, Florida, contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Battlelines drawn for second Spanish election debate, coalition deals unclear

FILE PHOTO: Main candidates for Spanish general elections hold their first televised debate in Pozuelo de Alarcon, outside Madrid
FILE PHOTO: Candidates for Spanish general elections People's Party (PP) Pablo Casado, Spanish Prime Minister and Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) Pedro Sanchez, Ciudadanos' Albert Rivera and Unidas Podemos' Pablo Iglesias attend a televised debate ahead of general elections in Pozuelo de Alarcon, outside Madrid, Spain, April 22, 2019. TVE via REUTERS/File Photo

April 23, 2019

By John Stonestreet and Belén Carreño

MADRID (Reuters) – The main contenders in Spain’s national election prepared for a second televised debate on Tuesday after a encounter in which they accused each other of lying but left open questions about what coalition deals might eventually be struck.

Sunday’s election, one of the most polarised since Spain’s return to democracy four decades ago, is being fought on emotive issues including gender equality and national unity following Catalonia’s failed 2017 independence bid rather than matters such as the economy and climate change.

With the result too close to call, the focus on heart rather than head makes it unlikely that candidates will broach new topics in Tuesday’s second round.

Ignacio Jurado, politics lecturer at the University of York, suggested rightists Pablo Casado of the People’s Party (PP) and Albert Rivera of Ciudadanos might change roles after Monday’s two-pronged attack on Socialist Prime Minister and election frontrunner Pedro Sanchez.

Casado might become more aggressive and Rivera pull his punches, Jurado said.

The right-leaning El Mundo newspaper suggested Casado and Rivera had outflanked Sanchez over Catalonia – an issue that has dominated national politics in the last few years.

Sanchez, who took power in 2018 after a series of corruption scandals led to the PP’s downfall, has been more open to dialogue with Catalan separatists than other parties and he may need their support to form a viable government.

But he has repeatedly insisted that independence is not up for discussion.

Left-leaning El Pais said Sanchez, seen as a less inspiring public speaker than Rivera and Casado, had not lost the debate.

“Sanchez achieved the minimum required. He managed to get his message across but demonstrated little flexibility,” said Jose Fernandez-Albertos, a political scientist at Spanish National Research Council CSIC.

“There was no clear winner, so they can all go home with the job done.”

Madrid residents who spoke to Reuters TV on Tuesday morning said the leaders should focus more on creating jobs and improving social benefits than clashing over patriotism.

“Catalonia, the flags, Spain – those things don’t shock me. I care about work, well-being, my relatives and society in general, specially the most defenseless,” said one, who gave his name as Jose Antonio.

University of York’s Jurado said candidates may try to present themselves in different ways on Tuesday but the issues were likely to be the same.

MURKY AND MURKIER?

Should Sanchez’s poll standing be harmed by the debates, the election outcome risks becoming more murky than ever.

Publication of official opinion polls ended six days before the election and in Monday’s final survey, by GAD3 in ABC newspaper, the Socialists scored 31.5 percent of the vote, giving Sanchez far more leeway than others to pitch for coalition partners.

However, he may well need to bring separatist lawmakers on board, which would complicate any broader alliance.

A putative coalition of Casado’s PP, Rivera’s center-right Ciudadanos and the far-right Vox of Santiago Abascal, meanwhile scored a combined 45 percent – putting them short of a parliamentary majority.

Polls show up to four in 10 voters have yet to decide who to cast their ballot for.

Arguably the greatest unknown remains Vox, tipped to win about 30 seats on Sunday in the 350-seat legislature but prevented from participating in either debate because it currently has no parliamentary representation.

In comments during Monday’s debate, Abascal criticized the lack of media coverage for his party and the lack of diversity between his main rivals. Vox would bring “order and freedom” to Catalonia, he said.

(Additional reporting by Silvio Castellanos; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Angus MacSwan)

Source: OANN

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren suggested that doctors and nurses don’t treat African American women the same way they do white women.

Warren appeared on Wednesday together with a number of other 2020 Democratic candidates at the She The People Forum in Houston, discussing issues concerning women of color.

WARREN’S $1.25T EDUCATION PLAN ‘SWEEPING’ GIVEAWAY TO THE WEALTHY AT EXPENSE OF THE POOR, WAPO EDITORIAL BOARD SAYS

The Massachusetts senator announced on stage a plan to decrease the childbirth mortality rate among black women while identifying a systematic problem with how they are treated.

“And there is a specific problem, as you rightly identified, for women of color who are three, four times more likely to die in childbirth,” Warren said.

“And here’s the thing, even after we do the adjustments for income, for education, this is true across the board. This is true for well-educated African American women, for wealthy African American women, and the best studies that I’m seeing put it down to just one thing, prejudice,” she added.

“That doctors and nurses don’t hear African American women’s medical issues the same way that they hear the same things from white women.”

“That doctors and nurses don’t hear African American women’s medical issues the same way that they hear the same things from white women.”

— Elizabeth Warren

CHARLIE KIRK: WARREN AND OTHER DEMS OFFER FREE MONEY – BUT DON’T TELL YOU PRICE WILL BE YOUR FREEDOM

Warren went on to get into details of her plan, noting that hospitals will be given bonuses if they manage to reduce the childbirth mortality rate among black women in an effort to give financial incentives for those doctors and nurses to provide better care.

“And if they don’t, then they’re going to have money taken away from them,” Warren added.

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“I want to see the hospitals see it as their responsibility to address this problem head-on and make it a first priority. The best way to do that is to use the money to make it happen because we gotta have change, and we gotta have change now.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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