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Man Yells “Allahu Akbar” at Funeral of German Woman Murdered by Muslim Boyfriend

Panicked churchgoers fled in terror after a man yelled “Allahu Akbar” during the funeral of a German woman who was brutally murdered by her Muslim migrant boyfriend.

More than 500 people participated in the funeral march which took place in the city of Worms following the murder of 21-year-old Cynthia R.

Cynthia was killed by her boyfriend Ahmed T. having previously agreed to wear a hijab and learn Arabic to please the 22-year-old asylum seeker who already knew that he was about to be deported.

After Cynthia refused to go to Tunisia with Ahmed, who had been abusing the system by claiming welfare under three different names while in Germany, “He stabbed the young woman by ramming a kitchen knife through her neck, her lungs, her hands and her back more than ten times,” reports VladTepes.

Despite the somber nature of the funeral march, the funeral itself was ruined when a man rushed to the front of the church before standing in front of the altar, holding his arms outstretched and shouting “Allahu Akbar!”

The refrain means “God is great” in Arabic but it is also routinely shouted by Islamic terrorists before they carry out violent attacks.

This prompted around 20 attendees to run out of the church “distraught” and “crying” over the incident.

Police later arrested the culprit before a news report about the incident blamed it on a “bad joke” or a “confused man”.

“She meant so much to me and I miss her a lot,” said Cynthia’s cousin Patrick Schopp. “I will keep her in my memory as this fun-loving person who never had anything bad to say about anyone and who was very helpful with everyone.”

null

According to figures from the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), migrant crime targeting German citizens has soared by over 23 per cent in a single year.

As Reuters acknowledged last year, Germany has suffered a “two-year increase in violent crime,” rising 10 per cent in 2015 and 2016. 90 per cent of that increase was attributed to “young male refugees”.

As we document in the video below (which is banned in Germany), rather than directly address the multitude of problems that importing around 2 million “refugees” has caused the country, German authorities appear more intent on brainwashing and coercing their population into accepting the new reality with passive compliance.

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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor at large of Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com.

Source: InfoWars

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Explainer: Can a sitting U.S. president face criminal charges?

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during campaign rally at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during campaign rally at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S., August 2, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

February 26, 2019

By Jan Wolfe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Constitution explains how a president can be removed from office for “high crimes and misdemeanors” by Congress using the impeachment process. But the Constitution is silent on whether a president can face criminal prosecution in court, and the U.S. Supreme Court has not directly addressed the question.

The question looms large with Special Counsel Robert Mueller preparing a report on his investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. election, whether President Donald Trump’s campaign conspired with Moscow and whether Trump unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe.

The U.S. Justice Department has a decades-old policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted, indicating that criminal charges against Trump would be unlikely, according to legal experts.

Here is an explanation of the rationale behind the Justice Department policy and whether it applies to Mueller.

WHAT IS THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT POLICY?

In 1973, in the midst of the Watergate scandal engulfing President Richard Nixon, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel adopted in an internal memo the position that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Nixon resigned in 1974, with the House of Representatives moving toward impeaching him.

“The spectacle of an indicted president still trying to serve as Chief Executive boggles the imagination,” the memo stated.

The department reaffirmed the policy in a 2000 memo, saying court decisions in the intervening years had not changed its conclusion that a sitting president is “constitutionally immune” from indictment and criminal prosecution. It concluded that criminal charges against a president would “violate the constitutional separation of powers” delineating the authority of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the U.S. government.

“The indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would unconstitutionally undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions,” the memo stated.

The 1973 and 2000 memos are binding on Justice Department employees, including Mueller, according to many legal experts. Mueller was appointed in May 2017 by the department’s No. 2 official Rod Rosenstein.

But some lawyers have argued that the nation’s founders could have included a provision in the Constitution shielding the president from prosecution, but did not do so, suggesting an indictment would be permissible. According to this view, immunity for the president violates the fundamental principle that nobody is above the law.

Nixon himself in 1977 offered an opposite view when he told interviewer David Frost, “Well, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal.”

COULD MUELLER INDICT TRUMP DESPITE THE EXISTING POLICY?

Possibly. The Justice Department regulations governing Mueller’s appointment allow him to deviate from department policy in “extraordinary circumstances” with the approval of the U.S. attorney general, the nation’s top law enforcement official. Trump appointee William Barr currently holds that post.

Some legal experts have suggested Mueller could invoke this exception if he has uncovered serious wrongdoing and lacked confidence in the ability of the divided Congress to hold Trump accountable. Some lawyers also have said Mueller is not bound by the 1973 and 2000 memos because he is not a typical employee of the department.

Ken Starr, who investigated President Bill Clinton in the 1990s in the somewhat different role of independent counsel, in 1998 conducted his own analysis of the question of whether a sitting president can be indicted, indicating he did not consider the 1973 Justice Department memo binding on him.

Starr did not indict Clinton in his investigation involving the president’s relationship with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky, but lawyers in his office concluded he had the authority to do so, according to a once-secret internal memo made public by the New York Times in 2017.

After the independent counsel statute under which Starr was named expired in 1999, the Justice Department devised procedures governing the appointment of special counsels to handle certain investigations. Mueller was named after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been overseeing the agency’s Russia probe.

COULD TRUMP BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE AND THEN PROSECUTED?

Yes. There is no debate over whether a former president can be indicted for conduct that occurred while in office. In fact, President Gerald Ford, who succeeded Nixon after his resignation, was mindful of this when he granted “a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed.”

The statute of limitations – restricting the time within which legal proceedings such as a prosecution may be brought – may work to Trump’s benefit if he is re-elected in 2020 and serves a full two four-year terms as president until January 2025.

Many federal crimes have a five-year statute of limitations, meaning prosecutors have five years from the date the conduct at issue occurred to bring an indictment. That means criminal charges against a re-elected Trump could be time-barred.

Some lawyers have said that, as a matter of fairness, the normal rules on timeliness of charges should not apply to the president. The issue potentially could be resolved in the courts.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Will Dunham)

Source: OANN

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‘Erasing the poor’: Pakistanis feel crunch of rising prices

Vendor arranges different types of rice at his shop in a wholesale market in Karachi
A vendor arranges different types of rice, with their prices displayed, at his shop in a wholesale market in Karachi, Pakistan April 2, 2019. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

April 4, 2019

By Saad Sayeed and Syed Raza Hassan

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI (Reuters) – Pakistan’s surging petrol prices have more than halved the income of taxi driver Yasir Sultan, just one of many consumers whose faith in a government elected last year on a pledge to help the poor has been shattered.

Inflation at its highest in more than five years has shocked many Pakistanis who voted for Prime Minister Imran Khan and his promise to eradicate poverty, create jobs and build an Islamic welfare state.

“Imran Khan has said big things about getting rid of poverty, but he isn’t erasing poverty. He is erasing the poor,” Sultan, 30, told Reuters.

“Sometimes I think I should set this taxi on fire,” he said from behind the wheel of his rundown 1980s-era Suzuki Mehran.

Wrestling with a ballooning current account deficit as it seeks a 13th bailout package from the International Monetary Fund, the government has a hard choice – impose pain now or face a balance of payments crisis that could crash the economy.

Foreign reserves of $8.5 billion are better than the start of the year, but barely cover two months’ worth of imports.

“Demand compression is part of stabilization to bring down current account and trade deficits,” said Asad Sayeed, an economist at the Collective for Social Science Research.

Inflation was over 9.4 percent in March, its highest since November 2013, with strong increases in food and energy, the two most sensitive items for most consumers.

The central bank forecasts growth at 3.5-4 percent in the 12 months to end June, well off a government target of 6.2 percent.

With a large pool of surplus labor keeping wage rises in check, living standards will suffer, Sayeed said.

“I voted for PTI believing in Khan’s slogan for the change. Now, I am repenting,” said Sara Salman in the bustling eastern city of Lahore, referring to the prime minister’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

With the rupee losing over a quarter of its value in the past year, the squeeze is acute in the creaking power sector where the government is under pressure to cut subsidies cushioning consumers against sharp price hikes.

Authorities on Monday hiked petrol prices by 6 rupees to 98.88 rupees ($0.70) a liter, bringing pain to skilled workers who earn 1,000-1,300 rupees ($7.08-9.20) a day and laborers who make up to 600-800 rupees.

The price hikes will keep consumers away from all but essential items, economists say.

“The fiscal trajectory now depends on what extent the government is going to adjust energy prices,” said Saad Hashmey, chief economist at Topline Securities, adding it has to fix the energy deficit and bring earnings in line with production costs.

“If they are to go the full extent they need to plug the gap, then inflation in a few months will go into double digits,” he said.

FRIENDLY COUNTRIES

Finance Minister Asad Umer has said an IMF deal could be agreed by May, its 13th bailout since the late 1980s and the last one needed by Pakistan, the government says.

While talks continue, Pakistan has sought help from China, its partner in the $60-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of Beijing’s vast Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also extended about $11 billion in loans and credit arrangements on oil deliveries in recent months.

The government says it is stepping up efforts to replace imports with domestic production and build up an export sector that has traditionally relied on textiles with special economic zones designed to attract new investment.

It is also trying to widen the tax net to boost collections, but has struggled on both fronts.

Rising oil prices and a currency devaluation “were bound to happen”, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said this week, adding, “God willing, a better time will be coming.”     

For a government that promised an “Islamic welfare state” focused on uplifting the poor, the forecast is uncomfortably vague, observers say.

“They have to undertake a very painful economic adjustment,” said Khurram Hussain, business editor of Pakistan’s Dawn Newspaper. That means higher taxes and interest rates, lower imports and government spending, and a devalued rupee, he said.

“In that environment it is extremely difficult to deliver on welfare oriented promises,” Hussain said.

While economists believe Pakistan has no choice but to cut spending and raise prices, consumers’ patience is wearing thin.

“The current financial policies and price-hike shows contempt for the people,” said Muhammad Waqas, a Lahore school teacher. “If the PTI government cannot resolve these problems, it should step down.”

(Additional reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore and Asif Shahzad in Islamabad; Writing by Saad Sayeed; Editing by James Mackenzie and Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Inquiry into Gambia’s ex-president submits findings report

An inquiry panel has handed over a report to Gambia's president on the financial dealings of ex-leader Yahya Jammeh who was recently accused of stealing nearly $1 billion from the small West African nation.

The commission looked at Jammeh's more than two-decade long rule from 1994 to 2017, when he went into exile in Equatorial Guinea.

President Adama Barrow has expressed his commitment to implementing the recommendations of the report filed to him Friday, though the findings remain confidential for now.

Justice Minister Aboubacarr Tambadou said the panel sifted through transcripts of 253 witness testimonies and other documentary evidence, analyzed information collected, and produced a report in nine volumes. Tambadou said the investigation revealed huge amounts of money embezzled by Jammeh and his close associates.

Source: Fox News World

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FAA paves way for Alphabet unit to make first U.S. drone deliveries

The Google logo is pictured at the entrance to the Google offices in London
FILE PHOTO: The Google logo is pictured at the entrance to the Google offices in London, Britain January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

April 23, 2019

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s Wing Aviation unit on Tuesday got the okay to start delivering goods by drone in Virginia later this year, making the sister unit of search engine Google the first company to get U.S. air carrier certification, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

This means Wing can begin a commercial service delivering goods from local businesses to homes, which includes flights beyond visual line of site and over people, the FAA and Wing said. Wing Aviation plans to start commercial package delivery in Blacksburg, Virginia later this year.

Wing partnered with the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership and Virginia Tech, as one of the participants in the Transportation Department’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program.

“This is an important step forward for the safe testing and integration of drones into our economy. Safety continues to be our Number One priority as this technology continues to develop and realize its full potential,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

The FAA said Wing demonstrated that its operations met the agency’s safety requirements, based on extensive data and documentation, as well as thousands of safe flights conducted in Australia. Wing plans to reach out to the local community before it begins a food delivery trial, to gather feedback, the FAA said.

Wing has recently begun commercial air delivery service in the north of Canberra, Australia and is also about to begin its first trial in Europe, delivering to homes in Helsinki, Finland.

Wing said its data shows a lower risk to pedestrians from drone deliveries than the same trip made by car.

In May 2018, Chao announced it had approved 10 projects to help it assess how to regulate drones and integrate them safely into U.S. air space. The United States has lagged other countries in experimentation with drones, something the program hopes to correct.

In January, the FAA proposed rules that would allow drones to operate over populated areas and end a requirement for special permits for night use. The FAA is also considering moving ahead with additional rules in response to public safety and national security concerns as it works to integrate drones with airplane traffic.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by David Gregorio)

Source: OANN

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Trump denies calling Andrew McCabe's wife ‘a loser’

President Trump on Tuesday denied telling Andrew McCabe his wife is “a loser” because of her unsuccessful Democratic run for the Virginia state Senate in 2015, an allegation the former FBI deputy director made during his anti-Trump book tour.

DONALD TRUMP CALLED ANDREW MCCABE'S WIFE A 'LOSER', EX-FBI OFFICIAL CLAIMS IN NEW BOOK

“I never said anything bad about Andrew McCabe’s wife other than she (they) should not have taken large amounts of campaign money from a Crooked Hillary source when Clinton was under investigation by the FBI,” Trump tweeted. “I never called his wife a loser to him (another McCabe made up lie)!”

During a CBS “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday, McCabe described one of his first conversations with the newly-sworn-in president and said the president asked about his wife Jill McCabe’s 2015 campaign. According to McCabe, Trump asked, “What was it like when your wife lost her race for state Senate? It must have been really tough to lose.” Similar ancedotes had been reported, including by Fox News, before.

“And I said, ‘Well, it’s tough to lose anything,” McCabe recalled. ‘“But my wife has refocused her efforts on her career.’ And he then said, ‘Ask her what it was like to lose. It must be tough to be a loser.’”

MCCABE: 'NO ONE' IN CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP OBJECTED WHEN TOLD OF FBI’S TRUMP PROBE

Trump in the past has drawn attention to how Jill McCabe received donations from Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's super PAC during the time. McAuliffe is a close Clinton ally.

Trump has questioned whether it was a conflict of interest for Andrew McCabe to have a role in the FBI’s Hillary Clinton email case investigation because of his wife’s campaign. McCabe did not recuse himself from the Clinton investigation until a week before the election.

“No man wants to hear anyone call his wife a loser, most of all me,” McCabe said in the interview. “My wife is a wonderful, brilliant, dedicated physician who tried to help her community. So she is no loser. It was just bullying. So rather than get into an argument with the president of the United States, we, I said, ‘Okay, sir.’ And we hung up and ended the call.”

McCabe was fired last year by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions after an inspector general report said McCabe lied about leaking to reporters about the FBI's investigation of Clinton's emails.

Source: Fox News Politics

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U.S. construction spending rises to a nine-month high in February

FILE PHOTO - A construction worker carries a wheelbarrow of cement down a street during very hot weather in the Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City
FILE PHOTO - A construction worker carries a wheelbarrow of cement down a street during very hot weather in the Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., June 18, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

April 1, 2019

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. construction spending increased for a third straight month in February, boosted by gains in both private and public construction projects, offering some good news on the economy following a string of weak reports.

The Commerce Department said on Monday construction spending rose 1.0 percent to a nine-month high after an upwardly revised 2.5 percent surge in January.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast construction spending falling 0.2 percent in February after a previously reported 1.3 percent jump in January.

Construction spending increased 1.1 percent on a year-on-year basis in February.

In February, spending on private construction projects rose 0.2 percent after vaulting 1.5 percent in January. Investment in private residential projects increased 0.7 percent, rising for a third straight month.

The strong gains are despite a sluggish housing market, which has been held back by higher mortgage rates, expensive building materials as well as land and labor shortages. But there are signs of green shoots emerging in the housing market as mortgage rates have declined from last year’s lofty levels.

Spending on private nonresidential structures, which includes manufacturing and power plants, fell 0.5 percent in February after jumping 1.1 percent in January.

Investment in public construction projects rose 3.6 percent in February after accelerating 5.7 percent in the prior month.

Spending on federal government construction projects rose 0.9 percent to the highest level since October 2017, after soaring 5.7 percent in January.

Investment in state and local government construction projects rose 3.8 percent after surging 5.7 in January.

(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci) ((Lucia.Mutikani@thomsonreuters.com; 1 202 898 8315; Reuters Messaging: lucia.mutikani.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: An aerial photo looking north shows shipping containers at the Port of Seattle and the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle
FILE PHOTO: An aerial photo looking north shows shipping containers at the Port of Seattle and the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, U.S. March 21, 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson/File Photo

April 26, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. economic growth is running at a 1.1% pace in the second quarter as the gains in exports and inventories recorded in the first quarter are expected to reverse, Morgan Stanley economists said on Friday.

“Our preliminary expectations for growth in the second quarter sees large drags from net exports and inventories after their contributions in 1Q,” they wrote in a research note.

Gross domestic product increased at a 3.2% annualized rate in the first three months of the year, driven by a smaller trade deficit and the largest accumulation of unsold merchandise since 2015, the Commerce Department said earlier Friday.

(Reporting by Richard Leong)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The Deutsche Bank headquarters are pictured in Frankfurt
FILE PHOTO: The Deutsche Bank headquarters are pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Tom Sims

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Within hours of the collapse of merger talks with Commerzbank, Christian Sewing scrambled to convince investors and employees that Deutsche Bank can stand on its own two feet.

The Deutsche Bank chief executive told staff, many of whom opposed a merger because of significant job losses, that while he had not been “skeptical” about the Commerzbank talks, he was cautious about the chances of success from the start.

And another top Deutsche Bank executive said on Friday that it had been Commerzbank that initiated the talks, suggesting there was no desperation on their part for a deal.

Commerzbank denied that version of events, ending the apparent truce between the normally highly competitive cross-town Frankfurt rivals over the past six weeks.

German hopes of creating a national banking champion able to challenge global competitors were finally dashed on Thursday when Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank ended their talks due to the risks of doing a deal, restructuring costs and capital demands.

For Sewing, the failure to clinch a deal has left the 49-year-old chief executive of Germany’s largest bank, who took over just over a year ago, with his back to the wall.

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, which downgraded Deutsche Bank last year, said on Friday that Deutsche Bank “will remain under strain”, adding that it “seems to have acknowledged the need to adjust its strategy”.

Under Sewing, a new leadership has tried to revive Deutsche Bank’s fortunes, but it has faced money laundering allegations and failed stress tests, as well as ratings downgrades.

At the heart of the debate over its future is whether it should focus its business on Germany and draw a line under its costly global ambitions to take on Wall Street’s big guns.

“MARKET PLAY”

Without a deal, Deutsche Bank now finds itself back at the mercy of equity and debt markets, with UBS analysts warning that in a “stress scenario” it could again “be forced into a ‘debt-driven capital increase’ even with solid capital ratios”.

“Deutsche remains a levered market play vulnerable to external events,” the UBS analysts said in a note.

Sewing, along with many analysts, believes Deutsche Bank can go it alone in the short-term, but will be counting on a turnaround in market conditions to do so in the long-run given its dependence on volatile investment bank earnings.

“To reach our return objective, we also need to see a revenue recovery in our more market-sensitive business,” Sewing said on Friday after reporting results.

“These revenues are available to us in better market conditions given our leading positions in many of these businesses, but we need to capture them,” he added.

Revenue at Deutsche Bank’s bond trading division fell 19 percent in the first quarter, it said on Friday, underscoring weakness at its investment bank.

If those earnings do not improve, Berlin’s desire to keep its biggest bank out of foreign hands may start to wane.

“Germany’s globally active companies need competitive financial institutions that can support them around the world,” German finance minister Olaf Scholz said on Thursday.

(Writing by Alexander Smith; Editing by Keith Weir)

Source: OANN

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Panama's former president Ricardo Martinelli yells to the media while arriving to the Electoral Court in Panama City
Panama’s former president Ricardo Martinelli reacts to the media while arriving to the Electoral Court in Panama City, Panama April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Erick Marciscano

April 26, 2019

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Panama’s electoral tribunal has ruled that former President Ricardo Martinelli, who is awaiting trial on wiretapping charges, cannot take part in elections on May 5 in which he was running for mayor of Panama City and a seat in Congress, a spokesman for Martinelli said on Friday.

“The ruling of the electoral tribunal has disqualified him as candidate,” said the spokesman, Eduardo Camacho, calling the court’s ruling a “political decision.”

Officials at the tribunal did not immediately confirm the ruling, which also was reported in local media in Panama.

Martinelli, a supermarket tycoon who ran the Central American country from 2009 to 2014, was extradited to Panama last June from the United States and charged with spying on 150 people, including politicians, union leaders and journalists.

A judge had previously cleared Martinelli to run for mayor of the capital. His critics vowed to appeal that decision.

(Reporting by Elida Moreno and Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Amazon boxes are seen stacked for delivery in the Manhattan borough of New York City
FILE PHOTO: Amazon boxes are seen stacked for delivery in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Shares of Walmart, Target and other U.S. retailers fell on Friday as Amazon.com Inc unveiled a one-day delivery plan for its Prime members in a move to further disrupt the fiercely competitive retail landscape.

The e-commerce giant’s announcement on Thursday could cause other brands, manufacturers, retailers, and logistics companies to have to invest more aggressively to compete with Amazon and its delivery, analysts said.

Retailers in recent years have poured billions into ecommerce and faster shipping options and are trying to close the gap with Amazon.

“This is about making it more expensive to catch up and affirms our world view that only the largest and smartest will survive,” Bernstein analyst Brandon Fletcher said.

The move is expected to heighten consumer expectations on e-commerce delivery just like Amazon did with its two-day shipping option for members of its loyalty club Prime, noted analysts.

“The faster you ship, the more people buy,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney said.

The challenge for non-Amazon players was that very few of the existing logistics and parcel delivery players now have the ability to do nationwide one-day delivery, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak said.

“And even fewer can do it at the vast scale and reasonable cost that AMZN would need for Prime delivery,” Nowak said in a note.

Walmart Inc’s shares fell about 3 percent, while Target Corp dropped about 5 percent in morning trade.

Shares of Kohl’s Corp, Macy’s Inc and Nordstrom Inc fell about 1 percent. Grocer Kroger Co was nearly 3 percent lower, while consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Inc dropped 2.1 percent.

(Reporting by Soundarya J and Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Source: OANN

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A Chinese woman adjusts a Chinese national flag next to U.S. national flags before a Strategic Dialogue expanded meeting, part of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in Beijing
A Chinese woman adjusts a Chinese national flag next to U.S. national flags before a Strategic Dialogue expanded meeting, part of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, July 10, 2014. REUTERS/Ng Han Guan/Pool (CHINA – Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS)

April 26, 2019

By April Joyner

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Even as the lift from optimism over prospects for U.S.-China trade detente shows signs of wearing off for the wider U.S. stock market, upbeat sentiment around China’s economy could bolster shares of materials companies.

Shares of S&P 500 industrial and technology companies, which were buffeted by last year’s tit-for-tat tariffs as well as slowing global demand, have been very responsive to progress in U.S.-China trade relations and a strengthening Chinese economy. This year, those sectors have outpaced the ascent in the S&P 500, which reached a record closing high on Tuesday.

Materials stocks have not been as sensitive, however, even though they also stand to benefit as a stronger Chinese economy lifts global consumption and industrial output. As China has taken measures to stimulate its economy, its economic data have turned more upbeat. That in turn could aid global growth, which has flagged as a result of China’s cooldown.

“What we’re seeing is China spending more on stimulus: fiscal stimulus and monetary stimulus,” said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco in New York. “That’s likely to be a positive for materials.”

The People’s Bank of China has cut banks’ reserve requirement ratio five times over the past year and is widely expected to ease policy further to spur lending and reduce borrowing costs. The stimulus appears to have boosted Chinese economic data, with factory activity growing in March for the first time in four months.

Yet so far in 2019, the S&P 500 materials index has underperformed the S&P 500 at large, rising just 11.9% compared with 16.7% for the benchmark index. Moreover, it is among the biggest decliners in the period since the S&P’s previous record closing level on Sept. 20. The materials index has fallen 7% over those seven months, versus a 5.2% gain for technology and a 3% loss for industrials. Only the energy index has dropped more over that period.

A trade agreement could serve as a catalyst for a bump in materials shares as a drag on China’s economy is lifted, some market strategists say. Some commodity prices, including those for copper and oil, have ascended this year as the prospects for the global economy have somewhat brightened.

“It all goes back to the global growth outlook,” said Andrea DiCenso, portfolio manager for alpha strategies at Loomis Sayles in Boston. “With the front run in hard data, we’re beginning to see a pretty significant rally.”

Additionally, a trade agreement is expected to include commitments from China to purchase higher quantities of U.S. products such as soybeans, which could benefit companies that make agricultural chemicals, including DowDuPont Inc and CF Industries Holdings Inc.

CF Industries is scheduled to report quarterly results after the bell on Wednesday, and DowDuPont is scheduled to report before the market open on Thursday.

To be sure, even with a trade agreement, some materials companies could face price pressures. Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc fell 10.1% on Thursday after the copper mining company posted a lower-than-expected profit as its production slipped and its costs rose.

A rollback of tariffs on Chinese imports, particularly aluminum and steel, would likely prompt a fall in some commodity prices, which could hurt prospects for certain materials companies, said Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera Investment Management in El Segundo, California.

Even so, those drawbacks may be outweighed by the support for global demand fostered by a U.S.-China trade agreement.

“You could see a number of companies with lowered expectations bring them back up as they talk favorably about the impact that a trade deal would have on them,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York.

(Reporting by April Joyner; additional reporting by Sinéad Carew; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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