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Saudi’s Falih sees no need for swift output action after Iran oil waivers end

FILE PHOTO: Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih talks during the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul
FILE PHOTO: Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih talks during the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

April 24, 2019

By Saeed Azhar and Stephen Kalin

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said on Wednesday he saw no need to raise oil output immediately after the United States ends waivers granted to buyers of Iranian crude, but added that the kingdom would respond to customers’ needs if asked for more oil.

Khalid al-Falih said he was guided by oil market fundamentals not prices, and that the world’s top oil exporter remained focused on balancing the global oil market.

“Inventories are actually continuing to rise despite what is happening in Venezuela and despite the tightening of sanctions on Iran. I don’t see the need to do anything immediately,” Falih said in Riyadh.

The United States has decided not to renew exemptions from sanctions against Iran granted last year to buyers of Iranian oil, taking a tougher line than expected.

“Our intent is to remain within our voluntary (OPEC) production limit,” Falih said, adding that Riyadh would “be responsive to our customers, especially those who have been under waivers and those whose waivers have been withdrawn.”

“We think there will be an uptick in real demand but certainly we are not going to be pre-emptive and increase production,” the minister said.

He said Saudi Arabia’s oil production in May was pretty much set with very little variation from the last couple of months. June crude allocations would be decided early next month, he said.

The kingdom’s exports in April will be below 7 million barrels per day (bpd), while production is around 9.8 million bpd, Saudi officials have said. Under the OPEC-led deal on supply cuts, Saudi Arabia can pump up to 10.3 million bpd.

Falih said there would most likely be “some level of production management beyond June” by OPEC and its allies, but it was too early to predict the output targets now.

Oil prices rallied to their highest level since November after Washington announced all waivers on imports of sanctions-hit Iranian oil would end next week, pressuring importers to stop buying from Tehran and further tightening global supply.

Eight countries, including China and India, were granted waivers for six months, and several had expected those exemptions to be renewed.

Brent crude futures fell on Wednesday, trading at $74.18 per barrel at 0848 GMT, after the International Energy Agency said oil markets were “adequately supplied” and “global spare production capacity remains at comfortable levels.”

A senior U.S. administration official said on Monday that Trump was confident Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would fulfill pledges to compensate for any shortfall in the oil market following Washington’s decision to end the Iran waivers.

OPEC and industry sources told Reuters on Tuesday that Gulf OPEC producers could meet any oil supply shortage but would first wait to see whether there was actual demand.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, an alliance known as OPEC+, agreed to cut output by 1.2 million bpd. They meet on June 25-26 to decide whether to extend the pact.

A panel of energy ministers from major oil producers, known as the JMMC, meets on May 19 to discuss the oil market and make recommendations before the June meeting, OPEC sources said.

(Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Dale Hudson and Edmund Blair)

Source: OANN

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UK rejects tycoon Vijay Mallya’s plea against extradition: Economic Times

FILE PHOTO - Vijay Mallya leaves after his extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, in London
FILE PHOTO - Vijay Mallya leaves after his extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, in London, Britain, December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

April 8, 2019

(Reuters) – Britain’s court rejected Indian liquor and aviation tycoon Vijay Mallya’s plea against extradition, the Economic Times newspaper reported on Monday.

In February, UK’s Home Office said the British government had signed an order to extradite Mallya.

(Reporting by Mekhla Raina in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

Source: OANN

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Qualcomm settlement with Apple paves way for Huawei dispute: analysts

A sign on the Qualcomm campus is seen, as chip maker Broadcom Ltd announced an unsolicited bid to buy peer Qualcomm Inc for $103 billion, in San Diego
FILE PHOTO: A sign on the Qualcomm campus is seen in San Diego, California, U.S. November 6, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 17, 2019

(Reuters) – Qualcomm Inc’s surprise settlement of a prolonged legal fight with Apple Inc paves the way for the chipmaker to resolve a similar dispute with China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, ahead of the launch of 5G phones, several analysts said.

Shares of Qualcomm, which closed up 23 percent on Tuesday, rose another 10 percent in premarket trade on Wednesday after it signed a six-year patent license deal with Apple.

If Wednesday’s gains hold, Qualcomm would tack on more than $20 billion in market value since announcing the settlement.

The two companies had been at odds over patents and royalties over modems. While Qualcomm did not close the terms of the deal, analysts estimated that Apple withheld $5 billion, or about $2 per share, under its previous royalty payment agreement.

Qualcomm and Huawei are also fighting over the same issues.

Huawei stopped royalty payments in April 2017 and Qualcomm said in January it has signed an interim agreement with the Chinese company and is in talks for a final resolution.

“We now expect an imminent settlement with Huawei which has also been withholding royalty payments, which we estimate will add another $0.50-$0.75 of EPS,” Cowen and Company analysts said.

Three brokerages raised their ratings on Qualcomm’s stock and at least eight brokerages boosted their price targets. Fourteen out of 25 brokerages rated the stock “buy” or higher and the rest “hold”, according to Refinitiv data.

A settlement with Apple and Huawei will not only bring in more royalty payments and reduce legal costs, it will help Qualcomm to focus more in rolling out its 5G modems, several analysts said.

The Qualcomm settlement means Apple will rely on the chipmaker for most if not all of its 5G modems in iPhones starting in 2020, with Qualcomm likely the leading to only supplier for the next several years, Canaccord Genuity analysts said.

Intel Corp, which was supplying modem chips to Apple for its latest iPhones, said late on Tuesday that it was exiting the phone modem business.

(Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Source: OANN

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Off-duty journalist shot dead during Northern Ireland riot

Rioters clash with emergency vehicles in Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Rioters clash with emergency vehicles in Londonderry, Northern Ireland April 18, 2019, in this still image taken from a video from social media. Leona O'Neill via REUTERS

April 19, 2019

By Amanda Ferguson

BELFAST (Reuters) – An off-duty journalist was killed after shots were fired during rioting in the Northern Irish city of Londonderry overnight, in what police on Friday said was likely the work of militant nationalists opposed to the British region’s 1998 peace deal.

Rioting erupted in the Irish nationalist Creggan area of the city late on Thursday following a raid by police, who said they were trying to prevent militant attacks planned for the weekend. At least 50 petrol bombs were thrown and two cars set on fire.

“Unfortunately at 11 o’clock last night a gunman appeared and fired a number of shots toward the police and a young woman, Lyra McKee, 29 years old, was wounded” and later died, Police Service of Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton told journalists on Friday.

He said police were treating the incident as a terrorist attack and had opened a murder inquiry.

“We believe this to be a terrorist act. We believe this has been carried out by violent dissident republicans,” Hamilton added, saying the New IRA group, which has been responsible for several attacks in recent years, was most likely behind the killing.

McKee was writing a book on the disappearance of young people during three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, which ended with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement peace deal. She was described by publisher Faber as a rising star of investigative journalism.

Police said they did not believe she was working at the time of the attack.

A local journalist at the scene, Leona O’Neill, wrote on Twitter that after the woman was hit and fell beside a police Land Rover, officers rushed her to hospital, where she died.

Videos posted on social media showed police vehicles being pelted with what she said were dozens of petrol bombs, bricks, bottles and fireworks.

The detonation of a large car bomb outside a courthouse in Londonderry in January highlighted the threat still posed by militant groups opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, who have previously launched attacks during the Easter period.

Politicians in Northern Ireland have also warned that Britain’s plans to leave the European Union could undermine the peace deal and that any border infrastructure would become targets for militant groups.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a congressional delegation to the city earlier on Thursday, as part of a trip to show support for the peace agreement politicians in Washington helped to broker.

The leaders of Northern Ireland’s two largest political parties, the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party and pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), both condemned the killing.

“Those who brought guns onto our streets in the 70s, 80s & 90s were wrong. It is equally wrong in 2019. No one wants to go back,” the DUP’s Arlene Foster said on Twitter.

Britain’s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley said she was “deeply shocked and saddened” by McKee’s death.

(Additional reporting by Conor Humphries and Padraic Halpin in Dublin; Editing by Peter Cooney and Kirsten Donovan)

Source: OANN

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Michael Cohen Backs Away From Parts of His Guilty Plea

President Donald Trump's one-time personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has walked back part of his guilty plea, claiming he did not evade taxes and a criminal charge related to a home-equity line of credit was "a lie," according to The Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper said Cohen made his comments in a phone call to actor and comedian Tom Arnold, a vocal critic of Trump. The newspaper said the March 25 call was recorded without Cohen's knowledge by Arnold.

Cohen has pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges, including campaign-finance violations regarding hush-money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy centerfold Karen McDougal. He has also admitted to five counts of evading personal income taxes and one count of understating his expenses and debt in an application for a home-equity line of credit, or Heloc, the newspaper noted.

"There is no tax evasion," he said during the call. "And the Heloc? I have an 18% loan-to-value on my home. How could there be a Heloc issue? How? Right? . . . It's a lie."

During the call, Cohen, who is preparing for a three-year prison term, confessed he felt like "a man all alone."

"You would think that you would have folks, you know, stepping up and saying, 'You know what, this guy's lost everything,'" Cohen said.

"My family's happiness, and my law license. I lost my business . . . my insurance, my bank accounts, all for what? All for what? Because Trump, you know, had an affair with a porn star? That's really what this is about."

Source: NewsMax America

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Deja vu: No. 2 Michigan KOs Montana in first round

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-First Round-Montana vs Michigan
Mar 21, 2019; Des Moines, IA, United States; Michigan Wolverines guard Charles Matthews (1) reacts during the first half against the Montana Grizzlies in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

March 22, 2019

Senior guard Charles Matthews recorded 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead Michigan to a 74-55 victory over Montana on Thursday in West Region play of the NCAA Tournament at Des Moines, Iowa.

Freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis added 14 points, and junior center Jon Teske had 11 points and nine rebounds for the second-seeded Wolverines (29-6). Sophomore guard Jordan Poole scored 10 points, and junior guard Zavier Simpson registered 10 assists and seven rebounds.

Michigan will meet 10th-seeded Florida on Saturday in the second round.

“We will need to play even better than we did today,” Wolverines coach John Beilein told TNT in a postgame interview of his team’s prospects against the Gators.

Junior guard Sayeed Pridgett scored 17 points for the 15th-seeded Grizzlies (26-9). Senior guard Ahmaad Rorie and sophomore guard Timmy Falls added 10 points apiece for Montana, which shot just 33.3 percent from the field and was 6 of 24 from behind the arc.

The Wolverines shot 49 percent from the field, including 5 of 17 from 3-point range.

The game was a rematch of last season’s first-round matchup when the Wolverines beat the Grizzlies 61-47.

Montana scored the first 10 points of last year’s meeting but was never in the contest this time around and trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half.

However, the Grizzlies kept fighting, and they scored the first five points of the second half to move within 34-26.

Michigan answered with 10 consecutive points — five from Matthews — to increase its lead to 18 with 16:11 remaining.

The Wolverines’ advantage reached 20 for the first time when Poole converted a three-point play to make it 57-37 with 8:29 left.

The lead reached 66-39 when sophomore forward Isaiah Livers drained a 3-pointer with 6:01 left, and Michigan cruised to the finish.

Matthews had 11 points and seven rebounds as the Wolverines led 34-21 at the break.

Michigan ran out to a quick 15-4 lead and increased it to 21-6 on Matthews’ basket with 8:26 remaining. A jumper by Matthews two-plus minutes later pushed the margin to 25-8.

Montana missed its first nine 3-point attempts until senior guard Donaven Dorsey buried one with 2:52 remaining in the half. The Grizzlies were 1 of 11 from long distance before intermission.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Democrats call climate a national emergency while ripping Trump’s border wall declaration

Democrats have criticized President Trump for his declaration of a national emergency at the southern border, but some say he is setting a precedent that would allow future Democratic administrations to declare national emergencies to advance left-leaning policies.

Last week, presidential hopefuls Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg both tweeted that climate change is an emergency while border wall construction is not, although they stopped short of saying that they'd declare a national emergency if elected. Sen. Warren also charged that gun violence and the nation's opioid epidemic should also be considered emergencies.

Trump's declaration is facing a slew of legal challenges and backlash in Congress. Most Democratic presidential contenders are distancing themselves from the idea and condemning the president.

PRESIDENT TRUMP'S NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARATION SPARKS PROTESTS

"Republicans wouldn’t have tolerated this if Obama did it," Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, told Fox News at a campaign event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. "And they shouldn’t tolerate it when Donald Trump is doing it."

Sen. Cory Booker speaks at a house party in Nashua, NH. The Senator from New Jersey condemned Trump's national emergency declaration. (ROB DIRIENZO / FOX NEWS)

Sen. Cory Booker speaks at a house party in Nashua, NH. The Senator from New Jersey condemned Trump's national emergency declaration. (ROB DIRIENZO / FOX NEWS)

In her trip to New Hampshire, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., joined Booker yesterday in bashing the president's declaration, calling the move "completely unnecessary."

“This is a crisis of his own making because it was a campaign pledge that took heat and propelled him to victory," Sen. Harris told the audience. "He feels the need to keep reciting what is a lie.”

WHAT IS A 'NATIONAL EMERGENCY,' AND HOW CAN TRUMP USE IT TO FUND BORDER WALL?

A recent Fox News poll found that 63 percent of voters consider climate change an emergency, the same number of those who think that about border security. Meanwhile, opioid addiction dwarfs that: 87 percent consider it an emergency or major problem.

Neil Levesque, the executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, said Democrats could seize on the precedent, especially if it holds up in court.

“The next president, if it is a Democrat, could use this to their advantage and politicize certain national emergencies as well, specifically on things like gun control or climate changes," Levesque said. "That could be a real worry to conservative voters.”

Democratic voters, however, are mixed on the idea of making a national emergency declaration a campaign promise.

"I am a bit wary of granting that much power to one individual," said Devon Kristen at a Booker campaign event. "Because in the current hands, I think it's in the hands of the wrong individual."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"I would feel extremely positive," said Sydney Paluch, a Dartmouth College student attending a recent town hall event for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, "Considering surprising that those are real, statistical documented issues. Not a manufactured one."

That same Fox News poll also found that 56 percent of Americans oppose the president's declaration, while 38 percent support it.

Source: Fox News Politics

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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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