Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Olympics: Tokyo 2020 unveils robots to help wheelchair users, workers

Toyota's Human Support Robot delivers a basket to a woman in a wheelchair at a demonstration of Tokyo 2020 Robot Project for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo
Toyota's Human Support Robot (HSR) delivers a basket to a woman in a wheelchair at a demonstration of Tokyo 2020 Robot Project for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-hoon

March 15, 2019

By Jack Tarrant

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics organizers launched their ambitious Robot Project on Friday, unveiling two of the robots designed to assist supporters, workers and athletes at the Games.

The two products, Toyota’s Human Support Robot (HSR) and the Power Assist Suit from Panasonic, were demonstrated to the public for the first time in Tokyo.

The HSR, a small white robot with built-in facial features, will assist wheelchair users at the Olympics, which begin in July 2020.

The robots can carry food and other goods, guide viewers to their seats and provide event information.

“We will support people at the Olympics and at the stadium in wheelchair accessible areas,” said Minoru Yamauchi, who is in charge of Toyota’s 2020 robots program.

“In terms of service, we will be offering stress-free entry and viewing and the robot can also carry bags and other luggage items for the customers.”

There will be 16 HSR robots at Tokyo 2020 venues and Toyota hope to have similar products available for general sale by the early 2030s.

Panasonic also presented their offering, a battery-powered exoskeleton that assists with picking up heavy objects.

People are strapped into the Power Assist Suits, which enable users to repetitively lift and carry objects without putting a strain on their back.

They will be used by workers at Olympic and Paralympic venues, as well as the athletes’ village.

Tokyo 2020 organizers have long maintained next year’s summer showpiece will be the most innovative ever and more robots are expected to be announced later.

“At Pyeongchang there are examples of robots being used at the Games but I don’t think it was to this sort of practical level,” said Tokyo 2020 Vice Director General Maasaki Komiya.

“So, let me reiterate, we want to give the impression that robots are actually usable and they can become part of our daily lives.”

“At past Games I do not believe that we really saw robots as part of the Games.”

The Olympics begin on July 24, 2020 with the Paralympics commencing a month later.

(Reporting by Jack Tarrant; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)

Source: OANN

0 0

France snubs Trump’s appeal to repatriate IS fighters en masse, for now

FILE PHOTO: French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet leaves following the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris
FILE PHOTO: French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet leaves following the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

February 18, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – France will for now not act on U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for European allies to repatriate hundreds of Islamic State fighters from Syria, taking back militants on a “case-by-case” basis, its justice minister said on Monday.

U.S.-backed fighters appear poised to capture Islamic State’s last enclave in Syria and Trump on Saturday pressed France, Britain and Germany to bring home more than 800 captured Islamic State fighters and put them on trial.

Trump has sworn to pull U.S. forces from Syria after Islamic State’s territorial defeat, raising concerns in Paris and other European capitals that jihadists from their countries could disperse and try to return to their home countries.

“There is a new geo-political context, with the U.S. withdrawal. For the time being we are not changing our policy,” Belloubet told France 2 television. “At this stage France is not responding to (Trump’s) demands.”

French government policy had been to categorically refuse to take back fighters and their wives. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian referred to them as “enemies” of the nation who should face justice either in Syria or Iraq.

But the prospect of the United States’ withdrawal from Syria has forced France to prepare for the return of dozens of French jihadists held by U.S.-backed Kurdish authorities, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner acknowledged in late January.

Paris is already trying to repatriate minors on a case-by-case basis.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are holding about 150 French citizens in northeastern Syria, including 50 adults, military and diplomatic sources say.

Germany, too, was cool toward Trump’s demands, saying it could only take back Islamic State fighters if the suspects had consular access.

(Reporting by Richard Lough and Caroline Pailliez, editing by Ed Osmond)

Source: OANN

0 0

Ilhan Omar Is a Disgrace to American Muslims

Ilhan Omar Is a Disgrace to American Muslims

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File

Rep. Ilhan Omar continues to be an embarrassment and a disgrace for me and other American Muslims with her outrageous, ignorant, anti-Semitic and now anti-American comments. She projects a distorted and patently Islamist interpretation of Islam – a religion that in reality stands for the values of justice, peace and ethical conduct.

Read Full Article »

0 0

Ex-Mass. Gov. Weld Announces Primary Challenge to Trump

Former GOP Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld announced Monday he is entering the race for president because he fears "for the republic" — becoming the first Republican to challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020.

In remarks on CNN's "The Lead," Weld dropped the surprise news.

"I'm announcing that I'm running for president of the United States as a Republican against President Trump in 2020," Weld said.

"I really think if we have six more years of the same stuff we've had out of the White House the last two years, that would be a political tragedy, and I would fear for the republic," he said. "So, I would be ashamed of myself if I didn’t raise my hand and run."

Despite Trump's nearly 90% support within the Republican Party, Weld said he is not daunted by the odds.

"I've done it before, particularly in New Hampshire, where I'm spending a lot of time," he said. "It's one vote at a time and one voter at a time. And you've got to meet them. But what we have now is a president who mocks the rule of law. I spent seven years in the Justice Department trying to keep the politics out of law enforcement. He's trying to put it in."

"A president who says, we don't need a free press, who says, climate change is a complete hoax: He's not paying attention," Weld continued. "I doubt very much he's made a study of any of those issues, but he seems to have difficulty, in my opinion, and I was a prosecutor for quite a while, he has a difficulty conforming his conduct to the requirements of law. That's a serious matter in the Oval Office."

In a statement to CNN, Weld echoed that theme.

"Ours is a nation built on courage, resilience, and independence," Weld, who had previously formed an exploratory committee, said in the statement. "In these times of great political strife, when both major parties are entrenched in their 'win at all cost' battles, the voices of the American people are being ignored and our nation is suffering.

"It is time for patriotic men and women across our great nation to stand and plant a flag. 

"It is time to return to the principles of Lincoln – equality, dignity, and opportunity for all. There is no greater cause on earth than to preserve what truly makes America great. I am ready to lead that fight."

Source: NewsMax America

0 0

2-year-old Tennessee girl shot in head while playing in backyard: report

A two-year-old Tennessee girl is reportedly in critical condition after she was shot by a stray bullet while playing in her backyard on March 15.

Ariel Salaices was with her two older brothers on a slide when she was hit in the head, ABC News reported, citing the Johnson County Sherriff’s Department.

MOM WARNS AFTER TODDLER WHO CHOKED ON POPCORN HAS PIECES REMOVED FROM LUNGS DAYS LATER

Salaices’ mother, Christina, said one of her brothers screamed for their father after she was shot. The little girl, who lives in Mountain City, southeast of Knoxville, fell off her playground set, walked toward the house and collapsed in front of her father and brothers, she told ABC. “If it weren’t for him and my husband, she probably wouldn’t have had a chance.” She said when Salaices' father got her to the hospital “it didn’t look good.”

Salaices is now on life support after being flown to the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville.

The bullet severed an artery and caused extensive damage to the back of her brain, her family’s GoFundMe page said. “She ended up having a stroke, and that being said she has no function or blood flow to the trauma area,” the page added.

Salaices went through a 2 plus-hour surgery and as of Friday afternoon the girl “is doing a bit better,” an update from the GoFundMe page said.

Salaices’ family is watching over her while staying nearby at the Ronald McDonald House, ABC News said.

Police are still trying to figure out where the shot came from, and the girl’s mother told ABC News there is a gun range near their home.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“She has already proved she's so strong and we have many plans for that little girl,” her family said on her GoFundMe page.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Florida mom fatally stabs daughter, 11, drives dead body to hospital: cops

A Florida woman was arrested and charged Sunday night after she allegedly fatally stabbed her 11-year-old daughter and later drove her to the hospital.

Rosa Rivera, 28, is being held in the Orlando County Jail after she apparently caused a scene at an Orlando hospital when she arrived with her daughter's dead body, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

MISSOURI WOMAN ARRESTED AFTER CLAIMING SHE SHOT BOYFRIEND REENACTING MOVIE SCENE, COPS SAY

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said the mother brought her "dead daughter" to the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. When Rivera arrived at the hospital she reportedly drove up to valet parking and requested medical attention. The girl was set to turn 12 on Thursday/

"Security advised a white female drove up to the valet area (and) was argumentative and asking for medical assistance for a female passenger," officials said. "Hospital staff determined (the passenger) was deceased."

Police described Rivera as "argumentative" with hospital staff upon entering the facility, adding that she “became combative and produced a knife."

Hospital security and police detained her without further incident. She was later charged with murder.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

After Legalizing Abortions Up to Birth, New York Wants to Shut Down Christian Adoption Agency

Infowars Life Protein Bar Combo

Limited Advanced Release

96.00

57.60

Get the best of both worlds with Infowars Life Vanilla Coconut and Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars!

https://www.infowars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/pb-210.jpg

https://www.infowarsstore.com/protein-bar-combo.html?ims=thhpy&utm_campaign=Widget+-+Protein+Bar+Combo&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Widget&utm_content=ProteinBarCombo-Widget

https://www.infowarsstore.com/protein-bar-combo.html?ims=thhpy&utm_campaign=Widget+-+Protein+Bar+Combo&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Widget&utm_content=ProteinBarCombo-Widget

Infowars Life Protein Bar Combo

96.00

57.60

Get the best of both worlds with Infowars Life Vanilla Coconut and Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars!

https://www.infowars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/pb-210.jpg

https://www.infowarsstore.com/protein-bar-combo.html?ims=thhpy&utm_campaign=Widget+-+Protein+Bar+Combo&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Widget&utm_content=ProteinBarCombo-Widget

https://www.infowarsstore.com/protein-bar-combo.html?ims=thhpy&utm_campaign=Widget+-+Protein+Bar+Combo&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Widget&utm_content=ProteinBarCombo-Widget

Infowars Life Protein Bar Combo

96.00

57.60

Get the best of both worlds with Infowars Life Vanilla Coconut and Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars!

https://www.infowars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/pb-210.jpg

https://www.infowarsstore.com/protein-bar-combo.html?ims=thhpy&utm_campaign=Widget+-+Protein+Bar+Combo&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Widget&utm_content=ProteinBarCombo-Widget

https://www.infowarsstore.com/protein-bar-combo.html?ims=thhpy&utm_campaign=Widget+-+Protein+Bar+Combo&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Widget&utm_content=ProteinBarCombo-Widget

Infowars Life Protein Bar Combo

96.00

57.60

Get the best of both worlds with Infowars Life Vanilla Coconut and Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars!

https://www.infowars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/pb-210.jpg

https://www.infowarsstore.com/protein-bar-combo.html?ims=thhpy&utm_campaign=Widget+-+Protein+Bar+Combo&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Widget&utm_content=ProteinBarCombo-Widget

https://www.infowarsstore.com/protein-bar-combo.html?ims=thhpy&utm_campaign=Widget+-+Protein+Bar+Combo&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Widget&utm_content=ProteinBarCombo-Widget

Infowars Life Protein Bar Combo

96.00

57.60

Get the best of both worlds with Infowars Life Vanilla Coconut and Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars!

https://www.infowars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/pb-210.jpg

https://www.infowarsstore.com/protein-bar-combo.html?ims=thhpy&utm_campaign=Widget+-+Protein+Bar+Combo&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Widget&utm_content=ProteinBarCombo-Widget

https://www.infowarsstore.com/protein-bar-combo.html?ims=thhpy&utm_campaign=Widget+-+Protein+Bar+Combo&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Widget&utm_content=ProteinBarCombo-Widget

Infowars Life Protein Bar Combo

96.00

57.60

Get the best of both worlds with Infowars Life Vanilla Coconut and Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars!

https://www.infowars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/pb-210.jpg

https://www.infowarsstore.com/protein-bar-combo.html?ims=thhpy&utm_campaign=Widget+-+Protein+Bar+Combo&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Widget&utm_content=ProteinBarCombo-Widget

https://www.infowarsstore.com/protein-bar-combo.html?ims=thhpy&utm_campaign=Widget+-+Protein+Bar+Combo&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Widget&utm_content=ProteinBarCombo-Widget

Source: InfoWars

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



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

April 26, 2019

By John Stonestreet and Belén Carreño

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TRENDING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By Julien Pretot

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SAME TREATMENT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘ONE CLUB’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Writing by Maher Chmaytelli, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

1/DOLLAR JUGGERNAUT

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

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

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

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

2/FED: UP OR DOWN?

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

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

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

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

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

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

3/HEISEI TO REIWA

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

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

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

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

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

4/EARNING TURNING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5/WAITING FOR THE OLD LADY

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

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

Title

Artist