FILE PHOTO: White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S., February 28, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
April 2, 2019
By David Lawder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration is maintaining support for prospective Federal Reserve nominee Stephen Moore following reports the conservative commentator has had legal problems, a White House adviser said on Tuesday.
“We stand behind him a hundred percent,” National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters in Washington.
President Donald Trump said on March 22 that he would be nominating Moore for a seat on the central bank’s board of governors but the president has yet to send a formal nomination to the Senate.
Kudlow’s comments follow reports about a $75,000 federal tax lien against Moore filed in Maryland, and a contempt of court citation in Virginia for overdue spousal and child support from a 2011 divorce.
The overdue payments to his ex-wife were resolved in 2013, according to copies of the divorce records posted online by the Guardian newspaper, which first reported on the matter. The records have been put under seal by a judge in Virginia.
Moore could not immediately be reached for comment. He has disputed the government’s claim he owes back taxes.
Moore, who helped write Trump’s signature tax plan and was an adviser to his presidential campaign, is widely seen as a Trump loyalist, although he has said he would be an independent voice at the central bank.
He has appeared to support Trump’s criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who has overseen four interest rate increases since taking the helm at the Fed in February 2018. Moore suggested in a radio interview last year that Trump had cause to fire Powell for “wrecking our economy.”
Moore said on Friday he would consider reversing the central bank’s December interest rate hike but said he was not necessarily in favor of the half-point rate cut recommended by Kudlow.
Before joining the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, Moore had worked as an editorial page writer at the Wall Street Journal. He holds a master’s degree in economics from George Mason University.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Additional reporting by Jason Lange and Howard Schneider; Editing by Tom Brown)
FILE PHOTO: Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika looks at journalists after casting his ballot during the parliamentary election in Algiers, Algeria, May 4, 2017. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
March 21, 2019
By Lamine Chikhi and Aidan Lewis
ALGIERS/CAIRO (Reuters) – Protests that brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets in Algeria over the past month led President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to scrap plans to run for a fifth term.
He postponed an election originally set for April and announced that experts would oversee a transition to a “new system” in coming months. Protesters say this is not enough.
WHAT CAUSED THE PROTESTS?
The immediate cause was Bouteflika’s candidacy. Calls for protests spread after it was confirmed on Feb. 10. Mass rallies began on Feb. 22, and numbers rose over the following two Fridays. After Bouteflika abandoned plans to stand but stopped short of stepping down — raising the prospect that he would stay in power for the rest of the year — the protests swelled.
More broadly, protests drew on frustration among millions of Algerians who feel politically and economically excluded, and resentment against an aging and secretive elite that has controlled Algeria since independence from France in 1962.
President since 1999, Bouteflika became a symbol of an independence generation that clung to power. He oversaw a return to stability after a civil war in the 1990s but in his second decade in power was incapacitated and mostly absent from public life, fuelling a sense of drift and decline.
Plans to diversify the economy away from oil stalled in a sclerotic system many saw as corrupt and riven with cronyism.
HOW DID BOUTEFLIKA SURVIVE SO LONG?
Major Islamist groups were discredited by the 1990s war and along with a liberal opposition were coopted or excluded when it ended. As the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) reasserted itself, political apathy set in and election turnouts dropped.
When uprisings swept the region in 2011, Algeria used a heavy security and oil money to curtail demonstrations.
There were frequent local protests, but these demanded state resources, not political change. Factional battles played out in the domestic media, relatively free by regional standards. Then, as now, neither ruling elite factions nor Bouteflika and his entourage appeared able to agree on a succession plan.
WHO HAS BEEN RUNNING THE COUNTRY?
Bouteflika has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, but by then he had already sidelined or outlived the generals who brought him to power. General Mohamed “Toufik” Mediene, head of military intelligence and the man widely seen to be the real center of power in Algeria, departed in 2015.
While the army remained Algeria’s most powerful institution, an informal clique around the presidency amassed more influence, including Bouteflika’s younger brother Said. An emerging business elite profiting from surging oil income also benefited.
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE SCENARIOS NOW?
Bouteflika announced that an “independent and inclusive” national conference would draft and new constitution and set a date for elections, and should conclude its work by the end of the year. An interim, technocratic government is being formed.
But this plan has been cast into doubt as Bouteflika’s position has weakened. Protesters want him to step down when his five-year term ends in April and say their goal is sustain pressure and prevent infiltration from “Bouteflika’s system”.
Chief of staff Gaed Salah has said the army should take responsibility for solving the crisis but so far it has been waiting in the wings. The army is more reluctant to intervene directly than in the past. Its decision to cancel parliamentary elections in 1992 that Islamists were poised to win triggered the conflict that left up to 200,000 people dead.
Islamism is in decline, and a new leader may come from the political mainstream. Ahmed Benbitour, a former prime minister, and Mustapha Bouchachi, a rights activist and lawyer, are among those emerging as protest leaders.
WHAT CHALLENGES DO PROTESTERS FACE?
Protesters are trying to remain peaceful. From the start, they have worried that factions within the security forces may provoke violence to discredit protesters, or that demonstrations could turn violent when protesters’ demands are not met.
Another challenge is to find leaders with enough experience and broad support — those who served under Bouteflika may be discredited in the eyes of protesters.
Protesters fear that factions holding power and associated patronage networks will look to survive even as they abandon Bouteflika. Most observers believe that while Bouteflika and his clique will leave power, the system around them will remain.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Algeria is Africa’s biggest country by landmass and has a population of more than 40 million. It is a major oil and gas producer and OPEC member, and a top supplier of gas to Europe.
Western states see Algeria as a counter-terrorism partner. It is a significant military player in North Africa and the Sahel, and diplomatically involved in crises in Mali and Libya.
Algeria also backs the Polisario Front independence movement in Western Sahara, in opposition to its neighbor Morocco.
(Writing by Aidan Lewis, Editing by William Maclean)
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has sided with Chicago police furious over the dropped felony charges against Jussie Smollett.
“He did this all in the name of self-promotion,” the mayor said. “This is a whitewash of justice.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is actually siding with police against Jussie Smollett. Im stunned. “He did this all in the name of self promotion.” “This is a whitewash of justice.”
Earlier, Chicago Police Superintendent Ed Wodnicki was visibly upset over the decision to close the case against Smollett.
“My personal opinion is, you all know where I stand on this,” Johnson said. “Do I think justice was served? No.”
“What do I think justice is? I think this city is still owed an apology.”
Police sources told local media that when Smollett initially claimed he was attacked, 24 detectives were ultimately removed from other cases to focus on his case and that over 1,000 man-hours were used up.
“In addition, police spent dozens of hours of examining surveillance video from 55 city pod cams and private cameras,” reported CBS Chicago. Authorities also executed 50 search warrants and subpoenas for phone, social media and financial records.”
One thing is certain: the decision to drop the Smollett case cost a lot of political capital.
Local media also reported that state prosecutors considered Smollett’s completed community service as ‘time served’ when they decided to drop the case, but the community service was for an another, unrelated case.
WARSAW, Poland – Poland's right-wing leaders have hinted they will not implement fully the European Union's copyright reform, saying it stifles freedom of speech.
Ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said Saturday that a copyright directive adopted by EU lawmakers this week, to be implemented by the 28 member nations, threatens freedom.
Proponents say it ensures that authors and artists are paid; the Polish government says the rules will ban the linking of information and memes.
Without specifying, Kaczynski said the Law and Justice party will implement it "in a way that will preserve freedom."
His words at the euroskeptic party's campaign convention ahead of the European Parliament elections in May were apparently aimed at attracting young voters, and countering claims that the party's policies are curbing free speech and ideas.
FILE PHOTO: The WhatsApp messaging application is seen on a phone screen August 3, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/File Photo
February 20, 2019
(Reuters) – A security bug is allowing users to bypass new privacy controls introduced by Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp on iPhones this month, the service said on Wednesday after users posted about the problem on social media.
The disclosure comes as messaging and other applications race to improve security and privacy and as Facebook Inc is addressing criticism for not safeguarding privacy.
WhatsApp’s new privacy feature allows iPhone users to require Touch ID or Face ID — fingerprint or facial recognition — to open the app but users were able to bypass those log-in methods by using the iPhone’s “share” function to send files over WhatsApp.
Users can set verification to be required immediately upon log-in, meaning they would need to supply Touch ID or Face ID each time they open WhatsApp, or at intervals of up to an hour, allowing them to toggle between apps on the iPhone for that time period.
The security system fails when users select any interval option other than “immediately.”
A user named “u/de_X_ter” wrote a Reddit post https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/ase63o/the_latest_faceid_and_touchid_integration_with detailing the problem on Tuesday. Reuters verified the bug.
“We are aware of the issue and a fix will be available shortly. In the meantime, we recommend that people set the screen lock option to ‘immediately,'” a WhatsApp spokesperson said by email.
Last month a user discovered a privacy flaw with Apple’s FaceTime group video chat software, which allowed iPhone users to see and hear others before they accept a video call. Apple rolled out an iOS update to fix the issue.
Apple did not immediately respond to questions on whether a similar fix would be required for the WhatsApp glitch.
(Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru, Writing by Katie Paul; Editing by Bill Trott)
FILE PHOTO: Former Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick leaves a federal court during a Waymo-Uber autonomous car secrets trial in San Francisco, California, U.S. February 6, 2018 in a still image from video. Picture taken February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Jane Ross
April 1, 2019
By Tom Hals
WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) – Travis Kalanick, the co-founder of ride-hailing company Uber, and the company’s directors won the dismissal of an investor lawsuit that sought to hold them liable for a fight over trade secrets that slowed Uber’s push into autonomous vehicles.
The lawsuit by California investor Lenza McElrath sought to pin damages on Kalanick and board members for the cost of its high-profile battle with Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc, which accused Uber of stealing self-driving technology.
The ruling on Monday by Delaware Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock dismissing the lawsuit closes a difficult chapter for Uber, which paid $245 million to Alphabet in February 2018 to settle their trade secrets fight.
Uber is scheduled for an IPO this month. Its rival Lyft Inc made a soaring stock market debut last week, opening with a share price of $87.24 but it was down 10 percent on Monday.
Michael Barry, a lawyer with Grant & Eisenhofer in Wilmington who represented McElrath, declined to comment.
An Uber spokesman said the company was “pleased with the court’s decision to dismiss this meritless complaint.”
The decision can be appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court.
The dismissed lawsuit accused Kalanick and Uber’s directors of breaching their fiduciary duties to investors by approving Uber’s $680 million deal in 2016 for Ottomotto LLC. The self-driving trucking company was founded and staffed by former employees of Waymo, which is owned by Alphabet.
Uber struck the deal shortly after Otto founder Anthony Levandowski resigned from Waymo.
Just months after the deal closed, Waymo sued Uber in federal court over allegations that Levandowski brought with him thousands of secret files.
The Waymo fight set back Uber’s self-driving development and led to the shuttering of its autonomous trucking efforts.
The lawsuit said the Uber board ignored intellectual property risks from the Otto deal and should have been more skeptical of Kalanick’s judgment.
The Court of Chancery judge, however, said there was no evidence that the board simply rubberstamped a deal.
A due diligence report on the deal had been prepared but directors did not review it in full before the board gave its initial approval, and the board had some discussion of potential legal liability from acquiring Otto.
“Their decision ultimately damaged Uber,” wrote Glasscock. “Nonetheless, a failure to follow best practices is not necessarily a breach of fiduciary duty.”
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; additional reporting by Heather Somerville in San Francisco; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Bill Trott)
PROVO, Utah – Several hundred students at Mormon-owned Brigham Young University chanted "If God forgives me, why can't you?" during a protest Friday aimed at pushing college officials to be more compassionate with punishments for violators of rules banning things that are commonplace at other colleges — including drinking, premarital sex, beards and piercings.
The demonstration was part of an informal campaign that started with an Instagram account created earlier this year by a former student who had a negative experience with the college's honor code office. That opened a flood of accounts from other students claiming they had negative experiences over transgressions and punishments.
People held signs such as "Stop playing God" and "Practice compassion" on the campus in Provo, south of Salt Lake City. Riley Mabry, a 21-year-old student from Memphis, Tennessee, carried one with a picture of Jesus and the words, "The only big brother I need watching me."
"We shouldn't live in fear of messing up," said Mabry, who is bisexual. "That doesn't align with the teachings of the church. One of the biggest tenets is that we are capable of repentance and forgiveness."
Some students want parts of the honor code changed and others want punishments reduced, saying they agreed to adhere to the code when choosing to attend BYU, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nearly all students are members of the faith. Current punishments for violations range from discipline to suspension and expulsion.
The "Restore Honor" group that organized the protest wants the honor code office to be more forgiving and less judgmental and more transparent, said freshman Grant Frazier.
He said students who are investigated and punished by the honor code office often end up unhappy with BYU and have their spiritual growth stunted.
"I love BYU and I love the gospel," said Frazier. "But we just think that our university can be doing a little better."
This is the latest unwanted attention for BYU's honor code, which was criticized in 2016 by female students who spoke out against the school opening honor-code investigations of students who reported sexual abuses to police. The college changed the policy to ensure that students who report sexual abuse would no longer be investigated for honor code violations.
University spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said Friday in a statement that BYU wants all students to have a positive experience and are monitoring the conversations on social media and arranging meetings with students and the director of the honor code office, Kevin Utt.
The university posted a Q&A with Utt earlier this week in which he said the rules exist to "protect the interests of the community and guide those whose behavior is not in accordance with its policies." He said 10-15 students are expelled due to honor code violations each year with the rest remaining enrolled. The college has about 33,000 students.
Actions taken against violators are "intended to develop students' moral and ethical decision-making," Utt said. There is no firm set of punishments, he said, because decisions are based on context, motivation, intent and openness.
BYU graduate Brayden Smith said he was suspended after he turned himself for something that happened with his girlfriend, declining to provide specifics because he did not feel comfortable doing so. Smith said he was left spiritually damaged after he was required to perform 35 hours of community service each month and was banned from using social media or dating apps.
"There's gigantic dark mark on my collegiate experience," said Smith.
The code has a section dedicated to "homosexual behavior," which echoes the religion's belief that being gay isn't a sin, but engaging in same-sex intimacy is. It includes a clause stating that "all forms of physical intimacy that that give expression to homosexual feelings" is prohibited.
Amy Jacobs, a lesbian student, said the rules should be the same for gay and heterosexual couples, who are allowed to hold hands and kiss.
The senior history major said she has lived in fear that someone would report her for an innocuous hug with another woman.
She held a sign that said, "Report me, I'm gay," a sarcastic nod to a common complaint among students that a culture of tattle-telling exists at the university since the honor code accepts reports of violations from other students.
"I'm afraid of the honor code office," said Jacobs, 21, of Kaysville, Utah. "I kind of hate myself here."
Jacobs said she has thought about transferring to another college but stayed at BYU because she had dedicated so much time to her studies toward a history degree and had good mentoring professors.
"BYU is a good education and I want to love it, but I just don't," said Jacobs, who will graduate this spring. "If I stayed a BYU any longer, it would kill me."
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)
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)
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.
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.
(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)
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Indianapolis, Indiana from the White House in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
April 26, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said trade talks with China are going very well, as the world’s two largest economies seek to end talks with a trade agreement to defuse tensions.
Trump said on Thursday he would soon host China’s President Xi Jinping at the White House.
Earlier this week, the White House said that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would travel to Beijing for more talks on a trade dispute marked by tit-for-tat tariffs between the two countries.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
April 26, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments on North Korea this week following the Russian leader’s summit with Pyongyang’s Kim Jong Un.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump also said China was helping with efforts aimed at the denuclearization of North Korea.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Makini Brice; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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