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Nevada regulators fine Wynn Resorts $20 million in settlement

FILE PHOTO - Wynn Resorts Ltd property in Las Vegas
FILE PHOTO: An exterior view Wynn hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., February 7, 2018. REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo

February 27, 2019

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) – Nevada casino regulators said on Tuesday they had fined Wynn Resorts Ltd $20 million in a settlement with the company involving misconduct claims against former chief executive Steve Wynn.

The casino company, which has operations in Las Vegas and Macau, said the conclusion of the review by the Nevada Gaming Commission was a step forward for the company and its new leadership.

The settlement was previously disclosed but not the amount of the fine.

Founder Wynn resigned as CEO of the company in 2018 following claims he subjected women who worked for him to unwanted advances. He has denied the accusations.

Steve Wynn was not immediately reachable for comment.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond; writing by Peter Henderson; Editing by Bill Rigby)

Source: OANN

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Georgia man convicted of concealing death of teacher, ex-beauty queen

A Georgia jury on Thursday convicted a man accused of helping to conceal the 2005 murder of a high school teacher and onetime beauty queen and lying to law enforcement about her death.

Bo Dukes, 34, was convicted on two counts of making a false statement, one count of hindering the apprehension of a criminal, and one count of concealing the death of another. He is due to be sentenced at 9 a.m. Friday and faces up to 25 years in prison.

Dukes is the first of two suspects to stand trial in the death of Tara Grinstead, who was last seen alive in October 2005. Her fate was a mystery in her hometown of Ocilla, about 90 miles southeast of Macon, until Dukes and his best friend, Ryan Duke, were arrested in February 2017.

Prosecutors said Dukes confessed in 2006 to an old Army buddy, John McCullough, that he helped dispose of Grinstead's body but lied to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent who interviewed him about the case a decade later in 2016.

FILE - Tara Grinstead was last seen alive in October 2005. (AP Photo/Elliott Minor, File)

FILE - Tara Grinstead was last seen alive in October 2005. (AP Photo/Elliott Minor, File)

John Fox, Dukes' defense attorney, said during closing arguments that prosecutors had not proved that Dukes intentionally lied to the GBI agent.

"Dukes told the GBI that he did not recall having a conversation with John McCullough," Fox said. "He didn't tell them he did not have a conversation with John McCullough."

He added: "Considering how intoxicated he was, based on McCullough's own testimony, does that seem unreasonable to you?"

After his a few months later, Dukes said Duke had broken into Grinstead's home and strangled her in her bed, then used a pickup truck he'd borrowed from Dukes to move her body to a pecan orchard owned by Dukes' uncle.

Ryan Alexander Duke will stand trial in Tara Grinstead's murder next month. (Georgia Bureau of Investigation via AP)

Ryan Alexander Duke will stand trial in Tara Grinstead's murder next month. (Georgia Bureau of Investigation via AP) (The Associated Press)

Dukes said his friend took him to Grinstead's body and together they moved it deeper into the woods, built a bonfire atop the corpse and burned it for two days.

Wilcox District Attorney Brad Rigby said Duke and Dukes set fire to the remains of a woman who had "a smile that won beauty pageants" and ensured she was "reduced to bits of skull, vertebra and teeth." He added that Dukes had inflicted "more pain" on the missing woman's family when he lied to authorities in 2016.

"He had the opportunity to make the right decision and tell the truth, but he went in a different direction and he abused honor and he abused trust," Rigby said.

Dukes did not testify in his own defense and his legal team did not present any witnesses.

Ryan Duke has been charged with Grinstead's murder and is scheduled to stand trial in nearby Irwin County, Ga. beginning April 1. Dukes is also scheduled to face trial on charges related to the burning of Grinstead's body in a neighboring county.

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GBI agent Jason Shoudel testified at a pretrial court hearing that Duke confessed to killing Grinstead and burning her body. He said DNA from both Duke and Grinstead was found on a latex glove recovered outside her home.

But Duke's defense attorneys say Duke gave a false confession while he was under the influence of drugs. They have said in court documents that Duke was at home asleep the night Grinstead was killed.

Click for more from Fox5Atlanta.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Michigan State turns back Minnesota, moves to Sweet 16

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Second Round-Michigan State vs Minnesota
Mar 23, 2019; Des Moines, IA, United States; Michigan State Spartans forward Xavier Tillman (23) dunks the ball againstMinnesota Golden Gophers center Daniel Oturu (25) during the second half in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

March 24, 2019

Michigan State is back in the Sweet 16.

After failing to get out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in each of the previous three seasons, No. 2 Michigan State started quickly, then followed star guard Cassius Winston to a 70-50 victory over No. 10 Minnesota in the East Region at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

Michigan State (30-6) advances to the regional semifinals for the 14th time under coach Tom Izzo and for the first time since 2015, when the Spartans reached the Final Four. The Spartans will take on No. 3 LSU on Friday in Washington at Capital One Arena.

Winston finished with 13 points and nine assists, but his seven straight points in the second half — after Minnesota had cut Michigan State’s lead down to single digits — allowed the Spartans to pull away.

His seven points started a 9-0 run that became a 12-2 surge as Michigan State went up, 52-33, with 10:53 to play on a 3-pointer from Aaron Henry.

Xavier Tillman led the Spartans with 14 points, while Henry had nine points and nine rebounds.

Amir Coffey did his best to keep Minnesota (22-14) in the game, scoring 27 as the already short-handed Golden Gophers were without Jordan Murphy, who played only four minutes because of a bad back. Isaiah Washington scored 11.

Michigan State could do no wrong early in the game, making nine of its first 10 shots and going 13-for-16 to open a 20-point lead after Nick Ward scored on a layup to give the Spartans a 31-11 lead with six minutes left in the first half.

But the Spartans’ 11 turnovers in the first half led to 12 points for the Gophers. Michigan State’s only points over the final six minutes of the half came when Henry scored after a Ward miss as Minnesota took advantage, pulling to within 33-19 by halftime.

Almost four minutes into the second half, Minnesota started to chip away at the lead and got the pro-Gophers crowd to come to their feet.

An 8-0 run that included six points from Coffey got Minnesota to within 40-31, but Winston then hit two mid-range jumpers, then a 3-pointer in transition to turn back the Minnesota comeback.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Another Texas Chemical Fire Kills 1 Worker, Injures 2

A tank holding a flammable chemical caught on fire at a Texas plant Tuesday, killing one worker, critically injuring two others and sending other panicked employees fleeing over a fence to safety.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed the fatality in a tweet and said the two injured had been taken by helicopter to a hospital. The two injured were in critical condition, said Rachel Moreno, spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office.

Authorities shut down a roadway near Tuesday's fire at a KMCO chemical plant in Crosby, about 25 miles northeast of Houston, Gonzalez said.

All residents within a one-mile radius of the plant were ordered to stay indoors or shelter in place.

Harris said a transfer line ignited in the area of a tank of isobutylene — a flammable colorless gas used in the production of high octane gasoline — which then caught on fire. First Responders were trying to contain the fire, Gonzalez said.

Worker Justin Trahan told Houston television station KPRC that he heard "some panic on the radio" but no alarms sounding before the plant caught fire.

"We didn't think anything of it — we didn't think it was anything severe," he said.

Trahan said employees began running after "the tank ignited."

He said that he and other colleagues had to jump over a fence to escape because all the gates were locked.

John C. Foley, chief executive of KMCO, said in a statement that the company had activated its emergency response team and set up a command center.

"We are working with local first responders to extinguish the fire," he said.

KMCO is a chemical company that offers coolant and brake fluid products and chemicals for the oilfield industry.

The Crosby, Sheldon and Channelview school districts asked students and staff to shelter in place at all their campuses.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said that it has dispatched emergency response personnel to conduct an initial assessment of the fire.

The fire comes about two weeks after a March 17 blaze at a petrochemical storage facility in Deer Park , located about 20 miles south of Crosby. That earlier fire burned for days and triggered air quality warnings.

Source: NewsMax America

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Feds: Suspect bites off part of agent's finger

Federal authorities say a Bronx man bit off part of an immigration officer's finger during a recent arrest.

Court papers released Thursday show Cristopher Santos Felix was charged with assaulting a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

A criminal complaint says agents went to Santos Felix's home March 3 believing he had stayed in the country "longer than his legal authorization permitted."

The document says officers arrested Santos Felix but removed the handcuffs to allow him to put on a piece of clothing.

Authorities said he became combative and ran into a bedroom before biting an ICE agent who attempted to restrain him.

The agent was taken to a hospital for treatment.

An email seeking comment was sent to the defendant's lawyer.

Source: Fox News National

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Turkey Agrees Not to Integrate Russian Tech With NATO Systems – Official

Russian S-400 air defense systems will not be integrated into any active NATO military systems, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in Washington on Monday.

“This system will not be integrated neither with NATO’s systems nor with any other somehow connected to NATO’s national [military] systems,” the minister said during an annual US-Turkey conference in Washington.

He vowed that the decision would not change any of Turkey’s commitments to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Turkish minister also expressed hope that other NATO countries would also keep their commitments to Turkey.

The procurement of the S-400 is not an issue,” Akar said. “We believe that all disagreements can and should be resolved.”


The authoritarian establishment media is now openly reporting anyone who disagrees with them to front organizations of the military industrial complex, NATO & the Democrat Party.

Commenting on the technical discussions with the United States, the minister noted that Turkey was ready for them and it would address concerns over Ankara’s procurement of Russian S-400 air defense systems.

“We are prepared to engage in technical discussions to address US concerns over the S-400 procurement,” Akar said adding that Turkey’s move to acquire the S-400 purchase is a “national decision.”

(Photo by Соколрус / Wiki)

The remarks come after earlier this month, the Pentagon announced that Washington halted deliveries and activities with Turkey on its F-35 fighter jet programme over Ankara’s decision to purchase S-400 air defense systems.

In December 2017, Russia and Turkey signed a loan agreement for the delivery of S-400 air defense systems to Ankara. The Russian-Turkish cooperation on S-400 deliveries has been criticized by NATO and the United States, which have cited security concerns and the inability of integration between S-400 and NATO’s air defense systems. Ankara, for its part, has said that the purchasing of military equipment is its sovereign affair and ruled out the possibility of abandoning the deal with Moscow.

The first S-400 shipment is expected to be delivered to Ankara in July.


President Trump has made it clear he wants to bring the troops home, but the military industrial complex remains in control of America’s military policies.

Source: InfoWars

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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

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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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