Deal
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FILE PHOTO: The logo of Algerian state energy company Sonatrach is pictured at its headquarters in Algiers, June 26, 2016.Reuters/Ramzi Boudia/File Photo
April 23, 2019
By Lamine Chikhi and Hamid Ould Ahmed
ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algeria’s interim president has sacked Abdelmoumene Ould Kaddour as the chief executive of state energy company Sonatrach, state TV said on Tuesday, creating uncertainty for investors who had started to return to the oil and gas producer.
The interim president, Abdelkader Bensalah, appointed Sonatrach’s head of production and exploration, Rachid Hachichi, to replace Kaddour, state TV reported.
The move casts doubts on whether deals Sonatrach had been working on will go ahead, such as plans to set up a trading joint venture with foreign firms.
Only last week, Kaddour, a U.S.-trained engineer, had said the company would hold talks this week with U.S company Chevron Corp, which last week agreed to buy Anadarko, to discuss a shale gas and oil production partnership
Kaddour had been close to former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who had put him in charge of overhauling Sonatrach in March 2017 after years of management upheaval, fraud scandals and red tape had deterred foreign investors.
He is the latest departure of top officials and business leaders who had been close to Bouteflika, who stepped down three weeks ago after mass protests calling for a break with the ruling elite.
Hachichi, the new CEO, had been promoted by Kaddour. Hachichi, 55, has spent most of his career at Sonatrach in the exploration and production business. Analysts said Kaddour paid for his close ties to Bouteflika, not because of the strategy he implemented, which was about to start giving some results.
The North African oil giant is an important source of energy for European states trying to reduce dependence on Russia and it also funds a large part of Algeria’s budget.
Kaddour managed to resolve a number of disputes with fellow oil majors, expanding ties with several companies.
Last year, he shifted the focus on petrochemical deals to reduce the North African country’s fuel imports after buying Exxon Mobil’s Augusta refinery in Sicily, Italy. Sonatrach also last year signed a $1.5 billion deal with France’s Total SA to build a polypropylene plant in Algeria.
Algeria’s oil output is estimated at around 1 million barrels per day, and it produces 135 billion cubic meters of gas per year, according to Sonatrach’s figures.
In March industry sources said talks between Exxon Mobil Corp and Algeria to develop a natural gas field in the North African country had stalled because of unrest that broke out on Feb. 22.
Mass protests have continued since Boutefliak’s departure as protesters have called for the removal of the elite that has governed Algeria since independence from France in 1962, and the prosecution of people they see as corrupt.
(Reporting by Lamine Chikhi and Hamid Ould Ahmed; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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FILE PHOTO: The logo of SoftBank Group Corp is displayed at SoftBank World 2017 conference in Tokyo, Japan, July 20, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato
April 23, 2019
(Reuters) – Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp is looking to acquire a 5 percent stake in German payments company Wirecard AG, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Softbank has engaged financial advisers and is working on a deal to acquire bonds that can be converted into Wirecard shares, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.
A deal could be announced as early as this month, if an agreement is reached, the report added.
Softbank and Wirecard were not immediately available to respond to a request seeking comment.
(Reporting by Mekhla Raina in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Brown)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Jan 5, 2019; Arlington, TX, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark (55) warms up before a NFC Wild Card playoff football game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo
April 23, 2019
The Seattle Seahawks agreed to trade franchise-tagged defensive end Frank Clark to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2019 first-round pick, a 2020 second-round pick and a swap of 2019 third-round picks, according to multiple reports on Tuesday.
Clark, who must pass a physical for the trade to become official, has also agreed in principle with the Chiefs on a five-year, $105.5 million contract with $63.5 million guaranteed, according to multiple reports.
The Seahawks tagged Clark earlier this offseason, and both sides expressed a desire to keep him in Seattle long-term, but multiple outlets reported over the weekend that he could be dealt before the draft was set to begin Thursday.
Seattle now has two first-round picks — its own at No. 21 and the Chiefs’ at No. 29.
“They had other plans,” Clark told ESPN of the Seahawks’ position. “It got to a point where Seattle had used me for everything I had for them already. At the end of the day it’s a business.
.”.. It just sucks that we weren’t able to get something done, because they knew how I felt about being in Seattle and how I felt about my future, and I feel like at the end of the day it was all ignored. But it is part of the business.”
Clark added, “I wanted to be somewhere where I’m wanted, where I’m appreciated.”
He also told ESPN it was understood that any trade would require the acquiring team to sign him to an extension topping the one Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (five years, $105 million, $65 million guaranteed), signed earlier this month. Clark’s annual average now trails only Chicago’s Khalil Mack ($23.5 million) among defensive ends.
Clark, who turns 26 in June, was set to make $17.1 million on the franchise tag in 2019. He posted career highs of 13 sacks and 27 quarterback hits last season while starting all 16 games for the first time in his career.
The Chiefs traded their own franchise-tagged edge rusher, Dee Ford, to the San Francisco 49ers earlier this offseason, receiving a 2020 second-round pick in return. Ford, deemed an imperfect fit as Kansas City switches from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 under new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, signed a five-year, $85.5 million extension with the 49ers after the trade.
Kansas City also released long-time edge rusher Justin Houston this offseason, before signing former New Orleans Saints defensive end Alex Okafor in free agency and trading for Cleveland Browns defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah.
Clark has 35 sacks and 72 QB hits through 62 games (33 starts) over four seasons since being drafted in the second round by Seattle in 2015.
Once considered a top prospect, he slipped to the second round after being dismissed by the Michigan football team following his 2014 arrest on misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and assault. Clark later pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of disturbing the peace.
The Chiefs have dealt with multiple players with incidents of domestic violence recently.
They drafted receiver Tyreek Hill in the fifth round in 2016, a year and a half after he was dismissed from Oklahoma State following his pleading guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation of his then-pregnant girlfriend. Overland Park (Kan.) Police are currently investigating two March incidents, one for child abuse and neglect and one for battery, involving a juvenile at Hill’s home.
In November, the Chiefs released Pro Bowl running back Kareem Hunt after video surfaced of him shoving and kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel during a January 2018 incident.
–Field Level Media
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FILE PHOTO: A man walks past an Itau Unibanco logo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil September 6, 2017. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares
April 23, 2019
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Any delay in passing pension reform in Brazil is likely to slow the pace of initial public offerings in the country, Itaú Unibanco Holding SA’s head of Global Markets and Treasury said on Tuesday.
Brazil’s Congress is mulling the government’s pension reform proposal, which many view as crucial to stabilizing the country’s rickety public finances and kick-starting growth in Latin America’s No. 1 economy.
Speaking in Sao Paulo, Christian Egan said “there may be room” for follow-on operations from companies with higher valuation levels.
“It’s case-by-case, but IPOs would be unlocked much faster (with the reform approved),” he said.
Egan said there is great interest from foreign investors in Brazil, who are awaiting the for the passing of the pensions overhaul to invest, particularly in areas like infrastructure.
Also on Tuesday, Brazil’s government reached a deal with lawmakers, paving the way for a congressional committee to vote on its pension bill later in the day, boosting investor sentiment and lifting local financial markets.
(Reporting by José de Castro; Editing by David Gregorio)
Source: OANN
Hot off the presses: The Board of Trustees for the Social Security and Medicare programs in the United States just released their annual report a few hours ago.
And if you want to read all of its gory detail, check it out for yourself here.
Both of these programs are massively and terminally underfunded. And not by a little bit.
The Board of Trustees itself calculates Social Security’s long-term shortfall at a mind boggling $43+ TRILLION.
Simply put, the trust funds don’t have enough money to keep the programs going, at least under the current promises.
They admit right at the beginning of their report that, starting 2020, Social Security’s cost will exceed the money it earns in from interest and taxes.
That’s not some far out date decades into the future. That’s next year. And every year after that.
By 2034, just 15 years from now, Social Security’s primary trust fund will be fully depleted. And one of Medicare’s trust funds will run out of money in 2026.
In case you’re wondering, by the way, the Board of Trustees consists of the United States Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, etc.
This isn’t a bunch of conspiracy theorists. They’re some of the top executives in government.
So I’m not exaggerating in the slightest when I say this is a complete disaster. Millions of people depend on Social Security for their livelihood… people who have been promised for their entire working lives that the program would be solvent.
When the funds run out of money, countless people’s lives will be turned upside down.
You’d think this would be considered some kind of national emergency… that politicians would be doing everything they can to fix this.
But hardly a word is uttered about it. 15 years is far enough out that most of these people don’t expect to be in office anymore… so it will be someone else’s problem to deal with.
Not to mention, their options are extremely limited.
On one hand, they could try to actually generate more investment income for the program. To me this is an obvious choice.
Right now the Social Security trust funds have $2.9 trillion in assets. Yet they only earned a pitiful $83 billion in investment income last year, a return of roughly 2.8%.
That’s barely enough to keep up with inflation.
Seriously– is this the best these people can do? 2.8%? The United States is home to some of the most brilliant investment minds in history who could easily double that investment return.
This is what other countries do– Japan, Singapore, Norway, etc. Fund mangers for public pensions have the discretion to invest in assets all over the world in an effort to derive higher returns.
But that’s not going to happen in the Land of the Free.
It’s actually ILLEGAL for Social Security to invest in anything EXCEPT for US government debt. I’m serious. Social Security’s ONLY assets are Treasury Bonds, and under current federal law, that’s all it will ever be.
Thing is- the US government really needs that money. They’re already $22 trillion in debt and going deeper into debt each year.
They can’t afford to allow Social Security to invest in anything else other than US debt. They’re already over-reliant on Social Security as a lender, and allowing the trust funds to invest in anything else would be financial suicide.
So that option is off the table… leading to option #2: Cutting benefits.
And you can absolutely count on that happening. The Trustees themselves even say this– that after the fund is fully depleted in 2034, they will have to make deep cuts to the monthly benefit.
Again– tens of millions of people are depending on that money. Tens of millions more will be depending on it when they retire in the future.
Slashing benefits is going to have a massive impact on their lives.
The last option is to raise taxes. And just like cutting benefits, you can count on this happening.
Just wait for the Bolsheviks to rise to power. They have a limitless agenda and no qualms about jacking tax rates up to 70% or more.
I really don’t want to sound alarmist. But there are obvious realities here that any rational person should take very seriously.
At some point, most of us probably expect to retire. And retirement will take very careful consideration in full view of all the facts.
These are facts… and it’s important to start planning with these basic truths in mind: the longer you have until retirement, the less likely that you’ll ever see a penny in benefits.
Alex Jones opens the phone lines to currently practicing and former members of the Muslim faith and challenges listeners to change his mind about Islam.
Source: InfoWars
FILE PHOTO: Chinese staffers adjust U.S. and Chinese flags before the opening session of trade negotiations between U.S. and Chinese trade representatives at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via REUTERS
April 23, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top White House economic adviser said on Tuesday he was “cautiously optimistic” the United States would strike a trade deal with China and that a lot of progress was being made in negotiations.
Speaking at a luncheon at the National Press Club, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said the two nations still had issues to address and were discussing a “visitation exchange” as part of their ongoing talks.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and David Alexander; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks to reporters outside the United Nations Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
April 23, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is set to visit southeast Michigan on Wednesday to make the case that the North American trade deal intended to replace NAFTA would boost the auto industry, industry officials said.
Pence will speak at an event with automakers and auto suppliers in Taylor, Michigan and is expected to tour a Ford Motor Co truck plant in Dearborn as the administration works to convince Congress to ratify the new trade deal, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Thursday estimated that under the deal U.S. auto industry employment would rise by 30,000 jobs for parts and engine production, but that the number of U.S. vehicle assembly jobs would decline. U.S. vehicle prices would rise up to 1.6 percent, causing consumption to fall by 140,000 units per year, or about 1.25 percent of 2017 sales, the report said.
The Trump administration and U.S. automakers, disputed the ITC report, saying instead that the new trade deal will create 76,000 automotive sector jobs within five years as automakers invest some $34 billion in new plants to comply with the pact’s new regional content rules.
The White House did not immediately comment on Pence’s trip.
(Reporting by David Shepardson)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah/File Photo
April 23, 2019
By Rania El Gamal
DUBAI (Reuters) – Gulf OPEC producers can step in to meet any oil supply shortage following a U.S. decision to end waivers on buyers of Iranian crude, but will first wait to see whether there is actual demand, OPEC and industry sources said.
The United States has decided not to renew exemptions from sanctions against Iran granted last year to buyers of Iranian oil, taking a tougher line than expected.
Eight countries, including China and India, were granted waivers for six months, and several had expected those exemptions to be renewed.
A senior U.S. administration official said Trump was confident Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would fulfill their pledges to compensate for the shortfall in the oil market.
Gulf oil producers are committed to market stability and have the capacity to raise production, but any decision to boost output has to be a measured one depending on demand, the sources said.
“The question is how fast and by how much will OPEC raise output. This still needs to be done after consultations with other countries,” one source said.
“It needs to be discussed and studied. There is an (OPEC) agreement that must be respected, we will not (raise output) immediately for sure.”
Another OPEC source said any decision to raise output must depend on demand.
“There must be actual impact on the market and a real demand from customers,” this source said, adding that any physical additional barrels by Gulf oil producers to compensate for a supply drop from Iran are unlikely to be seen until June.
Saudi Arabia’s oil exports in May are not expected to be much higher than April, two sources said.
The sources said Saudi Arabia’s May oil output will be higher than April, but still within its production target under the OPEC+ supply-cutting deal of 10.3 million bpd. The rise in Saudi May oil output is not related to Iran sanctions, the sources said.
The kingdom’s exports in April will be below 7 million barrels per day, while production is around 9.8 million bpd, Saudi officials said.
Washington reimposed sanctions in November on Iran’s oil exports after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday that his country, the world’s top oil exporter, was monitoring oil market developments after the U.S. statement. He also said Riyadh would coordinate with other oil producers to ensure a balanced market and adequate supply.
A source familiar with Saudi thinking told Reuters on Monday that the country was willing to compensate for any potential loss of crude supply from Iran, but would assess the impact on the market before raising output.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, an alliance known as OPEC+, are reducing output by 1.2 million bpd from Jan. 1 for six months. They meet on June 25-26 to decide whether to extend the pact.
On May 19, a panel of energy ministers from major oil producers, known as the JMMC, is due to discuss the oil market and make recommendations ahead of the June policy meeting, the sources said.
(Reporting by Rania El Gamal. Editing by Dale Hudson and Jane Merriman)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: The company logo and trading information for BlackRock is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
April 23, 2019
By Simon Jessop and Ludwig Burger
LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Fund manager BlackRock will not support Bayer’s management in a key vote at its annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday, two people familiar with the situation told Reuters.
About 30 billion euros ($34 billion) has been wiped off the German drugmaker’s market value since August, when a U.S. jury found Bayer liable because Monsanto, which it bought for $63 billion last year, had not warned of alleged cancer risks linked to its weedkiller Roundup.
Bayer suffered a similar courtroom defeat last month and more than 11,000 plaintiffs are claiming damages.
BlackRock, which latest filings show owns 7.2 percent of Bayer’s voting rights, plans to either abstain from or vote against ratifying the management board’s actions during the year under review, the sources said.
The largely symbolic vote of confidence “will send a message to the board” that BlackRock is not happy with the way Bayer’s management handled the Monsanto deal, one of the sources said.
A vote to ratify the board’s actions features prominently at every German AGM. It has no bearing on management’s liability, but is seen as a key gauge of shareholder sentiment.
Bayer’s next two biggest shareholders, Singapore state investor Temasek and Norway’s oil fund, both declined to comment on their AGM voting intentions when contacted by Reuters.
(Additional reporting by Patricia Weiss, Anshuman Daga and Terje Solsvik; Editing by Alexander Smith)
Source: OANN
People, including passengers of a flight from the Turkmen capital Ashgabat, gather in the baggage claim area upon their arrival at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Mariya Gordeyeva
April 23, 2019
By Mariya Gordeyeva
ALMATY (Reuters) – Beset by economic hardship, enterprising Turkmens have found a way to supplement their incomes – smuggling towels and bed linen into neighboring Kazakhstan.
Moving hundreds of items every trip in trademark Chinese plaid bags which at times have clogged airport luggage belts, informal traders – mostly women in their late forties and fifties – hand them over to relatives or local partners to be resold for up to five times the purchase price.
Dressed in traditional Central Asian garb such as headscarves and long skirts, these women arrive on almost every flight from Ashgabat to Almaty, Kazakhstan’s biggest city.
Textiles are among the few items manufactured domestically from local feedstock and prices for items produced by state-owned companies have remained stable for years even as the Turkmen manat lost four-fifths of its value on the black market due to Turkmenistan’s falling gas export revenue.
A deal to resume gas exports to Russia this month brought hope, but turned out to be small and short-term.
Turkmenistan, where president Kurbanguly Berdimukhamedov rules with an elaborate personality cult, is one of the world’s most closed countries.
There are no opposition parties or media critical of the government and Berdymukhamedov, often referred to as Arkadag (Protector), wields sweeping powers.
Turkmenistan rarely allows visits by foreign journalists and the textile trade offers a glimpse into the depth of its economic problems.
INDUSTRIAL SCALE
The trade attracted the attention of Almaty airport officials this year when luggage from Turkmenistan started clogging its belts. The planes, it turned out, were stuffed with textiles.
“My daughter trades at a bazaar (in Kazakhstan) and I bring her goods little by little… which I buy from our (Turkmen) stores,” said a Turkmen woman picking up bags from the luggage belt in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s commercial hub.
Like all other people involved in this informal textiles trading, the woman spoke on the condition of anonymity because traders like her dodge customs duties by claiming their goods are personal belongings not meant for resale.
These de facto smuggling operations reached industrial scale in early 2019, prompting the Almaty airport to lodge an official complaint with the Turkmen flag carrier.
“There were parcels weighing over 50-60 kilograms (110-130 pounds) each,” said Marina Zabara, a complaints inspector at the airport.
Oversized parcels have since disappeared but the flow of textiles continues. A Reuters reporter saw Turkmen travelers pick up parcels of textiles upon arrival in Almaty this month.
“A woman from Turkmenistan moved to our village last year and offered us to sell their textiles,” said a Kazakh trader working at a market on the outskirts of Almaty. “Her mother brings the goods as luggage, as many items as she can.”
At Almaty’s biggest market, traders display Turkmen bedding – often with traditional patterns based on deer and sheep horns or abstract human figures – from fully-packed cargo containers.
“The demand is good, with the most expensive bedding set priced at 10,000 tenge ($26),” said one trader.
Some hotels have also become wholesale buyers, Turkmens say.
The official exchange rate of the manat is 3.5 per dollar, but on the black market a dollar fetches 18.6 manat.
A Kazakh citizen who used to live in Turkmenistan told Reuters that by buying out luggage allowances from other travelers and bribing airline officials, a “shuttle trader” can move up to 200 kilograms (441 pounds) in one trip.
(Additional reporting by Olzhas Auyezov in Almaty and Marat Gurt in Ashgabat,; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov, editing by Ed Osmond)
Source: OANN
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