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FILE PHOTO: A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai, India, May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
April 26, 2019
By Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Surging global oil prices will pose a first big challenge to India’s new government, whoever wins an election now under way, especially as domestic prices have been allowed to lag, meaning consumers are in for a painful surge as they catch up.
For oil-import dependent India, higher global prices could lead to a weaker rupee, higher inflation, the ruling out of interest rate cuts and could further weigh on twin current account and budget deficits, economists warned.
But compounding the future pain, state-run fuel suppliers and retailers have held off passing on to consumers the higher prices during a staggered general election, which began on April 11 and ends on May 23, according to sources familiar with the situation.
That delay is expected to be unwound once the election is over. And there could be additional price increases to make up for losses or profits missed during the period of delayed increases, the sources said.
In some major Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, pump prices are adjusted periodically so they move largely in tandem with international crude prices.
That was what was supposed to happen in India but the election means there have been many days when pump prices have been unchanged.
In New Delhi, for example, while crude oil prices have gone up by nearly $9 a barrel, or about 12 percent, in the past six weeks, gasoline prices have only risen by 0.47 rupees a liter, or 0.6 percent.
State-controlled fuel suppliers and retailers declined to say why they had delayed price increases, or discuss whether there has been any pressure from the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A government spokesman declined to comment.
The opposition Congress party said Modi’s government was violating its own policy of daily price revision by advising the state oil companies to hold prices steady.
“The government should cut fuel taxes otherwise consumers will have to pay much higher oil prices once the elections are over,” said Akhilesh Pratap Singh, a senior leader of the Congress party.
(GRAPHIC: India Polls: Fuel price hike lags crude surge – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XLlxik)
Nitin Goyal, treasurer at the All India Petroleum Dealers Association, representing fuel stations in 25 states, said prices were similarly held down for 19 days in the southern state of Karnataka last year, when it held state assembly elections.
Only for them to surge after the vote.
“Consumers should be ready for a rude shock of a massive jump in retail prices, similar to the level we have seen in the Karnataka state election,” Goyal said.
‘CREDIT NEGATIVE’
Sri Paravaikkarasu, director for Asia oil at Singapore-based consultancy FGE, said retail prices of gasoline and gasoil prices would have been up to 6 percent, or about 4 rupee, higher if they had been allowed to rise in line with global prices.
“Indian pump prices have failed to keep up with the recent uptrend in crude prices,” Paravaikkarasu said.
“With the country’s general elections underway, the incumbent government has been keeping pump prices relatively unchanged.”
India had switched to a daily price revision in June 2017 from a revision every two weeks, as the government allowed retailers to set prices.
But the government faced protests last October when retailers raised prices by up to 10 rupees a liter after the crude oil price went above $80 a barrel, forcing it to cut fuel taxes.
Global prices rose to their highest level in 2019 on Thursday, days after the United States announced all Iran sanction waivers would end by May, pressuring importers including India to stop buying Tehran’s oil. [O/R]
Higher oil prices will mean Asia’s third largest economy is likely to see growth of less than 7 percent rate this fiscal year, economists said. Growth slowed to 6.6 percent in the October-December quarter, the slowest in five quarters.
Rating agency CARE has warned that a 10 percent rise in global oil prices could increase demand for dollars, putting pressure on the rupee and widening the current account deficit.
India’s oil import bill rose by nearly one-third in the fiscal year ending March 31 to $140.5 billion, against $108 billion the previous year.
“The increase in international oil prices is a credit negative for the Indian economy,” ICRA, the Indian arm of the Fitch rating agency, said in a note.
“Every $10/ bbl increase in crude oil prices increases the fiscal deficit by about 0.1 percent of GDP.”
Any big price rise would also build a case for the central bank to keep rates steady, or even raise them.
The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee, which cut the benchmark policy repo rate by 25 basis points this month, warned that rising oil and food prices could push up inflation.
Policymakers are worried that a sustained increase in the oil price in the range of $70-75/barrel or higher can move the rupee down by 3-4 percent on an annual basis.
The rupee has depreciated by 1.24 percent against the dollar since a year high in mid-March.
($1 = 70.1800 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Martin Howell and Rob Birsel)
Source: OANN
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo
April 26, 2019
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Fewer than half of Malaysians approve of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an opinion poll showed on Friday, as concerns over rising costs and racial matters plague his administration nearly a year after taking office.
The survey, conducted in March by independent pollster Merdeka Center, showed that only 46 percent of voters surveyed were satisfied with Mahathir, a sharp drop from the 71 percent approval rating he received in August 2018.
Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition won a stunning election victory in May 2018, ending the previous government’s more than 60-year rule.
But his administration has since been criticized for failing to deliver on promised reforms and protecting the rights of majority ethnic Malay Muslims.
Of 1,204 survey respondents, 46 percent felt that the “country was headed in the wrong direction”, up from 24 percent in August 2018, the Merdeka Center said in a statement. Just 39 percent said they approved of the ruling government.
High living costs remained the top most concern among Malaysians, with just 40 percent satisfied with the government’s management of the economy, the survey showed.
It also showed mixed responses to Pakatan Harapan’s proposed reforms.
Some 69 percent opposed plans to abolish the death penalty, while respondents were sharply divided over proposals to lower the minimum voting age to 18, or to implement a sugar tax.
“In our opinion, the results appear to indicate a public that favors the status quo, and thus requires a robust and coordinated advocacy efforts in order to garner their acceptance of new measures,” Merdeka Center said.
The survey also found 23 percent of Malaysians were concerned over ethnic and religious matters.
Some groups representing Malays have expressed fear that affirmative-action policies favoring them in business, education and housing could be taken away and criticized the appointments of non-Muslims to key government posts.
Last November, the government reversed its pledge to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination, after a backlash from Malay groups.
Earlier this month, Pakatan Harapan suffered its third successive loss in local elections since taking power, which has been seen as a further sign of waning public support.
Despite the decline, most Malaysians – 67 percent – agreed that Mahathir’s government should be given more time to fulfill its election promises, Merdeka Center said.
This included a majority of Malay voters who were largely more critical of the new administration, it added.
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO:A man enters the Lloyd’s of London building in the City of London financial district in London, Britain, April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
April 26, 2019
By Carolyn Cohn and Jonathan Saul
LONDON (Reuters) – Lloyd’s of London, the world’s oldest insurer of seafaring vessels, is facing its own perfect storm. Old-fashioned business practices, exposure to natural disasters, competition from rival centers and Brexit are all threatening Lloyd’s reputation as the place to insure anything from ships to sculptures to soccer stars’ legs. Stung by combined losses of 3 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) over the last two years, John Neal, the new chief executive of an insurance market founded in a London coffee house in 1688, is under growing pressure to drag Lloyd’s into the 21st century. Following a six-month review, Neal will unveil a new strategy next week expected to include a push to automate arcane processes, a shift away from risky catastrophe insurance, a hard look at the middlemen who drive up the cost of doing business at Lloyd’s and ways to attract new sources of capital.
It is also looking to improve inclusion at a time when the culture at Lloyd’s is in the spotlight following a report by Bloomberg News about sexual harassment and day-time drinking.
But in a market where shipwrecks are still recorded by some insurers with a quill and paperwork is lugged around Lloyd’s futuristic 14-storey building in slipcases, some brokers and underwriters are resisting innovation. “Lloyd’s has to change, it’s like an old man dancing – a bit awkward and embarrassing,” said one insurance company chief executive, who declined to be named. “We do not have a great track record in modernization.” All of Lloyd’s brokers are meant to shift to an electronic platform by June, but many are complaining about the cost and increased transparency – which risks hurting their fees. Underwriters are meant to move 50 percent of their business to the platform by the middle of the year but several are behind, and much of their business has been deemed outside the scope of the automation drive. “Recent performance has not been acceptable and the work we began last year has placed the market on a much firmer footing,” Neal, who joined as CEO in October, told Reuters.
“The focus now turns to the changes we must make to ensure Lloyd’s succeeds in the future – by supercharging innovation, simplifying the process for capital to access Lloyd’s, automating claims processes, lowering costs by making an electronic exchange, and creating a culture of inclusivity.”
‘DEFINITELY A THREAT’ Lloyd’s is not an insurance company in itself but a group of 99 syndicates, or members, who price and underwrite policies and spread the risk among themselves. More than 150 brokers act as middlemen with clients, along with another group of intermediaries known as managing general agents.
Once mostly wealthy individuals, members now include small underwriters and listed firms such as Beazley and Hiscox, as well as global insurers specializing in business lines such as shipping, aviation and property. The problem for Lloyd’s is that while it still has global cachet and a strong A credit rating, investors from hedge funds to private equity firms looking for higher yields are piling into rival centers such as Bermuda, New York and Singapore. While Lloyd’s reputation for specialization and innovation has pushed it to the forefront of new areas such as insurance against hacking, cheaper centers are muscling in on its turf. Bermuda, for example, has developed a specialism in catastrophe bonds and other insurance-linked securities.
“It definitely is a threat and it will happen in a number of areas,” said industry veteran Andrew Bathurst, director of PWS Gulf, an insurance broker in London and Dubai. “Lloyd’s is aware that overseas underwriters are looking at those classes of business and weighing up whether to underwrite them.”
“If we should see some more losses, particularly on the older accounts, then Lloyd’s will come under pressure and then there will be more incentive to look outside,” said Bathurst, who has been a Lloyd’s underwriter and CEO of a Lloyd’s broker. SLOW TECH Automating claims processes to cut costs in a market where most business is still done face-to-face is one of the areas highlighted in a Lloyd’s leaflet hinting at its new strategy. Lloyd’s has an expense ratio – costs divided by net premiums – of 40 percent, according to ratings agency AM Best. Sources say this is some 10 points higher than commercial insurers like Germany’s Allianz or AIG in the United States. “The market needs to modernize. It does not make sense to have business placed by paper when we have the technology,” said Ian Fantozzi, chief operating officer at Beazley, which manages seven Lloyd’s syndicates.
Hiscox has also embraced technological change but Lloyd’s has struggled to persuade some underwriters and brokers to adopt an electronic processing platform launched in July 2016. While some say the system is easy to use, others complain it is unwieldy and creates, rather than reduces, workload. Former Lloyd’s CEO Inga Beale made it compulsory last year for syndicates to shift their business to the platform because underwriters had moved only 10 percent voluntarily.
Underwriters who miss the targets face charges while brokers could be deregistered – a rare event in the market. For smaller brokers and underwriters, however, the upfront costs of adapting to the system are high. Persuading them to change is like “herding cats”, according to one market source. One senior broker said the system was not ideal because different syndicates work and use it in different ways. The system is suited to simple, commoditized policies, rather than the complex business with lots of conditions and clauses for which Lloyd’s is known, the insurance CEO said.
Smaller brokers are also wary of the increased transparency provided by the system, which would expose their charging structures and could put pressure on their fees, said one City of London source familiar with Lloyd’s. Charles Manchester, chairman of the Managing General Agents’ Association, also said there was no great demand from brokers. POWER SHIFT? Despite the inertia, Lloyd’s will be reluctant to push too hard by imposing sanctions for non-compliance at such a sensitive time for the industry, which is grappling with lower premiums globally, City of London sources said. “There is a growing worry that this could compel many brokers to leave,” said a second City source familiar with Lloyd’s. “In the past, British banks would insist on using Lloyd’s of London to write insurance. That balance of power is shifting and other centers could emerge, such as New York.” The risk to Lloyd’s and other insurance companies in London was highlighted in a 2017 report by Boston Consulting Group and industry association London Market Group. It said the market faced competition from emerging markets and Bermuda, Singapore and Switzerland, helped by lower costs of capital and expense.
London’s share of global reinsurance premiums fell to 12.3 percent in 2015, from 13.4 percent in 2013, and 15 percent in 2010. Premiums from emerging markets fell to $9.3 billion in 2015 from $10.5 billion in 2013, the report said. London is still the largest center for commercial insurance and reinsurance, but Singapore, Bermuda and Switzerland grew by 4 percent, 1 percent and 0.6 percent respectively each year from 2013 to 2015, while London shrank 0.3 percent, the report said.
Lloyd’s is also facing a threat from European competition due to Britain’s impending departure from the European Union. Lloyd’s has opened a subsidiary in Brussels to cope with Brexit but it operates under a complex structure which some market sources worry will not prove popular. “Lloyd’s of London is beginning to fracture. With the fallout from Brexit, more companies have started to look around the world and ask whether they need to be in London,” the second City of London source said. “Underwriters in France and Germany are now starting to look at writing their business locally,” the source said.
(Additional reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by David Clarke)
Source: OANN
Apr 13, 2019; Richmond, VA, USA; Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski (2) races Cup Series driver Corey LaJoie (32) during the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports
April 25, 2019
Certainly in recent years, Ford drivers have shown the way to Talladega Superspeedway’s famous Victory Lane — the seven most recent race trophies all belong to the manufacturer and its teams.
Yet NASCAR’s biggest and fastest speedway always remains a place where last-lap maneuvers and daring from-the-gut calls have produced some of the most thrilling and unpredictable finishes of the racing season. Ford has hoisted a string of trophies in recent seasons but the statistical examination of past driver performance keeps this historic venue one of the schedule’s most fickle and NASCAR’s best drivers perpetually on the verge of breakthrough and triumph.
Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is the next great superspeedway chapter. And for all of Ford’s recent winning patterns, Chevrolet and Toyota drivers are every bit a part of the statistical high expectation.
Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski owns five Talladega trophies — most of anyone competing this weekend. His Ford teammate Joey Logano is the defending winner of this race and has three Talladega trophies of his own.
But it’s Chevrolet driver Chase Elliott who boasts the top driving rating (91.3) and best average running position (10.8) even as he looks for his first win on the track. Fellow Chevrolet driver, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch is hoping his 36th start will result in his first win at the famed track. He leads this weekend’s field in quality passes (7,406) and laps run in the top 15 (66.7%) and more importantly top-five (eight) and top-10 finishes (19) even as he races for his first trophy.
Seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson is looking to snap a nearly two-year winless streak — the longest time in his 83-victory career between trophy hoists and champagne toasts. A two-time Talladega winner, he’s led the most laps (322) at this track among his competitors this weekend. This year’s Daytona 500 winner, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin is second with 302 laps led.
“I think superspeedway racing is just something where you have to stay out of trouble,” Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman said. “Things can change on track quickly and you just have to be able to stay out of harm’s way.
“We were strong in Daytona and our Nationwide Camaro ZL1 is usually pretty good on superspeedways. The new aero package that we tested in Daytona a few months ago should be interesting to run and I am definitely looking forward to how it does on track. I am ready to see how it does and get to the track.”
XFINITY DASH 4 CASH RAISES THE STAKES IN TALLADEGA
The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ next stop on the schedule is at Talladega Superspeedway for the MoneyLion 300 (Saturday, April 27 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) which presents a new chapter for all the championship contenders. For the first time this season there are no former Talladega winners or pole-winners entered in the race.
Add to that the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus is up for grabs between four of the series’ hottest drivers — Cole Custer, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier and reigning series champ Tyler Reddick — and this weekend’s 300-miler on the series’ fastest track couldn’t be more wide-open. The highest finisher among those drivers earns the $100,000 check from Xfinity and qualifies for next week’s Dash 4 Cash. In addition, the highest top-three championship contending Xfinity finishers this week at Talladega will also qualify to compete for the big check next week at Dover International Speedway.
Among those talented drivers, Allgaier, in particular, is eyeing this race to get back in Victory Lane. The veteran is on a remarkable run of six consecutive top-10 finishes at Talladega — including a runner-up showing in 2016 and a third-place finish last year. His average finish (10.0) is tops among those with more than one start at Talladega and the worst he’s finished since 2011 is eighth (twice). He is currently fifth in the championship — 87 points behind leader Reddick. Only two-time race winners Cole Custer (227 laps) and Christopher Bell (428 laps) have led more than Allgaier’s 224 laps this season.
Not only will the JR Motorsports driver Allgaier be in a car to watch, Jeffrey Earnhardt will be back behind the wheel of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota this week. Earnhardt, the grandson of the late 10-time Talladega Cup Series winner Dale Earnhardt, was a major storyline in the series’ first superspeedway race in Daytona Beach in February. He started on the outside pole at Daytona and led a career-best 29 laps in the perennially contending JGR No. 18. This will be Earnhardt’s first start for JGR since Texas last month and first Talladega start since a career-best 12th-place finish there running a part-time schedule for a different team in 2015.
Championship leader Tyler Reddick is still looking for his first victory as well, and Talladega has traditionally been a positive place for him. He finished eighth last year in the Xfinity race and has two top-five finishes in three starts in the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series, winning the pole position in his first ever race (2014) at the superspeedway.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: GEICO 500
Defending race winner: Joey Logano
The Place: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
The Date: Sunday, April 28
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
TV: FOX
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 500 miles (188 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 55),
Stage 2 (Ends on lap 110), and Final Stage (Ends on lap 188)
What to Watch For: Among active drivers Kurt Busch holds the top mark for top-five (eight) and top-10 (19) finishes. The late Dale Earnhardt holds the all-time record with 23 top-fives — including a record 10 wins — and 27 top-10s at the track. … Eight drivers currently ranked among the top-16 in the championship standings have never won at Talladega. … Four drivers have multiple series wins including Brad Keselowski (5), defending race winner Joey Logano (3), Clint Bowyer (2) and Jimmie Johnson (2). … Dave Marcis and NASCAR Hall of Famer Terry Labonte share the record for most Talladega starts (61). Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick hold the mark among active drivers at 36 races. Busch has the most starts without a win. … Chase Elliott leads active drivers in best average starting position (4.167) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leads all active drivers in average finishing position (10.6). Ty Dillon is second to Stenhouse with an average finish of 13.5. Stenhouse has 11 starts and Dillon has four. … Seven drivers have won back-to-back series races at Talladega, but no current driver has. …. Jimmie Johnson has led the most laps (470) at Talladega in this week’s field. … The outside front row starting position (2nd) has produced the most winners (20). … The deepest on the grid a winner has started is 36th (Jeff Gordon in spring, 2000). The deepest on the grid an active driver has started and won is 34th (Denny Hamlin, spring, 2014). …Richard Childress Racing and Hendrick Motorsports are tied for most wins (12) at Talladega. … Ford has won the last seven races but Chevrolet (40 wins) leads the overall victory tally. Ford has 28 wins and Toyota has three. … The late Buddy Baker and three-time series champion Tony Stewart are tied for most runner-up finishes at Talladega with six each. Johnson and Harvick have the most (three) among active drivers. … In seven of the last nine races the margin of victory was .129-seconds or less. … Two-time Talladega winner Clint Bowyer has been involved in two of the closest four race finishes. He lost to Johnson by .002-seconds in April, 2011 in the closest race in Talladega history. Bowyer beat Jeff Burton by .018-seconds that Fall in the track’s fourth closest Cup race. … Bill Elliott holds the qualifying record of 212.809 mph (set in April, 1987). His eight poles is a record, too. Only Harvick has won multiple poles (2) among this week’s field. … No active driver won his first pole position at Talladega. Only David Ragan (spring, 2013) scored his first career Cup win here among active drivers. … Justin Haley will be making his Cup debut this week in the No. 77 Chevrolet. He won the ARCA Menards Series race at Talladega last year.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: MoneyLion 300
Defending race winner: Spencer Gallagher
The Place: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
The Date: Saturday, April 27
The Time: 1 p.m. ET
TV: FS1
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 300 miles (113 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 25),
Stage 2 (Ends on lap 50), and Final Stage (Ends on lap 113)
What to Watch For: There are no former race or pole winners entered in Saturday’s race so a guaranteed first-timer will celebrate both those achievements. … Two of the last three winners of this race led only the final lap — Spencer Gallagher last year and Elliott Sadler in 2016. … Only one driver — Martin Truex Jr. — has won consecutive Xfinity Series races at Talladega. Truex won three straight from 2004-06. … The last time a manufacturer won consecutive races was 2011-12 when Kyle Busch then Joey Logano hoisted trophies. … Five active drivers have won both Cup and Xfinity races at Talladega — David Ragan, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola. … Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the last driver to sweep both Cup and Xfinity races in a single weekend, doing so in April, 2003. … In 15 of the last 17 years this race has had at least 20 lead changes. The most ever was 56 in 2011 when Kyle Busch won the race. … Only twice in 27 races has the polesitter won — Joe Nemechek in 1998 and Tony Stewart in 2008. … The farthest back a winner has started on the grid is 35th — Nemechek won from there in 2000. … Third place has been the winningest starting position producing three race winners. … Justin Allgaier holds a series-best six consecutive top-10 finishes at Talladega, but has never won at the big track. …. Cole Custer, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier and Tyler Reddick are eligible for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus this weekend. The highest finisher among them gets to cash the check. … Chevrolet has twice as many victories (15) at Talladega as any manufacturer. Ford has six and Toyota has four. … Reigning NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt will be making his season debut Saturday in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
–By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Logo of PrivatBank, the Ukraine’s biggest lender, is seen on a bank’s branch in Kiev, Ukraine April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
April 24, 2019
LONDON (Reuters) – Ukraine’s credit profile would be badly damaged, Moody’s warned on Wednesday, if the country’s new president interfered in an acrimonious legal battle over the 2016 nationalization of the country’s biggest lender Privatbank.
Moody’s said the banking sector changes, including the Privatbank move, had been one of the biggest economic reform successes of the last five years.
“Any threat to that progress – such as the potential that the new president would interfere in favor of (former owner) Igor Kolomoysky’s appeal of the Privatbank nationalization in local courts – would constitute a serious setback to the reform agenda,” Moody’s said.
“While not our base case as we attach a low probability to such a scenario, it would have a material adverse impact on Ukraine’s credit profile if it were to materialize.”
(Reporting by Marc Jones; editing by Tom Wilson)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro reacts during a ceremony marking his first 100 days in office at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo
April 24, 2019
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – The number of Brazilians rejecting the government of President Jair Bolsonaro continued to rise this month, according to an opinion poll released on Wednesday, underscoring his early struggles after easily winning an October election.
Pollster Ibope said 27 percent of those surveyed found the government doing a “bad” or “terrible” job, according to a survey commissioned by industry group CNI, up from 24 percent in March and 11 percent in January. The government’s “good/great” rating was 35 percent, little changed from 34 percent in March, but down from 49 percent in January.
Ibope surveyed 2,000 people between April 12-15 across Brazil. The poll’s margin of error is 2 percentage points.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Source: OANN
Americans are punishing President Donald Trump at the polls, and his best hope might come if Democrats try to impeach him, MSNBC “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough said Tuesday.
“Donald Trump’s best hope for higher poll numbers, and for re-election, is for the Democrats to try to remove him from office through impeachment,” Scarborough said on his program while discussing the results of a Morning Consult/Politico poll released Monday.
According to the poll, Trump’s job approval rating has dropped to 39%, tying the low numbers he posted after his reaction to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. The poll also showed that 57% disapprove of Trump himself.
“The reason why is because he’s now gathered Attorney General [WIlliam Barr], who is doing an inside job for him, who is gaming the system, who Americans know aren’t playing straightforward,” Scarborough said. “Donald Trump, the outsider, has become Donald Trump the government insider who has rigged the system for himself. Americans see it. They know it’s a scam. They hear him lying about it. And they are punishing him at the polls.”
Meanwhile, impeachment gave President Bill Clinton a “very nice departing gift,” Scarborough said.
“I’m talking as far as politics go and being part of a house of representatives back in the 1990s who impeached Bill Clinton when he couldn’t get prosecuted in the Senate, and it ended up we gave him a very nice departing gift and that is a 60% approval rating,” he added.
“Americans are reflexively against impeachment . . . whether that’s right, whether that’s wrong, if your ultimate goal is removing Donald Trump from office, then impeachment politically is the worst way to go,” Scarborough said.
Source: NewsMax America
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi knows the ramification of impeaching President Donald Trump, as she knows that attempt will be seen by half of Americans as a “limp attempt at a soft coup,” talk show host Joe Concha said Tuesday.
“It’ll all be for show anyway,” Concha, a media reporter for The Hill, commented on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.” “People want lawmakers, Democrats who took the house in November, to solve problems, not go down this road. There’s no appetite for it.”
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, by making a quick call for Trump’s impeachment, is throwing a “Hail Mary,” even though it’s early in the primary game,” Concha added.
“If you look at the polling, it’s a rudderless campaign,” said Concha. “She doesn’t seem to get any traction.”
Meanwhile, Pelosi was in Washington during the impeachment proceedings for then-President Bill Clinton, at a time when Republican cited obstruction of justice as one reason they wanted him removed from office.
“Everybody knew it was all for show because there was no way at that time lawmakers were able to get two-thirds of the Senate to remove that president,” said Concha.
The day after Clinton was impeached, his Gallup approval rating was at 73 percent, and when he left office, it was at 65%, because he was seen as a sympathetic figure, he added.
“It led to the launching of another political career in Hillary Clinton because she was seen as a sympathetic figure,” said Concha. “Nancy Pelosi has seen this.”
Source: NewsMax Politics
The Lyft logo is seen on a parked Lyft Scooter in Washington, U.S., March 29, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
April 23, 2019
(Reuters) – Lyft Inc picked up upbeat ratings from the brokerage arms of its Wall Street underwriters on Tuesday, allowing the ride-hailing company to recover some of the damage done to its share price in the run-up to the debut of larger rival Uber Technologies Inc.
Lyft shares, which as of Monday’s close were down 30 percent from its initial public offering debut on March 29, rose 2.5 pct to $62.49 in trading before the bell. That puts them almost 10 percent up in the past week after hitting lows beneath $56.
At least seven brokerages including Jefferies, JP Morgan and Piper Jaffray initiated coverage of Lyft with “buy” or equivalent to “buy” ratings, even as the stock languishes more than 15 percent below the price set in its heavily-hyped IPO last month.
Piper Jaffray expects “solid near-term top line results”, as the company has been gaining market share in recent quarters, but believes that the path to positive net income will be a “multi-year journey”. The brokerage initiated coverage with an overweight rating and $78 target price.
At Monday’s prices, Lyft had a stock market value of around $17 billion. Both it and Uber have both warned that they may never become profitable, making it difficult for investors to estimate how much they might be worth.
Still, brokerage analysts remained confident of Lyft’s long-term fortunes, despite the competition from Uber both on U.S. streets and among stock market investors.
“Uber’s filing has added pressure, and we acknowledge that the upcoming roadshow could create more near-term uncertainty, but we believe Lyft continues to execute well,” said Doug Anmuth, an analyst at JP Morgan.
Reuters had reported that Uber plans to sell around $10 billion worth of stock at a valuation of between $90 billion and $100 billion. Its IPO is on track for mid-May.
More than 24 brokerages helped underwrite Lyft’s IPO. Industry standards require analysts from those firms to wait until a 25-day cooling off period has ended following the IPO before launching coverage.
At least three of Lyft’s underwriters, Canaccord, Cowen and JMP Securities, are also backing the Uber deal, according to SEC filings.
Some investors give more weight to the opinions of analysts who work at brokerages involved in underwriting a company’s IPO than they do to analysts at brokerages not involved in the IPO.
Including Tuesday’s initiations, 13 analysts now cover Lyft, with five positive ratings, seven neutral ratings and one negative rating. The analysts had a median price target of $74, down from a median price target of $75 on Monday.
Analysts on average expect Lyft’s revenue in 2019 to grow 57.3 percent to $3.39 billion, according to Refinitiv data, a slower pace than in previous years. Lyft’s revenue doubled last year after tripling in 2017.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco and Jasmine I S in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)
Source: OANN
President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped 5 points since the release last Thursday of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, a new poll showed.
The Politico/Morning Consult survey showed Trump’s 39 percent approval rating matches his presidency’s low-water mark in the wake of Charlottesville, Virginia, violence in August 2017.
There is little support, however, for impeachment, the poll showed.
Here are the highlights:
- 39% of voters approve of the job Trump is doing as president, down from 44% last week.
- 57% disapprove of the job Trump is doing.
- 34% believe Congress should begin impeachment proceedings, down from 39% in January; 48% say Congress should not begin impeachment proceedings.
- 43% say Congress should continue to investigate, while 41% say it should not.
- 46% think the investigation into Russia’s influence on the 2016 presidential election was handled fairly, 29% think it was handled unfairly. Further, 48% of Democratic voters, 46% of Republicans, and 43% of independents say they think the investigation was handled fairly.
- 30% approve of the way Attorney General William Barr has handled the case.
The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Source: NewsMax America
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