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FILE PHOTO – A night view of the middle-upper class residential sector of Miramar in San Juan, March 11, 2014. REUTERS/Ana Martinez
March 28, 2019
By Karen Pierog
CHICAGO (Reuters) – A decision this week by a U.S. Appeals Court in a lawsuit related to Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy raises concerns over the payment of municipal bonds backed by specific revenues during future Chapter 9 cases, Fitch Ratings said on Thursday.
The Boston-based First Circuit court on Tuesday determined that municipalities are not required to make payments on debt secured by special revenues while bankruptcy proceedings are ongoing, although municipalities can voluntarily opt to do so.
“The ruling, by stating such payments are optional,
creates uncertainty about full and timely payment of special revenue obligations during bankruptcy of the related municipality,” Fitch said.
The credit rating agency added that if the ruling stands, it could negatively affect ratings on certain bonds secured by utility, transportation and tax revenue.
The appeals court affirmed a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who is overseeing the island’s bankruptcy, which was filed in 2017 in an effort to restructure about $120 billion of the U.S. commonwealth’s debt and pension obligations.
Swain had dismissed a lawsuit by insurance companies guaranteeing payments on defaulted Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority bonds. The bond insurers claimed that payments on the debt from pledged toll and other revenue should not be halted during the bankruptcy.
Assured Guaranty Corporation, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said on Thursday it is assessing options, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We disagree with the court’s ruling, which is at odds with prior court decisions and the legislative history relating to special revenue bonds and has potential negative implications for revenue bonds throughout the municipal bond market,” Assured said in a statement.
Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy expert James Spiotto, managing director of Chapman Strategic Advisors, said the appeals court decision came as a surprise to the municipal bond market, which had assumed Swain’s ruling would be reversed.
“This could have a very adverse effect on the use of special revenues all over,” he said.
Revenue bonds accounted for an average of 64 percent of annual issuance in the $3.8 trillion municipal market since 1990, according to Refinitiv data. Not all revenue bonds qualify as being backed by special revenues under the bankruptcy code, which specifies special excise taxes or revenue derived from governmental projects or systems providing transportation, utilities or other services.
(Reporting by Karen Pierog in Chicago; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
Source: OANN
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
March 28, 2019
By Shreyashi Sanyal
(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures treaded water on Thursday, as investors awaited more details on the progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations amid lingering fears of slowing economic growth.
A Reuters report said China has made unprecedented proposals on a range of issues including forced technology transfer, though sticking points still remained and there was no definite timetable for a deal.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer looked forward to “productive meetings” as they arrived in Beijing leading a delegation for trade talks.
Meanwhile, Wall Street continued to be in the grip of global growth worries in the face of weak economic data and the Federal Reserve’s decision last week to abandon projections for any interest rate hikes this year.
Wall Street’s main indexes came under pressure on Friday when the U.S. Treasury yield curve inverted for the first time since 2007. If it remains inverted for long, it could indicate that a recession is likely in one to two years. [US/]
Treasury prices continued its rally on Thursday, pushing the benchmark 10-year yields to fresh 15-month lows.
At 7:15 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 4 points, or 0.02 percent. S&P 500 e-minis were down 0.25 points, or 0.01 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 0.25 points, or 0 percent.
Credit rating agency S&P Global became the latest to cut its 2019 euro zone growth forecast to 1.1 percent from 1.6 percent.
Investors will look to gauge the pace of economic growth in the United States from the Commerce Department’s final estimate of fourth-quarter gross domestic product. The report is set to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and is expected to show the economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.4 percent.
Energy stocks fell in premarket trading as crude prices dropped, extending losses into a second consecutive session, following a surprise rise in U.S. crude inventories.
Boeing Co edged up 0.2 percent, extending the previous day’s gains, after the planemaker unveiled software fixes to defend its 737 MAX airliners.
Nielsen Holdings Plc fell 9.9 percent in light volumes after a report that private equity firm Blackstone Group backed out of an auction to buy the ratings company.
Lululemon Athletica Inc rose 12.3 percent after company forecast full-year profit above analysts’ estimates.
(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
Source: OANN
COMMENTARY
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Story Stream
recent articles
The chances of President Trump listening to or acting upon any re-election advice that I offer is slim to none. However, a course of action I’m about to suggest is actually more about presidential leadership and less about 2020 politics. But, since everything is about 2020 politics, let’s first dive into a Politico piece from Tuesday that chronicled Trump’s reaction to the Mueller report during a private Capitol Hill luncheon with Senate Republicans. The piece was headlined, “‘He’s doing a victory lap’: Rejuvenated Trump pushes aggressive agenda post-Mueller.”
The “victory lap” quote was from Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, but here is what I consider most significant:
“I look at this as sort of a new election. A fresh start,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally. He said Trump put it this way: “I’ve got this behind me now. It’s a fresh start. So let’s see what we can do — starting with health care.”
Whether the president has been offered a “fresh start” on his road to re-election is still legally and politically debatable, given that the entire Mueller report has yet to be released and other investigations continue. But, if Trump thinks and acts like he has been granted a fresh start, then, by golly, it is a fresh start.
Proof of his new attitude was seen Wednesday in the Drudge Report headline “Unshackled Trump May Attend White House Correspondents Dinner.” If true, that is tantamount to the action of a conquering king.
And, one can only imagine the exuberant sound bites that will emanate from his mouth during the first post-Mueller report rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Thursday night.
Hence, Trump’s perception of triumphing over his enemies is the foundational basis for the advice that I now offer him and his re-election campaign:
Give an Oval Office prime-time speech expressing his willingness to help heal a divided nation. Trump should ask all Americans to move beyond the Mueller report, leave the 2016 election in the rear-view mirror, and have a new attitude of working together to solve our nation’s most pressing problems.
This is a golden opportunity to show presidential leadership. Just imagine the benefits of a speech that was at once contrite, humble and authentic in tone. The president has everything to gain by asking the American people for a new opportunity to be president of all Americans, not just his base.
The speech should be billed as “State of the Union 2.0” with a message that Trump is willing to mend fences with the media, the intelligence community, Democrats, and his enemies at large, for the good of the nation.
Furthermore, he could offer to “smoke the peace pipe” with his “enemies” in the press by proposing a White House meeting with media leaders to reset their relationship, again, for the good of the nation. I would bet that media outlets whose credibility was damaged by Mueller’s findings would be receptive to the offer.
Imagine if a new “unshackled” Trump gave such a speech, showing that he was capable of more even-tempered traditional presidential leadership? The ratings would be record-breaking and Trump would love that.
Perhaps it would even increase his job approval rating. It currently stands at a static sub-44 percent with 51.9 disapproving, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average — even after Trump tweeted on Sunday, “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!”
Unfortunately, less than 24 hours later, that elation translated into troubling overreach when Tim Murtaugh — the communications director for Trump’s 2020 campaign — sent a memo asking networks to ban well-known guests from the airwaves. Among the names listed were House Intelligence Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
With memos like that, the president risks turning his new-found victory into defeat. After all, haven’t the American people had enough White House drama?
Therefore, a “fresh start” backed with a “healing” speech — while standing on a strong economy and his record of accomplishment — offers the president the opportunity to begin a new phase in his relationship with the American people, Congress, and the media.
Hey, Tim Murtaugh — please consider my suggestion (a “wild” rally speech does not begin to qualify). But most important, and under no circumstances, should you use Trump’s “victory lap” as a justification for revenge. Such behavior is beneath the office of the president.
FILE PHOTO: Saudi fans watch the WWE “Crown Jewel” World Cup 2018 tournament at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, November 2, 2018. REUTERS/Faisal al Nasser
March 28, 2019
By Sinéad Carew
(Reuters) – A brawl between World Wrestling Entertainment Inc’s bears and bulls could reach a peak this year as the company renegotiates overseas contracts.
While a large contingent of short sellers have been betting that the stock will fall, WWE’s most ardent Wall Street fans say it will continue to rise even after outperforming the stock market last year and for much of 2019.
Shares in WWE soared 144 percent in 2018 as U.S. TV license deals that blew past analyst expectations with a 3.6-times hike in average annual value from its previous agreements.
The stock has risen another 13.6 percent so far this year as investors are betting on license renewals being negotiated in countries including India and the United Kingdom, which WWE expects to announce by mid-year.
Ten out of 13 analysts have buy ratings on the stock while three recommend holding the stock which last traded at $84.87. The mean share price target is $102.70 with the highest target at $157 and the lowest at $85, according to Refinitiv.
While the stock has already risen a lot on expectations for new business, Gabelli Funds analyst Alexandra Cowie says it still has room to gain further.
“I wouldn’t be selling before the contract news. Going in and coming out of announcements, it gets a double bump,” said Cowie, whose firm owns more than 174,000 WWE shares.
WWE is in an unusual entertainment category. Unlike traditional sports, its fights are scripted, but analysts measure its popularity against sports because it still involves athleticism and suspense.
The creator of Smackdown and Raw TV shows boasted a U.S. cable television viewership second only to the National Football League in 2018, according to Nielsen data. And in India, WWE viewership was second only to cricket, according to the Broadcast Audience Research Council.
Guggenheim analyst Curry Baker expects a U.K. renewal similar to WWE’s current contract there. But he anticipates a five-fold boost to its average annual revenue in India to $124 million.
“The market is underappreciating the India opportunity,” said Baker who has a $105 price target and a buy rating on WWE.
MKM analyst Eric Handler, who raised his price target for the stock to $110 from $95 on Tuesday, says a possible U.S. deal for a third weekly hour of Smackdown could add $50 million to annual revenue. The company declined to comment on the prospect of an additional hour.
WWE shares have fallen 7.9 percent since Thursday. On Wednesday, Chief Executive Vincent McMahon sold 3.2 million of his shares, or four percent of WWE’s shares outstanding, to fund a separate entity.
It also came under pressure as the broader market has been losing ground on worries about global economic growth. But analysts say WWE contracts – which are for around three to five years – provide some insulation against economic fluctuations.
In the United States, live sports have been a key draw for cable TV subscribers, at a time when many consumers are cutting the chord to avoid high monthly fees.
“It feels like one of the lower-risk higher-return names in the media space,” said Baker.
Still, about 17 percent of WWE’s float is sold short, according to data from S3 Partners which estimates short seller mark-to-market losses of $359 million since the start of 2018.
The bets against the stock can be partly attributed to hedging by investors in its convertible bonds due in 2023, according to BTIG analyst Brandon Ross. “That’s contributed to it,” he said.
Wolfe Research analyst Marci Ryvicker, is Wall Street’s biggest fan, with a price target of $157.
Wall Street expects 2020 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $460.59 million on $1.33 billion revenue, according to Refinitiv data. Ryvicker expects EBITDA of $510 million on revenue of $1.423 billion.
With this in mind, Ryvicker says WWE looks cheap compared with other sports peers, including Nicks basketball team owner Madison Square Garden Co and a Liberty Media Corp subsidiary which owns Formula One rights and Liberty’s subsidiary that owns the Atlanta Braves baseball team.
WWE’s enterprise value is roughly 14.8 times her 2020 EBITDA estimates compared with multiples of 32 for Madison Square Garden, 33.2 for Liberty’s Atlanta Braves subsidiary and 12.6 for the Formula One subsidiary, the analyst wrote.
WWE “has no reason not to trade right in-line with its closest peers,” Ryvicker said.
(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Additional reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai, Lewis Krauskopf, Lance Tupper and Chuck Mikolajczak in New York; Editing by Alden Bentley and Lisa Shumaker)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Aluminium ingots are seen stored at the foundry shop of the Rusal Krasnoyarsk aluminium smelter in Krasnoyarsk, Russia October 3, 2018. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin/File Photo
March 28, 2019
By Tatiana Voronova and Polina Devitt
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A firm hired by the U.S. Treasury Department is auditing Russian aluminum giant Rusal to check whether it is complying with the terms of a deal under which Washington agreed to lift sanctions on the company, Rusal said.
The audit is the first glimpse of how Treasury is policing whether Rusal and its parent company En+ are adhering to the deal – in particular the stipulation that Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s control over the business be severed.
A source familiar with the situation said the audit included checks on the telephone and email records of a small circle of Rusal senior executives and board members to establish whether they remained in contact with Deripaska, who is himself still on a U.S. sanctions blacklist.
There was no word from Rusal or sources familiar with the situation on whether the audit had found anything that might be at odds with the deal on lifting sanctions.
In reply to Reuters questions about the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) inspecting Rusal’s offices, the company issued a statement saying: “These are not checks by OFAC but an audit which was agreed as part of conditions for lifting of sanctions.”
A firm hired by the U.S. authorities is conducting the audit, Rusal said, giving no further detail. OFAC did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.
Deripaska reduced his ownership as part of the sanctions deal, which also stipulated that he sever control of Rusal and En+.
Rusal and En+ agreed to change their corporate governance, such as by seeking “unprecedented transparency” by undertaking extensive, ongoing auditing, the U.S. Treasury said in December.
FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS
The checks on behalf of OFAC started more than a week ago, and representatives of the firm conducting the audit are in Moscow meeting face to face with some Rusal board members and executives, the source familiar with the situation said.
Those representatives are running the checks on email and phone records of the same Rusal executives and board members for evidence of any contact with Deripaska, the source said.
The checks affect a select group of executives and are happening in line with Rusal’s deal with the U.S. authorities, a second source familiar with the situation said.
The Treasury Department has said previously it would vigorously monitor arrangements to ensure Deripaska cannot influence board members of the businesses.
The deal requires En+ and Rusal to maintain records of any contact between Deripaska and the boards, management, employees or agents of En+. Information provided by En+ and its companies will supplement and be confirmed by a team of U.S. investigators, Washington said previously.
“As the U.S. Treasury stated, he (Deripaska) was the intended target of the U.S. economic actions and not the company. Rusal will be subject to ongoing compliance and will face consequences should it fail to comply,” Fitch rating agency said in a report this week.
Deripaska sued the United States earlier this month, alleging that it had overstepped its legal bounds in imposing sanctions on him and made him the “latest victim” in the U.S. probe into Moscow’s alleged election interference.
(Reporting by Tatiana Voronova and Polina Devitt; Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Writing by Polina Devitt; Editing by Dale Hudson)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: The Fitch Ratings logo is seen at their offices at Canary Wharf financial district in London,Britain, March 3, 2016. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause/File Photo
March 28, 2019
By Huw Jones
LONDON (Reuters) – The European Union’s markets watchdog has fined credit rating agency Fitch a record 5.13 million euros ($5.78 million) for breaching rules aimed at avoiding conflicts of interest.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said on Thursday that, between June 2013 and April 2018, 20 percent of Fitch subsidiaries in Britain, France and Spain were indirectly owned by an individual through an entity in France.
At the same time the shareholder, which ESMA does not name, was sitting on boards of three entities being rated by the three subsidiaries of Fitch, the bloc’s third biggest rating agency.
Fitch said none of the breaches impacted the outcome of its ratings, and its interpretation of the EU regulations on disclosing the identity of shareholders was made in good faith.
“We no longer have single individual shareholders who may be in a position to sit on the boards of rated entities,” Fitch said in a statement.
Fitch is owned by U.S. publisher Hearst after buying stakes from France’s Fimalac. It is one of the “Big Three” credit rating agencies, along with Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s that dominate the sector globally.
ESMA authorizes and regulates ratings agencies in the EU. It said its fine reflects measures voluntarily taken by the three Fitch subsidiaries to ensure similar infringements could not be committed in the future.
Fitch accounts for 15.1 percent of the EU’s market for credit ratings, third after S&P with 46.3 percent and Moody’s with 32 percent.
ESMA fined Fitch 1.4 million euros in July 2016 after finding that some senior analysts at the agency transmitted information about some sovereign ratings to senior people in a Fitch parent company before it was made public.
($1 = 0.8882 euros)
(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Mark Potter and Robin Pomeroy)
Source: OANN
737 Max aircrafts are pictured at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson
March 27, 2019
By Eric M. Johnson and David Shepardson
SEATTLE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing Co on Wednesday took its most aggressive moves yet to defend its core 737 airliner franchise, saying it had developed software fixes to prevent failures of an automated flight control system that is being scrutinized after two deadly crashes in the past five months.
Boeing, in the midst of one its worst crises in years, is under pressure from crash victims’ families, airlines, lawmakers in Washington and regulators around the world to prove that the automated flight control systems aboard its 737 MAX aircraft are safe, and that pilots have the training required to override the system in an emergency.
A Boeing official in Seattle said on Wednesday the timing of the software upgrade was “100 percent independent of the timing of the Ethiopian accident,” and the company was taking steps to make the anti-stall system “more robust.”
There was no need to overhaul Boeing’s regulatory relationship with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) now, the company said.
“We are going to do everything that we can do to ensure that accidents like these never happen again,” Mike Sinnett, Vice President for Product Strategy and Future Airplane Development told reporters.
The FAA said it had not reviewed or certified the software upgrade yet.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and some lawmakers on Wednesday questioned why Boeing did not require safety features on its top-selling plane that might have prevented the crashes.
“It is very questionable if these were safety-oriented additions, why they were not part of the required template of measures that should go into an airplane,” she said, adding she was not ready to require that all safety options be retrofitted on existing airplane.
A spokesman for the FAA said the agency had not reviewed or certified the software upgrade yet.
Executives with U.S. airlines welcomed Boeing’s moves, but want U.S. regulators to sign off on the upgrade.
Southwest Airlines Co, which on Wednesday became the first major airline to formally cut its financial outlook for the year after being forced to pull its MAX fleet of 34 jets out of service, supported Boeing’s decision.
“Boeing’s software update appears to add yet another layer of safety to the operation of the MAX aircraft,” Southwest’s certificate chief pilot Bob Waltz said.
Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines Group Inc pilots, said it was pleased with Boeing’s progress but warned the certification process should not be rushed. The fix should be fully vetted and take into account any further information from an investigation into an Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10, the association said in a statement.
United Airlines vice president Michael Quiello said the airline was optimistic about the software update, but was counting on the FAA to certify the change.
Airline stocks turned positive after Boeing unveiled the software fix. CFRA analyst Jim Corridore, who has a “buy” rating on Boeing, said news from the company and the Washington hearing were positive steps toward getting the MAX jets airborne again.
EXTRA COMPUTER TRAINING
The world’s largest planemaker said the anti-stall system, which is believed to have repeatedly forced the nose lower in at least one of the accidents, in Indonesia last October, would only do so one time after sensing a problem, giving pilots more control.
It will also be disabled if two airflow sensors that measure the “angle of attack,” or angle of the wing to the airflow, a fundamental parameter of flight, offer widely different readings, Boeing said. Reuters reported those details earlier this week.
The anti-stall system – known as MCAS, or Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System – has been pinpointed by investigators as a possible cause in a fatal Lion Air crash in Indonesia and the one in Ethiopia.
Existing 737 pilots will also have extra computer-based training following criticism that MCAS was not described in the aircraft manual.
Boeing has previously said existing cockpit procedures would cover any example of runaway controls caused by MCAS.
The changes were drawn up in response to the Lion Air crash but are seen as crucial to regaining the trust of pilots, passengers and regulators after the Ethiopia crash prompted a worldwide grounding of Boeing 737 MAX planes.
Ethiopian officials and some analysts have said the Ethiopian Airlines jet behaved in a similar pattern before crashing shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa, but that investigation is still at an early stage.
Boeing’s Sinnett said the software had been through extensive testing, including flights with the FAA. However, he said he could provide no timeframe for when the 737 MAX jets would return to service.
Boeing said it would change the design of the system so that it no longer relied on a single sensor. The changes also would make standard visual warnings to the pilots if the system had stopped working. Previously, those warning messages and displays had been optional.
Reuters reported in November after the Lion Air disaster that some aviation experts believed the optional alert could have alerted engineers about mechanical faults, leading to an industry debate over whether the system should be mandatory.
Current 737 MAX pilots have criticized Boeing for not disclosing more details about MCAS initially. Sinnett said the company has added details on MCAS to its flight crew operations manual. All pilots will need to complete this training before returning to the skies, he said.
John Hamilton, chief engineer for 737 Max flight displays, said in a statement that “all primary flight information required to safely and efficiently operate the 737 MAX” was already included without the features that would now be offered.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle, David Shepardson in Washington, Tim Hepher in Paris, Tracy Rucinski in Chicago and Allison Lampert in New York; writing by Ben Klayman; editing by Grant McCool)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Thousands of crows fly at dusk over the city skyline in Bucharest November 27, 2012. REUTERS/Radu Sigheti
March 27, 2019
By Luiza Ilie and Marc Jones
BUCHAREST/LONDON (Reuters) – Almost every former Eastern Bloc country has suffered growing pains at some point over the last few decades. Romania’s just seem to keep coming back.
Fumbling attempts to bring in new bank, energy and telecoms taxes in recent months are the latest example of its struggle to assert itself as a fully functioning economy.
Two years ago, growth outpaced nearly all its European peers, spurring hopes it was finally harnessing the potential of its 20 million population — the second biggest in central Europe behind Poland — and its own oil and gas reserves.
But having been inflated by some potent fiscal stimulus, the expansion is now fading so fast again — to 4 percent last year from 7 percent in 2017 — that some analysts fear another boom and bust is playing out.
Expectations are dimming that equity index provider MSCI might promote Romania to emerging market status alongside peers like Poland and the Czech Republic as soon as this year, which would draw money into its undersized financial markets.
The IPO market is at a standstill and the new taxes worried S&P enough that it threatened to change Romania’s credit rating outlook to negative.
Bucharest averted that by promising to tweak the measures to preserve central bank independence. But the confusion has only added to a view that policymaking has become unpredictable.
“The frequency of legislative changes has been increasing and often seems to come out of the blue,” said Franklin Templeton’s Romania CEO, Johan Meyer, who manages the Fondul Proprietatea fund which has stakes in a slew of state-owned firms.
“Sometimes the decisions do get reversed or watered down, but at that point the reputational damage has been done.”
As the country gears up for four elections in 2019-20, Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici had said the measures would help the economy “aggressively in the good way” by lowering borrowing costs and energy prices.
A ROAD TO NOWHERE
In the 12 years since it joined the European Union, Romania’s per capita national output has doubled, to roughly 60 percent of the euro zone average, while record low unemployment led to double-digit average wage growth in the last four years.
But income inequalities are among the bloc’s highest. One-third of the population lives in poverty and millions lack sufficient access to healthcare and basic amenities like indoor plumbing.
Its population is both shrinking and aging, while backsliding in the battle against chronic corruption has led to mass street protests.
“Investor confidence is being eroded by persistent legislative instability, unpredictable decision-making, low institutional quality and the continued weakening of the fight against corruption,” the European Commission said in February.
And while Romania is up 16 places on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index since joining the EU, Bulgaria, which also joined in 2007, has leapfrogged it.
Graphic: Poverty levels in EU interactive – https://tmsnrt.rs/2UR8cEa
This month, a businessman from northeastern Romania opened a one-meter-long motorway, built in a day and paid for by him, in protest at the state of the country’s roads.
Romania has only 800 kilometers of motorways, less than half that of Hungary even though it is more than double the size of its neighbor and has almost twice as many people.
Just 75 kilometers have been built in the last three years and none go border-to-border despite years of government promises.
Central Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu routinely uses roads to highlight poor infrastructure that impedes economic development.
“Romania will be ready to join the euro when it has a motorway crossing the Carpathian mountains,” he has said.
Graphic: Romania motorways interactive – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Ol8Abt
PATCHY IMPROVEMENTS
A series of International Monetary Fund-led aid deals in 2009-2015 helped Romania shrink its budget and current account deficits, seen as a key weakness of the economy, and it won back its investment-grade rating in 2014. Its debt to debt-to-GDP is low, in line with the Czech Republic’s at around 38 percent.
But those twin deficits are rising again after tax cuts and wage and pensions hikes that have inflated consumption.
The external shortfall was 4.7 percent of GDP in 2018, a decade high, although the government has kept the budget deficit under the EU’s 3 percent ceiling by postponing investments.
“Policies focused on raising public sector wages and pensions have widened imbalances and at some point their adjustment will be unavoidable,” said the head of Romania’s fiscal watchdog Ionut Dumitru.
“The current account deficit is at a level that can no longer be ignored.”
Graphic: Romania’s boom and bust cycles – https://tmsnrt.rs/2OfoiEO
PROMOTION PROSPECTS
Its financial markets are lagging too. Bucharest’s main stock market has only 16 companies and the tax changes have knocked banking and energy firms, leaving it with the lowest price-to-earnings ratio in the region.
Privatisations of firms like power utility Hidroelectrica, which were supposed to broaden and deepen the market and help its prospects of an MSCI promotion, have not materialized.
“They (Romania) are always remain on our radar screen. But so far it hasn’t reached the market classification framework requirements,” MSCI’s Sebastien Lieblich said, citing the small number of listed stocks.
Franklin Templeton’s Meyer blames government foot-dragging and a system whereby company directors can serve for just a few months, so that turnover at board level can hamper the six-to-nine month process of preparing a firm for the stock market.
He reckons up to five state-owned firms could easily be floated but sees none happening soon.
“It is like any promotion,” Meyer said of MSCI. “If you only do the bare minimum in your job you don’t get it.”
Graphic: Price-to-earnings ratio of Romania’s stock market – https://tmsnrt.rs/2OaW3Hr
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie in Bucharest and Marc Jones in London; Additional reporting by Karin Strohecker in London; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Source: OANN
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters down the hall as the president departs a closed Senate Republican policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
March 26, 2019
By Chris Kahn
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nearly half of all Americans still believe President Donald Trump worked with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after Special Counsel Robert Mueller cleared Trump of that allegation.
Americans did feel slightly more positive about Trump after learning the findings of the 22-month investigation into Russian meddling in the election, the national opinion poll released on Tuesday showed.
But U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s four-page summary of Mueller’s investigation did little to change public opinion about the president’s alleged ties to Russia or quench the public’s appetite to learn more.
According to Barr’s summary released on Sunday, Mueller found no evidence that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia in the 2016 election, but did not exonerate the president on the question of obstructing the investigation.
When asked specifically about accusations of collusion and obstruction of justice, 48 percent of poll respondents said they believed “Trump or someone from his campaign worked with Russia to influence the 2016 election,” down 6 percentage points from last week.
Fifty-three percent said “Trump tried to stop investigations into Russian influence on his administration,” down 2 points from last week.
Public opinion was split sharply along party lines, with Democrats much more likely than Republicans to believe that Trump colluded with Russia and obstructed justice.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll measured the public reaction in the United States on Monday and Tuesday, after the report summary was released, gathering online responses from 1,003 adults, including 948 who said they had at least heard of the summary findings.
The poll has a credibility interval, a measure of its precision, of about 4 percentage points.
Trump’s approval rating got a slight boost, with 43 percent of Americans saying they approved of his performance in office, the highest he has polled so far this year and an increase of 4 percentage points compared to a similar poll last week.
Since January, the proportion of adults who approved of Trump has ranged between 37 percent and 43 percent.
Trump heralded the summary of the Mueller report as a “complete and total exoneration” and vowed to strike back with investigations of his own against unnamed political enemies who he believes are guilty of “evil” and “treasonous things.”
Democrats have called on Barr to release the full report, a position shared by a majority of poll respondents.
Among those familiar with Barr’s summary, only 9 percent said it had changed their thinking about Trump’s ties to Russia and 57 percent said they want to see the entire report.
Thirty-eight percent of all adults, including two out of three Democrats, support efforts by Democratic leaders to continue the Russia investigation in Congress, according to the poll.
The poll also found that 39 percent felt that Trump “should be impeached,” while 49 percent felt that he should not.
Click here to see the entire Reuters/Ipsos poll: https://tmsnrt.rs/2CzWPJl
(Reporting by Chris Kahn; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Leslie Adler)
Source: OANN
Air China’s new aircraft Airbus A350 receives a water cannon salute after its maiden flight from Beijing to Shanghai, at Hongqiao international Airport in Shanghai, China August 14, 2018. Yin Liqin/CNS via REUTERS
March 26, 2019
PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus shares rose on Tuesday after the European planemaker won a deal worth tens of billions of dollars to sell 300 aircraft to China.
Airbus was up 1.9 percent in early session trading. French officials said the deal was worth some 30 billion euros ($34 billion) at catalog prices. Planemakers usually grant significant discounts.
The Chinese order was announced late on Monday, coinciding with a visit to Europe by Chinese President Xi Jinping and matching a China record held by U.S. rival Boeing.
Investment bank Citigroup kept a “buy” rating on Airbus.
“We do not have details of the delivery schedule of this order, but China has been taking about 20-25 percent of Airbus production per year and given the A320 family is sold out at announced production rates out to 2024/25, we believe this increases the probability of Airbus moving to a production rate of 70 per month,” wrote Citigroup.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Leigh Thomas)
Source: OANN
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