Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 28 September 2016
Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
Global
Asia markets trade lower; Japanese shares sell off amid stronger yen (CNBC) Asian markets were mostly lower on Wednesday, despite gains in the U.S. market on the back of the first presidential debate and a beat on consumer confidence.
This is where oil could go if OPEC goes home empty-handed (CNBC) Oil prices could quickly dive to $40 or lower if OPEC members leave Algeria without any promise of a deal. Ministers were scheduled to meet Wednesday at the end of a three-day energy conference, after several days of on-again, off-again headlines on a possible deal to cut oil production by a reported million barrels a day.
U.S.
Wells Fargo CEO forfeits millions as board orders review (Reuters) Wells Fargo & Co said on Tuesday that Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf will forfeit unvested equity awards worth about $41 million and will not get a salary while the company’s board investigates the bank’s sales practices. Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of the retail division at the center of a burgeoning sales scandal, has left the company ahead of her planned Dec. 31 retirement date, will get no severance and has forfeited unvested equity awards worth about $19 million, the bank said. Stumpf and Tolstedt will also not receive bonuses for 2016. The penalties represent one of the biggest financial sanctions ever levied against a major bank boss and mark a sharp change from a few years ago when despite scandals at large banks, no CEO had to give back a bonus. For the backstory, see Documentary Of The Week: Elizabeth Warren Indictment Of Wells Fargo.
Trump boasts after first debate against Clinton: ‘I didn’t want to embarrass her’ (The Guardian) In campaign stops Tuesday, Donald Trump was insisting that every poll showed him as the winner. The Republican nominee blasted ‘corrupt media‘ and recounted what he felt were his best lines to his audiences.
What Trump and Sanders Have in Common (The Atlantic)
Both oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Both support maintaining or expanding current levels of Social Security benefits.
Both support some upper-income tax hikes.
Both lament the pernicious role of money in politics (this is why, as Stan herself notes, Trump likes to falsely claim he’s funding his own campaign).
Both opposed the Iraq war (Stan herself notes that Trump “would have left Saddam Hussein in power”) and believe the money spent on it could have been put to better use domestically.
Both have been known to worry that increased immigration could depress working-class wages.
Both have supported single-payer health care.
Both have flip-flopped on gun control.
Giuliani: I’d skip next debates if I were Trump (Politico) Donald Trump should skip the next two debates unless he gets special guarantees from the moderators, former New York mayor and top Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani told reporters after the debate. Lester Holt, the NBC News anchor who moderated the debate, should be “ashamed of himself“, Giuliani said after the debate. He said Holt was wrong to attempt to fact-check Trump on the constitutionality of stop-and-frisk and his claimed opposition to the Iraq War.
AMZN Dragging the Bull Market Higher (Rick’s Picks) I have bullish targets outstanding to as high as 871.11, but most immediately the stock will be bound for 833.90 if it can close for a second consecutive day above the red line. This projection is worthy of your attention because, as I noted here earlier, it is unlikely the stock market as a whole will be going down any time soon as long as Amazon, a key bellwether stock, is headed significantly higher. A pullback to p could conceivably set up a mechanical ‘buy’, stop 809.40, but only if the stock returns to p after having moved decisively above it, and stayed above it, for at least three consecutive days.
U.S. Asset Bubbles (Twitter)
Crime in America’s big cities is almost universally falling (The Economist) Violent crime in American cities is down 50% to 100% in recent decades.
UK
US shale gas arrives in the UK for the first time … and causes quite a stir (CNBC) Shale gas from the U.S. arrived on the shores of the U.K. for the first time Tuesday, sparking a wider debate about the impacts of the industry on the environment and the global economy. Amid much fanfare, a Scottish bagpiper greeted a ship called the Ineos Insight on the banks of Grangemouth in east Scotland. Its cargo was 27,500 cubic meters of ethane from U.S. shale fields. However, disgruntled campaigners used the boat’s arrival to dismiss the benefits of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” Scotland currently has a ban on the technology, which unlocks underground oil and shale gas resources using high-pressure steam and chemicals, while in England it’s still at the exploratory stage with the ruling Conservative backing the industry and extolling its virtues.
Syria
Syrian government launches Aleppo ground attack (Reuters) Syrian government forces and their allies attacked the opposition-held sector of Aleppo on several fronts on Tuesday, the biggest ground assault yet in a massive new campaign that has destroyed a U.S.-backed ceasefire. The United States says the assault on Aleppo is proof that President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and regional allies have abandoned an international peace process to pursue victory on the battlefield after nearly six years of civil war. Washington, which agreed a ceasefire with Russia this month that collapsed after a week, says Moscow and Damascus are guilty of “barbarism” and war crimes for targeting civilians, health workers and aid deliveries in air strikes. More than 250,000 civilians are believed to be trapped inside the besieged rebel-held sector of Aleppo, where intensive bombing over the past week has killed hundreds of people, many trapped under buildings brought down by bunker-busting bombs.
China
China’s Ambitious Plan to Make the Yuan the World’s Go-To Currency (Bloomberg) China’s long-held desire to provide an alternative to the U.S. dollar will get a boost on October 1, when the yuan enters the International Monetary Fund’s basket of reserve currencies, placing it alongside the pound, euro, yen and dollar. The yuan’s ascent is a validation of the importance of the world’s second-biggest economy and the work policy makers have done to allow freer access to the nation’s markets. Still, there’s a long way to go. While China’s the biggest trading nation, the yuan is barely used in world markets.
Venezuela
Venezuela’s Maduro calls for new era of relations with U.S. (Reuters) Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday he is hopeful for improved relations with the United States, a day after meeting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Maduro met Kerry in Colombia’s coastal city of Cartagena after the signing of a major peace deal between leftist guerrillas and the Colombian government. Maduro spoke during his weekly hours-long show on state television, adding that the pair spoke for 40 minutes:
“I ask that God bless the results of the meeting and that Venezuela opens a new era of relations with the United States.”
