Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 07 August 2019
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, published Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
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Notice: We have changed the form of content coverage for Early Bird. We will provide discussion only for Asia Markets news and a small number (often 1 or 2) other articles. The remainder of the content will be headlines (with links) only.
Key Articles
​Global
- Asia shares mixed as China sets the yuan midpoint slightly weaker than expected (CNBC) Asia Pacific stocks traded mixed on Wednesday as investors kept a close watch on the Chinese yuan amid an escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China. The U.S. dollar index was lower at 97.583, declining from an earlier high of 97.851. Brent crude futures declined 0.37% to $58.72 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also fell 0.21% to $53.52 per barrel. Spot gold was up 1.1% at $1,490.57 per ounce as of 0718 GMT, its highest since April 2013. Treasuries moved higher (lower yields).
U.S.
- Analysis: In ramping up trade war with China, Trump could be playing with fire (Los Angeles Times) Trump has strong incentives to drag out the fight: Behind a relatively strong U.S. economy and at least the chance of more credit stimulus from the Federal Reserve, he may benefit politically from continuing the confrontation with Beijing because it’s red meat for his political base.
The potential loser in this international game of chicken is the U.S. economy. Both long term and short term, the White House is playing with fire – and it could end up burning Trump’s reelection bid.
- Trumps Approval Ratings Have Strengthened in 2019 (FiveThirtyEight) In late January President Trump’s average approval rating hit a low point under 40%approval. Ass of today it is 42.3 and has recently been as high as 43%.
Austria
- The Austria Bond Bubble (Twitter) This isn’t just an Austrian phenomenon. But it certainly does illustrate the lack of sustainability for bond value growth.
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Additional articles:
U.S.
- Trump’s Latino supporters say they’re sticking with him after El Paso shootings (The Washington Post)
- Why domestic terror designation in El Paso shooting likely won’t result in charges (ABC News)
- After Shootings, FBI Agents Association Calls on Congress to Criminalize Domestic Terrorism (Newsweek)
- Texas Democrat says she declined to join Trump on El Paso visit over lack of ‘dialogue’ (The Hill)
- Dayton mayor will ‘absolutely’ tell Trump ‘how unhelpful he’s been’ (ABC News)
- Eco-fascism featured in El Paso terrorism suspect’s alleged manifesto (High Country News)
- Toni Morrison, Towering Novelist of the Black Experience, Dies at 88 (The New York Times)
​UK
Germany
- ‘Part of German soul’ under threat as forests die: Dry summers, storms and pests destroy swathes of woodland (The Guardian)
Syria
Russia
Afghanistan
Philippines
China
- Hong Kong facing worst crisis since handover: senior China official (Reuters)
- China’s yuan could weaken past 7.5 per dollar if Trump hikes tariffs further, strategist warns (CNBC)
Brazil
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