Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 09 May 2017
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.
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Global
Asian markets muted; South Korean election, Australia budget in focus (CNBC) Asian equities were subdued on Tuesday after soaring in the previous trading session with investors focused on key regional events unfolding in the day, including a presidential election in South Korea and the release of the Australian federal budget. The dollar index traded at 99.148 at 2:08 pm HK/SIN, up from the revioud session. U.S. crude traded 0.13% lower at $46.37 per barrel while Brent crude was 0.08% down and trading at $49.30. Spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,228.20 per ounce at 0320 GMT, after touching a seven-week low of $1,224.86 the day before, just above its 100-day moving average. U.S. gold futures advanced 0.1% to $1,228.20 an ounce.
The other 11 members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal appear set to revive the pact without the U.S., experts said at the Institute of International Finance conference in Tokyo this week.
Deborah Elms, executive director at the Asian Trade Centre, said on Monday that it was “hubris on the part of the U.S.” to believe the absence of the U.S. would kill the TPP.
Charles Lake, president of Aflac International and chairman of Aflac Japan, said at the conference that TPP-11 was well within the realm of possibility.
U.S.
Trump names 10 nominees to federal courts on heels of Gorsuch win (Fox News) President Trump began his bid Monday to reshape the makeup of the lower federal courts, with the White House announcing 10 judicial nominees it described as Trump’s “third wave of Federal judicial appointments“. Coming out of its first 100 days, the administration aims to build on the successful confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the nominees were all “chosen for their deep knowledge of the law and their commitment to upholding constitutional principles“.
Two of the nominees originally were on the list of 21 candidates that the Trump transition team considered for the Supreme Court vacancy left by Antonin Scalia’s death, and ultimately filled by Gorsuch. They are Justice Joan Larsen of the Michigan Supreme Court, nominated to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati; and Justice David Stras of the Minnesota Supreme Court, nominated to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.
The 43 people who might run against Trump in 2020 (The Hill) Econintersect: Maybe the article should have tried for a shorter list: people who might not run against Trump in 2020. #sarcasm
JPMorgan Tells Banks to Partner Up as U.S. Deposit Drain Looms (Bloomberg) JPMorgan Chase & Co. has some advice for regional banks: A deposit drain is coming, so merge while you can:
The company’s investment bankers are warning depository clients that they may begin feeling the crunch in December, thanks to a byproduct of how the U.S. Federal Reserve propped up the economy after the financial crisis, according to a copy of a confidential presentation obtained by Bloomberg News and confirmed by a JPMorgan spokesman.
JPMorgan argues that some midsize U.S. banks — those with $50 billion in assets or less — could face a funding problem in coming years as the Fed goes about shrinking its massive balance sheet, according to the 19-page report the New York-based bank has begun sharing with clients.
People with the highest cancer death rates live in this state (AOL.News) Kentucky has the highest cancer death rate in the U.S., 199.3 per 100,000 per year.
Rates of New Cancer Cases in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Kentucky is also the leading state for new cases of cancer, with 511.7 per 100,000 per year.
UK
U.K. Companies Are Disclosing Gender Pay Gaps and They’re Huge (Bloomberg) See also Thousands of U.K. Firms Begin Publishing Gender Pay-Gap Figures. As British companies prepare to make public the difference between what their male and female employees earn, early reports from a handful of companies have revealed pay gaps as high as 36 percent — twice the national average.
Virgin Money disclosed that men who work at the bank earn, on average, 36 percent more than women. At asset manager Schroders Plc, the pay gap was 31 percent. Utility SSE Plc reported an average pay gap of 23.4 percent, and consulting firm PwC said it found a 15 percent difference in pay.
Philippines
Philippine stocks enter bull market (Twitter)
South Korea
South Korea Heads to Polls in Election to Replace Ousted Park (Bloomberg) South Koreans voted Tuesday in a special election to replace ousted leader Park Geun-hye, the culmination of months of discord that saw the country’s biggest street protests since the 1980s:
Polls will close at 8 p.m., with exit polls released shortly afterward. A winner is expected sometime around midnight in Seoul. Voter turnout stood at nearly 60% as of 2 p.m., the Election Commission said on its website.
Moon Jae-in, the runner-up to Park in 2012, is the favorite to become president and end nine years of conservative rule. His rivals include Ahn Cheol-soo, 55, of the centrist People’s Party, and Hong Joon-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party, an offshoot of Park’s conservative wing.
The winner will inherit a nation riven by divisions, with younger voters pushing back against an older generation that have put right-leaning politicians in charge of South Korea for most of the time since it embraced democracy. Park’s downfall has split the conservative camp and provided an opening for Moon, who talks with North Korea and steps to rein in family-run conglomerates known as chaebol.
China
Chinese Factories Going It Alone to Build the Next Must-Have Device (Bloomberg) For decades China’s contract manufacturers have been content mostly to churn out gadgets designed by the world’s tech companies. Now they’re going a step further — seeking out entrepreneurs and building their designs in hopes of finding the next must-have device. Plants like Jetta Company Ltd. in Guangzhou are cutting out the traditional role of venture capital firms by shouldering some of the risk of developing a new product. They seek out ideas at trade events or from referrals. Then in-house teams build and test prototypes and even make small batches to gauge the market.
Longest Losing Streak in Four Years (Twitter)
