Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 20 February 2018
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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​Global
- Asian shares slip as the dollar firms; HSBC beats expectations (CNBC) Asian shares mostly traded lower on Tuesday after a relatively quiet overnight session, due to U.S. markets being closed for a holiday on Monday. The dollar index firmed to trade at 89.381 at 12:08 p.m. HK/SIN. U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.02% to trade at $62.31 per barrel while Brent crude futures shed 0.35% to trade at $65.44. Spot gold was down 0.4% at $1,341.20 an ounce at 0340 GMT. U.S. gold futures were down 1% at $1,342.90 per ounce.
- Mines Linked to Child Labor Are Thriving in Rush for Car Batteries (Bloomberg) The appetite for electric cars is driving a boom in small-scale cobalt production in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where some mines have been found to be dangerous and employ child labor.
U.S.
- Trump blames Obama for inaction over Russia meddling (CNN) Now that he can’t deny there was Russian meddling, the president is blaming his predecessor.
- NPR Website To Get Rid Of Comments (NPR) When trolls dominate the comment threads, the best form of control is to close comments.
- 9 totally unpresidential things Donald Trump tweeted over Presidents Day weekend (CNN) You’ll have to read the tweets. We don’t want tp try to pick the most appropriate – CNN rates them for “unpresidentialness”.
- Donald Trump surprises by endorsing Mitt Romney for Senate run (CNBC) President Donald Trump said in a Monday evening Twitter post that he supported and endorsed Mitt Romney for his run for a Senate seat. That came as a surprise to many, as the former Massachusetts governor has been a frequent and harsh critic of Trump, and the now-president has called Romney “a total joke.”
- Rep. Trey Gowdy on Mueller indictments: “This is exactly what we wanted him to do” (CBS News) Following the indictments of 13 Russian nationals for their involvement in meddling in the 2016 presidential election, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, says the charges tell Americans what some have known all along:
“Russia is not our friend.”
- Exclusive: Mueller’s interest in Kushner grows to include foreign financing efforts (CNN) Special counsel Robert Mueller’s interest in Jared Kushner has expanded beyond his contacts with Russia and now includes his efforts to secure financing for his company from foreign investors during the presidential transition, according to people familiar with the inquiry. This is the first indication that Mueller is exploring Kushner’s discussions with potential non-Russian foreign investors, including in China.
- Is The Fed Killing Off Mortgage Purchase Applications? (Balance Sheet Run-off) (Confounded Interest) Hat tip to The Wall Street Examiner. The Federal Reserve bought millions of dollars of 10-year Treasury notes when it began their asset purchases back in 2008. And now those same 10-year Treasury notes are maturing. The result? 10-year Treasury note yields and the 30-year mortgage rate are on the rise. And mortgage purchase applications are on the decline.
UK
- Europe’s largest bank sees reported profit rise more than 140 percent in 2017 (CNBC) HSBC’s fortune turned around in 2017 with an increase in the year’s profit. The bank, largest in Europe by assets, said Tuesday its full-year profit before tax rose 10.9% to $20.99 billion after adjusting for foreign currency translation and one-off items. That’s beating an estimated $19.67 billion by Reuters and reversing the decline seen one year ago in 2016. The bank’s reported profit before tax, meanwhile, rose 141.4% to $17.17 billion in the year 2017. Adjusted revenue for 2017 was $51.5 billion, up 5% from the previous year. See also next article.
- HSBC results miss analysts’ estimates (FinancialTimes) Bucking a six-year decline in annual revenues, HSBC said that it brought in $51.5 billion in adjusted revenues in 2017, a 5% increase on the year before but still below a consensus of projections from analysts for both profits and revenues.
Sweden
Cash usage declining both as share of GDP and in nominal terms
Riksbank committee could publish report on issue in summer
Switzerland
- Why Swiss Vollgeld Vote Has the Central Bank Nervous (Bloomberg Businessweek) Most of the money in the world is created as bank credit. The Swiss will be voting on a proposal to change that for their country:
Under a sovereign money system, the SNB would be the only entity allowed to create money. It would then distribute it to the federal government and cantons or even directly to citizens without requiring collateral. It’s not clear how the central bank would restrict money supply if, for example, inflation were to rise.
Turkey
- Turkey Threatens To Invade Greece (Zero Hedge) n an incident that took place less than two weeks after the Greek Defense Ministry announced that Turkey had violated Greek airspace 138 times in a single day, a Turkish coast guard patrol boat on February 13 rammed a Greek coast guard vessel off the shore of Imia, one of many Greek islands over which Turkey claims sovereignty.
Most of the areas within modern Greece’s current borders were under the occupation of the Ottoman Empirefrom the mid-15th century until the Greek War of Independence in 1821 and the establishment of the modern Greek state in 1832. The islands, however, like the rest of Greece, are legally and historically Greek, as their names indicate.
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), however, and even much of the opposition seem intent on, if not obsessed with, invading and conquering these Greek islands, on the grounds that they are actually Turkish territory.
India
- India could be the first country to get Hyperloop One, Mumbai-Pune travel time to come down to 25 minutes (Business Today) Hat tip to Sanjeev Kulkarni (who lives in Pune). Virgin Group founder Richard Branson plans to inaugurate a hyperloop linking Mumbai and Pune that will cut down travel time to 25 minutes, or less.
What’s a hyperloop? It’s a revolutionary train service that envisions loading passengers and cargo into a pod that will accelerate gradually via electric propulsion through a low-pressure tube. According to Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One, the company building this system, the pod will then quickly lift above the track using magnetic levitation and glide at airline speeds for long distances due to ultra-low aerodynamic drag. In fact, with speeds 2-3 times faster than high-speed rail, hyperloop can connect far-flung Indian cities as if they were metro stops.
- Investing in real estate? These micro markets can give good returns (The Econiomic Times) Location, location, location. Although the broader real estate market is flat, action is happening at the micro level. There are several pockets across metros and large cities where property prices are reasonable and investors can expect good returns. There are many graphics in the article – the one below for some Kolkata neighborhoods.
