Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 03 April 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
- Asia trades lower after Wall Street sinks on tech, trade worries (CNBC) Asian shares slipped on Tuesday, although losses in the region were slighter than the declines seen stateside in the last session amid a drop in tech stocks and trade-related worries. The dollar index was flat at 89.994 by 12:32 p.m. HK/SIN. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $63.13 a barrel at 0434 GMT, up $0.11. Brent crude futures rose to $67.80 per barrel, up $0.16 cents after falling by 2.5% on Monday. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,338.51 per ounce as of 0324 GMT. It climbed 1.3% on Monday in its biggest one-day percentage gain in a week.
- Global Trade is Still Rising (The Daily Shot)
U.S.
- Villanova takes title, 79-62 over Michigan behind DiVincenzo (Associated Press) The Wildcats have won their second national basketball chmapionship in 3 years.
- Trump’s Tariffs Are Hurting American Factories After Prices Skyrocket (Bloomberg) The items in the china shop (no pun intended) are getting smashed. The Trump tariff announcement helped send a measure of raw-material prices paid to an almost seven-year high in March, the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing survey showed Monday.
About 32 percent of the respondents’ comments related to the threat of duties, ranging from the potential for higher costs to concern about limited availability around production schedules, according to Timothy Fiore, chairman of the group’s factory survey committee. The tariffs hadn’t yet gone into effect when the comments were collected, he added.
- ‘Stormy Effect’: Trump’s support falls with women, rises with men in new poll (The Hill) President Trump’s support among women plunged this month as he battled controversies surrounding alleged affairs with the adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, according to a new poll. Support from women fell from 41% to 35% in the new Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll, even as Trump’s support among men rose 3 points to 53%. Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll co-director Mark Penn said the growing gender gap in the poll is the result of the “Stormy Effect“.
- Trump administration moves on two fronts to challenge California environmental protections (Los Angeles Times) The Trump administration openly threatened one of the cornerstones of California’s environmental protections Monday, saying that it may revoke the state’s ability under the Clean Air Act to impose stricter standards than the federal government sets for vehicle emissions.
The announcement came as the administration confirmed it is tearing up landmark fuel economy rules that formed a key part of the effort by the Obama administration and California officials to combat global warming – and as the Justice Department sued to block a state law that limits the federal government’s ability to sell any of the 46 million acres it controls in California.
- Trump’s Decision-Making Looks Set to Keep Markets on Edge, UBS Says (Bloomberg) UBS Wealth Management says the storm that hit U.S. equities Monday won’t go away anytime soon.
Markets will remain volatile before a payrolls report Friday, kept on edge by the hard-to-guess prospects of what President Donald Trump’s government will do next, Mike Ryan, chief investment officer for the Americas in global wealth management, and David Lefkowitz, senior equity strategist for the Americas, wrote in a note to clients. That applies particularly to global trade, they wrote.
- “Trump is Like, ‘How Can I F**k With Him'” Trump’s War with Amazon (and The Washington Post) is Personal (Vanity Fair) According to four sources close to the White House, Trump is discussing ways to escalate his Twitter attacks on Amazon to further damage the company. The author says that one source told him:
“He’s off the hook on this. It’s war. He gets obsessed with something, and now he’s obsessed with Bezos.”
And another source said:
“Trump is like, how can I fuck with him?”
- Nuclear and coal energy company files for bankruptcy (The Hill) A major utility company that provides nuclear and coal power is filing for bankruptcy days after it pleaded for a government bailout. FirstEnergy Solutions, the unit of FirstEnergy Corp. responsible for competitive generation, announced late Saturday it was filing for Chapter 11 protection. FirstEnergy Corp. CEO Charles Jones said the move would make the parent company more financially stable.
- Falsely Accused Parkland School Shooter Sues Alex Jones’ InfoWars for Defamation (The Daily Beast) Marcel Fontaine, who was falsely declared a suspect in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting by conspiracy-theorist website InfoWars, is now suing Alex Jones for more than a million dollars.
- U.S. Labor Force Growth Will Slow (The Daily Shot) The US working-age population growth is expected to contract further in the next few years. As a result, some suggest that even a 2% GDP growth will be challenging without significant improvements in productivity.
- John Oliver rips Sinclair media bias message: Anchors ‘like members of a brainwashed cult’ (The Hill) John Oliver is going after Sinclair Broadcasting Group’s decision to have its local news anchors warn of alleged bias, calling them “members of a brainwashed cult.” Oliver’s comments follow reports last month that right-leaning Sinclair mandated all local affiliate stations have anchors read aloud a promotional campaign that condemns other news outlets for pushing “fake stories.” Anchors say in the script that they are “concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country.” Some anchors complained to CNN in March, saying the “manipulative” message made them feel like a prisoner of war being staged for a recording.
EU
- Insufficient Fecundity in Europe (Bloomberg Businessweek) Without immigrants to replenish its ranks, Europe runs the risk of dying off, Eurostat data show. Every single country in the European Union suffers from a sub-replacement fertility rate, meaning that on average two parents have fewer than 2 children. Coupled with longer life expectancy, low fertility rates in Europe and the rest of the developed world present a major challenge to social security and welfare systems.
Russia
- Trump Invited Vladimir Putin to the White House, Says Kremlin (The Daily Beast) President Trump has reportedly invited Vladimir Putin to the White House for a visit, according to a statement from the Kremlin. Putin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters Monday that during a March 20 phone conversation, Trump “suggested that the first meeting could be held in Washington” between the two leaders.
China
- There is Disagreement over Direction of the Yuan (The Daily Shot)
Australia
- The Reserve Bank of Australia holds rates at 1.5 percent, marking 20 months since its last move.
- The central bank says wage growth and inflation will stay low for some time.
