Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 18 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.
Please share this article – Go to very top of page, right hand side for social media buttons.
​Global
- Stocks in Asia climb after US markets rally on strong earnings (CNBC) Markets in Asia traded mostly higher on Wednesday, as investor confidence stayed firm on the back of Wall Street’s advance following strong earnings. The dollar index edged higher to 89.539. U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 0.42% to trade at $66.80 per barrel and Brent crude futures gained 0.41% to trade at $71.87. Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,344.06 per ounce at 0414 GMT.
U.S.
- Former first lady Barbara Bush dies at age 92 (Associated Press) George H.W. and Barbara Bush had the longest marriage for any presidential couple in American history – over 73 years. Barbara Bush was only the second woman to be the wife of one president and the mother of another. Abagail Adams was the first.
Barbara Bush didn’t hesitate to tell people that her trademark pearl necklaces were fake. Americans liked that everything else about the snowy-haired first lady was real.
The wife of the nation’s 41st president and mother of the 43rd brought a plainspoken, grandmotherly style to buttoned-down Washington, displaying an utter lack of vanity about her white hair and wrinkles.
- Trump opposes US rejoining Pacific trade deal (The Hill) Contrary the previously widely published information from “informed sources”, President Trump on Tuesday said he’s opposed to the U.S. reentering the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and instead advocated for establishing bilateral trade deals with countries. But see also Even if Trump wants to renegotiate the TPP, members may not bite, says Singapore official (CNBC)
- Sanctions Flap Erupts Into Open Conflict Between Haley and White House (The New York Times) President Trump was watching television on Sunday when he saw Nikki R. Haley, his ambassador to the United Nations, announce that he would impose fresh sanctions on Russia. The president grew angry, according to an official informed about the moment. As far as he was concerned, he had decided no such thing.
At the very least, the episode highlighted the crossed circuits over foreign policy in an administration with no secretary of state, an increasingly marginalized White House chief of staff and a national security adviser who has only been on the job for a week and has pushed out many of the senior national security officials in the White House but has yet to bring in his own team.
Since Mr. Trump fired Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson last month, Ms. Haley has been the administration’s leading foreign policy figure. And yet she was not kept in the loop on a major decision involving perhaps America’s most powerful adversary.
- Trump pick Gorsuch casts deciding Supreme Court vote against deporting immigrant (The Hill) Justice Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s first Supreme Court appointment, cast the deciding vote in a decision released Tuesday that sided with an immigrant fighting his deportation. Gorsuch sided with court’s four liberal justices in favor of the immigrant, James Garcia Dimaya, who the government sought to deport after his second first-degree burglary conviction in California. The Justice Department argued his first-degree burglary conviction constituted a crime of violence, which is an aggravated felony that results in deportation under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). However, the court said Tuesday that the law’s definition of a crime of violence is too vague.
- McConnell: I won’t put legislation to protect Mueller on Senate floor (CNN) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News on Tuesday he doesn’t believe President Donald Trump will fire Robert Mueller, adding he doesn’t want legislation on the issue. Last week, a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation that would make it harder for Mueller to be fired for investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election. McConnell said in the interview:
“I don’t think he should fire Mueller and I don’t think he’s going to. So this is a piece of legislation that isn’t necessary in my judgment.”
- House consumed by leadership races (The Hill) House leadership races on both sides of the aisle are consuming the Capitol as major legislating grinds to a halt and attention shifts toward November’s midterms – and who will lead the parties through the high-stakes 2020 presidential season.
EU
- European Car Sales Weakest in Five Years (Bloomberg) European car sales turned in their weakest performance in the first quarter since an industrywide contraction five years ago, as U.K. consumers’ apprehension over Brexit eroded demand in the region’s second-largest market. In addition, two other of the top five markets in region posted March sales declines.
- Retail Sales Sofetning in Eurozone (The Daily Shot) See also next article. The Eurozone retail sales reported a week ago were lower than expected.
- Outlook for the Euro May Be Softening (The Daily Shot) See also preceding article. The sudden soft patch in economic activity, climbing bond yield differentials with the US, and elevated speculative net-long bets don’t bode well for the euro.
Russia
- Sanctions Fight Inspires Russia to Hurt Russians (Bloomberg) The measures proposed by the Russian parliament would inflict damage on their own major companies and ordinary citizens rather than the U.S.
North Korea
- Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un: report (The Hill) CIA Director Mike Pompeo flew to North Korea earlier this year and met with the nation’s leader Kim Jong Un, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. The shocking, top-secret trip took place during Easter weekend ahead of a possible summit between President Trump and Kim later this year to discuss Pyongyang’s nuclear program. The CIA, White House and North Korean government all refused to comment to The Post, which confirmed the meeting with two sources with direct knowledge of it.
South Korea
- South Korean government says would consider peace treaty with North Korea after denuclearization (CNBC)
- A South Korean official on Wednesday said the country would consider negotiating a peace treaty with North Korea following the rogue state’s denuclearization, according to local news outlet Yonhap.
- Ahead of a summit next week between North Korean premier Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-In, lawmakers from the neighboring states were thought to be negotiating the details of a joint statement that could outline an end to the military conflict between the two countries.
- Pyongyang and Seoul have technically been at war since the 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended with a truce – and not a peace treaty.
China
- Tesla could benefit from looser restrictions in China, says auto analyst (CNBC) See Chinese automakers’ shares take hits after Beijing said it will open its car market.
- Beijing may remove caps on foreign ownership of electric-vehicle ventures in China.
- The most significant impact of any change in regulation could be the entry of foreign competitors like Tesla, according to James Chao, the managing director for Asia Pacific at IHS Markit.
- China’s Bonds Surge (Twitter) Here we go again as Peoples’ Bank of China pumps liquidity.
