Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 04 May 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 markets subdued as investors watch US-China talks (CNBC) Asia markets traded moderately lower. The dollar index last traded down very slightly at 92.376. Brent crude futures edged down 0.07% to trade at $73.62 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was slightly down 0.07% to trade at $68.43 a barrel. Spot gold was nearly unchanged at $1,311.61 per ounce at 0113 GMT
- Number Of Cryptocurrency Funds Continues to Skyrocket (ValueWalk) The number of hedge funds and venture capital firms investing in cryptocurrency and blockchain companies continues to grow at a record pace. 34 cryptocurrency funds have launched this year, putting 2018 on track to meet or exceed the record 100 plus crypto funds launched in 2017 according to research firm, Crypto Fund Research. The United States is dominant but the phenomenon is global.
U.S.
- The FBI Is in Crisis and America Is Paying the Price (Time) The FBI, which is used to making headlines for nabbing crooks, has been grabbing the spotlight for unwanted reasons: fired leaders, texts between lovers and, most of all, attacks by President Trump. The Justice Department’s Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, will soon release a much-anticipated assessment of Democratic and Republican charges that officials at the FBI interfered in the 2016 presidential campaign. Most of the inappropriate actiivities by the agency invovled official statements and leaks which damaged the candidacy of Hillary Clinton, according to this article.
- Fox’s Cavuto on pattern of false statements: ‘Mr. President, that’s your swamp’ (The Hill) Fox News host Neil Cavuto on Thursday scolded President Trump for making contradictory statements about a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, calling the president’s habit of making inaccurate statements his “swamp.” Cavuto said:
“Let me be clear, Mr. President. How can you drain the swamp if you’re the one that keeps muddying the waters? You didn’t know about the $130,000 payment to a porn star until you did.”
- In a reversal, Speaker Ryan says the House chaplain will remain in his post (The Washington Post) Earlier today the Rev. Patrick J. Conroy, the House chaplain who last month announced his resignation under pressure, informed Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) that he wanted to rescind his offer and remain in his position at least through the end of this year. In a two-page letter, Conroy accused Ryan’s chief of staff of invoking his Catholicism in a confrontation that led to the priest submitting a resignation letter a few days later. Conroy says Jonathan Burks also brought up an opening prayer the priest delivered in November and an interview with National Journal in January.
This evening, in a reversal, Speaker Paul D. Ryan says the House chaplain will remain in his post.
- Rudy Giuliani’s Revelation About Trump’s Stormy Daniels Payment Only Raises More Questions (The New Yorker) Giuiliani said he wanted to clear things up but he appears to have done just the opposite – and possibly created criminal jeopardy for the president, as well as greatly strengthening the civil case of Stephanie Daniels.
- Big Differences in Teacher Pay Across the States (The Daily Shot)
- Small and Medium Businesses are the U.S. Economy (The Daily Shot) Unlike in many parts of the world, US small and medium-sized businesses are a substantial component of the economy, in fact almost all of it. See also April 2018 ADP Job Growth Is 204,000.
- Q1 Beat Rates Remain Strong (Bespoke) More than 1,000 companies have now reported Q1 2018 earnings, and at this point ( just over halfway done), earnings and revenue beat rates remain very strong for a second consecutive quarter. So far this earnings season, 71.6% of companies have beaten consensus analyst EPS estimates, while 72.1% of companies have beaten top-line revenue estimates.
For the top-line revenue beat rate, last season actually saw a stronger reading at 73.17%, but this would be the first time we’ve seen back-to-back readings above 70% since Q4 ’03 and Q1 ’04.
Iran
- What you need to know ahead of Donald Trump’s Iran deal deadline (Politifact) The president has legitimate issues with the Iran deal. It is quite reasonable that these should be addressed. Thos issues are discussed in this article. But he has been publicizing his concerns with blatant lies which (in Econintersect‘s opinion) damage his negotiating position. See next two articles.
- Donald Trump says wrongly the Iran nuclear deal expires in 7 years (Politifact) Trump is incorrect about the expiration date. The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, puts a cap on enriched uranium until 2030, or 12 years from now. After that, other agreements limit nuclear weapons development in Iran. Under the deal, Iran gave up 97 percent of its stockpile of enriched uranium. It also lost 14,000 of its 20,000 centrifuges, the machines used to enrich uranium, and it agreed to only enrich uranium to a level unsuitable for weapons for 15 years. Matthew Kroenig at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service said:
“By far the most important and the most difficult step is producing the fuel. That’s why the Obama administration wanted to limit Iran’s capacity to enrich uranium. And it’s why it was so important to Iran to have the limits end after 15 years.”
- No, Donald Trump, we are not giving Iran $150 billion for ‘nothing’ (Politifact) The U.S. returned money to Iran that the U.S. had “stolen”. This article is from 2 years ago. But if a lie has “believers” keep using it. From this Politifact report:
In reality, the money is already Iran’s to begin with, just frozen under the many economic sanctions levied against the country.
Restrictions on Iranian assets – such as the $1.9 billion the National Iranian Oil Company was restricted from collecting from Shell for delivering crude supplies – began to thaw this year. Per the Iran deal, nuclear inspectors verified in January that Tehran was doing enough to curb its nuclear program, prompting the United States and other countries to lift the sanctions.
Just how much money was being held up?
Experts say $150 billion is the high end of estimates or, as Malloy put it, “what it could possibly be in the broadest imagination.” Most peg the the total value of Iranian assets at around $100 billion, but Iran probably still won’t be able to access all of it.
South Korea
- Trump asks Pentagon to look at options for withdrawing troops from South Korea: report (CNBC) See also next article.
- President Donald Trump has asked the Pentagon to look into reducing American troops in South Korea, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
- The Times said its sources declined to say whether Trump asked for full or partial withdrawal of U.S. forces there.
- The directive isn’t meant to be a bargaining chip in the president’s upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to the report.
- South Korea says it wants U.S. troops to stay regardless of any treaty with North Korea (Reuters) South Korea said on Wednesday the issue of U.S. troops stationed in the South is unrelated to any future peace treaty with North Korea and that American forces should stay even if such an agreement is signed.
China
- Chinese lasers injure US military pilots in Africa, Pentagon says (CNN) Chinese personnel at the country’s first overseas military base in Djibouti have been using lasers to interfere with US military aircraft at a nearby American base, activity that has resulted in injuries to US pilots and prompted the US to launch a formal diplomatic protest with Beijing, two military officials told CNN.
- Growth in China’s services sector increased in April (CNBC) Growth in China’s service sector picked up in April as new business and employment grew at a faster rate, a private survey showed on Friday, signalling a solid rise in a sector that Beijing is counting on to maintain economic growth.
The Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) climbed to 52.9 in April from March’s four-month low of 52.3, though it remained weaker than levels in 2018’s first two months.
- White House warns China on growing militarization in South China Sea (CNN) The White House warned Beijing on Thursday that there will be consequences for its growing militarization in the South China Sea, following reports of missiles being deployed to three of the country’s outposts in the disputed region.
US intelligence assessed that there is a high probability the Chinese military had deployed anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles to three artificial islands during recent military drills on the contested sea.
But a US defense official told CNN it was unclear if the missiles remained on the outposts following the April exercises.
Mexico
- Caravan organizers: 158 migrants have crossed into US to seek asylum (CNN) At least 158 Central Americans who traveled in a migrant caravan through Mexico have crossed into the United States this week to seek asylum, organizers said Thursday. Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, which organized and guided the journey, said 70 people from the caravan were among those who crossed Thursday into the San Ysidro, California, port of entry near San Diego. The migrants will make their case for why they should be granted asylum. The group estimates 70 migrants remain at camps and shelters on the Mexican side of the border. They are expected to cross the border and seek asylum.