Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 25 Sep 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 stocks down amid US-China trade tensions and US political uncertainty (CNBC) Asia markets were broadly negative on Tuesday, amid concerns over the ongoing trade spat between the U.S. and China. The U.S. dollar index was up slightly at 94.219 as of 2:55 p.m. HK/SIN, paring some of its earlier gains. Brent crude futures rose 0.41% at $81.53 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures saw an increase of 0.31% at $72.30 per barrel. Spot gold was barely changed at $1,198.80 by 0257 GMT.
- Canada, Germany, and South Korea Have Been Losing Ground on Car Exports to US (The Daily Shot) South Korea has been losing market share to China in automobile exports to the US. With the new tariffs against China, however, South Korea could regain some ground.
U.S.
- GOP launches counteroffensive on Kavanaugh (The Hill) The White House and Senate Republicans launched an intense counterattack on behalf of Brett Kavanaugh on Monday, signaling they intend to go forward with a vote on his nomination to the Supreme Court despite new allegations of past sexual misconduct. The aggressive response was led by Kavanaugh himself, who said he was the victim of a “character assassination” and “smears,” an argument echoed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
- Trump’s Approval Rebounds to 40% (Gallup) Gallup tracks daily the percentage of Americans who approve or disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing as president. Weekly results are based on telephone interviews with approximately 1,500 national adults, with a margin of error is ±3 percentage points.
- Poll: Democrats Lose Advantage with Middle Class Americans, Gender Gap Collapses (Breitbart) Hat tip to Sig Silber. See also Republican Party Favorability Highest in Seven Years.
- Republican favorability at 45%, Democrats at 44%
- Democrats generally have had the upper hand in favorability ratings
- Democratic Party’s advantage among American women suffered a six percent swing over the past year
- Democrats have completely lost their advantage with American men.
- Major gains for Republican Party within the party, including leaners
- Republicans also now enjoy an advantage with middle-class voters. A year ago, Democrats led Republicans 46 to 36
- Now Republicans are in favor with 50 percent of men. Favorability toward Democrats climbed one point to 41 percent7
- The Democrats still lead, however, among low-income Americans and the wealthy
- Fed Hike This Week a Sure Thing (The Daily Shot) A 0.25% Fed rate hike this week is now fully priced into the market.
- House Republican threatens to push for Rosenstein impeachment unless he testifies (The Hill) Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Monday threatened to bring articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if he won’t testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee. Gaetz said that he and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) are prepared to bring impeachment articles against Rosenstein if committee leadership won’t force him to testify.
- Brett Kavanaugh: third woman expected to make accusations of sexual misconduct (The Guardian) A third woman is expected to publicly make accusations of sexual misconduct against supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh this week, her attorney Michael Avenatti said, plunging the judge’s confirmation to America’s highest court into further uncertainty. Avenatti said of the new accuser in an interview with The Guardian on Monday:
“She reached out to me. We vetted her claim and she satisfactorily passed that vetting.”
- Builders Slump as U.S. Housing Market Shifts to the Slow Lane (Bloomberg) The housing market is stalling, and homebuilder stocks are feeling the pain. The S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index is down 21% year-to-date, on track for the biggest annual drop since 2008, when it fell 32%. That’s even with tax cuts, unemployment near the lowest since 1969 and a real-estate developer in the White House. The “biggest concern is rising rates in conjunction with higher prices.”
EU
- Eurozone Has Peaked (Twitter)
UK
- Theresa May backs immigration plan that favours skilled workers (The Guardian) Theresa May’s cabinet has agreed a post-Brexit immigration system that will offer visas to immigrants in a tiered system based on skills and wealth, a flagship policy that is expected to be one of her key announcements to the Conservative party conference next week.
- UK’s Labour opposition says preparing to vote down PM May’s Brexit deal (Reuters) Britain’s main opposition Labour Party is set to vote down any deal Prime Minister Theresa May clinches with the European Union and is open to a second referendum with the option of staying in the bloc, its Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said on Tuesday.
Germany​
- BaFin, the German financial watchdog, has announced the appointment of a special advisor to oversee whether Deutsche Bank takes effective measures to stop illegal money transfers.
- Deutsche Bank’s share price is down about 35 percent since the start of the year.
Sweden
- Swedish PM Lofven voted out by parliament, new government unclear (Reuters) Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven lost a mandatory confidence vote in parliament on Tuesday meaning he will step down, but with neither major political bloc holding a majority it remained unclear who will form the next government.
Iran
- Iran, major powers labor to keep nuclear deal afloat (Reuters) The remaining parties to the Iran nuclear deal on Monday agreed to keep working to maintain trade with Tehran despite skepticism this is possible as U.S. sanctions to choke off Iranian oil sales resume in November.
India
- Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the presidential election in the Maldives on Sunday, ushering in a democratic revival that could push the country closer to India.
- The Maldives has historically been an ally of India’s, but the previous regime of Abdulla Yameen established strong ties with China.
- “The newly-elected government in the Maldives may well reverse the country’s drift into China’s strategic sphere. But more than likely it will be just another chapter in long-term strategic competition between India and China across the region,” says David Brewster from the Australian National University.
China
- Trade war: US is putting a knife to China’s neck, says top official (The Guardian) The United States is putting “a knife to China’s neck” on trade issues, a senior Chinese official has said, as the two sides struggle to find a way to end a months-long standoff over trade. A day after both sides heaped fresh tariffs on each other’s goods, vice-commerce minister Wang Shouwen said the resumption of talks on the matter depended on the “will” of the US.
- China reveals its new party line: We’re trying to save the world from the US (CNBC)
- China accused the U.S. of “trade bullyism practices” that have become “the greatest source of uncertainty and risk for the recovery of the global economy.”
- Those comments were laid out in a 71-page white paper that carried the Chinese government’s response to criticisms it received from the U.S.
- “China does not want a trade war, but it is not afraid of one and will fight one if necessary,” Beijing said in the paper.
- Micro EVs Gain Popularity in China (The Daily Shot) Demand for micro-EVs is outpacing the market for full-size electric vehicles.
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