Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 11 January 2019
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 mostly higher amid improving investor sentiment following US gains (CNBC) Asia stocks mostly gained Friday amid improved investor sentiment following overnight gains on Wall Street. The mainland Chinese markets, watched in relation to the ongoing trade war between Beijing and Washington, were higher on the day. The U.S. dollar index was higher at 95.365 after seeing an earlier low around the 95 handle yesterday. International Brent crude futures were at $61.55 per barrel at 0333 GMT, down $0.13 (0.2%) from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped $0.07 (0.1%) to $52.52 per barrel. Spot gold rose 0.4% to $1,290.84 per ounce as at 0310 GMT, heading for a fourth straight weekly gain.
- Global Recession (Zero Hedge, Twitter)
U.S.
- Trump weighs declaring emergency (Reuters) President Donald Trump was considering declaring a national emergency that would likely escalate a policy dispute with Democrats over his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall into a court test of presidential power. See also Trump eyes disaster bill, inches toward declaring emergency to build wall (The Hill)
- Michael Cohen to testify publicly before Congress in February (The Guardian) The former Trump lawyer says he accepted invitation from top Democrat and will offer ‘full and credible account of events’.
- McConnell blocks House bills to reopen government (The Hill) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R, KY) on Thursday blocked two House-passed funding bills that would reopen the federal government. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D, MD) and Ben Cardin (D, MD), surrounded by roughly two dozen of their Senate Democratic colleagues, tried to get consent to bring up a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through Feb. 8, as well as a separate package that would fund the remaining agencies without current-year appropriations through Sept. 30.
- Yield Curves Steepen Just Before Recessions (Twitter)
EU
- Ford said it will seek to exit the multivan segment, stop manufacturing automatic transmissions in Bordeaux in August, review its operations in Russia, and combine the headquarters of Ford U.K. and Ford Credit.
- Ford Europe, which currently employs 53,000 people, has struggled to turn a profit, posting a 245 million euros loss before interest and taxes in the third quarter.
- ECB Balance Sheet Appears To Be Topping (Twitter) Is the euro QE really ending? Just as the Eurozone appears poised to go into recession?
UK
- No-deal Brexit would put thousands of UK jobs at risk, CBI to warn (The Guardian) A no-deal Brexit would have profound economic consequences with GDP shrinking by up to 8%, putting thousands of jobs at risk, the Confederation of British Industry is to warn. The business body is urging MPs to back Theresa May’s deal, describing it as a “solution” businesses can work with as it delivers a transition period and avoids a “hugely damaging cliff edge“. It says if parliament does not agree, it must immediately outline its plan to avert no deal and secure British jobs.
- No-deal Brexit not good for Britain: UK minister Rudd (Reuters) A no-deal Brexit would not be good for Britain but the government is right to make preparations in case of such an outcome, Britain’s work and pensions minister Amber Rudd said on Friday.
- Japanese PM implores Britain not to leave EU without a deal (The Guardian) Japan’s prime minister has implored the UK not to leave the EU without an exit deal, saying it was “the wish of the whole world” to see Britain secure an agreement. The remarks from ShinzÅ Abe on a visit to London came as two cabinet ministers, Greg Clark and Gavin Williamson, traded blows over the viability of a no-deal.
Speaking in Downing Street, Abe said Japan offered total support to Theresa May’s Brexit deal and said Japanese companies employing 150,000 people in the UK would value the stability.
France
- French IP Shrinks (Twitter)
Switzerland
- Sharp Weakness in the Swiss Franc (Twitter)
India
- Parliament passes Bill to provide 10% quota for poor (The Hindu) Parliament on Wednesday cleared the Constitutional Amendment Bill guaranteeing 10% quota in education and employment to economically weaker sections in the general category, following an approval by the Rajya Sabha. The Upper House nod came following an over nine-hour-long heated debate, during which the Opposition accused the government of bringing the Bill in haste with an eye on the coming Lok Sabha election.
Myranmar
- Myanmar court rejects appeal by jailed Reuters reporters (Reuters) A Myanmar court on Friday rejected the appeal of two Reuters reporters sentenced to seven years in jail on charges of breaking the Official Secrets Act, saying the defense had not provided sufficient evidence to show they were innocent.
Japan
- Carlos Ghosn indicted on fresh financial misconduct charges in Japan (The Guardian) Carlos Ghosn could remain in detention for several months after prosecutors indicted him on two new charges of financial misconduct, days after the former Nissan chairman insisted he had been wrongly accused. Ghosn was charged with aggravated breach of trust and for understating his compensation by 4.3 billion yen for three years through March 2018, the Nikkei business daily said. He had already been charged for underreporting his pay by around 5 billion yen ($46 million) between 2010-15.
The charge of aggravated breach of trust relates to allegations that he attempted to transfer 1.85 billion yen in personal investment losses to Nissan in 2008.
Ghosn has repeatedly denied the allegations.
North Korea
- ‘The whole country is a prison’: No sign of better rights in North Korea – U.N. (Reuters) Despite more than a year of international engagement and promises of economic reform by North Korea’s leaders, the human rights situation in the isolated country remains dire, a top U.N. rights official said on Friday.
China
- Chinese growth is more of a concern than the American economy right now, private bank says (CNBC) The Chinese economy is a bigger worry right now than the U.S. economy, according to an investments expert at a private bank. Speaking to CNBC on Friday, Felix Brill, the head of investment solutions at Liechtenstein-based VP Bank, said investors should expect more market volatility due to the ongoing trade war negotiations between Washington and Beijing. Still, he ultimately expressed optimism that China’s leaders will keep their economy together.
- Retailers are slashing iPhone prices across China as consumers say the phones aren’t worth the cost (CNBC)
- Apple’s latest iPhone models are seeing huge discounts from retailers in China.
- The technology giant recently revised its first quarter sales forecast downward, putting a large part of the blame on a slowdown in the Chinese market.
- Experts said a mixture of a poor pricing strategy and a lack of exciting features compared to local rivals like Huawei has led to the newest iPhones’ weak performance in China.
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