Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 15 March 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 markets climb as Bank of Japan keeps monetary policy steady (CNBC) Asia Pacific markets mostly traded higher on Friday as investors reacted to the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy decision as well as an overnight vote from U.K. lawmakers that could potentially delay its exit from the European Union. The dollar index last traded lower at 96.646 after declining from levels above 97.500 in the previous week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were up $0.15 cents at $58.76 per barrel at 0745 GMT, their highest so far in 2019. Brent crude oil futures were at $67.43 per barrel, up $0.20 (0.3%) from their last settlement, and within a dollar of their $68.14 2019-high reached the previous day. Oil has rallied about 25% since the start of the year. Spot gold had gained by 0.6% to $1,303.30 per ounce as of 0833 GMT, after shedding about 1% the day before. It was on track for a small weekly gain for a second consecutive week.
- Territorial claims on the North Pole (The Daily Shot)
- Semiconductor Sales Crater (Twitter) This is not a good sign.
U.S.
- The Memo: Biden’s nice words for Republicans may doom White House hopes (The Hill) Joe Biden is proud he can get along with Republicans – and that could be a problem if he enters the 2020 race. The former vice president seems to see comity and decency as the antidotes to the fractious Trump era. But his approach can look too timorous to a swathe of the Democratic primary electorate – especially those who have come to view the GOP as the enemy, not just the opposition. Waleed Shahid, the communications director of Justice Democrats, a progressive group, said:
“There is a growing number of Democrats who feel the Republican Party is a threat to American democracy and is very much to blame for the problems in our society, our democracy and our economy.”
- House votes 420-0 for Mueller report to be made public (The Guardian) The House has unanimously voted for a resolution calling for any final report in the special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation to be made public. The symbolic action was designed to pressure the attorney general, William Barr, to release as much information as possible when the inquiry ends. But the same has not happened in the Senate: Graham blocks resolution calling for Mueller report to be made public.
- The 31 Trump districts that will determine the next House majority (The Hill) Republicans are eyeing a path to the House majority that takes them through Trump country. The GOP has already put 55 districts held by Democrats on its target list for 2020. But Republican hopes are highest in the 31 districts that President Trump carried in 2016. That includes 13 districts where the real estate mogul bested Hillary Clinton by more than 6 points. Article lists districts and incumbents.
- US temp employment has been contracting in recent months. (The Daily Shot)
EU
- Has Draghi Put the ECB in a Box? (Twitter) Easy money has not even warmed the EZ up, say nothing of overheating. Future ECB options to deal with an economic slowdown may be reduced only to following what Japan has done. Here is the record of two tightening attempts in the last 10 years:
UK
- ‘One last roll of the dice’: what the papers say about extending article 50 (The Guardian) The vote to delay Brexit for a yet-to-be-determined length of time has been met in the papers today with a mix of incredulity, calls for more time and speculation as to whether it will boost May’s hand in negotiations. This is a rundown and summary of what all the papers have to say.
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- MPs’ move to seize control of Brexit is rejected (Twitter) See https://www.ft.com/content/7d119ff8-4675-11e9-a965-23d669740bfb.
Israel
- Israel launches Gaza strikes after rockets fired at Tel Aviv (Reuters) Israeli military aircraft bombed Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip early on Friday, hours after two rockets were launched at Tel Aviv in the first such attack since a 2014 war.
Afghanistan
- US Airstrike Wipes Out Allied Afghan Base In ‘Friendly Fire’ Incident (Zero Hedge) In the latest bizarre story to come out of the US “endless war” in Afghanistan, American warplanes obliterated an allied Afghan military post in an act of “self defense” on Wednesday.
The incident took place in the tribal Uruzgan province of south-central Afghanistan and reportedly began when a joint convoy of US troops and Afghan Special Forces came under fire by another unit of Afghan ground troops in what appears a major instance of accidental friendly fire resulting in a devastating two dozen total casualties on the Afghan side.
North Korea
- North Korea may suspend nuclear talks with ‘gangster-like’ U.S.: diplomat (Reuters) North Korea is considering suspending talks with the United States and may rethink a ban on missile and nuclear tests unless Washington makes concessions, news reports from the North’s capital on Friday quoted a senior diplomat as saying.
China
- China scrambled to show it’ll change how it treats foreign firms – that may not be enough for Trump (CNBC)
- Beijing’s largely symbolic National People’s Congress ended Friday with a ceremonial endorsement of a law that addresses specific issues the foreign business community has long complained about, such as intellectual property protection.
- “It’s a step in the right direction. But the trade tensions are wider than that. They’re historical,” says Andrew McGinty, partner at law firm Hogan Lovells.
- Critics say the law is too general in nature and was rushed through without enough time for incorporating thoughtful commentary from foreign businesses and related organizations.
- Shadow Banking Crackdown in China (TThe Daily Shot) Shadow finance continues to shrink in China putting a credit squeeze on many state managed enterprises (SMEs).
New Zealand
- Christchurch shooting: 49 dead in terrorist attack at two mosques – live updates (The Guardian) See also Rightwing extremist ‘Brenton Tarrant’ wrote manifesto before livestreaming shooting.
- 49 people were killed in the attack, including 41 at Deans Avenue mosque and seven at Linwood mosque. Another victim died in hospital.
- A man in his late 20s has been charged with murder and will appear in Christchurch court tomorrow.
- Two others arrested at the scene with guns are being investigated. A fourth person arrested may have had nothing to do with the attack.
- Several guns have been recovered from both mosques. Two explosive devices were found on two vehicles at the scene. One has been disabled.
- The suspects were unknown to the police.
- The police remain vigilant but are not looking for anyone else in connection with the attacks.
- Venezuela’s electricity crisis could trigger ‘serious disruption’ to the oil market, IEA warns (CNBC) See also ‘The electric war’: Major power failure in Venezuela leaves much of the country in the dark.
- The IEA report comes at a time when Venezuela, home to the world’s biggest oil reserves, is in the midst of the Western Hemisphere’s worst humanitarian crisis in recent memory.
- “During the past week, industry operations were seriously disrupted and ongoing losses on a significant scale could present a challenge to the market,” the Paris-based group said in its closely-watched report on Friday.
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