Early Headlines: Asia Stocks Mixed, Dollar And Gold Down, Oil Up, Yields Narrowly Mixed, Brazil Burning, Mexico's Transformation, Canadians' Credit Card Debt Canceled, And More - 24 Articles Total, 7 Graphics

Early Bird Headlines 22 August 2019

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Key Articles

â€‹Global

Japanese shares mixed after data shows manufacturing activity shrank in August (CNBC) Asian stocks were mixed in Thursday trading. The U.S. dollar traded lower at 98.178 against a basket of its peers at 4:06 p.m. HK/SIN, withdrawing from an earlier high of 98.333. U.S. crude added 0.32% to $55.86 a barrel at 4:08 p.m. HK/SIN. International benchmark Brent reversed losses to add 0.27% to $60.45. Spot gold inched down 0.1% to $1,500.14 per ounce by 0426 GMT. U.S. gold futures were down 0.4% at $1,510.10 an ounce. U.S. treasury yields were narrowly mixed.

Brazil

A record number of wildfires are burning in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest (CBC News) President Jair Bolsonaro blames Non-Government Organizations, saying they set fires to make his environmental record look bad. See also Smoke from Burning Amazon Turns São Paulo Afternoon into Midnight (Live Science) and It Isn’t Too Late to Save the Brazilian Rainforest (Foreign Policy).

Wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest have hit a record number this year, with 72,843 fires detected so far by Brazil’s space research centre (INPE), as concerns grow over right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro’s environmental policy.
The surge marks an 83 per cent increase over the same period of 2018, the agency said on Tuesday, and is the highest since records began in 2013.

Mexico

Mexico’s president is just beginning his ‘Fourth Transformation’ of the country (CNN) The Mexican president, who took office December 1st, readily folded when the Trump administration threatened to impose escalating tariffs if Mexico did not immediately act to stem the flow of immigrants from Central America. Taking what the US State Department called “unprecedented steps,” Mexico agreed to increase enforcement to curb irregular migration, including deploying its own National Guard. In return, Mexico kept the status quo as a crucial trade partner with the United States, and nothing else.

Despite his own transformation into cordiality, and compliance with the Trump administration, Lopez Obrador has not been as accommodating at home, especially with those who dare to disagree with his grandiose nationalist and populist political platform.
Lopez Obrador says that he started “Mexico’s Fourth Transformation”, a social movement to eradicate corruption and alleviate poverty, while striving for social justice and equality. By doing so, he puts himself on par with the heroes of Mexico’s war of independence from Spain, and the 20th century revolutionaries who created modern Mexico.

Canada

Chase Bank cancels all credit card debt for Canadian customers (The Guardian) Chase Bank is forgiving all outstanding debt owed by customers of its two Canadian credit cards as it exits the country’s market. Customers using the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa and the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa were pleasantly surprised to find the balance on their credit cards had been wiped clean. The US-based bank, part of the firm JPMorgan Chase & Co, announced in March 2018 that it was closing its two Visa cards and leaving the Canadian credit card market after 13 years. See also ‘It’s crazy’: Chase Bank forgiving all debt owed by its Canadian credit card customers (CBC News)

Credit card rewards expert Patrick Sojka said Chase likely concluded that debt forgiveness was ultimately cheaper than continuing to collect credit card payments in Canada.