Early Headlines: Asia Stocks And Oil Up, Dollar Down, Gold Mixed, Yields Narrowly Up, Impeachment, Campaign Finance Arrests, Nobel Peace Prize, Denver Slammed With Cold, Brexit, Plus More - 30 Articles, 7 Graphics

Early Bird Headlines 11 October 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.

Please share this article – Go to very top of page, right hand side for social media buttons.

Notice: We have changed the form of content coverage for Early Bird. We will provide discussion only for Asia Markets news and a small number (often 1 or 2) other articles. The remainder of the content will be headlines (with links) only.

Key Articles

Global

Asia stocks rise amid US-China trade optimism (CNBC) Stocks in Asia were higher on Friday as investors cheered positive developments on the U.S.-China trade front. The U.S. dollar index was lower at 98.620 after falling from levels above 99.0 yesterday. Oil prices jumped in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures gaining 1.98% to $60.27 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also advanced 1.85% to $54.54 per barrel. Spot gold inched 0.2% higher to $1,496.49 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were little changed at $1,501.00. U.S. treasury yields were narrowly higher after being lower most of the session.

U.S.

White House Shifted Authority Over Ukraine Aid Amid Legal Concerns (The Wall Street Journal) The White House gave a politically appointed official the authority to keep aid to Ukraine on hold after career budget staff members questioned the legality of delaying the funds, according to people familiar with the matter, a shift that House Democrats are probing in their impeachment inquiry.

President Trump’s order to freeze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine in mid-July is at the center of House Democratic efforts to investigate allegations that Mr. Trump used U.S. foreign policy powers to benefit himself politically. The hold came days before Mr. Trump’s request, on a July 25 call, that the Ukrainian president work with Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr to conduct investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential hopeful.

Trump donors charged in campaign finance case (BBC News) Two Trump donors have been charged with violations of campaign finance laws, New York prosecutors say. See also Five things to know about arrest of Giuliani associates and Prosecutors say Giuliani associates were trying to leave the country with one-way tickets when arrested (both The Hill) . Businessmen Lev Parnas (left in piture below) and Igor Fruman (right) conspired to “funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and state office“, say the charges. Both men are naturalized US citizens. Mr Parnas was born in Ukraine, Mr Fruman in Belarus.

The pair have been associated with US President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
They have been peddling unsubstantiated corruption claims against a top Democratic presidential contender.

Trump Lashes Out at Fox News Poll as Barr Meets With Murdoch (Fox News) Attorney General William P. Barr met privately Wednesday evening with Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul who is one of President Trump’s frequent confidants but whose Fox News is viewed by the president as more hostile toward him than it used to be.

The meeting was held at Mr. Murdoch’s home in New York, according to someone familiar with it. It was unclear if anyone else attended or what was discussed. Aides to both Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Barr declined requests for comment on the meeting.

Temperatures in Denver dropped 64 degrees in less than 24 hours, setting a record (CNN) Temperatures in Colorado plunged 64 degrees on Thursday, the largest temperature drop the state has ever seen in October. It’s also the 15th largest temperature drop ever over a two day period in Denver’s history. At the Denver airport alone, the temperature dropped 55 degrees. CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward said at 2 p.m. on Wednesday it was 79 degrees and on Thursday at 2 p.m. the temperature read 24 degrees. Pictured below is a Denver bicyclist navigating a snowy street Thursday. Sig Silber has been tracking the spreading winter weather: LIVE ALL WEEK: Severe Weather Events Week Of October 7, 2019 Through Oct 13 2019.