Early Headlines: Asia Stocks Mostly Up, Dollar And Oil Down, Gold , Yields Up, WH Boycotts House, Impeachment, Whistleblower, Lebanon Aide Freeze, China Wins Big WTO Case, 303k New Jobs, Calif Burning, Plus More - 27 Articles, 13 Graphics

Early Bird Headlines 04 November 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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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 Pacific stocks advance amid US-China trade optimism (CNBC) Shares in Asia Pacific rose on Monday amid optimism on the U.S.-China trade front. Mainland Chinese shares advanced on the day. The U.S. dollar index was lower at 97.206 following a decline from highs above 97.8 seen last week. Oil prices slipped in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures 0.21% lower at $61.56 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also dipped 0.23% to $56.07 per barrel. Spot gold was steady at $1,513.19 per ounce, as of 0747 GMT, after dipping 0.2% earlier in the session, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.3% at $1,515.30 per ounce. Treasuy yields moved higher.

U.S.

White House aide told not to appear at impeachment probe (Financial Times) The White House has instructed Robert Blair (pictured below), a top adviser to Donald Trump’s chief of staff, not to appear before the Congressional committees leading the impeachment investigation into the president. The House of Representatives panels pursuing the impeachment inquiry had asked Mr Blair, a close adviser to acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, to appear on Monday. But the White House has told Mr Blair, who has not been served a subpoena, not to appear on the grounds that the committee does not allow legal representation at the impeachment proceedings.

Trump picks cancer specialist from Texas hospital to run FDA (Asociated Press) If confirmed, Dr. Stephen Hahn of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston would inherit a raft of high-profile public health issues, including leading the government’s response to the problem of underage vaping and the prescription opioid epidemic. The White House announced plans for the nomination in a statement, citing Hahn’s role as the cancer center’s top medical executive. The Senate will vote on whether to confirm the 59-year-old to the post.

Headquartered in the Maryland suburbs outside Washington, the FDA regulates a variety of consumer goods, including prescription drugs, medical devices, tobacco and vaping products, cosmetics and most food.

Perry refuses to testify in House impeachment inquiry (The Hill) Outgoing Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Friday refused a request from House impeachment investigators to testify next week as part of their inquiry into President Trump. In a letter sent to Democratic lawmakers earlier this month, Perry said he would not comply with a House subpoena to turn over documents tied to his involvement with Ukraine, referring to Democrats’ “impeachment inquiry” in quotes and saying the probe into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine was invalid. Department of Energy press secretary Shaylyn Hynes wrote in a statement to The Hill:

“The Secretary will not partake in a secret star chamber inquisition where agency counsel is forbidden to be present. If the committee is interested in conducting a serious proceeding they are welcome to send for the Secretary’s consideration an invitation to participate in an open hearing where the Department’s counsel can be present and the American people can witness.”

In Private and Public, Trump Leads Impeachment Response (The Wall Street Journal) President Trump’s vociferous rebuttal of the House impeachment inquiry, featured most prominently on his Twitter feed and at campaign rallies, is spilling into unrelated private meetings inside the White House, as his aides try to develop a more structured and consistent response to the probe. He is acting against advice from those who suggest he should downplay the impeachment proceedings and talk more about what he is doing on policy issues.

Whistleblower offers Republicans testimony as Trump pushes for unmasking (Reuters) See also Senate Republicans divided over whether whistleblower should testify (The Hill). The U.S. official whose whistleblower complaint led to the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump offered to communicate directly with Republicans on the intelligence committee leading the inquiry, his lawyers said on Sunday. The action was in response to Republican efforts, led by Trump, to unmask the whistleblower, a member of the U.S. intelligence community whose identity has not been released, lawyer Mark Zaid said.

Republicans have “sought to expose our client’s identity which could jeopardize their safety, as well as that of their family,” Zaid wrote on Twitter.

Lebanon

White House Freezes Military Aid to Lebanon, Against Wishes of Congress, State Dept. and Pentagon (The New York Times) The Trump administration has frozen all military aid to the Lebanese army, including a package worth $105 million that both the State Department and Congress approved in September, congressional officials said Friday.

The halt to American funding of the Lebanese Armed Forces, an important multisectarian group, comes at a critical time for Lebanon, as officials are grappling with the country’s largest street protests since its independence in 1943 and a change in leadership forced by the demonstrations. A freeze on the assistance could give Iran and Russia an opening to exert greater influence over the Lebanese military, analysts say, and perhaps even allow the Islamic State and Al Qaeda to gain greater footholds in the country.

India

New Indian map shows UTs of J&K, Ladakh (The Hindu) The Survey of India has redrawn the map of India to depict the newly formed Union Territories (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh. Areas such as Gilgit, Gilgit Wazarat, Chilhas and the Tribal Territory of 1947 that have been occupied by Pakistan are included in the Ladakh UT. Other areas in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) such as Mirpur and Muzaffarabad have been included in the J&K UT. Disputed areas currently occupied by China in eastern and northeastern Ladakh are also included. New map is first ghraphic below and previous map is second – from Completing India (https://www.jammukashmirnow.com/).

China

China Wins WTO Case to Sanction $3.6 Billion in U.S. Trade (Bloomberg) China secured the World Trade Organization’s go-ahead to impose $3.6 billion in sanctions against the U.S., in a case that predates the tariff war between the world’s two largest economies but may add a layer of tension to ongoing talks. The damages awarded, in a document released Friday on the Geneva-based organizations’ website, are the third highest in WTO history. The amount is about half of what was requested by China, which argued that some U.S. anti-dumping rules were illegal. The ruling comes as the U.S. is mounting an assault on the WTO’s dispute resolution system.

The case began before the 18-month-old trade war between the two nations, which has led to tit-for-tat tariffs covering some $500 billion in goods going in both directions. While the ruling deals with matters outside current negotiations to conclude phase one of a comprehensive trade deal, it gives Beijing a new — and legal — weapon to wield against the Trump administration if it opts to do so.

Other important articles

Global

Huge Asia Pacific trade deal is set to be signed in 2020, Thailand says (CNBC) Southeast Asian countries are committed to signing a mega Asia Pacific trade pact in 2020 that would form a major trading bloc covering a third of the world’s gross domestic product, according to Thailand.

U.S.

Growing number of GOP senators consider acknowledging Trump’s quid pro quo on Ukraine (The Washington Post) In this shift in strategy to defend Trump, these Republicans are insisting that the president’s action was not illegal and does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense as the Democratic-led House moves forward with the open phase of its probe.
All four White House officials scheduled for House inquiry depositions Monday won’t testify (CNN)
Trump math: Here’s how the president arrived at ‘303,000’ jobs instead of 128,000 (MarketWatch)
Donald Trump Jr. Critiques Mueller in New Book (The New York Times)
Why Trump’s move from New York to Florida for tax purposes could be ‘doomed’ (MarketWatch) Simply declaring yourself a resident doesn’t make it so.
These Trade Claims Made by Trump? They’re All Wrong (The New York Times) Hat tip to John O’Donnell, Online Trading Academy.
‘No more’: Trump says he’ll cut off federal funds to fight California wildfires (USA Today)

Hungary central bank head says euro a ‘strategic error’: Financial Times (Reuters) Hat tip to Roger Erickson.

Trump-Russia dossier author gave evidence to UK intrusion inquiry (The Guardian) It is being supressed by 10 Downing. Christopher Steele who made the submission in writing is pictured below.