Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 07 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 stocks mixed amid potential delay in US-China trade deal (CNBC) Shares in Asia Pacific were mixed on Thursday amid reports of a potential delay in the signing of a U.S.-China trade deal. Mainland Chinese stocks edged higher on the day. (This report was written before the rumored breakthrough on a trade agreement.) The U.S. dollar index was last higher at 97.983 after rising from levels around 97.8 yesterday. Oil prices edged higher in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures gaining 0.11% to $61.81 per barrel. U.S. crude futures were 0.21% higher at $56.47 per barrel. Spot gold was little changed trading at $1,491.27 per ounce, as of 0337 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were flat at $1,492.9 per ounce. U.S. government debt prices moved lower (yields higher) Thursday morning, amid reports that China and the U.S. have agreed to cancel additional tariffs imposed in their trade war.
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U.S.
- Democrats set stage for Watergate-style TV hearings (The Hill) The trio of witnesses called to testify next week in the first public impeachment hearings are some of the biggest names and most significant players in the Democrats’ sprawling six-week probe into allegations President Trump pressured a foreign power to investigate his political rivals. The biggest names for public testimony at this point are:
- William Taylor, the top diplomat in Ukraine
- George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
- Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine
House Democrats know that millions of Americans will be tuning in to watch the impeachment inquiry for the first time now that weeks of closed-door depositions are giving way to televised Watergate-style hearings that are set for next Wednesday and Friday.
- The ‘Giuliani factor’ that might condemn Trump to impeachment (CNN) Despite being invisible for days after shelving his train wreck TV interviews he is emerging with President Donald Trump as the most dominant and intriguing figure in the impeachment drama. The man once feted as America’s mayor is looming over events on Capitol Hill as details of his expansive role in the scandal fill publicly released witness testimony. (See also Giuliani role unnerves some congressional Republicans.) US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland testified:
“He was always swirling around somewhere,”[adding that Giuliani’s shadow foreign policy mission in Ukraine got more “insidious” as time went on].
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- Stone Trial Links Trump More Closely to 2016 Effort to Obtain Stolen Emails (The New York Times) President Trump was more personally involved in his campaign’s effort to obtain Democratic emails stolen by Russian operatives in 2016 than was previously known, phone records introduced in federal court on Wednesday suggested.
Federal prosecutors disclosed the calls at the start of the criminal trial of Roger J. Stone Jr., Mr. Trump’s longtime friend, who faces charges of lying to federal investigators about his efforts to contact WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign. Russian intelligence officers had funneled tens of thousands of emails they stole from Democratic computers to WikiLeaks, which released them at critical points during the presidential race.
The records suggest that Mr. Trump spoke to Mr. Stone repeatedly during the summer of 2016, at a time when Mr. Stone was aggressively seeking to obtain the stolen emails from Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.
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- Kentucky Governor Won’t Concede, Requests Vote Review (The Wall Street Journal) Democrat Andy Beshear declared victory in the Kentucky governor’s race and pressed ahead with transition plans, despite Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s refusal to concede and his request for a formal review of vote totals. With 100% of counties reporting results, Mr. Beshear led Mr. Bevin (pictured below with his wife) by 5,189 votes out of more than 1.4 million cast, according to unofficial results from the state Board of Elections. The race was too close to call, according to the Associated Press. See also Here’s how the recanvass in the Kentucky governor election will work (CNN). (Econintersect: President Trump carried the state by 30 percentage points in 2016 when 1.7 million votes were cast.)
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China
- At around 03:30 a.m. ET, Dow futures rose 133 points, indicating a positive open of more than 117 points.
- Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were both higher.
- On the data front, the latest weekly jobless claims will be released at around 8:30 a.m., with consumer credit figures for September due to be published later in the session.
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Other important articles
U.S.
- Rand Paul blocks Senate resolution backing protection for whistleblowers (The Hill)
- Senate Republicans have mixed views of Election Day losses (CNN)
- Trump wanted Barr to hold news conference saying the president broke no laws in call with Ukrainian leader (The Washington Post)
- Trump rails against House Democrats, impeachment inquiry during campaign rally: ‘It’s all a hoax‘ (The Hill)
- California justices skeptical of law requiring Trump to release tax returns for state’s primary (Tribune News Services)
- These Trade Claims Made by Trump? They’re All Wrong (The New York Times) Hat tip to John O’Donnell, Online Trading Academy.
Italy
- Italy to become first country to make learning about climate change compulsory for school students (CNN)
Saudi Arabia
- The Delay in the Aramco IPO Is Hardly Surprising (Oil & Energy Investing)
- Two former Twitter employees were charged with using their access to spy for Saudi Arabia, renewing focus on big tech’s ability to protect users. (The New York Times)
China
- China Embraces Bankruptcy, U.S.-Style, to Cushion a Slowing Economy (The Wall Street Journal)
- Xi Jinping’s message to Hong Kong: You’re stuck with Carrie Lam (CNN)
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Australia
- After Uluru: Other Australian Aboriginal sites like Wollumbin Mount Warning could close too (CNN) Uluru, now closed to the public, is pictured below. The second graphic shows another location sacxred to aboriginals which may sson close: Wollumbin, also called Mt. Warning.
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Mexico
- After ‘bullets rained from above,’ child survivors of a Mexico ambush tried to save each other (CNN)
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