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☆ Life insurers binge on US financing aimed at helping housing
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

It has been predominantly used by life insurers, because they need to boost their investment returns with cheap funding to meet long-term liabilities. They provide the cheap funding to banks and insurers in exchange for collateral to ensure they get their money back. Insurers are entitled to tap FHLB funding. Insurers’ borrowing from FHLBs picked up in 2008 financial crisis, as those that spread themselves thin with aggressive investments scrambled for cash. They did not explain why insurers need FHLB funding to invest in mortgages.

Persons: Sarah Silbiger, Ryan Donovan, CMBS, Lawrence White, White, Graphics JUICING, Cynthia Beaulieu, Cornelius Hurley, Hurley, FHLBs, ’, Michael Ericson, Jack Dolan, Koh Qui, Greg Roumeliotis, Anna Driver Organizations: REUTERS, Loan, Federal Housing Finance Agency, of Federal Home Loan, FHLBs, FHLB, National Association of Insurance, New York University, MetLife Inc, Equitable Holdings Inc, Corebridge, Brighthouse Financial, MetLife, TIAA, Equitable, Graphics, Wellington Management, Boston University School of Law, Coalition, Silicon Valley Bank, First, American, of, Insurance Coalition, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S, Boston, Silicon, First Republic, Chicago, New York

☆ Tesla launched its own car insurance. These drivers say it's a lemon.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +20 min

Tesla Insurance, launched in 2019 by the electric-car company, has promised policyholders “vastly better” service than rivals, as Tesla chief Elon Musk put it in April 2022. “What do they have, three people answering phone calls?”Complaints about Tesla Insurance are drawing scrutiny from state regulators and the plaintiffs’ bar. And there’s no way to know exactly how many have been made against Tesla Insurance and how its record compares with competitors’. That fall, Tesla launched InsureMyTesla, a new insurance offering for U.S. Tesla owners, in partnership with Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. Lester F. Aponte, a Los Angeles attorney who signed up for Tesla Insurance in August, described a maddening ordeal to obtain proof of insurance.

Persons: Mark Bova, lurched, “ I’m, ” Bova, policyholders “, Elon Musk, Musk, Bova, he’s, Tesla, ”, Musk’s, Virginia –, Phil Fioresi, Tesla’s adjusters, adjusters, ” Zachary Kirkhorn, ” Kirkhorn, Teslas, InsureMyTesla, it’s, It’s, Chanda Santiago, ” Santiago, Lester F, Aponte, haven't, Understaffed, “, —, Policyholders, Jonathan Garcia, Garcia, adjuster, Scott Sawyer, Sawyer, Lauren Lee Sawyer, ” Sawyer, –, Steve Stecklow, Koh Gui Qing, Norihiko, Mike Scarcella, John Emerson, Brian Thevenot Organizations: Green, U.S . Army Special Forces, Tesla Insurance, Tesla, Reuters, Bureau, Twitter, U.S, SpaceX, Ohio Department of Insurance, California Department of Insurance, Data, AAA, The Auto Club Group, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co, Liberty Mutual, Markel, National Insurance Company, State National, State, Facebook, Better, policyholders, Better Business Bureau Locations: Maryland, That’s, California , Utah , Illinois, Virginia, South San Francisco , California, California, Draper , Utah, Texas, policyholders, InsureMyTesla, U.S, Illinois, Colorado, Ohio, Florida , Georgia, Washington, Santiago, Los Angeles, Draper, North Carolina, Riverside , California

[1/3] Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., October 27, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON/NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Global stocks traded cautiously on Monday as the market's focus turned to U.S. inflation data for more clues on whether global interest rates really have peaked. Economists polled by Reuters expect to see headline consumer price inflation in the U.S. slow to 3.3% in October from 3.7% the month before, although the so-called core inflation rate that strips out volatile components is seen unchanged. "But now, the Treasury market has already priced in a pause, so there's not much room for Treasury yields to fall further," removing a support for the stock market. "In short, I don't think the stock market rally is going to continue."

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Naka Matsuzawa, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Naomi Rovnick, Nell Mackenzie, Kevin Buckland, Jacqueline Wong, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Global, Dow, Nasdaq, Barclays, Federal Reserve, Reuters, Nomura Securities, Treasury, Economic Cooperation, Brent, . West Texas, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Israel, United States, Asia, San Francisco, Iraq, London, Tokyo

☆ China's truck industry is buying more driver-assist technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Huanqiu.com | Visual China Group | Getty ImagesBEIJING — China's truck industry is finding more reasons to buy vehicles with assisted-driving technology. The companies trying to sell trucks to fleet operators are including driver-assist tech as a way to make the vehicles more attractive, Gui said. In addition, Chinese authorities require all newly manufactured trucks since 2022 to come with basic driver-assist tech for warning against forward collision and lane departure, Gui said. The startup claims its trucks cost about 5% less than traditional options, on top of safety and environmental benefits. PlatooningOther startups are testing out different forms of driver-assist trucks in China.

Persons: Gui Lingfeng, Gui, Julian Ma Inceptio, Inceptio, Julian Ma, That's, Ma, Didi, Junqing Wei Organizations: Visual China, Getty, BEIJING, Kearney, it's, Industry, SF Holdings, CNBC's East Tech West Locations: Shanghai, China, Tianjin, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Nansha, Guangzhou

Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall Group did not respond to a request for comment. This year's Singles Day event is also the first since Alibaba Group split into six business units. This view is supported by recent polls on social media where the majority of respondents said Singles Day was no longer necessary. Meara He, a 21-year-old student from Wenzhou, says she often shops using Douyin live-streams and this year, "doesn't care" about Singles Day as much. "In the past I would wait for Double 11 (Singles Day) and do some shopping, but this time I just plan to buy products that I need," she said.

Persons: Alibaba, Pinduoduo, Josh Gardner, Alibaba's, Ashley Dudarenok, AlixPartners, Douyin, Melody Zhao, Casey, Sophie Yu, Brenda Goh Organizations: PDD Holdings, Kungfu, Tmall, Administration, Market, ByteDance, Alibaba, Suisse, Industry, Hua Gui Food Group, Casey Hall, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, HK, China, Wenzhou, Shanghai, Beijing

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Tuesday morning after six months aboard China’s orbiting space station. The station is essentially complete, so the new crew will conduct medical and scientific experiments and maintain equipment. China made its first crewed space mission in 2003 and plans to put astronauts on the moon before 2030. It has brought samples back from the lunar surface and landed a rover on the less explored far side of the moon. Political Cartoons View All 1227 ImagesChina built its own space station after it was excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to U.S. concerns over Chinese military control over the national space program.

Persons: Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu, Gui Haichao Organizations: Xinhua News Agency, International, Station, U.S, SpaceX Locations: TAIPEI, Taiwan, China, Beijing, South, U.S

☆ China's youngest-ever crew of astronauts heads to space station
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Ryan Woo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

China... Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreBEIJING, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The youngest-ever crew of Chinese astronauts departed for China's space station on Thursday, paving the way for a new generation of "taikonauts" to advance the country's space ambitions in the future. Leading the six-month mission was former air force pilot Tang Hongbo, 48, who was on the first crewed mission to the space station in 2021. By contrast, his fellow Shenzhou-17 crew members Tang Shengjie, 33, and Jiang Xinlin, 35, both travelling to space for the first time, joined China's third batch of astronauts in September 2020. The Shenzhou-17 astronauts will replace the Shenzhou-16 crew, who arrived at Tiangong at the end of May. Shenzhou-17 marks China's 12th crewed mission since Yang Liwei's solo spaceflight in October 2003, the first Chinese national in space.

Persons: Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie, Jiang Xinlin, Tang, Tiangong, Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu, Gui Haichao, Zhu, Gui, Yang Liwei's, Ryan Woo, Tom Hogue, Gerry Doyle Organizations: taikonauts, People's Liberation Army, NASA, Space, U.S, Thomson Locations: Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, BEIJING, Hong Kong, Macau, Tiangong

U.S. bond investors nonetheless dialled back their bets of a rate hike in November and December following Powell's remarks, though Treasury yields traded near break-even by late morning. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was steady at 4.2314% and the two-year yield, which reflects interest rate expectations, rose to 5.0735%. "We've seen a back-off in ECB rate hike expectations. Boston Fed President Susan Collins said on Yahoo Finance's video channel that rates may be near or at a peak, "but certainly additional increments are possible." Tokyo consumer price data on Friday, which front-runs nationwide figures, showed inflation remained well above the Bank of Japan's target.

Persons: Toby Melville, Jerome Powell, Powell, David Sadkin, Dow Jones, Christine, Lagarde, Ben Laidler, Patrick Harker, Susan Collins, Shaun Osborne, Joseph Capurso, Kazuo Ueda, Jackson, Brent, Samuel Indyk, Kevin Buckland, Jacqueline Wong, Mark Potter, Chizu Nomiyama, Susan Fenton, Diane Craft, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: London Stock Exchange Group, City of, REUTERS, Federal Reserve, Bel Air Investment Advisors, Nasdaq, European Central Bank, ECB, Reuters, Philadelphia Fed, CNBC, Boston, Yahoo, U.S, Scotiabank, Bank of, Bank of Japan, CBA, West Texas, Thomson Locations: City, City of London, Britain, Jackson Hole , Wyoming, U.S, Asia, Tokyo

[1/3] Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 15, 2023. Profit-taking weighed on shares across the board, with the MSCI All Country stock index (.MIWD00000PUS) down 0.36%. Profit-taking also took hold in Europe, where European stocks (.STOXX) gave up earlier gains to edge down 0.37%. EASING YIELDSGovernment bond yields eased, adding to a sense of relief across markets. In currency markets, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies , added 0.474%, and remains higher over the month.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Dow Jones, Jerome Powell, Patrick Harker, Harker, Robert Alster, Zhang Zihua, Koh Gui Qing, Tom Wilson, Julie Zhu, Kirsten Donovan, Matthew Lewis Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Nasdaq, Investors, Federal, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, CNBC, Profit, Asset Management, Nvidia, Beijing Yunyi Asset Management, Brent, . West Texas, Hong, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, United States, Jackson Hole , Wyoming, Europe, Turkish, Asia, Pacific, Japan, China, Beijing, New York, London, Hong Kong

☆ Insight: Insurers poised for US break on investment losses from high rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

A negative IMR forces insurers to tap pots of money they would have otherwise spent on their business or returned to shareholders. Among those insurers are Prudential Financial (PRU.N), OneAmerica Financial Partners, Principal Financial (PFG.O) and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, according to Fitch. That compares to $1.8 billion in net fixed income-related losses Prudential recorded in 2022. They do not give banks the option of deferring interest rate-related losses, fearing excesses that led to the 2008 financial crisis. DEFERRING LOSSESFollowing the rule change, insurers will be allowed to amortize interest rate-related losses over time equivalent to 10% of their statutory surplus.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Fitch, Edward Stone, Stone, Ken Tanji, MassMutual, OneAmerica, Steven Zabel, Zabel, Koh Gui Qing, David French, Greg Roumeliotis, Anna Driver Organizations: Prudential Financial, REUTERS, SEATTLE, Sunday, National Association of Insurance, Reuters, Federal Reserve, OneAmerica Financial Partners, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, Prudential, Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank, Insurance, American Council of, Equitable Holdings, MetLife, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, MassMutual, OneAmerica, Financial, Unum, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S, Seattle, Fitch, Silicon, New York

☆ Fall’s Sinuous New Silhouettes
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Bharat Sikka | Raphael Hirsch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

From left:dress, price on request, versace.com earrings, $1,200, balenciaga.com shoes, $640, guirosa.com ; and stylist’s own bracelets and tights.top, $6,500, and skirt, $5,500;shoes, $840;earrings; model’s own nose ring (worn throughout); and stylist’s own bracelets and tights.dress, $3,800, ferragamo.com shoes, $840; and stylist’s own bracelets and tights. From left: Versace dress, price on request, versace.com; Balenciaga earrings, $1,200, balenciaga.com; Gui Rosa shoes, $640, guirosa.com; and stylist’s own bracelets and tights. Versace top, $6,500, and skirt, $5,500; Gui Rosa shoes, $840; Balenciaga earrings; model’s own nose ring (worn throughout); and stylist’s own bracelets and tights. Ferragamo dress, $3,800, ferragamo.com; Gui Rosa shoes, $840; and stylist’s own bracelets and tights.Credit...Photograph by Bharat Sikka. Styled by Raphael Hirsch

Persons: Gui Rosa, Versace, Bharat Sikka, Raphael Hirsch

☆ More than 100 U.S. political elites have family links to slavery
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +46 min

Then the war came, and according to the family history, Union soldiers plundered Sessions’ 27-room house. About 48 years old at the time, he did not stand a chance to succeed without slavery, the family history suggests. ‘A Better Nation’Some historians and genealogists say there is a valuable reason for white leaders – and other white Americans – to explore their links to slavery. Nicka Sewell-Smith, a professional genealogist with the family history website Ancestry.com, said people frequently ask her what to do with such documents. The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Meeks said in an interview that he has spent years trying to trace his family history back before 1870.

Persons: Black, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton, James Lankford, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Jeanne Shaheen, Maggie Hassan, Joe Biden, –, Donald Trump –, Jimmy Carter, George W, Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Trump’s, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch –, Asa Hutchinson, Doug Burgum, Tim Scott, James Clyburn, Henry McMaster, ”, Henry Louis Gates Jr, Gates, ” “, ” Gates, enslavers, Tony Burroughs, Biden, Obama, McConnell, Burroughs, Joseph Maddox, Maddox, Sela, Rubin, James, Sal, Sam ”, Graham, Graham didn’t, Nancy Mace, Drucilla, Drucilla Mace, John Mace, Hector Godbolt, John Mace’s, Godbolt, “, ” Nancy Mace, Henry Coe, Duckworth, Coe, Margaret, Isaac, Warner, George …, Isaac Franklin –, “ There’s, ” Duckworth, George Floyd, Donald Trump, ” Biden, ‘, ’, Ben Affleck, ” Affleck, Independent Angus King, Mo Brooks, ” Brooks, Sean Kelley, Kelley, White, don’t, wasn’t, Richard Sessions, Pete Sessions, Richard’s, William Sessions, John Cowger, Tom Cotton of, ” Cotton’s, Cowger, Cotton, Archibald Crawford, Juneteenth, Shaheen, Pocahontas, Edmond Dillehay, Peter ”, Milly, Lankford, ” Lankford, Joe Wilson, Stephen H, Wilson, Boineau, General David Addison Weisiger, Wilson –, Addison Graves Wilson –, Weisiger “, ” Wilson, Daniel Weisiger, Daniel Weisiger’s, Samuel, Samuel Weisiger, Daniel, Julia Brownley, Jesse Brownley, Brownley, ” Brownley, Thomas Ferguson, Brooks, Manumission, Marie Jenkins Schwartz, ” “ It’s, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, Harvard’s Gates, Sherman, Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Nicka Sewell, Smith, Ancestry.com, ” Sewell, LaBrenda Garrett, Nelson, Garrett, Rick Larsen, John Wiggins, Larsen, – Gilbura, George, Agg –, ” Larsen, Gilbura, Agg, Gregory Meeks, Meeks, Jim Crow South, – Meeks, – “, ” Meeks, “ I’m, I’m, Tom Bergin, Makini Brice, Nicholas P, Brown, Donna Bryson, Lawrence Delevingne, Brad Heath, Andrea Januta, Gui Qing Koh, Tom Lasseter, Grant Smith, Maurice Tamman, Catherine Tai Design, John Emerson, Jane Ross, Emma Jehle, Jeremy Schultz, Blake Morrison Organizations: Reuters, Republicans, U.S, Supreme, Republican, Harvard University, PBS, United States Congress, Representative, WikiLeaks, Sony, Facebook, White, FedEx, National Museum of, 117th, Independent, University of Essex, Geographic, American Economic, Pete Sessions, Sessions, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jeanne Shaheen U.S, CNN, Biden, Trump, ” Reuters, South, South Carolina General Assembly, Confederate, statehouse, Congressional, Chesterfield County, Mount Vernon College, George Washington University, Mo Brooks Former U.S, “, New York Times, United, Federal Government, Union, Black, Southern, Democrat, House Foreign Affairs, Klux Klan Locations: U.S, America, Confederate States, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Carolina, Congress, Black, Northern, Southern, Illinois, Virginia, Frederick County , Virginia, United States, Minnesota, ”, Mo Brooks of Alabama, American, Texas, Mississippi, Chicot County , Arkansas, Chicot County, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Yell County, Yell County , Arkansas, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tulsa, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Frankfurt, Germany, Chesterfield County , Virginia, California, Portsmouth , Virginia, Alabama, Haywood County , North Carolina, Antebellum, United States of America, Washington, Nicholas County , Kentucky, Queens , New York, New York, York County, Mende, Sierra Leone, Africa, Bunce

☆ Should the U.S. government pay reparations for slavery and its legacy?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

The poll found that 74% of Black Americans favor reparations compared to just 26% of white Americans. A divided America Views on whether the U.S. government should provide some form of reparations for slavery and its legacy are split along party and racial lines. They also say it’s wrong to have taxpayers finance reparations, given that no one alive today is responsible for slavery. In April 2021, Gohmert went on the attack by proposing an amendment calling for the Democratic Party to pay for reparations. In the slavery era, the Democratic Party supported slavery; the Republican Party, led by Abraham Lincoln, called for slavery’s restriction and eventually abolished it.

Persons: –, Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, Lloyd Doggett, Tommy Tuberville, John N, Kennedy, Louie Gohmert, ”, Black, Robert Lindsay, Gohmert, Abraham Lincoln, Lindsay, Valentine, ” Tuberville, “, Tuberville, Valentine Brazil, Nathan Calhoun, ” Kennedy, Nathan Calhoun’s, Dabney P, Calhoun, John Crawford, ’ Warren, Warren, – Crawford, Crawford, ” Warren, Isaac Hollingsworth, ’, Van Hollen, ” Van Hollen, Miller Doggett, Doggett, ” Doggett, Jim Crow, Tom Bergin, Makini Brice, Nicholas P, Brown, Donna Bryson, Lawrence Delevingne, Brad Heath, Andrea Januta, Gui Qing Koh, Tom Lasseter, Grant Smith, Maurice Tamman, Catherine Tai Design, John Emerson, Jeremy Schultz, Blake Morrison Organizations: Black, Reuters, –, 117th, U.S ., Louie Gohmert Former U.S, Representative, Republican, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Vigilance, Kennedy U.S, Massachusetts Democrat, Senate, Chris Van Hollen U.S, Maryland, Lloyd Doggett U.S, H.R, Texas Democrat Locations: United States, America, U.S . Civil, Louie Gohmert Former, Texas, Europe, Bowie County , Texas, Boston, Bowie County, Alabama, Valentine Brazil, Nevada, Tuberville, Saline County , Arkansas, Brazil, Ouachita, Louisiana, Abbeville , South Carolina, Massachusetts, Dorchester County , Maryland, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee

They include eight chief executives of the 11 states that formed the Confederate States of America, which seceded and waged war to preserve slavery. Although white people enslaved Black people in Northern states in early America, by the eve of the Civil War, slavery was almost entirely a Southern enterprise. South Carolina, where the Civil War began, illustrates the familial ties between lawmakers and the nation’s history of slavery. Each of the seven white lawmakers who served in the 117th Congress is a direct descendant of a slaveholder, Reuters found. In researching America’s political elite, Reuters found names – almost always just a first name – of 712 people enslaved by the ancestors of the political elite.

Persons: Black, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Jeanne Shaheen, Joe Biden, –, Donald Trump –, Jimmy Carter, George W, Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch –, Asa Hutchinson, Doug Burgum, Tim Scott, James Clyburn, Henry McMaster, ”, Henry Louis Gates Jr, Gates, ” “, ” Gates, enslavers, Tony Burroughs, Biden, Obama, McConnell, “ it’s, ” Burroughs, LINDSEY GRAHAM, Joseph Maddox, Maddox, Sela, Rubin, James, Sal, Sam ”, Graham, Graham didn’t, NANCY MACE, Nancy Mace, Drucilla Mace, John Mace, Hector Godbolt, John Mace’s, Godbolt, “, ” Nancy Mace, TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Duckworth, Henry Coe, Coe, Margaret, Isaac, Warner, George …, Isaac Franklin –, “ There’s, ” Duckworth, Tom Bergin, Makini Brice, Nicholas P, Brown, Donna Bryson, Lawrence Delevingne, Brad Heath, Andrea Januta, Gui Qing Koh, Tom Lasseter, Grant Smith, Maurice Tamman, Blake Morrison Organizations: U.S, Reuters, Republicans, Supreme, Republican, Harvard University, PBS, United States Congress, Geographic, Journalists, Black, Thomson Locations: America, U.S, Confederate States, Arkansas, North Dakota, Black, Northern, Southern, South Carolina, Congress, New Hampshire , Maine, Massachusetts, United States, Illinois, Virginia, Frederick County , Virginia

☆ Resources available for learning genealogy, researching your ancestry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That means you – and what you know about your parents and grandparents – are the starting points for researching your family’s ancestry. In conjunction with this Reuters series, Legacy Family Tree Webinars is making available at no charge a variety of online genealogy webinars from its extensive library to help novices and experts alike. The webinars range from introductions to genealogy for novices to courses that explore African American genealogy. Among the webinars available through July is Descendants of the Enslaved and Enslavers – Working Together to Discover Family. Legacy Family Tree Webinars has a library of about 2,000 genealogy-related webinars.

Persons: –, Tom Bergin, Makini Brice, Nicholas P, Brown, Donna Bryson, Lawrence Delevingne, Brad Heath, Andrea Januta, Gui Qing Koh, Tom Lasseter, Grant Smith, Maurice Tamman, Catherine Tai Design, John Emerson, Blake Morrison Organizations: Reuters, reuters

The S&P 500 index (.SPX) rose 0.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) added 0.12%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) climbed 0.28%. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.37%, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was little changed. With major share markets all in the black, investors might think that stocks are set to rise further. Government bond yields - a proxy for borrowing rates - eased earlier after a European Central Bank (ECB) survey showed euro zone consumers had lowered their inflation expectations. Australia's central bank hiked rates by a quarter-point to 4.1% - an 11-year high - and warned that further increases might be required to ensure inflation is brought back under control.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, James Rossiter, Bitcoin, Nansen, Brent, Nell Mackenzie, Marc Jones, Dhara Ranasinghe, Mark Potter Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Fed, ECB, SEC, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve, Bank of America Securities, Treasury, European Central Bank, Canada, Securities Senior Global, U.S . Federal Reserve, Bank of, Aussie, Reserve Bank of, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, U.S, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Asia, Pacific, Japan, Government, Australia's, Bank of Japan, Reserve Bank of Australia, Binance, Saudi Arabia

☆ China launches Shenzhou-16 mission to Chinese space station - state media
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

China Daily via REUTERSBEIJING, May 30 (Reuters) - China sent three astronauts to its now fully operational space station as part of crew rotation on Tuesday in the fifth manned mission to the Chinese space outpost since 2021, state media reported. The astronauts on Shenzhou-16 will replace the three-member crew of the Shenzhou-15, who arrived at the space station late in November. China has already announced plans to expand its permanently inhabited space outpost, with the next module slated to dock with the current T-shaped space station to create a cross-shaped structure. Leading the Shenzhou-16 mission was Jing Haipeng, 56, a senior spacecraft pilot from China's first batch of astronaut trainees in the late 1990s. Also by the end of 2023, China is due to a launch space telescope the size of a large bus.

☆ Shenzhou-16 launch: China sends first civilian astronaut to space
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —China sent its first civilian astronaut into orbit on Tuesday, as it launched the Shenzhou-16 mission to its space station for its second in-orbit crew rotation, marking another step forward for the country’s ambitious space program. It is China’s fifth manned mission to the space station since 2021. Several media outlets on Monday responded to the online discussion over how a person without perfect vision could be physically cleared for a space mission. This could make it the sole in-orbit outpost for scientific research after the expected end of operations for the International Space Station in 2030. Tiangong’s core module first entered orbit in 2021, marking the first major step in a space station dream envisioned by the government since 1992.

☆ Analysis: Icahn's mark-up of meat packager extraordinary but possible, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Hindenburg said Icahn Enterprises LP (IEP) (IEP.O) valued a meat packing company in which it owns a 90% stake three times over its market value. IEP cited "the lack of material trading volume" in Viskase's stock as grounds for the valuation mark-up in the filing. Viskase's shares are traded in the over-the-counter market rather than a major exchange such as Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange. On Thursday, IEP said after the stock market closed that it would preserve its dividend at $2 per unit for the first quarter. IEP's stock rose 10% in afterhours trading on the announcement.

In a report published on Tuesday, Hindenburg accused IEP of overvaluing its holdings and relying on a "Ponzi-like" structure to pay dividends. The subsequent plunge in IEP shares wiped $2.9 billion off Icahn's net worth, leaving him with an estimated $14.7 billion, according to Forbes. NAV is a key gauge of a fund's performance, measuring the market value of securities held by the fund. Driving the frothiness in IEP's stock, Hindenburg argued, is its dividend yield of 15.8%, the highest of any U.S. large cap company by far. Hindenburg also offered examples it said showed IEP itself was valuing its holdings way above their market value.

CNN —A Taiwan-based book publisher has been placed under investigation in China on suspicion of “endangering state security,” Beijing said Tuesday amid mounting concern over his disappearance. Li’s detention comes at a tense moment in cross-strait relations, and several Taiwan citizens have been detained in China on state security grounds in recent years. CNN has reached out to Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Office to inquire about Li’s citizenship status. One of them, Lam Wing-kee, has said he was kidnapped by Chinese “special forces” after crossing the border into mainland China from Hong Kong. Hong Kong used to be a hub for publishing politically sensitive books that would be banned in mainland China.

Paying more for deposits is an effective way for banks to keep customers loyal, analysts said. Smaller banks, which were most strained by the recent crisis, have been able to stem the exodus of deposits for now, according to weekly from the Federal Reserve. That said, the Fed’s data showed deposits at smaller banks were still down some $216 billion during the week ending March 22 from a December high. Meanwhile, large U.S. banks lost out on $96.2 billion in deposits in the week ending March 22, the Fed data showed. Deposits at large banks dropped some $519 billion from as high as $11.2 trillion in February last year.

☆ Off-the-radar destinations every China visitor should consider
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Maggie Hiufu Wong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

JingdezhenLarge chimneys, used for firing porcelain, dot the skyline of Jingdezhen city. gui yong nian/Adobe StockDubbed the porcelain capital of the world, Jingdezhen has been firing quality pieces of “white gold” for more than 1,700 years. For a crash course in the city’s porcelain history, visit the newly built and photogenic Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum of China. LinhaiLinhai's historic city wall stretches more than 6,000 meters in length. Food aside, travelers should leave time to admire this historic city that dates back more than 2,000 years.

☆ World stocks gyrate as bank contagion fears bite
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"The growing sense of unease about the global banking system is heightening volatility in stock markets around the world," said Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere Group, a financial advisor. The failure of U.S. regional banks Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) and Signature Bank (SBNY.O) this month triggered fears of a banking contagion and prompted U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday to pledge action to safeguard bank deposits. JP Morgan Chase (JPM.N) dropped 1.52%, the S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) was down 0.33%, while the KBW regional bank index (.KRX) climbed 2.92%. "I don't expect this volatility (in bank stocks) to subside anytime soon," said Peter Doherty, head of investment research at private bank Arbuthnot Latham in London. Doherty said issues of "contagion risk within the U.S. banking sector" were undoubtedly weighing on appetite for bank stocks elsewhere.

☆ Stocks up, bond yields fall as markets mull a Fed policy pause
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Fed's hint of a pause after announcing a quarter-point rate rise on Wednesday, even as it re-stated its commitment to fight inflation, provided relief to markets. "Note the modern-day history book of Fed pauses is very bullish for stocks," Innes said. In Europe, news of the rate hikes in Switzerland and Britain helped push the European-wide STOXX 600 share index (.STOXX) down 0.21%. For bond markets it meant European government bond yields - which reflect borrowing costs - were heading down again. German Bunds were back at 2.25%, having seen 10-year U.S. Treasury yields dip back below 3.5%.

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