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☆ EY banned from auditing public interest companies in Germany over Wirecard
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Big-4 accounting firm EY has been banned from auditing companies of public interest in Germany for two years over its failures as the auditor of Wirecard in the years before the digital payments company’s staggering collapse. Germany’s auditor supervisory authority APAS said Monday that it had imposed sanctions on the auditor of Wirecard over “breaches of professional duty” between 2016 and 2018, without naming EY. EY had audited Wirecard for more than a decade before refusing to sign off on its final results for 2019, precipitating the company’s downfall. The supervisory body also fined the Wirecard auditor €500,000 ($544,000) and issued smaller fines — between €23,000 ($25,000) and €300,000 ($326,000) — to five individual auditors at the firm. In the end, Wirecard admitted that roughly a quarter of its assets — €1.9 billion ($2.1 billion) in cash — probably never existed.

☆ How women are re-defining ambition to build happier, more successful careers: It isn’t ‘worth sacrificing my mental health for’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Women continue to face alarmingly high levels of burnout — the extreme circumstances of working and surviving during a pandemic, some workplace experts warn, has cost women their ambition. Overall, nearly half (48%) of women describe themselves as "very ambitious" when it comes to their career, and ambition among women of color is even higher, according to a Momentive/CNBC poll of over 5,000 women conducted last month. Women aren't losing their ambition — they're rejecting a narrow definition of ambition as the pursuit of money and power and writing a new one. But after spending the first 10 months of the pandemic working 85-hour weeks at a pharmacy in Los Angeles, Ismail realized her dream career wasn't sustainable. "I realized the career markers I used to strive so hard to achieve aren't worth sacrificing my mental health for."

☆ Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley just teamed up on a bill that would let the government 'clawback lavish pay and bonuses when executives explode their bank'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley are teaming up to put the heat on executives of failed banks. Mike Braun and Catherine Cortez Masto, introduced a bill called "Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act," which would require that federal regulators "claw back" compensation of executives from the five-year period before their bank fails. "It's time for Congress to step up and strengthen the law so bank executives bear the cost of failure, not line their pockets and walk away scot-free." In the days and weeks following Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle — and President Joe Biden — have scrutinized the circumstances that led to the bank's failure. Warren has also pushed to roll back 2018 tweaks to the Dodd-Frank Act, which raised the threshold of holdings that require banks to have greater oversight.

House lawmakers tore into top U.S. bank regulators Wednesday, questioning their competency and saying examiners were asleep at the wheel, at a second day of congressional hearings this week about how Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed practically overnight on March 10 and March 12. "We need competent financial supervisors, but Congress can't legislate competence," House Financial Services chairman Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., told top officials at the Federal Reserve, Treasury and FDIC at the beginning the hearing. "The light touch cautions from the Fed to SVB management are clearly not what Congress intended for bank supervision," said Waters. Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga, Mich., demanded raw, confidential supervisory information about the banks, available to regulators ahead of the collapses. Members of the Republican majority House challenged many of the decisions made by regulators in the hours and days after SVB collapsed and Signature Bank followed 48 hours later.

However, the trade’s recent track record with March corn acres suggests the possibility of a big miss on corn should stay on the table. On average, analysts peg 2023 U.S. corn plantings at 90.88 million acres and soybeans at 88.24 million acres, up 2.6% and 0.9%, respectively, from last year. The five-year average range is 4.5 million acres, including 6.2 million last year and 5.5 million in 2021. USDA’s Outlook Forum last month tentatively pegged 2023 U.S. corn and soy acres at 91 million and 87.5 million, respectively, combining for 178.5 million. USDA’s wheat area would be a seven-year high and up more than 8% from last year, the biggest year-on-year rise in wheat plantings since 1996.

In the week ended March 21, money managers reduced their net long position in CBOT soybean futures and options to 110,786 contracts from 127,661 a week earlier. In the week ended March 21, most-active CBOT soybean futures fell 1.8%, new-crop November soybeans shed 3.2%, soymeal lost 4.3% but soyoil added 0.1%. GRAINSMoney managers were modest buyers of CBOT corn futures and options in the week ended March 21 after selling nearly 300,000 contracts over the previous four weeks. Managed money net position in CBOT corn futures and optionsIn CBOT wheat, money managers cut their net short for a second consecutive week, to 86,500 futures and options contracts from 95,257 a week earlier. In the week ended March 21, most-active CBOT corn futures rose 1.5% but CBOT wheat fell 1.9%.

☆ Sen. Braun reacts to Goldman report about Inflation Reduction Act costing triple than estimated
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSen. Braun reacts to Goldman report about Inflation Reduction Act costing triple than estimatedSen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, joins "Last Call" to discuss U.S. CEOs visiting China. Hosted by Brian Sullivan, “Last Call” is a fast-paced, entertaining business show that explores the intersection of money, culture and policy. Tune in Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC.

The recent losses are far from records by magnitude, though the selling is the most extreme for new-crop beans in March since 2008. Over 28 sessions between April and May 2019, new-crop beans were lower in 22, a 79% losing rate. New-crop beans had been down in both June 2021 and July 2022 by around 13% within a 13-session span. The last comparable time was mid-March 2020, when RSI on new-crop beans remained below 17 for three consecutive sessions. CBOT November soybean futures with RSIKaren Braun is a market analyst for Reuters.

Most-active CBOT soybeans on Wednesday fell to their lowest level since early December, ending nearly 6% off this month’s high. Money managers’ biggest weekly dumping of CBOT soy futures and options was about 61,400 contracts in November 2019, requiring double the weekly record for funds to be flat by the next report. Net selling in corn recently blew out a weekly record at more than 147,000 contracts in the last week of February, well past the prior high near 104,000. Despite catastrophic crop problems in Argentina, Brazil’s enormous harvest and equally enormous export program have recently weighed on the soybean market. However, the potential size of the 2023 U.S. soybean crop remains up for debate with farmers’ planting plans not yet known.

Most-active CBOT futures contracts all traded lower in the week ended March 14, and losses are as follows: corn 2.1%, soybeans 1.4%, wheat 0.3%, soymeal 1.4% and soyoil 4.2%. Corn and soyoil notched multi-month lows during the week and wheat dropped to its lowest level in a year-and-a-half. Money managers were net sellers of more than 75,000 CBOT corn futures and options contracts in the week ended March 14, establishing a net short of 54,134 contracts, their first bearish stance since August 2020. Managed money net position in CBOT corn futures and optionsMoney managers also flipped to a net short in CBOT soybean oil as of March 14, their first since June 2020. In the week ended March 21, which represents the next set of CoT data, most-active CBOT corn futures rose 1.5% and soyoil added 0.1%.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday made its third consecutive announcement of old-crop U.S. corn sales to China, totaling 1.92 million tonnes over three days. Corn sales to China had not flashed on consecutive days since May 2021, and the last corn flash to China before this week was in August. China expects its 2022-23 imports at 18 million tonnes, down from nearly 22 million in the prior year. Brazil is done shipping corn to China for now, having exported 2.2 million tonnes of corn to China between November and February, including just one cargo in February. China is banking on a huge Brazilian safrinha crop, having bought at least 1.5 million tonnes for shipments starting in July.

However, they pushed their bullish soybean meal bets to a new record and bought a respectable amount of beans, though investors’ pessimism toward CBOT wheat increased even further. They also reduced their net long in CBOT soybean oil to 20,526 futures and options contracts from 28,093 in the prior week. Through March 7, money managers increased their net short in CBOT wheat futures and options by nearly 9,000 contracts to 100,636 contracts, their most bearish since January 2018. They also sold more than 3,500 Minneapolis wheat contracts through March 7, flipping to a net short of 3,029. Between March 7 and March 16, most-active CBOT futures traded as follows: corn -0.2%, soybeans -1.6%, wheat +0.1%, meal -2.8%, soyoil -1.6%.

☆ Norfolk Southern reaches new paid sick leave deal as it contends with derailment fallout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Norfolk Southern said Wednesday it agreed to provide up to seven paid sick days per years for members of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Blacksmiths. The deal provides Norfolk Southern's mechanical railroaders with four paid sick days per year, in addition to three existing days of paid time off that can now be used as sick days. The IBBB is now the ninth of Norfolk Southern's 12 unions that have negotiated paid sick days, benefitting about 6,000 workers. The move comes after months of fighting between unions and railraods – including Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and BNSF – over paid sick leave. The legislation, however, did not include paid sick leave.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank seizure leaves a massive hole — and a large opportunity — in the world of climate finance
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

"Nobody understands startups as well as Silicon Valley Bank and how to lend to them," says Zachary Bogue, a long-time tech investor and cofounder of DCVC. "Silicon Valley Bank understood that even though we may have only had $10,000 or so in deposits at the time, we had a lot of potential," Clerico told CNBC. "That early investment in our relationship paid off," Clerico told CNBC. In this, the bank "was a climate bank pioneer," said Steph Speirs, co-founder and CEO of Solstice Power Technologies, which has built a technology to help connect people to community solar projects. But it will take some time, and delays can be costly in the fight against climate change," Bhatraju told CNBC.

Using the U.S. government’s latest estimates, Argentina’s corn and soy yields are set to fall 29% and 33%, respectively, from the long-term trends. Corn and soy yields fell 13% and 28% below trend in 2009, respectively, and they each fell 24% in 2018. Corn and soy yields: Argentina, Brazil, USAUSAComparable U.S. drought events include 1988 and 2012, where corn yields fell a respective 28% and 24% below trend. The only other year since where corn losses came anywhere close was 1993, when extreme flooding cut corn yield by 19%. Corn yields fell more than 40% below trend in Illinois and Indiana in 2012, and in Iowa and Minnesota in 1993.

☆ Google employees are already internally testing a smarter version of its chatbot called 'Big Bard'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Googlers are testing the company's Bard chatbot ahead of release. Staff also have access to a superior version, named "Big Bard." Big Bard produces much richer and more humanlike responses. Insider viewed examples of users asking both versions similar questions, and Big Bard produced richer and more humanlike responses. Big Bard appears to be a preview of what a more advanced version of the chatbot might look like.

☆ OpenAI's GPT-4 upgrade will let you turn text into video, Microsoft exec says ahead of upcoming release
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Microsoft executive said OpenAI's new model will be released this week, per a German news outlet. GPT-4 will be able to turn text into video, a feature already included in Google and Meta AIs. Braun added that the more powerful AI will be introduced this week, putting an end to speculation over its release. The OpenAI CTO, Mira Murati, has also said "I think less hype would be good," but added it may "broaden opportunities," per FastCompany. Microsoft and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, sent outside US working hours.

LATEST DATAIn the week ended Feb. 21, money managers cut nearly 19,000 CBOT corn futures and options contracts off their net long, which fell to 215,928 contracts. They also increased their net long in CBOT soyoil by nearly 12,000 futures and options contracts, and the resulting net long was 34,301 contracts, a one-month high. When adding other reportable traders’ net long, the overall speculative soymeal net long is also a record at 173,690 contracts. and Minneapolis wheat futures and options contracts as of Feb. 21. Most-active CBOT futures hit some milestone lows on Friday.

☆ House Votes 419 to 0 for Declassification of Intelligence on Covid-19 Origins
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Lindsay Wise | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The House on Friday voted 419 to 0 to pass a bill requiring the Biden administration to declassify intelligence related to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China and the Covid-19 pandemic. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) ), the COVID Origins Act of 2023 passed the Senate by unanimous consent last week. It now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature. The White House hasn’t issued a formal position on the bill.

☆ Congress sends bill to Biden requiring his administration to declassify intelligence on COVID-19's origins
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The House passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Biden administration to declassify information related to COVID-19's origins. The origins of COVID-19 have long been debated and theorized. The House of Representatives unanimously approved the bill, titled the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023, in a 419-0 vote on Friday. The bill comes after the US Energy Department recently concluded with "low confidence" that the pandemic was likely the result of a lab leak. Indeed, lawmakers could likely override a potential veto with a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.

Strong U.S. soy shipments to China continued in February, and exports to all destinations last month may have soared 30% above normal. Separately, corn was a 10-year low and soy exports were a five-year low. Corn to Colombia was down 89%, and those two countries normally combine for about a quarter of annual U.S. corn exports. Brazil’s January corn exports were 39% above the month’s prior high and more than double the volumes of the previous three Januarys. Thursday’s export sales report showed last week’s corn shipments were the highest of the marketing year so far.

The agency slashed Argentina’s 2022-23 soybean crop to 33 million tonnes from 41 million last month, well below the average trade guess of 36.65 million. USDA's Argentina soybean productionUSDA chopped Argentina’s corn harvest to 40 million tonnes from 47 million last month, below the trade guess of 43.4 million. As of now, USDA’s Argentina soy crop estimate is 35% below the agency’s original peg of 51 million tonnes. USDA’s Argentina corn number is down 27% from its initial forecast, compared with initial-final losses of 34% in 2009 and 20% in 2018. In the past five marketing years, global corn SU averaged 23.9% and soybean SU 19.9%.

LATEST DATAThe week ended Feb. 7, the last available week of CoT data, featured mild declines across most-active CBOT corn, wheat, soybean and soy product futures. In the four weeks ended March 7, most-active CBOT corn is down 6% and CBOT wheat has fallen 7%. Daily fund estimates collected by Reuters suggest that between Feb. 8 and March 7, commodity funds were net sellers of 42,500 CBOT corn futures and 38,000 CBOT wheat futures. Funds’ net long in soybean meal would be record-large per the trade estimates. CBOT corn and wheat have recently traded as if the Ukraine grain export deal will be extended before its March 18 expiration despite Russia’s resistance.

☆ ESG is about preventing risk, not bringing returns, says NYC comptroller
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailESG is about preventing risk, not bringing returns, says NYC comptrollerBrad Lander, New York City Comptroller, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the pushback against anti-ESG pushback, if Sen. Mike Braun means to be prevent New York City pension funds from shareholder engagement and more.

U.S. corn export sales for 2022-23, which ends on Aug. 31, totaled 29.2 million tonnes (1.15 billion bushels) through Feb. 23. Through Feb. 23, China had booked about six U.S. corn cargoes since late January for delivery in the current marketing year. Since July, Brazil has shipped over 45 million tonnes of corn, well above the prior record of 36.4 million set three years ago. Preliminarily, Brazil shipped 2.3 million tonnes of corn last month, down sharply from January’s 6.2 million and the lowest monthly volume since June. USDA’s latest predictions show Japan’s 2022-23 corn imports flat on the year around 15 million tonnes, which suggests Japanese buyers still have substantial corn needs to cover.

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