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ATLANTA (AP) — Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock on Friday urged Atlanta's mayor to be more transparent in how city officials handle a petition drive led by opponents of a proposed police and firefighter training center, saying he is “closely monitoring” the issue. Warnock's letter comes after weeks of calls from “Stop Cop City” activists who were furious that the state's top Democrats had stayed largely silent over the city's plan to adopt a signature-matching verification process. Activists and prominent voting rights groups have decried the restriction as voter suppression. The deadline had been previously extended until September by a federal judge, but an appellate court on Sept. 1 paused the enforcement of that order, throwing the effort into legal limbo. That announcement from the city prompted a federal judge overseeing the case to accuse officials of moving the goalposts on the campaign, saying they have “directly contributed” to a widespread sense of confusion over the matter.

Persons: — Democratic Sen, Raphael Warnock, Atlanta's, ” Warnock, Andre Dickens, “, Dickens, ” Dickens Organizations: ATLANTA, — Democratic, City ”, Atlanta Locations: Georgia, City, Atlanta

☆ Burning Man vehicles caked in mud are reportedly damaging some car washes — and some burners are being refused service altogether
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Haley Tenore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

One Reno car wash is turning away burners after caked-on mud and clay damaged its machinery. Finding a way to get them clean is proving to be difficult — and annoying some car wash managers in the process. One car wash said it is turning away excessively muddy cars, due to dirt causing damage to the machinery, AP reported. Neither Burning Man nor Sierra Car Wash immediately responded to Insider's request for comment ahead of publication. Difficulty at the car wash isn't the only issue that the rain and mud caused burners.

Persons: —, rainstorms, Skeen, they're Organizations: Reno, Service, Rock, Associated Press, AP, Sierra Locations: Wall, Silicon, Rock City , Nevada, Reno , Nevada, unwashed

Two of them - Norway and United Kingdom - delivered a total of 50 basis points of rate hikes in the lowest such tally since January. Turkey delivered a super-sized 750 bps rate rise in August while Russia lifted its benchmark by 350 bps and Thailand added 25 bps. "Major central banks will maintain a restrictive policy stance through 2024," said Madhavi Bokil, senior vice president strategy and research at Moody's. "Significant easing by emerging market central banks is unlikely with advanced economy central banks still battling elevated inflation, and uncertainty around the U.S. interest rate outlook." Emerging markets interest ratesReporting by Karin Strohecker and Vincent Flasseur Editing by Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jason Lee, Carsten Brzeski, Brzeski, Costa, Madhavi Bokil, Karin Strohecker, Vincent Flasseur, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: People's Bank of China, REUTERS, New Zealand, Thomson Locations: Beijing, Norway, Brazil, Turkey, Russia, Central, United Kingdom, Australia, New, China, Europe, Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Thailand

☆ AI booster Paul Graham complains of rise in web content that's 'AI generated SEO bait'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The rise of generative AI has been lauded by major figures in tech like Paul Graham. A rapid expansion of AI tools is affecting the way the web looks and is used. AdvertisementAdvertisementEven the tech industry's most noted figures are getting irked by the ways generative AI is capable of degrading reliable and quality content on the web. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe rapid proliferation of Generative AI tools since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT less than a year ago has created a number of problems and concerns. The issue of quality is also growing in importance, as AI tools tend to present incorrect information in an authoritative way.

Persons: Paul Graham, That's, Graham, I've, Graham griped, He's, Malte, Ubl Organizations: Google

☆ Here's why trillions of dollars in money market funds may not restart the stock market rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The 2023 stock market rally caught many investors off guard, with mountains of excess cash sitting in money market funds. "Money market balances are building up, which is unusual given how much the stock market has rallied recently. And history suggests that money market funds are not always fuel for a buy-the-dip trend to support a late-stage rally. Through that lens, the growth of money market funds in 2023 can also be linked to the regional bank crisis earlier this year. Clissold said discussions with wealth advisory clients suggest that "some of that money market fund money does leak into the stock market," albeit over time.

Persons: Emmanuel Cau, Callie Cox, Cox, Todd Sohn, Sohn, Ed Clissold, Ned Davis, Clissold, John Tobin, Dreyfus, I'm, corporates, Tobin Organizations: Bank of America, EPFR, Investment Company Institute, Nasdaq, Barclays, Money, Federal Reserve, Ned, Ned Davis Research, BNY Mellon Investment Management, CIO Locations: U.S

☆ Dollar rises ahead of Jackson Hole, Turkish lira rallies
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Joice Alves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/file photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The dollar rose on Thursday as investors awaited for U.S. job data ahead of the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium, while the Turkish lira rallied after a larger-than-expected central bank rate hike. Investors were cautious after softer-than expected data in Europe and the U.S. muddied the economic outlook sending the safe-haven dollar higher. "As the Jackson Hole symposium gets under way, market participants are looking for direction," said Isabel Albarran, Investment Officer at Close Brothers Asset Management. MORE COULD COMEElsewhere, the Turkish lira rallied, up 3% to 26.4040 against the dollar after the Turkish Central Bank hiked the 1-week repo from 17.5% to a much-larger-than expected 25%. Turkey's central bank embarked on a tightening cycle in June after President Tayyip Erdogan appointed former Wall Street banker Hafize Gaye Erkan as governor.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jackson, Jerome Powell, Isabel Albarran, Tayyip Erdogan, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Piotr Matys, Moh Siong Sim, China's, Joice Alves, Tom Westbrook, Ankur Banerjee, Angus MacSwan Organizations: REUTERS, Federal, Turkish, U.S, Investors, Investment, Asset Management, Turkish Central Bank, Wall Street, Touch Capital, British, Bank of England, PMI, Singapore, Thomson Locations: Europe, London

☆ Soft data drags back dollar ahead of Jackson Hole
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The dollar nursed a sharp pullback against Asian currencies on Thursday, after softer-than-expected global economic data muddied the interest rate outlook and pushed down U.S. yields ahead of the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium. The New Zealand dollar also leapt overnight, as did the yen , which crossed below 145 to the dollar for the first time in more than a week tracking a sharp move lower in U.S. Treasury yields. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies remains higher for the month, but dipped about 0.2% overnight. PMI data was soft globally, which tempered gains for the euro and sent sterling on a wide-ranging round trip before it steadied around $1.2717. China's yuan, which has been supported by state-bank buying in recent sessions, was steady at 7.2864 in thin offshore trade.

Persons: Jackson, PMIs, Carol Kong, Jerome Powell's, Steve Englander Organizations: Federal, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, New Zealand, Treasury, PMI Locations: U.S, Asia, China

☆ Why Gen Z, Millennials, Boomers, and Gen X Fight: Generational Conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Kelli María Korducki | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Gen Z is soft, millennials are embarrassing, boomers are evil, and no one has thought about Gen X in years. But late this spring, Pew announced it would no longer use generational labels such as millennial and Gen Z in its research. By and large, Cohen shares Duffy's view that generational labels make it tough for both experts and laypeople to distinguish between generational traits and universal, or multifactorial, occurrences. To its credit, Pew has been transparent in acknowledging how the use of generational labels may have tilted its analyses. Pew "does believe generational research can be a useful tool in the right context," Parker told me.

Persons: Gen X, Pew, Kim Parker, Parker, Obama, Millennials, boomers, Gen Zers, Xers, —, Karl Mannheim, Louis Menand, Menand, Andrew M, Lindner, Sophia Stelboum, Azizul Hakim, William Strauss, Neil Howe, Strauss, Howe's, Baby Boomer, Portia, Zers, Gen Xers, Philip N, Cohen, it's, Bobby Duffy, Duffy, Stelboum, Hakim, Michael Dimock, Kelli María Korducki Organizations: Pew Research Center, Pew, Skidmore College, University of Maryland, College, Washington, King's College London Locations: Mannheim, New York City

☆ Euro staggers as traders wary of hawkish European Central Bank, dollar gains
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The euro hit a two-week low on Tuesday as a worsening downturn in euro zone business muddied the bloc's rate outlook against a still-hawkish European Central Bank, or ECB, while the dollar rose ahead of this week's trio of major central bank meetings. The offshore yuan strengthened in early Asia trade, following comments from China's top leaders on Monday pledging to step up policy support for its flailing economy. Elsewhere, sterling fell 0.11% to $1.2811, while the U.S. dollar index steadied at 101.39. "We continue to expect a combination of monetary, fiscal, property and consumption support measures to be rolled out in the next few months." The Australian dollar , often used as a liquid proxy for the yuan, gained 0.18% to $0.67515, while the kiwi rose 0.06% to $0.6209.

Persons: Rodrigo Catril, Guillermo Felices, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Central Bank, ECB, National Australia Bank, NAB, Markets, U.S, PMI, Federal Reserve, Reuters, Bank of Japan, Australian Locations: Asia, Germany

☆ Euro staggers as traders wary of hawkish ECB; dollar gains
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Rae Wee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SINGAPORE, July 25 (Reuters) - The euro hit a two-week low on Tuesday as a worsening downturn in euro zone business muddied the bloc's rate outlook against a still-hawkish European Central Bank (ECB), while the dollar rose ahead of this week's trio of major central bank meetings. The offshore yuan strengthened in early Asia trade, following comments from China's top leaders on Monday pledging to step up policy support for its flailing economy. Elsewhere, sterling fell 0.11% to $1.2811, while the U.S. dollar index steadied at 101.39. "We continue to expect a combination of monetary, fiscal, property and consumption support measures to be rolled out in the next few months." The Australian dollar , often used as a liquid proxy for the yuan, gained 0.18% to $0.67515, while the kiwi rose 0.06% to $0.6209.

Persons: Rodrigo Catril, Guillermo Felices, Goldman Sachs, Rae Wee, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: Central Bank, ECB, National Australia Bank, NAB, U.S, PMI, Federal Reserve, Reuters, Bank of Japan, Australian, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Asia, Germany

☆ Donald Trump’s Quest to Break America’s Democracy - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Thomas L. Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

So part of the way Trump tries to break our system is to redefine the qualities of a leader — at least in the G.O.P. And when that is your definition of winning, people of character like McCain, Cheney and Romney are in your way. You need to strip everyone around you of character, and make everything about securing power and money. That is why so many people who entered Trump’s orbit since 2015 have walked away muddied. His family members and party colleagues have grown adept at running away from reporters’ microphones after every Trump outrage.

Persons: Trump, —, Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney, McCain, Cheney, Romney Organizations: Trump Locations: Miami, Cuban

"(This) creates a very good defending position for Russians who expect Ukrainian offensive activity,” Matysiak said. Russia has denied responsibility and accused Ukraine of sabotaging the dam to deflect from what Moscow said were Ukrainian military failures. "For Russians the reason to do it would have been to stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive, obviously. For Ukraine, the breach might have provided a way of distracting the Russians while Kyiv launches its counteroffensive, she added. Patricia Lewis, Research Director for International Security at the Chatham House think tank, said the situation helps Russia even if the Ukrainian counteroffensive later makes inroads.

Persons: Ruslan Strilets, Ben Barry, Maciej Matysiak, ” Matysiak, Strilets, Mohammad Heidarzadeh, Heidarzadeh, Dmytro Kuleba, Marina Miron, Patricia Lewis, they're, Aiden Nulty, Ben Tavener, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Kyiv, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Stratpoints Foundation, University of Bath, Civil, Engineering, University of Warwick, Reserve, Nova Kakhovka, King's College, International Security, Chatham House, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Dnipro, Kyiv, Nova, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russia, Kherson, Crimea, Britain, London

☆ Premarket: Turkey's big economic gamble looks set to continue
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Mark Thompson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In an exclusive interview with CNN on Thursday, Erdogan promised to continue cutting interest rates to tackle soaring prices if he is re-elected on May 28, my colleague Olesya Dmitracova reports. “Please do follow me in the aftermath of the elections, and you will see that inflation will be going down along with interest rates,” Erdogan told CNN’s Becky Anderson. “I have a thesis that interest rates and inflation, they are directly correlated. As price hikes started to accelerate around the world in late 2021, Erdogan ordered Turkey’s central bank to slash interest rates. The weekly claims attributed to Massachusetts fell by 14,042 on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, representing three-quarters of the decline of 18,605 claims.

☆ US retailers cut most number of jobs in April -report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. retailers replaced technology firms in cutting the most number of jobs in April, as companies show little signs of easing their belt-tightening drive in an uncertain economy. Higher interest rates to counter the impact of inflation have muddied the outlook for the U.S. economy, forcing Corporate America to undertake stringent measures to protect itself from any fallout from a potential recession. So far this year, major retail and consumer companies including Gap Inc (GPS.N) and Walmart (WMT.N) have announced job cuts. The report also said job cuts last month fell 25% to about 67,000 - the lowest so far in the year, taking total layoffs to around 337,000 jobs since the start of the year. Reporting by Akash Sriram and Tanya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

But as Republican presidential hopefuls including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump crisscross the country, they have instead focused on hot-button issues like immigration and transgender participation in youth sports. A broad majority of voters in both parties believe the debt ceiling presents a good opportunity to debate public policy priorities, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in March. Still, it is unclear how much Republican primary voters know about the debt limit debate - or even care - campaign aides and strategists said. Of nine attendees interviewed by Reuters at the town hall meeting held by Haley, none mentioned the debt ceiling as one of their top concerns. Others have addressed the debt ceiling in the past, but only in general terms.

☆ Argentina vows to battle peso slide towards 500 per dollar in black market
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Rodrigo Campos | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The peso hit 495 against the dollar on Tuesday in informal markets that have flourished as the official foreign exchange market is under tight controls. That is down from 400 pesos per dollar just over a week ago and compares to the official spot rate of around 221. The official peso, which is in a controlled, sliding peg to the dollar, has fallen 20% so far this year. The gap between the black and official rates of some 122% is the widest since July. Last week, Argentina's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 300 basis points to 81% after inflation soared past expectations in March to 7.7%, the fastest monthly increase in two decades.

☆ Analysis: No China, no deal: Bid to break sovereign debt logjams gets weary thumbs up
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Libgeorge Marc Jones | Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) - The latest bid by the world's leading institutions and creditors to speed up debt restructurings and get bankrupt countries back on their feet has been greeted by a mix of cautious optimism and weary scepticism by veteran crisis watchers. The somewhat loose framework around sovereign restructurings has seen Beijing seek to influence the traditional rules of engagement in these processes. The Common Framework platform introduced by leading G20 nations in 2020 aimed to bring all creditors, including China, together and streamline negotiations. Anna Ashton, director of China research at Eurasia Group, said this week’s developments underscored the benefits for China to give some ground on some of its concerns. "China is a difficult partner to talk to but we need China at the table for the solution of debt problems, because otherwise we won't see any progress," Lindner said.

☆ No China, no deal: Bid to break sovereign debt logjams gets weary thumbs up
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Libgeorge Marc Jones | Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

☆ Brent oil prices slip under $72 per barrel amid banking turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Brent oil prices logged losses Monday, dropping below $72 per barrel in intraday trade amid turmoil in the banking sector. The Brent contract with May delivery was trading at $71.64 per barrel at 11:00 London time, down by $1.33 per barrel from the Friday close. The front-month April WTI Nymex was at $65.52 per barrel, lower by $1.22 per barrel from the previous settlement. It added that the options market is now intensifying the decline in oil prices through delta-hedging plays. Questions linger over the potential demand boost from a reopening China — the world's largest importer of crude oil, whose buying was reined in for much of last year by Covid-19 restrictions.

"Sterling markets will continue to digest yesterday’s Budget delivered by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt as well as the broader global environment. Markets remain ambivalent whether the Bank of England will raise interest rates next week," said Hann-Ju Ho, senior Economist, Commercial Banking at Lloyds Bank. The European Central Bank (ECB), meanwhile, is a little behind the BoE in its quest to fight inflation. Traders attach a 60% chance of the ECB raising rates by 50 bps on Thursday, with a 40% chance of 25 bps. Money markets show investors expect ECB rates to peak around 3% later this year, compared with a peak of 4% just over a week ago.

Yields on Treasury bonds, meanwhile, increased as investors discounted the likelihood that the Fed would shy away from further rate increases. The Fed's preferred measure of inflation is running at almost three times the central bank's target. Important aspects of both reports, however, moved in the favor of a more tempered Fed policy. Wage growth continued to slow in February, and much of the jump in prices last month was driven by the cost of shelter, an area where Fed officials feel inflation will soon prove to be slowing. "The Fed can support liquidity in the banking system and tighten monetary policy at the same time," Sweet said.

☆ Don't act on new activist push for board seats at Salesforce before earnings, Benioff reaction
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Hedge fund Elliott Management's decision to nominate candidates for Salesforce 's (CRM) board represents an escalation of the activist agitation at the Club holding. The Club generally believes activists' wishes for cost-cutting at Salesforce are positive, as long as Benioff remains at the helm. It's unclear whether Elliott is nominating two or three candidates for Salesforce's board, according to CNBC's David Faber, who broke the story Wednesday morning . Benioff is chairman of Salesforce's board. However, we don't want the activist pressure at Salesforce to cause Benioff to depart the company.

[1/4] People gather for a funeral in a large graveyard, in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake outside Kahramanmaras, Turkey February 17, 2023. The scene in Pazarcik, epicentre of the quake that struck in the dead of night on Feb. 6, captured the struggle facing people trying to find and bury their dead since the disaster, which has killed more than 43,000 in Turkey and neighbouring Syria. Tents had been erected to perform Islamic burial rituals, and to wrap the bodies in a shroud. Ghassals - who prepare bodies for burial in accordance with Islamic rituals - had been working "in rotation as hundreds of bodies piled up at once", he added. On Friday, thousands across Turkey participated in symbolic funerals for the dead who were still under the rubble.

☆ How conflict minerals make it into our phones
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Katie Brigham | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

All of these minerals are found in our electronics and all are considered conflict minerals, due to their potential origin in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In a smartphone, for example, tin is used to solder metal components together, while tantalum is used in capacitors, which store electrical energy. Tungsten is used in the components that make a phone vibrate, and gold is used in circuit board connectors. But consumers still can't be sure if the minerals in their electronics are fully conflict-free, or if the mines where they originated are dangerous, environmentally destructive, or use child labor. So while companies like Apple, Microsoft, Intel and Tesla put out extensive reports on conflict minerals every year, usually stating that there is no reason to believe the minerals they source help to support armed groups, corruption and instability at mine sites means there are no guarantees.

☆ Stock Futures Drop as Investors Eye Fed Meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Will Horner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. stock futures fell Monday, putting indexes on course to reverse some of their recent gains, as investors grew cautious at the start of a bumper week of central bank meetings and corporate earnings. Global bond yields rose, in turn pressuring valuations for high-growth technology companies, as a surprisingly strong inflation reading from Spain muddied the outlook for interest rates in the eurozone.

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