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☆ On Our National Mall, New Monuments Tell New Stories
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Blake Gopnik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Combine those three terms, and you often end up in a glorious muddle. For just one month, Friday, Aug. 18 through Sept. 18, the National Mall will be hosting “Pulling Together,” an open-air exhibition that tests what works best, or fails least, when artists, publics and monuments are brought together. “Pulling Together” makes room for monuments that talk, for instance, about Black church leaders with AIDS, about the schoolchildren who cut through Washington’s color line, and about Asian migration after America’s war in Vietnam. (One shocking absence: art that addresses the sexism undermining half the world’s humans. The show is planned as the first installment in “Beyond Granite,” a series of temporary public projects led by the Trust for the National Mall with the National Capital Planning Commission and the National Park Service.

Persons: Paul Farber, Salamishah Tillet, Lincoln, Farber Organizations: Art, AIDS, Trust, National Capital Planning Commission, National Park Service, Rutgers University, The New York Times, Mellon Foundation Locations: Vietnam, Philadelphia

☆ Two Big Tech names and a luxury retailer made headlines. Here's our take on each
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Club holdings Meta Platforms (META), Microsoft (MSFT) and Estee Lauder (EL) all made headlines Thursday surrounding solid quarterly earnings, regulatory challenges and analyst downgrades. The Club remains highly bullish on these two Big Tech names, while continuing to muddle through with our embattled China-exposed cosmetics-retail play. Here's the latest developments at Meta, Microsoft and Estee Lauder — along with our take on the news. META YTD mountain Meta Platforms Inc. (META) year-to-date performance. Shares of Estee Lauder closed down 2.6% Thursday, at roughly $173 apiece.

Persons: Estee Lauder, downgrades, Estee Lauder —, Mark Zuckerberg, It's, Jeff Marks, Lauder, Jefferies, it's, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Rafael Henrique Organizations: Meta, Microsoft, Big Tech, Inc, Union, EU, Wall, CNBC, Getty Locations: China, Asia

☆ What the Collapse of Spain’s Far Right Means Going Forward
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Jason Horowitz | More About Jason Horowitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Europe’s liberal and moderate establishment breathed easier on Monday after Spain’s nationalist Vox party faltered in Sunday’s elections, stalling for now a surge from far-right parties around the continent that seemed on the brink of washing over even the progressive bastion of Spain. But instead of Vox becoming the first hard-right party to enter government in Spain since the end of the Franco dictatorship nearly 50 years ago, as many polls had predicted, it sank. The party’s poor returns at the polls also took down the underperforming center-right conservatives who had depended on Vox’s support to form a government. As a result, no single party or coalition immediately gained enough parliamentary seats to govern, thrusting Spain into a familiar political muddle and giving new life to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who only days ago seemed moribund. Suddenly, Mr. Sánchez appeared best positioned to cobble together another progressive government in the coming weeks to avoid new elections.

Persons: “, ”, Giorgia Meloni, Vox, Pedro Sánchez, Sánchez Organizations: Vox, Repubblica Locations: Spain, Europe, Italy

☆ Inconclusive Election Thrusts Spain Into Political Muddle
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( Jason Horowitz | More About Jason Horowitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Spain was thrust into political uncertainty on Sunday after national elections left no party with enough support to form a government, most likely resulting in weeks of horse trading or potentially a new vote later this year. Returns showed most votes were divided between the center right and center left. But neither the governing Socialist Party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez nor his conservative opponents won enough ballots to govern alone in the 350-seat Parliament. The outcome was an inconclusive election and a political muddle that has become familiar to Spaniards since their two-party system fractured nearly a decade ago. It seemed likely to leave Spain in political limbo at an important moment when it holds the rotating presidency of the European Council as it faces down Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Persons: Pedro Sánchez Organizations: Socialist Party of, Vox, European Council Locations: Spain, Ukraine

☆ Are We Doomed to Witness the Trump-Biden Rematch Nobody Wants? - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

We continue to have a deeply divided Congress and electorate, a good chunk of which is still maniacally in Trump’s corner. A Biden-Trump rematch feels like a concession, as if we couldn’t do any better or have given up trying. The sentiment most Democrats seemed to muster in Biden’s favor while he was running was that he was inoffensive. Democrats and the media seem to have become more vocal in pointing out the hazards of Biden’s advancing age. When asked point blank whether it’s time for him to step aside, Biden said, almost tangentially, “I just want to finish the job.”

Persons: Biden, He’s, Trump, Biden’s mutter, ”, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Dianne Feinstein, Biden shouldn’t, Nicolle, Fareed Zakaria, Biden waded, Xi Organizations: Biden, Trump, Blacks, Democrats, MSNBC Locations: Trump’s, China

Rising tensions between Washington and President Nayib Bukele's government, dwindling prospects of a financing deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the fallout from bitcoin becoming legal tender against a wider difficult macro backdrop had seen El Salvador bonds drop to a quarter of face value last July. "In the summer of 2022, El Salvador bond prices were divorced from fundamentals," said Aaron Stern, managing partner and chief investment officer at Converium Capital in Toronto, who has been holding the country's bonds since last year. "The market was concerned about the administration's willingness to pay," he said, but even now El Salvador offers attractive value when compared to a number of better priced emerging market sovereigns. These were the best performing among sovereign bonds in the first half of the year, with total returns near 60%. "In a year where carry is the main driver of total returns, investors are going to be reticent to take profits too early," said BNP Paribas' Nathalie Marshik, a managing director for Latin America fixed income.

Persons: Nayib Bukele's, buybacks, Aaron Stern, Alejandro Werner, Bukele, there's, Shamaila Khan, Nathalie Marshik, Marshik, Rodrigo Campos, Karin Strohecker, William Maclean Organizations: YORK, Central, International Monetary Fund, El, IMF, Converium Capital, Reuters, Emerging Markets, Asia Pacific, UBS Asset Management, Reuters Graphics JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: El Salvador, Central American, Washington, Toronto, it's, America

☆ The Supreme Court’s Elections Muddle
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/moore-v-harper-supreme-court-election-law-state-legislature-north-carolina-john-roberts-ae6517dc

Persons: Dow Jones, moore, harper, roberts Locations: carolina

☆ Hopefully we can 'muddle through' the market environment, EQT CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | 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 EmailHopefully we can 'muddle through' the market environment, EQT CEO saysChristian Sinding, CEO of EQT, says "when the capital markets stabilize … I think we can some more activity going."

Persons: Christian Sinding

☆ Britain is getting so desperate to tame inflation it’s talking about food price caps
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Food inflation dipped slightly to 15.4% in May, but that’s still the second-highest rate on record. But chocolate and coffee prices are rising as global commodity prices soar, British Retail Consortium CEO Helen Dickinson said. Price controls anyone? “The current food price shock does not warrant such an intervention,” he added. Brexit is responsible for about a third of UK food price inflation since 2019, according to researchers at the London School of Economics.

☆ Pakistan’s political crisis will deepen its economic misery
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

London CNN —The political unrest that’s engulfed Pakistan since former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested earlier this week will complicate efforts to secure a financial lifeline from the International Monetary Fund and exacerbate the country’s economic crisis. Pakistan’s economic meltdownThe political tumult in Pakistan comes as the country grapples with a dire economic outlook. The government has been working with the International Monetary Fund to resume a financing program that’s been stalled since November and expires in June. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a televised address Friday that the country’s economic problems stem from his predecessor. In February, the ratings agency said about 50% of government revenue will need to go to debt interest payments “for the next few years,” compounding economic woes and fanning political discontent.

☆ Opinion: Jonathan Majors case raises urgent questions
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Opinion Jill Filipovic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

As someone who has spent her career writing about and reporting on women’s rights, including domestic violence, I see them as the exact opposite of exonerating. All acts of intimate partner violence are equally wrong, but they are not equally predictive of greater violence. As long as it’s an institution that emphasizes hypermasculinity and doesn’t fully accept women, it will be an institution where domestic violence remains a problem. And finally, we know that domestic violence victims often blame themselves. And these same sexist stereotypes infuse media coverage and public conversations about partner violence.

☆ Only the big will crack the $1 trln LBO code
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Lenders will only tiptoe back, meaning deals need the big checks and extra elbow grease in credit markets that favor the largest private equity firms. Private equity firms depend on borrowed money to reduce how much of their own they use in any single deal and to magnify returns as a percentage of their initial investment. Imagine a private equity firm acquires a company for $1 billion, then flips it five years later for $1.5 billion. Though the private equity industry is awash in so-called dry powder, fundraising is increasingly tilting to the largest fund managers. Buyout firms are apt to keep their plans more conservative to garner higher ratings – meaning, again, less leverage and more upfront cash.

Economists who obsess about tightly calibrating the quantity of money in the system balk at QE as a tool. Two weeks of turmoil in mid-sized U.S. banks follow just nine months in which the Fed had been winding down its outsize balance sheet that peaked near $9 trillion during the pandemic. "Illiquidity episodes may force central banks to slow the process of reserve withdrawal. Reuters GraphicsILLIQUIDTY EPISODESThis could become a trap that prevents normalisation of the balance sheet longer term, they said. Better-measured and more forward-looking liquidity regulations, incentives for longer-duration deposits during QE bouts and rethinking stress tests were all options, they wrote.

☆ Analysis: Asset concerns weigh on U.S. regional bank deal talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( David French | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The investment portfolios where the regional banks have parked the deposits of their clients comprise mainly Treasuries and other securities, such as mortgage bonds. Some of the loan books of these banks are also underwater, due to high rates and concerns about an economic slowdown. Another complication in cutting a deal with regional banks is the uncertainty over the interest rate outlook, said a lawyer who works on transactions involving banks. Those studying deals and trying to assess the future value of regional banks are hoping for clarity on how aggressively the central bank will move to raise rates further, the lawyer said. MUDDLING THROUGHIt is unclear how long some regional banks can muddle through without a deal.

The SFDR defines sustainable investment as contributing to "an environmental or social objective", assessed by indicators such as use of raw materials or production of waste. The people Reuters spoke to said discrepancies among fund portfolios reflected a lack of clarity from the Commission over what constitutes a sustainable investment. Reuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsTEMPERATURE GAUGEMSCI, the finance industry data provider, has developed a way of checking on investment funds' green credentials with its ESG Implied Temperature Rise tool. Among them, for example, are BlackRock's Sustainable Energy Fund, Nordea's Global Climate and Environment Fund and Pictet's Global Environmental Opportunities Fund. "The characterisation of what constitutes a sustainable investment under the SFDR is also a concept that needs further clarifications at European level."

☆ Take Five: A manic March
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Another dose of hot job growth after January's payrolls increase of 517,000 trounced estimates could stoke fears of more hawkish Fed action. Powell has said the January jobs report showed why the battle against inflation will "take quite a bit of time". Powell's comments and the jobs data could help settle what the Fed does later this month. The RBA hinted at further tightening at its meeting last month, but data since then has pointed the other way. After a red-hot January rally, bonds and equities retreated in February as strong data sparked concerns about more rate hikes.

☆ Rivian is forcing some customers to wait years for their vehicle deliveries — and it risks alienating them at a critical time in its fight to become the next Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Nora Naughton | Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Rivian runs the risk of alienating customers who have been waiting years for their vehicles. He's hedged his bet on Rivian with orders for the Tesla Cybertruck and the electric Ram 1500. Some feel embarrassed by their early support of Rivian while their wait times increase to nearly half a decade. Rivian has previously said timing of deliveries is "based on a number of factors, including delivery location, configuration and original preorder or reservation date." Are you a current or former Rivian employee, Rivian vehicle owner, or Rivian order holder?

☆ U.N. agency: Arabs' Israel ties no impediment to aiding Palestinian refugees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said he saw no contradiction between supporting Palestinian refugees and building ties with Israel. "You can have strong bilateral relations with Israel and be a strong supporter of the agency," Lazzarini told Reuters. "Whatever rapprochement or ties (with Israel) should not have the slightest impact on your commitment and your solidarity with the Palestine refugees and your support to an agency like UNRWA. "We have normal access when it comes to delivering our services in Gaza and the West Bank, but we are very concerned about the increased violence impacting this community," he said. Last year saw the worst levels of violence in the West Bank in more than a decade after Israel launched a crackdown on militants in response to fatal Palestinian street attacks.

☆ Gen Zers know they're stereotyped as 'snowflakes' but say they're resilient, having lived through the pandemic and 2008 financial crisis, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Gen Zers know they're stereotyped as "snowflakes" and "strawberries," an Oliver Wyman report said. The report said Gen Z is the most resilient generation because of the adversities it has faced. Gen Z, the title given to those born between 1997 and 2012, has often been stereotyped with negative adjectives, including lazy, mollycoddled, and entitled. Gen Z is the most resilient generation so far because of all the devastation that has happened in their lives, per the Oliver Wyman report. Despite being young, many Gen Zers saw their parents muddle through the financial crisis in 2008 and later, the COVID-19 pandemic, which dramatically affected them, as well as their families.

☆ Analysis: Investors snap up record $39 bln emerging market sovereign bond splurge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Jorgelina Do Rosario | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The scale of borrowing dwarfs the previous record of $26 billion raised in the same period in 2018, data from Morgan Stanley shows. ROARING STARTWhile emerging bond markets are off to a roaring start, that might not translate into a bumper year overall. That is well above last year's multi-year low of $95 billion, but well short of 2020's record $233 billion. "The blessing for 2023 is that we haven't got a huge spike in Eurobonds maturities for the frontier," said Gregory Smith, emerging markets fund manager at M&G Investments, referring to what are perceived as the riskiest of emerging markets. "Kenya and Angola will need to tap the market, while South Africa is staying away completely this year," she said.

☆ Stocks are approaching a key bear market level heading into Thursday's inflation report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Michael Santoli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

This is the daily notebook of Mike Santoli, CNBC's senior markets commentator, with ideas about trends, stocks and market statistics. The market continues to migrate back toward riskier assets, with the consensus entering 2023 in a defensive posture and ill-prepared for a benign tilt toward inflation data or reassuring signals on corporate results. Media and busted hypergrowth stocks abound on the year-to-date winners list, and this is probably why. It's the market's job to look ahead to handicap a potential inflection point no matter what the Fed is saying. VIX pretty subdued near 21, not exactly clenched up in fear ahead of key data, though probably will drain lower after CPI and ahead of a three-day weekend.

☆ For the New Year, Figuring Out What Matters Most
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Valerie Tiberius | Photographs Olivia Locher For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Yet few people have a detailed set of well-defined values sitting around in their brain, waiting to guide their actions. “You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone,” as the song goes. Our values—the things that are most important to us, like work, family, friendship, creativity and so on—are open to interpretation. But when we confront challenges, getting more specific about what we really value lets us know what’s at stake in our choices. As we think about the year ahead, five strategies can help us figure out what matters most to us.

☆ What retail investors are investing in and what to expect for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

It's been a tough year for retail investors — and it's not necessarily expected to get any easier in 2023. "Post-Covid overall net inflow of retail investors has tripled, and almost quadrupled, and stayed there." When it comes to individual stocks, retail investors are buying companies such as Tesla , Apple and Nvidia , according to Vanda Research. Retail investors will likely stick with their game plan into 2023, said Vanda Research's Iachini. "We struggle to see retail investors going back to speculation or doubling down on risky bets to try to make up their losses," he said.

On Friday, Tory Lanez, legally known as Daystar Peterson, was found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion, legally known as Megan Pete, during the summer of 2020. But there were moments when Megan Thee Stallion was failed during this ordeal, and we shouldn’t forget that. Megan Thee Stallion’s case isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of slut shaming. In her songs, Megan Thee Stallion has promoted the idea of women feeling comfortable and deserving of embracing sexual freedom. An imperfect victim doesn’t negate that they deserve justice, and failing to believe Black women won’t result in anyone’s liberation.

☆ Markets looking for the next catalyst might latch on to worries about 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Patti Domm | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Markets could be volatile and in search of a catalyst in the week ahead, as investors consider year-end trades in the lull before the Federal Reserve's December 13-14 policy meeting. Stocks were higher in the past week, with the year's worst performing sectors, communications services and consumer discretionary companies, leading the gains. On the geopolitical front, Arone said investors will watch the Dec. 6 runoff election in Georgia's senate race . Week ahead calendar Monday Earnings: Sumo Logic , Gitlab 9:45 a.m. Services PMI 10:00 a.m. ISM services 10:00 a.m. Initial jobless claims 10:00 a.m. Quarterly services survey Friday 8:30 a.m. PPI 10:00 a.m. Consumer sentiment 10:00 a.m. Wholesale trade

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