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☆ Italy may have staved off recession, economy minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

However, he did warn that European Central Bank rate rises would pose "serious problems" for high-debt countries such as Italy. An economic recession is widely defined as two consecutive quarters of declining GDP and the euro zone's third largest economy shrank 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022 from the previous three months. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration is due to unveil its new growth estimates and public finance targets next month. Annual growth is now expected at almost 1%, up from the 0.6% target set in November, a Treasury official has previously said. With the European Central Bank (ECB) raising interest rates, Giorgetti said Italy should keep following a "cautious and responsible" fiscal policy in order to lower its public debt.

☆ Exclusive: As 2024 election approaches, White House jumps into states' abortion battles
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Nandita Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The previously unreported, behind-the-scenes effort has caught the attention of state lawmakers for the level of support offered by the administration. In some cases, the White House is leaning on key lawmakers in states with important abortion-related legislative fights this session. North Carolina is a special focus where the White House thinks it has the opportunity to fend off restrictions, one of the White House officials said. Republicans have largely shrugged off White House efforts at beating back efforts to limit abortion rights. The White House sees three different approaches to defend abortions rights and has broken down states into what they call either "battleground," "extremist" or "proactive" states, White House officials and advisors say.

☆ 'Big Short' legend Michael Burry invested in Bed Bath & Beyond at least twice before the meme stock's epic rise and fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Michael Burry invested in Bed Bath & Beyond at least twice before the meme-stock boom in early 2021. Burry's Scion firm held a $8 million stake in September 2019, and a $11 million stake in June 2020. BBBY shares peaked at $43 in January 2021, quadruple the price at which Burry owned them. It owned 1 million BBBY shares worth almost $11 million on June 30, 2020. A buying frenzy drove BBBY shares as high as $43 during that period; if Burry had kept his million shares, they would have briefly quadrupled in value to $43 million.

☆ Spring training roundup: Pirates, O’s play unneeded bottom of 9th
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Orioles catcher Maverick Handley called balls and strikes thrown by teammate right-hander Ofreidy Gomez during the half inning. The Pirates opened a 5-0 lead before the Orioles put up four runs across the fifth and sixth innings, thanks in part to Franchy Cordero's two-run home run. Kevin Pillar had a two-run homer and an RBI single to power the Braves' offense. Phillies 7, Blue Jays 2Trea Turner hit a two-run single and finished 2-for-3 with a run as host Philadelphia took care of Toronto in Clearwater, Fla. Jace Peterson cracked a three-run homer for the Athletics.

☆ ATP roundup: Andrey Rublev escapes for win in Doha
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

February 23 - Top-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia staved off three match points while rallying for a 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6) win over the Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor in the second round of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Wednesday in Doha. Rublev knocked off three match points and broke serve. In the decisive tiebreaker, Rublev needed three match points of his own to advance to the quarterfinals. Third-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev topped British qualifier Liam Broady 6-4, 6-3. In the tournament's final two first-round matches, French wild-card entrant Arthur Fils topped Russia's Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-3, and Sweden's Mikael Ymer handled Moldova's Radu Albot 6-3, 7-6 (5).

☆ Russia’s economy is hurting despite Putin’s bluster
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Russia’s economy did weaken as a result. “The Russian economy and system of government have turned out to be much stronger than the West believed,” Putin said in a speech to Russia’s parliament Tuesday. The bloc, which dramatically reduced its dependence on Russian natural gas last year, officially banned most imports of Russian crude oil by sea in December. Russia’s oil problemIn fact, Russia’s export revenue from oil rose last year. On the declineThe International Monetary Fund still expects Russia’s economy to expand by 0.3% this year and 2.1% the next.

☆ Analysis: Bed Bath's novel deal is no universal dodge-bankruptcy card
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Shankar Ramakrishnan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It's unclear whether Bed Bath can capitalize on the breathing room to turn around its business, which has been battered by competition from other online and brick-and-mortar retailers. A spokesperson for Hudson's Bay declined to comment, while Bed Bath & Beyond did not respond to requests for comment. To secure the Hudson's Bay investment, Bed Bath offered a deal that guarantees the hedge fund a lucrative return in most circumstances. It is not clear how much of the stock Hudson's Bay has converted and sold since it inked the deal with Bed Bath on Feb. 6. The deal is very dilutive for other Bed Bath investors, who will end up owning 80% less if the company survives.

[1/5] Supporters of All Progressives Congress (APC) wear traditional attire with APC branding during a campaign rally in Abuja, Nigeria, February 11, 2023. Ahead of the Feb. 25 vote, political rallies and campaign events have become catwalks for colourful printed fabrics twisted into elaborate dresses, tunics and headscarves. He wore an LP-emblazoned, green, red and white version of a traditional hat and held a wooden walking stick that is often used as an accessory among Hausa men. "You can see the stick here which means I am a full Lagosian by virtue of this campaign in Lagos," said Ahanotu. "This is our official regalia for APC presidential campaign council," she explained.

☆ WTA roundup: Alycia Parks, Lin Zhu win first singles titles
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

February 5 - Alycia Parks won her first WTA singles title, defeating No. She won points on 85 percent of her first serves and saved all four break points she faced. She converted 80 percent of her first serves into points and staved off two break points until championship point, when she double faulted on the final break point of the match. Thailand OpenLin Zhu of China was another first-time WTA tour winner, defeating Lesia Tsurenko 6-4, 6-4 in Hua Hin. And in a match that saw 23 break point opportunities, Zhu cashed in on eight of nine attempts but saved only eight of 14 break points on her serve.

☆ Apple's long-term positives outweigh rare earnings miss, Morgan Stanley says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shorter-term macro issues don't detract from the long-term value at Apple , Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a Friday morning note that reiterated an overweight rating and a $175 price target. "Taking a step back, it's rare to see Apple miss and guide down in a quarter, but we believe the long-term positives from tonight's report outweigh the short-term negatives," Morgan Stanley's Erik Woodring wrote. It's that same discipline that helps Morgan Stanley analysts maintain a bullish outlook on Apple, which guided to a Mar. Apple's user spend levels are also keeping Morgan Stanley bullish, proof that "the underlying drivers of Apple's model remain robust." Investors have apparently embraced Morgan Stanley's appraisal of Apple's durability as a long-term investment.

☆ How ballroom dance become a refuge for Asian immigrants
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Three days a week, Edward Wan, of Bethesda, Maryland, steals away to a ballroom dance studio so he can glide across the floor in the company of older Chinese immigrants like him. Wan, 78, is one of the countless Asian immigrants who’ve regarded ballroom dance as a sort of creative sanctuary, but are now shaken by the two shootings incidents, one of them deadly, that shook California dance halls on Saturday. “It’s an injustice to ballroom dance. Ballroom dance itself is almost like going to learn poetry or sitting down to meditate,” Wan said. Ballroom dance helped him move forward, he said.

☆ NBA roundup: Celtics claim 8th straight with OT win over Warriors
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Williams added 11 rebounds. Damion Lee added 16 points and reserve Saben Lee had a season-best 15 as Phoenix won for just the third time in its past 15 games. Nic Claxton had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Joe Harris and Seth Curry scored 16 points apiece and Cam Thomas added 15. Anthony Edwards had 23 points and Kyle Anderson added 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Minnesota. Hamidou Diallo tossed in 17 points, while Saddiq Bey and Jaden Ivey had 16 points apiece.

☆ Steve Bannon has ghosted his 'We Build The Wall' defense lawyers for months in what prosecutors calls a delay tactic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Steve Bannon was in Manhattan court Thursday for a hearing in his border wall charity scam case. His lawyers told the judge that Bannon has refused to talk to them for months. David Schoen, one of Bannon's current lawyers, asked the judge to let him and another lawyer, John Mitchell, stop representing Bannon immediately. At the court conference, Schoen told Judge Juan Merchan that Bannon was no longer speaking with him or Mitchell. Merchan said the Manhattan District Attorney's office should "set aside" discovery evidence for whichever lawyers Bannon hired.

☆ Noskova stuns Azarenka in Adelaide as Jabeur, Sabalenka reach semis
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 6 (Reuters) - Teenaged qualifier Linda Noskova saved a match point before completing a stunning 6-4 6-7(3) 7-6(6) victory over double Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Adelaide International 1. Noskova, who also upset third seed Daria Kasatkina earlier in the WTA 500 event, next meets favourite and world number two Ons Jabeur who battled past Marta Kostyuk 7-6(5) 7-5. Second seed Aryna Sabalenka staved off a late fightback from former French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova to win 6-3 7-5 in hot conditions. She fought until the end and I was really happy I was able to win," WTA Finals runner-up Sabalenka said after another battling display in her preparation for the Jan. 16-29 Australian Open. "I think because I'm staying really calm and I feel like I'm at home here that's why I play really well.

All the major S&P 500 sectoral indexes rose, with consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) and information technology (.SPLRCT) up 1.8% and 1.9%, respectively. The U.S. Labor Department's report showed initial claims for unemployment benefits rose 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 225,000 for the week ended Dec. 24. The report hinted at some softening in an otherwise tight labor market, bolstering hopes that the U.S. central bank would dial down its aggressive monetary policy stance. "Signs of the job market beginning to weaken is certainly apparent," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist, Spartan Capital Securities LLC. A strong labor market and resilient American economy have fueled worries that interest rates could stay higher for longer even though easing inflationary pressures keep alive hopes of smaller increases.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 225,000 for the week ended Dec. 24, the Labor Department said. The report suggested that the rapid interest rate hikes were starting to take a toll on the labor market, bolstering hopes that the U.S. central bank would dial down its aggressive stance. "Signs of the job market beginning to weaken is certainly apparent," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist, Spartan Capital Securities LLC. ET, Dow e-minis were up 172 points, or 0.52%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 29 points, or 0.76%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 116.25 points, or 1.08%. Reporting by Ankika Biswas and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Why voters don’t want Biden or Trump but might get them anyway in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —Even as President Joe Biden and ex-President Donald Trump move toward a rerun of the most turbulent White House race in modern history, many voters are pining for a break from the past – and the present. A new CNN/SSRS poll shows that 6 in 10 Republicans and GOP-leaning independents want their party to nominate someone other than Trump in 2024. A Biden versus Trump race would raise questions over whether a bitterly polarized political system, where democracy itself is at stake, has lost the capacity for self-renewal that has always been an American strength. The CNN poll shows Biden on an upward trajectory and in a better position in his party than Trump is in his. The question of his age, however, might be less important if Biden faces Trump, who is already 76.

Biden had been hopeful that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be more apt to free Griner once America’s midterm elections were done, a calculation that proved correct. Still detained in Russia is Paul Whelan, a businessman whom the White House has also been working to free without success. In a 2012 interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” when he was vice president, Biden came out in favor of same-sex marriage, and he is expected to sign the measure into law. White House officials acknowledged the headwinds and worried that the midterm elections would be a repudiation of Biden’s record. “When I look at what the Biden White House has done, I think experience and patience really paid off,” said Jennifer Palmieri, who served as White House communications director during the Obama administration.

More than 60 prominent conservatives, including former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and activist Ginni Thomas, are calling on House and Senate GOP leadership elections to be delayed until after the Dec. 6 Georgia Senate runoff. The open letter to GOP lawmakers released Monday comes just a day before House Republicans are set to hold their closed-door election to pick their leaders for the new Congress. Senate Republicans plan to hold their own internal elections on Wednesday. There should be no rushed leadership elections,” the conservative group wrote in their letter. “Conservative Members of the House and Senate have called for the leadership elections to be delayed.

"It takes off the table the risk that the Fed will have to overtighten and break the economy." The inflation data prompted traders to adjust their rate hike bets, with odds of a 50-basis point rate hike in December jumping to more than 80% from 52% before the data was released. The CBOE volatility index (.VIX), also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell to a near two-month low of 23.4 points. Wall Street's main indexes have suffered sharp losses this year as investors feared the U.S. central bank's aggressive rate hikes to tame decades-high inflation will tip the economy into recession. The S&P index recorded 13 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 70 new highs and 93 new lows.

☆ U.S. Senate up for grabs as Republicans move toward House majority
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

(Live election results from around the country are here.) But Democrats were able to avoid the major defeat that Republicans had anticipated and were holding on in the close Senate battles in Nevada and Arizona. Even a slim House majority would allow Republicans to shape the rest of Biden's term, blocking priorities such as abortion rights and launching investigations into his administration and family. A White House official said Biden spoke by phone with Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy, who announced earlier in the day his intention to run for speaker of the House if Republicans control the chamber. Control of the Senate, meanwhile, would give Republicans the power to block Biden's nominees for judicial and administrative posts.

Every line of the report shows sequential improvement," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Financial. The report prompted traders to adjust their rate hike bets, with bets of a 50-basis point rate hike in December jumping to more than 70% from 45% before the data was released. Following last week's Fed policy meeting, some U.S. central bank officials have made comments that pointed to slower rate rises over coming meetings. The Fed's policy rate is currently in a range of 3.75%-4.00%. The CBOE volatility index (.VIX), also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell to a near two-month low of 23.94.points.

☆ Futures rise as focus shifts to inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Futures up: Dow 0.09%, S&P 0.17%, Nasdaq 0.31%Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures inched higher on Thursday as investor focus turned to October inflation data for clues on the path of future interest rate hikes. Traders are split on whether a 50 basis points or 75 basis points rate hike by the Fed is likely in December. ET, Dow e-minis were up 29 points, or 0.09%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 6.5 points, or 0.17%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 33.25 points, or 0.31%. The CBOE volatility index (.VIX), also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose to 26.56 points, and was close to a weekly high. Reporting by Shubham Batra and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Republicans close in on U.S. House majority, Senate still up for grabs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A split would mean the Senate majority would come down to a runoff election in Georgia for the second time in two years. Even a slim House majority would allow Republicans to shape the rest of Biden's term, blocking priorities such as abortion rights and launching investigations into his administration and family. A White House official said Biden spoke by phone with Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy, who announced earlier in the day his intention to run for speaker of the House if Republicans control the chamber. Control of the Senate, meanwhile, would give Republicans the power to block Biden's nominees for judicial and administrative posts. MIXED RESULTSThe party in power historically suffers heavy casualties in a president's first midterm election, and Biden has struggled with low approval ratings.

REUTERS/Emilie MadiSHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic lawmakers at the UN climate summit in Egypt expressed concern on Thursday that Republican gains in the midterm Congressional elections could spell trouble for America's efforts to fight climate change. Speaking on the same panel, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticised lawmakers who disagree global warming is a real problem, and said Democrats and Republicans would have to work together to combat climate change. "We have to get over that," Pelosi said of lawmakers who have claimed climate change is a hoax. A delegation of Republican lawmakers arrived on Thursday in Sharm El-Sheikh separately from the Democrats and will hold an event on Friday. Last year, Biden pledged to double funds to help developing nations adapt to the effects of climate change by 2024 to $11.4 billion per year.

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