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☆ Russian Missile Barrage Kills at Least 25 in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Matthew Luxmoore | Ann M. Simmons | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russia targeted cities across Ukraine on Friday in the most severe missile barrage in more than a month, killing at least 25 people, as the Kremlin called for expanding the development and use of drones. Eight Ukrainian regions were targeted in Russia’s overnight strikes, authorities across the country said. Ukraine has resisted Russian missile barrages throughout the fall and winter aimed at disabling Ukraine’s energy grid and sapping Ukrainians’ morale. But Russia has continued sporadic attacks throughout spring as its military campaign to gain territory in Ukraine’s east has largely ground to a halt.

☆ China doesn't want American cars anymore — that's bad news for Ford and GM
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Alexa St. John | Nora Naughton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

American car companies' sales in China have been on a steady decline. "The market has totally changed," Ford CEO Jim Farley said about ChinaWithout China, American car companies will likely lean into US electric vehicle sales. Some of this can be attributed to Chinese car companies' ability to build better and cheaper cars, especially EVs, that consumers are keen to buy. Car companies will double down on US buyers and EVsAs the industry bounced back from the Great Recession, and China became the fastest-growing (and EV friendly) car market in the world, American car companies rushed to enter the market. The China vs America face-off is at a stalemate – for nowWhile American companies lose ground in China, there is a bright spot.

☆ Shareholder group ISS backs Barclays board over former CEO Staley
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Sinead Cruise | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended Barclays investors re-elect all board members at next month's annual meeting, sapping the momentum of protests against bosses for supporting former CEO Jes Staley who is being investigated over his links with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Investors should instead await the outcome of various investigations into the matter, ISS said. Staley has acknowledged having been friendly with Epstein, but expressed regret for their relationship and has denied knowing about the financier's criminal activities. JPMorgan, in turn, has sued Staley over "outrageous" alleged conduct and breaching his duty of loyalty to the bank. Barclays docked bonuses earned by Morzaria and its current top executives by a combined 1 million pounds ($1.24 million) in February over the blunder.

☆ Rob Arnott pioneered a stock investing technique that exploded into a trillion-dollar industry. He presents a new approach to help everyday investors beat the market, even in crises.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Marley Jay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Rob Arnott of Research Affiliates pioneered "smart beta" investing, which has gone global. Arnott and his firm say they've created a better way to index stocks than market cap weighting. Indexes have become the stock market's North Star, as passive investing turned into a global investment trend over the last decade. Meanwhile, Research Affiliates itself has grown to advise on $141 billion in wealth by the end of 2022. Arnott and his team at Research Affiliates suggest looking at the economic footprint of companies instead of their market capitalization.

☆ Accenture trims forecasts, to cut 19,000 jobs as IT spending slows
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Chavi Mehta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Accenture PLC logo is seen on a smartphone in front of displayed same logo in this illustration taken, December 1, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoMarch 23 (Reuters) - Accenture Plc lowered its annual revenue and profit forecasts and decided to cut about 2.5% of its workforce, or 19,000 jobs, the latest sign that the worsening global economic outlook was sapping corporate spending on IT services. More than half of the jobs to be cut will be in its non-billable corporate functions, Accenture said on Thursday, sending its shares up 6.4%. Accenture now expects annual revenue growth to be between 8% and 10%, compared with its previous projection of a 8% to 11% increase. A survey of more than 1,000 IT decision makers by U.S.-based Enterprise Technology Research said they plan to reduce their 2023 budget growth.

☆ Accenture cuts jobs, trims forecasts on worries of lower IT spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Accenture PLC logo is seen on a smartphone in front of displayed same logo in this illustration taken, December 1, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoMarch 23 (Reuters) - Accenture Plc on Thursday lowered its annual revenue and profit forecasts and said it would cut about 2.5% of workforce, or 19,000 jobs, the latest sign that the worsening global economic outlook was sapping corporate spending on IT services. Accenture now expects annual revenue growth to be between 8% and 10% compared to the previous projection of 8% to 11% increase. Accenture said it now expects earnings per share to be in the range of $10.84 to $11.06 compared to $11.20 to $11.52 previously. Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Fedex has been wringing costs from its bloated operations by shuttering offices, cutting jobs, reducing flights, grounding airplanes and canceling profit-sapping Sunday deliveries in far-flung areas. "Our cost actions are taking hold, driving an improved outlook for the current fiscal year," Chief Executive Raj Subramaniam said in a statement. Adjusted income for the fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28 came in at $865 million, or $3.41 per share. Earnings per share were down $1.18 from the year earlier, but 68 cents higher than analysts' average estimate. FedEx shares jumped 11.3% to $227.12 in after hours trade.

March 16 (Reuters) - FedEx Corp (FDX.N) on Thursday raised its fiscal 2023 profit forecast and reported progress on its plan to shave $3.7 billion in costs from its global delivery business, and its shares jumped 12%. Fedex has been wringing costs from its bloated operations by shuttering offices, cutting jobs, grounding airplanes and canceling profit-sapping Sunday deliveries in far-flung areas. On Thursday, FedEx forecast fiscal 2023 adjusted profit of $13.80 to $14.40 per share, up from its previous projection of $12.50 to $13.50. Adjusted income for the fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28 came in at $865 million, or $3.41 per share. At the close of the regular trading session on Thursday, FedEx shares were up about 18% year-to-date, versus the 8% gain in shares of more profitable rival United Parcel Service (UPS.N).

☆ U.S. military conducts first maritime drills with West African forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Cooper Inveen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SOGAKOPE, Ghana, March 16 (Reuters) - The West African troops silently pulled their small boats up to a rust-stained ferry and swarmed up its sides on grappling hooks to disarm the mock kidnappers onboard. The drill in Ghana's Volta river on Saturday was carried out during the first ever maritime exercises organised by the U.S. military under its long-running Flintlock programme to bolster the skills of West African forces. Around 350 troops took part in the drills including servicemen from Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria on the Gulf of Guinea. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing has spread along West Africa's coasts, sapping an estimated $9.4 billion per year through illicit financial flows, according to a 2022 report by the Financial Transparency Coalition of non-governmental organisations. Of the top 10 companies they found involved in IUU fishing in the region, eight were Chinese and a third of all vessels sported Chinese flags, it said.

"We do not believe the optimism is yet justified," Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker wrote in a recent note. Those plans helped FedEx report better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results on Dec. 20, sparking a stock rally that offset a swoon in mid-September, when the company retracted financial forecasts issued just three months earlier and blamed a swift pullback by customers. Analysts are skeptical that FedEx can deliver a repeat performance in the fiscal third quarter that ended on Feb. 28, as demand from e-commerce and other sectors remains soft. He expects FedEx to report adjusted earnings of $2.52 per share for the quarter - about 20 cents less than analysts' average estimate complied by Refinitiv IBES. Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Housing Market Momentum Stalls as Critical Spring Season Approaches
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Nicole Friedman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rising mortgage rates are cooling the U.S. housing market, sapping recent buyer interest heading into the crucial spring selling season. Economists, home builders and real-estate agents saw evidence of a thaw in early 2023, when rates declined from over 7% in November to 6.09% in early February. That was enough to lure back some buyers who had adjusted to higher borrowing costs.

☆ 'Unpredictable' election in Africa's largest economy is set to resonate around the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

After 24 years of uninterrupted democracy since ending military dictatorship in 1999, Africa's most populous nation and largest economy is conducting its seventh election. Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's president, speaks during the U.S.-Africa Business Forum in New York. Leena Koni Hoffmann, associate fellow of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, told CNBC on Monday that the presidential election will be the "most unpredictable" since the transition to civilian rule. Alongside the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine, Koni Hoffmann noted "missed opportunities" and "self-inflicted crises" under Buhari's regime. Economists panned the decision, which Koni Hoffmann suggested rendered Nigeria and its neighbors more vulnerable to the damage of the pandemic.

"It tells me that so far, we're not seeing much of an imprint ... on the labor market," Kashkari said. Bond yields have rocketed higher and interest rate futures markets now are squarely priced for a federal funds rate reaching at least 5.1%. LABOR MARKET CONCERNSOn Monday, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic was one of those who said the central bank may need to lift borrowing costs higher than previously anticipated given the job gains. "We've seen no progress so far, virtually no progress in core services ex housing, and that's very tied to the labor market." Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Chizu Nomiyama, Andrea Ricci and Paul SimaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Sorry Liverpool thrashed 3-0 at Wolves
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Andrew Cawthorne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In their best performance of the season, Wolves cut through Liverpool's shaky defence from the off, missing two good chances before a Hwang Hee-Chan cutback went in off the heel of Joel Matip for a fifth minute own goal. Defeat left Liverpool 10th on 29 points after a terrible start to 2023 in which they have won just one of seven matches - against Wolves in the FA Cup - in all competitions. The result was the first time in a decade that Liverpool have lost three consecutive Premier League away games. "We love super Lopetegui," the Molineux crowd sang to their Spanish manager Julen Lopetegui, who took over in November charged with saving Wolves' Premier League status. Wolves' boss was thrilled with the performance but cautioned his team still had plenty of work to ensure safety.

☆ Gulf economies to slow this year on sluggish oil demand - Reuters poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Anant Chandak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Crude oil prices, a major driver for Gulf economies, are down more than a third from last year's highs and were expected to remain under pressure this year over fears of a recession in major economies sapping demand. Overall growth in the six GCC economies was forecast to average 3.3% and 2.8% this year and next respectively, the Jan. 9-23 poll showed, down from 4.2% and 3.3% in the previous poll. Among other Gulf countries - Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain - growth was expected at 2.4%-2.7% for 2023. Despite lower oil GDP growth, non-oil growth was expected to remain resilient in 2023, economists in the survey said. Analysts expected continued current account surpluses for the main Gulf economies, based on relatively high oil prices.

☆ Here’s what could tip the global economy into recession in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Not everyone agrees the global economy is heading for a recession. Excluding the global financial crisis and the worst stage of the pandemic, that would be the weakest year for the world economy since 2001. Whether a global recession materializes may come down to three factors: what central banks do next, the consequences of China’s nascent reopening and energy prices. What a global recession meansWhether the world falls into recession or not, the next 12 months are likely to be difficult. Even if a global recession is averted, many countries could still endure downturns accompanied by painful rises in unemployment, though economists don’t agree on how severe and long they might last.

☆ Brexit has cracked Britain’s economic foundations
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Brexit has erected trade barriers for UK businesses and foreign companies that used Britain as a European base. While Brexit isn’t the cause of Britain’s cost-of-living crisis, it has made the problem more difficult to solve. The Brexit deal, known as the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, came into effect on January 1, 2021. The deal is “the world’s largest zero tariff, zero quota free trade deal,” the spokesperson added. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development expects the UK economy to shrink by 0.4%, ahead only of sanctioned Russia.

☆ Lionel Messi confirms final will be last World Cup game ever as Argentina overpowers Croatia 3-0
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

JUAN MABROMATA/AFP/AFP via Getty ImagesWhen asked whether Sunday’s game will be his last at a World Cup, Messi replied: “Yes. To finish my World Cup career playing my last game in a final. Everything I’ve lived in this World Cup, what people experienced and how much the people back in Argentina are enjoying it all is very emotional. Luka Modric was unable to guide Croatia to a second consecutive World Cup final. That was Messi’s 11th World Cup goal, taking him past Gabriel Batistuta as Argentina’s all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup finals.

☆ Column: Europe's smaller coal importers to feel the pinch as China reopens
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Any sustained increase in competition for coal with a re-invigorated China may push up coal prices, further sapping the budgets of European utilities and governments and jeopardising efforts to finance an energy transition away from fossil fuels. BANNER YEAREurope's thermal coal imports through November jumped by 36.2% from the same period in 2021 to roughly 83 million tonnes, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler. China's coal production has also scaled a record, fuelled in part by Beijing's efforts to improve energy security. China thermal coal pricesEurope's main coal price benchmarks have also pushed higher in recent days, with prices for the first quarter of 2023 flipping to a widening premium over front-month prices this week. Europe coal prices point higher this winterCOLD SNAPTemperatures on the ground in China will be a major driver of price direction going forward.

☆ Consumers’ caution around holiday spending is the highest since 2013, CNBC survey shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Steve Liesman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

American shoppers plan to watch their wallets closely this holiday shopping season, with 41% saying they plan to spend less this year than last, according to the CNBC All-America Economic Survey . The survey found that average spending intentions for gifts fell 11% from last year to $907 from $1,004 last year when Americans were flush with cash from government stimulus. A third of Americans say they will spend less because of inflation. The CNBC All-America Economic Survey of 801 Americans throughout the nation was conducted during Nov. 26-30. The survey found 30% of participants saying they would use credit cards they don't intend to pay off immediately or other debt in their holiday shopping, up eight points from last year.

☆ Australia's RBA finds unexpected industry interest in an eAUD
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Interested entities ranged from large banks, financial market infrastructure providers and consultancies, to small digital asset firms and fintechs. The RBA intends to select a number of proposals to take forward into the pilot phase early next year. However, Jones cautioned that the actual adoption of a retail CBDC to replace cash would be revolutionary and come with costs and dangers that had yet to be addressed. Instead, it was possible household holdings of eAUD at the RBA would end up replacing deposits held by commercial banks, sapping their ability to lend. "Prior to crossing this Rubicon, a strong public interest case would first need to emerge," Jones concluded on adoption of a retail CBDC.

☆ Analysis: Soccer-Morocco success hands Arab world its first World Cup quarter-finalist
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Mark Gleeson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In doing so, they became the first Arab nation to advance to the last eight, ensuring a breakthrough for the region in the first global tournament in the Middle East, and also became the fourth African side to go this far in World Cup history. The ear-shattering cacophonic combination of singing, drumming, jeering and whistling from Morocco’s supporters has created an atmosphere like no other in Qatar’s stadiums. They were again the vast majority in the capacity 44,667 crowd at the Education City Stadium, completely drowning out the Spain fans. But most of them shuffled from one side to another, rarely producing the penetrative pass Spain were looking for. They will however be mightily concerned to have lost centre back Nayef Aguerd, who limped off in tears in the second half, having just made the World Cup after ankle surgery kept him out for most of the season at his new English club West Ham United.

☆ The SEC is suing real-estate mogul Kent Swig's shady crypto partner for perpetuating a 'pump-and-dump' scheme with a different gold-backed crypto currency
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Alex Nicoll | Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Now the SEC is suing the CEO of Swig's company for an earlier, separate gold-backed crypto scam. According to the SEC, Braverman was said to be the chief operating officer of one of two companies the regulator targeted in the complaint. When Swig's company announced Digau, cryptocurrencies were on a sugar high, with bitcoin trading above $60,000. Neither Swig nor Dignity Gold would reveal to Business Insider any of the specific site locations where the company plans to mine. To extract the gold, Swig partnered with a mining company called Apache Mill Tailings.

☆ Zelensky Warns of More Russian Missile Attacks as Ukraine Struggles to Restore Power
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Matthew Luxmoore | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

KYIV, Ukraine—Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the country was facing a difficult week amid the threat of further missile strikes by Russia aimed at disabling key infrastructure and sapping Ukrainian morale. “Our defense forces are preparing. Our whole country is preparing,” Mr. Zelensky said in his nightly address Sunday, praising repair personnel working overtime across the country. “All scenarios are being assessed.”

☆ Goalless draws at World Cup come from cautious approach
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Mark Gleeson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Nov 26 (Reuters) - A cautious approach from many teams in the opening round of the World Cup was behind a record-approaching number of goalless draws at the tournament in Qatar, FIFAs technical study group said on Saturday. At the last World Cup in Russia, there was a single goalless draw, when Denmark and France failed to produce goals in a group phase clash. "Clearly many teams are relying on a cautious approach," added colleague Alberto Zaccheroni, who won Serie A with AC Milan and the Asian Cup when he was coach of Japan. There have been 14 goals at the tournament in Qatar from crosses in comparison to three at the same stage at the last World Cup four years ago. "This is a very different World Cup in that players get to sleep in the same bed every night and each team has its own base.

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