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☆ AT&T’s fiber diet should help mitigate M&A bloat
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters Breakingviews) - AT&T (T.N) boss John Stankey is getting the telecom titan back in its lane. The $145 billion company on Wednesday disclosed a $25 billion non-cash impairment charge partly related to its landline business. AT&T benefited in other ways, adding 656,000 net new mobile subscribers who pay monthly in the fourth quarter, far better than what Verizon Communications (VZ.N) managed. In the fourth quarter, AT&T’s average revenue per user for its fiber product was approaching $65, $10 higher than what its non-fiber service fetches. At least it’s a venture in AT&T’s wheelhouse, and a higher fiber diet should help mitigate the M&A bloat.

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☆ The Fyre Festival fraudster is launching his latest thing, and it looks like a party on an island
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Jake Traylor | Jake Traylor Is An Associate Producer For Msnbc. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

He’s using different words, but he’s selling the same thing,” said Shiyuan Deng, a former product designer at Fyre Media, the company behind Fyre Festival. Deng resigned from Fyre Media shortly before it collapsed. Another former Fyre Media employee who asked to withhold their name out of concerns of retaliation also said PYRT reminded them of Fyre Festival. “The similarities are there around the vague mysterious promotion,’’ said the former employee of Fyre Media. McFarland said he believes PYRT will look considerably different from Fyre Festival.

From start to finish, Tuesday's 80th annual Golden Globe Awards was a very queer affair. Here are some of the evening's queerest (and gay Twitter meme-worthy) moments. Jerrod Carmichael apologizes to Jennifer Coolidge 'on behalf of all the gays'Jerrod Carmichael hosted the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards on Tuesday. The 26-year-old actor, who already has two Emmy awards for the same role, was not present to accept her Golden Globe. The Burnett award was started in 2019, with its namesake, comedian Carol Burnett, being its first honoree.

☆ Dollar, euro rangebound ahead of U.S. inflation report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The dollar was little changed on Wednesday versus the euro and other major currencies as traders held off from making big moves ahead of U.S. inflation data on Thursday, which may offer a clearer picture of where interest rates are headed. The euro was up 0.3% at $1.07675 against the dollar. "Unless the global growth backdrop continues to improve more materially, we expect dollar downside to remain constrained," Rosenberg said. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, including the euro, dipped 0.068% to 103.18. The Australian dollar edged up 0.04% to $0.6896 after data showed the annual pace of inflation increased to 7.3% in November, leaving room for more rate hikes.

☆ Morning Bid: Risk on, risk off
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

European company results kick-off in earnest on Wednesday, with retailer Sainsbury (SBRY.L) and JD Sports reporting. On the macro economic front, the World Bank cut its 2023 growth forecasts to levels teetering on the brink of recession for many countries as the impact of central bank rate hikes intensifies, Russia's war in Ukraine continues and the world's major economic engines sputter. The U.S. consumer price index report on Thursday is the big event for markets. The report is expected to show December's headline inflation at 6.5% versus 7.1% in November. Key developments that could influence markets on Wednesday:RESULTS: Sainsbury, JD Sports, Barratt DevelopmentsReporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Wall St ends higher, Powell comments avoid rate policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Caroline Valetkevitch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said on Tuesday the bank will have to raise interest rates further to combat high inflation. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) shares rose 2.9% and gave the Nasdaq and S&P 500 their biggest boosts. This week marks the start of the fourth-quarter earnings season for S&P 500 companies, with results from several of Wall Street's biggest banks due later this week. The World Bank on Tuesday slashed its 2023 growth forecasts on Tuesday to levels teetering on the brink of recession for many countries as the impact of central bank rate hikes intensifies. The S&P 500 posted four new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 71 new highs and 30 new lows.

☆ Wall Street climbs; Powell comments avoid rate policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Caroline Valetkevitch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said on Tuesday the bank will have to raise interest rates further to combat high inflation. Traders are betting on a 25-basis point rate hike at the Fed's upcoming policy meeting in February. Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) gave the S&P 500 its biggest boost. The World Bank on Tuesday slashed its 2023 growth forecasts on Tuesday to levels teetering on the brink of recession for many countries as the impact of central bank rate hikes intensifies. The S&P 500 posted two new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 54 new highs and 25 new lows.

☆ World Bank warns global economy could tip into recession in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Andrew KellyWASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The World Bank slashed its 2023 growth forecasts on Tuesday to levels teetering on the brink of recession for many countries as the impact of central bank rate hikes intensifies, Russia's war in Ukraine continues, and the world's major economic engines sputter. The development lender said it expected global GDP growth of 1.7% in 2023, the slowest pace outside the 2009 and 2020 recessions since 1993. In its previous Global Economic Prospects report in June 2022, the bank had forecast 2023 global growth at 3.0%. It forecast global growth in 2024 to pick up to 2.7% -- below the 2.9% estimate for 2022 -- and said average growth for the 2020-2024 period would be under 2% -- the slowest five-year pace since 1960. China's growth in 2022 slumped to 2.7%, its second slowest pace since the mid-1970s after 2020, as zero-COVID restrictions, property market turmoil and drought hit consumption, production and investment, the World Bank report said.

☆ World Bank warns global economy could easily tip into recession in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The World Bank slashed its 2023 growth forecasts on Tuesday to levels teetering on the brink of recession for many countries as the impact of central bank rate hikes intensifies, Russia's war in Ukraine continues, and the world's major economic engines sputter. The development lender said it now expected global GDP growth of 1.7% in 2023 -- the slowest pace outside the 2009 and 2020 recessions in nearly three decades. In its previous Global Economic Prospects report, in June 2022, the bank had forecast 2023 global growth at 3.0%The bank said major slowdowns in advanced economies, including sharp cuts to its forecast to 0.5% for both the United States and the euro zone, could foreshadow a new global recession less than three years after the last one. China's growth in 2022 slumped to 2.7%, its second slowest pace since the mid-1970s after 2020, as zero-COVID restrictions, property market turmoil and drought hit consumption, production and investment, the World Bank report said. The World Bank noted that some inflationary pressures started to abate as 2022 drew to a close, with lower energy and commodity prices, but warned that risks of new supply disruptions were high, and elevated core inflation may persist.

☆ French energy suppliers will let struggling bakers renegotiate contracts - Le Maire
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Dominique Vidalon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Jan 3 (Reuters) - France's energy suppliers have agreed to allow the country's trademark bakeries to renegotiate their contracts if they struggle to pay their bills, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday. Dominique Anract, the president of the French Bakers' Confederation, earlier told Reuters that getting rid of "rotten contracts" was one of the sector's main demands. Bakery power contracts can now be reviewed on a "case by case" basis depending on each bakers' situation, he said after the meeting with executives from suppliers including EDF (EDF.PA) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA). Le Maire earlier said power suppliers had so far not done enough to help the country's small and medium-sized businesses cope with rising power costs. Earlier in the day, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne confirmed plans to help French bakers cope with rising energy bills, allowing them to spread the payment of their taxes over time and possibly "the payment of their energy bills for the first months of the year".

☆ Monarch butterflies made a historic rebound this year, but my photos from 'Butterfly Town, USA' are disappointing and sad
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

California's monarch butterflies made a miraculous rebound from nearly disappearing in 2020. I visited Pacific Grove, AKA "Butterfly Town, USA," to see the monarch migration for the first time. Monarch butterflies fly at the Sierra Chincua butterfly sanctuary in Angangeo, Michoacan state, Mexico. Monarch butterflies fly at the Sierra Chincua butterfly sanctuary in Angangeo, Michoacan state, Mexico. When I was a child, I didn't see monarch butterflies, but they were already in decline.

☆ 'Bomb cyclone' forces DoorDash to pause food deliveries in multiple US cities. The company says more shutdowns are coming and New York City could be next.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Winter Storm Elliot is intensifying into a "bomb cyclone," according to The Weather Channel. DoorDash said it is pausing food deliveries in Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, and Indiana. 1 delivery operator, is suspending operations in multiple cities in Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, and Indiana. "We have activated our Severe Weather Protocol in response to Winter Storm Elliot," the company said. According to The Weather Channel, Winter Storm Elliot is intensifying in the Plains, Midwest, and Great Lakes.

While travel demand is roaring back, many hotels, airlines, cruise operators and airports are still racing to hire and train workers. That means the level of customer service will likely take a hit, industry experts say. One potential bright spot can be found at sea: During the summer, several cruise lines had to cancel voyages due to staffing shortages, but major disruptions have been largely resolved. “It’s highly unlikely your holiday cruise will be canceled due to lack of staffing,” said Colleen McDaniel, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, a Tripadvisor-run travel site. “This year, I moved my annual holiday travel to earlier in December,” said Abby Rhinehart, an educational researcher in Tucson, Arizona.

☆ Beijing’s Pivot to Growth Comes Very Late
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Nathaniel Taplin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

With the economy teetering and China bracing for a gigantic wave of Covid-19 cases, Beijing is finally sounding the right notes on business and growth. Last week’s Politburo meeting called for “greatly boosting” market confidence, “even greater efforts to attract and use foreign capital” and maintaining an “active” fiscal stance. The question is whether it is too little, too late.

☆ Cash-strapped home sellers and buyers are getting much-needed relief with four weeks of mortgage rate drops
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

This week, the average rate for a 30-year mortgage stood at 6.33% – marking the fourth consecutive week of declines. Mortgage rates have declined three quarters of a point over the last four weeks, representing the largest drop since 2008. Over the last four weeks, mortgage rates have declined three quarters of a point — marking the largest drop since 2008. The recent downturn reverses a protracted period of hikes in mortgage rates and could make home purchases more affordable for prospective buyers. There is a flip-side to the latest slide in mortgage rates, however.

☆ Ukraine keeps patching up its power grid. But Russia’s barrage could force more Ukrainians to flee as winter bites
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Tim Lister Olga Voitovych Victoria Butenko | Tim Lister | Olga Voitovych | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The result is a grinding battle of attrition: Barrages of Russian missiles fly across Ukraine, and Ukrainian power engineers work for days in freezing temperatures to restore power. “By the nature of the attacks we see that Russian missiles are directed by Russian power engineers,” says Tymoshenko. 15 gigawatts of Ukraine’s power capacity have been taken out, compared to the pre-war capacity of 56 gigawatts (GW) of power, according to Ukrenergo. Tymoshenko told CNN that Ukraine’s power system has been part of the continental network since March after synchronization of the systems. “And this, of course, will encourage us to further technological development of the power system after victory,” he says.

☆ Ivy Zelman, who famously predicted the 2008 housing crash, says that home prices could drop 20% from their current values if the economy doesn't improve
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Fed's fight against inflation has led to high mortgage interest rates, cooling housing demands. As demand falls, Ivy Zelman, a real-estate anaylist, said national home prices could fall by 20%. As long as mortgage rates remain elevated, Zelman said housing demand will continue to shrink — ultimately resulting in even steeper price cuts from sellers. This latest slide in rates is just 0.59% below the two-decade high that the rate hit just three weeks earlier. But as Zelman herself suggested, if the Fed continues with further rate hikes and mortgage rates remain elevated in 2023, this will become the likely culprit to a protracted housing slump.

☆ Soil DNA analysis from paw prints could help Sumatran tigers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

In her experiments to date, Watsa has been able to detect Sumatran tiger DNA in soil and determine the sex of the animal. Paw prints made by 4-year-old Sumatran tiger Rakan at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park help researcher Mrinalini Watsa develop a cost-effective technique to detect tiger DNA in soil. He believes DNA techniques could help scientists better understand how some tigers disperse between different areas, which can be hard to pick up with cameras. “DNA techniques will also be useful where camera trapping is difficult,” he added, such as the remote, mountainous regions in Southeast Asia. The analysis of tiger DNA in soil samples could help forensic investigations in the battle against the illegal wildlife trade.

☆ 7 photos that show the climate crisis is not a distant threat — it's already here
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A line marks deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, which increased under BolsonaroAerial view of a burnt area in Brazil, on September 17, 2022. MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP via Getty ImagesUnder former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil cleared large swaths of the Amazon rainforest for farmland, accelerating deforestation. In 2019 alone, the first year of the Bolsonaro administration, 2.4 million acres — a section of the forest about the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined — was cleared, according to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research. About 60% of the Amazon rainforest is located in Brazil. As the Bolsonaro administration winds down, incoming President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promises to reverse the environmental damage done in the Amazon.

☆ Goldman says buy these five stocks in a weakening macro environment
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Analysts at Goldman Sachs named a slew of stocks this week that the firm said are well positioned if market conditions deteriorate. They include Yeti, Yum China , Keysight Technologies , Capri Holdings and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing . Yum China Yum China is a stock made for these times, according to analyst Michelle Cheng. Keysight Technologies "Strong results despite weakening macro. Yum China "YUMC delivered a strong margin beat in its 3Q22 results reinforcing its leading execution & business resiliency amid market volatility.

☆ Germany crash out of World Cup despite 4-2 win over Costa Rica
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Karolos Grohmann | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/7] Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group E - Costa Rica v Germany - Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar - December 1, 2022 Germany's Thomas Muller and Antonio Rudiger look dejected after the match as Germany are eliminated from the World Cup REUTERS/Wolfgang RattayAL KHOR, Qatar, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Four-time champions Germany sensationally crashed out of the World Cup despite a 4-2 victory over Costa Rica in their last Group E match on Thursday, tumbling out at the first hurdle for the second consecutive time. Germany finished third in the standings, behind Spain on goal difference, with Japan top following their 2-1 win over the Spaniards. It was the first time in their illustrious World Cup history that Germany had failed to win any of their first two group matches and despite bagging a win on their last attempt, they will be departing Qatar with dropped heads. Germany were eager to make amends for their bad tournament start with teenager Musiala repeatedly taking on the entire Costa Rican defence. They were almost punished when Keysher Fuller benefitted from a double defensive blunder but his shot was tipped over the bar by Neuer, whose 19th appearance at the tournament was a World Cup record for goalkeepers.

☆ A battle over paid leave is threatening to grind the US economy to a halt
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

US rail workers are preparing to strike over their latest negotiations with management. Three years of rail workers' negotiations with management over this issue could soon culminate in an economy-disrupting strike, after the latest tentative agreement included just one paid personal day off a year. That's too far from the 15 days of paid sick leave that rail workers pushed for, and which railroads argue would cost them $688 million a year. While praise for essential workers has faded, rail workers still hold a lot of power in the economy. "The stockholders would go absolutely crazy if we were able to strike for one day."

☆ The latest terrible news for the stock market: The economy is booming again
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Neil Dutta | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Yes, the Fed has slowed activity in certain corners — most notably the housing market — but by and large the economy is still standing. When that happens, investors and consumers better buckle up: There will be more pain ahead for the stock market and the US economy. For a Fed that is trying to slow the economy, this is not a welcome development. At a minimum, it's tough to cut interest rates when the economy is defying expectations. If that's right, we might be seeing yet another false dawn in the stock market.

☆ The Fed will only start cutting interest rates late next year - and the US economy will suffer a recession, a top economist predicts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Beth Ann Bovino expects stubborn inflation, a recession, and higher interest rates and unemployment. The top S&P economist sees rates peaking around 5% and unemployment hitting 5.6% next year. Bovino suggested inflation has probably peaked, but it might not approach the Fed's target until late 2024. Bovino predicts a 0.8% drop in gross domestic product (GDP) from peak to trough, in line with the 1969-1970 recession. Read more: Money managers say these 10 stocks are screaming buys despite rampant inflation and lingering recession fears, according to Morningstar

☆ Binance to commit $1 bln for crypto recovery initiative
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 24 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange Binance said on Thursday it was committing $1 billion to establishing an industry recovery initiative (IRI) to invest in companies from the digital assets sector. Binance said it intends to ramp up its commitment amount to $2 billion in the near future depending on need. "We anticipate this initiative will last about six months and will be flexible on the investment structure -- token, fiat, equity, convertible instruments, debt, credit lines, etc," the crypto exchange added in a statement. He said such a fund would help "reduce further cascading negative effects of FTX" without giving an exact figure for the fund. Several crypto firms have been bracing for the fallout from the FTX collapse, with many counting their exposure in millions to the beleaguered exchange.

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