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☆ Taiwan seeking US cooperation to make next-generation fighters
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, May 3 (Reuters) - Taiwan is seeking U.S. cooperation to make the island's next domestically developed fighter jet, the head of Taiwanese defence contractor Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) (2634.TW) said on Wednesday. Taiwan's air force scrambles daily to see off incursions by Chinese jets into the airspace around the island as Beijing steps up its pressure to try and force Taiwan to accept China's sovereignty. While the mainstay of Taiwan's air force is Lockheed Martin Corp's (LMT.N) F-16s and French-build Mirages it also uses AIDC's F-CK-1 Ching-kuo Indigenous Defence Fighter, or IDF. Taiwan in 2017 announced the next generation fighter programme, to include stealth capabilities, but has given few details since. Even the United States has been unwilling to provide Taiwan its most advanced fighters like the F-22 or F-35, and Taiwan has no direct answer to China's new J-20 stealth fighter.

☆ Taiwan seeking US cooperation to make next generation fighters
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, May 3 (Reuters) - Taiwan is seeking U.S. cooperation to make the island's next domestically developed fighter jet, the head of Taiwanese defence contractor Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) (2634.TW) said on Wednesday. Taiwan's air force scrambles daily to see off incursions by Chinese jets into the airspace around the island as Beijing steps up its pressure to try and force Taiwan to accept China's sovereignty. Speaking at a Taiwan-U.S. defence industry forum in Taipei, AIDC Chairman Hu Kai-hung said the company wanted to raise its technical prowess to help with the development of Taiwan's next generation fighter. Taiwan in 2017 announced the next generation fighter programme, to include stealth capabilities, but has given few details since. Even the United States has been unwilling to provide Taiwan its most advanced fighters like the F-22 or F-35, and Taiwan has no direct answer to China's new J-20 stealth fighter.

☆ Senator Manchin introduces new U.S. energy permitting bill
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Timothy Gardner | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks at the 2023 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 1, 2023. Senator Joe Manchin introduced on Tuesday his latest measure to speed permitting of both fossil fuel and renewable energy projects, as he tries to win support from both major parties after similar bills failed several times last year. The legislation, Building American Energy Security Act, sets a two-year limit on environmental reviews of major federal energy projects and one year for smaller ones, reduces court delays over energy projects, and directs the U.S. president to designate at least 25 high level energy projects and prioritize their permitting. And Republicans who were angry with Manchin for supporting President Joe Biden's climate legislation did not support his bill last year. And Manchin could get support from some Republicans in the Senate, currently controlled by Democrats, whose states would benefit from energy projects.

☆ Super Bowl attracted record audience this year, revised data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The ratings agency had previously announced in February that the game had an average viewership of 113 million. The revised numbers show that this year's Super Bowl surpassed the record set by the 2015 game, which saw 114.8 million people watch the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks. "FOX Sports is proud to have presented the most-watched Super Bowl and most-watched TV show of all time. The revised Super Bowl viewership figure is the result of a thorough review by Nielsen," Fox Corp's sports division said. Nielsen's figure includes people who watched the game on the Fox or Fox Deportes TV networks (FOXA.O) or streamed the game on Fox digital properties or NFL+.

☆ Chevron export earnings boost supply of US dollars in Venezuela -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Mayela Armas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Companies Chevron Corp FollowCARACAS, May 2 (Reuters) - Some of U.S. oil major Chevron Corp's (CVX.N) export earnings from its Venezuela operations are bolstering supplies of U.S. dollars in the South American country, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Chevron operates in Venezuela, which is under U.S. sanctions, with special authorization from Washington. The central bank also sells dollars, mostly the product of oil sales. According to local consulting firm Sintesis Financiera, the central bank offers between $40 million and $50 million per week. The central bank did not respond to requests for comment.

Companies Apple Inc FollowMasimo Corp FollowMay 1 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge in California on Monday declared a mistrial in Masimo Corp's (MASI.O) potential billion-dollar smartwatch trade secret lawsuit against Apple Inc (AAPL.O) after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict, multiple media outlets reported. The jury in federal court in Santa Ana could not determine whether Cupertino, California-based Apple misused confidential information from Masimo related to the use of light to measure biomarkers including heart rates and blood-oxygen levels, U.S. District Judge James Selna said. The jury began deliberating on April 26 after a trial lasting about three weeks. Reporting by Blake Brittain and Stephen NellisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg has said the report, to be released at 2:00 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Monday, will address options on deposit insurance coverage levels, excess deposit insurance, implications of risk-based pricing and the adequacy of the regulator's deposit insurance fund, which will take an estimated $20 billion hit from the failure of SVB and a smaller knock of about $2.5 billion from Signature Bank. The FDIC's deposit insurance fund helps to fulfill the agency's guarantee of bank deposits up to $250,000 per person. In the event an insured bank fails, the FDIC uses the deposit insurance fund to pay back customers who maintained accounts under the limit. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Republican lawmakers in March that Congress should re-evaluate limits on the size of federally insured bank deposits. Some analysts have floated a more targeted change: raising the insurance cap for small business accounts used to manage payroll and other transactions.

☆ Sony shares tumble on weaker-than-expected annual outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, May 1 (Reuters) - Sony Group Corp's (6758.T) shares fell as much as 4.8% on Monday after the Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate's annual profit outlook fell short of market expectations. The company on Friday posted a record operating profit for the year ended March 2023, driven by a robust performance at its music and microchip units. For the current business year, however, it projected a 3.2% profit decline to 1.17 trillion yen ($8.55 billion), missing an analysts average estimate of a 1.275 trillion yen profit, as it expects slow recovery in profitability in the videogame unit. Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal said in a note to clients Sony's outlook "is overly conservative," and that its PlayStation 5 (PS5) game consoles and game software are likely to benefit from pent-up demand. The conglomerate aims to sell a record 25 million units of the PS5 in the year to next March.

☆ FDIC sees merits of increasing backstop for business accounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A key U.S. banking regulator on Monday laid out a range of options for reforming the federal deposit insurance system and concluded that significantly increasing the backstop for bank accounts used for business purposes was the "most promising." In the wake of March's lightning-fast bank failures, expanding coverage for accounts used to cover payroll, invoices and other large business transactions has emerged as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp's preferred route for balancing financial stability and depositor protection, relative to its cost. Keeping the current system, where coverage is limited to $250,000 per-person per-bank, was the third option considered. The FDIC's deposit insurance fund helps to fulfill the agency's guarantee of bank deposits up to $250,000 per person. In the event an insured bank fails, the FDIC uses the deposit insurance fund to pay back customers who maintained accounts under the limit.

The U.S. Treasury Department since 2020 has protected Citgo from creditors with claims against Venezuela, and its change of heart will allow claims to be settled by negotiation or through an auction of shares in Citgo parent PDV Holding. Citgo is PDV Holding's only asset. Houston-based Citgo is the seventh-largest U.S. oil refiner. Other creditors with at least $2.6 billion in claims against Venezuela have received conditional approvals to join the case. Pincus proposed starting the sales process on Sept. 5 with the highest bid reviewed by the court in June 2024.

☆ SoftBank's Arm registers for blockbuster U.S. IPO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

SoftBank Group Corp's chip maker Arm has filed with regulators confidentially for a U.S. stock market listing, Arm said on Saturday, setting the stage for this year's largest initial public offering. The IPO registration shows that SoftBank is pressing ahead with the blockbuster offering despite adverse market conditions, after saying in March that it planned to list Arm in the U.S. stock market. Arm plans to sell its shares on Nasdaq later this year, seeking to raise between $8 billion and $10 billion, people familiar with the matter said. In a statement, which confirmed an earlier Reuters report on the planned IPO, Arm said the size and price range for the offering has not yet been determined. SoftBank and Arm declined to comment.

While SoftBank had said in March it planned to list Arm in the U.S. stock market, the company's IPO registration shows that it is pressing ahead with the blockbuster offering despite adverse market conditions. Arm plans to sell its shares on Nasdaq later this year, seeking to raise between $8 billion and $10 billion, the sources said. SoftBank and Arm declined to comment. There are signs that the IPO market is beginning to thaw. Arm's IPO preparations are being led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Barclays (BARC.L) and Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T).

☆ Amazon's cloud warning rattles investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Aditya Soni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 28 (Reuters) - Growth in Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) lucrative cloud business is slowing and investors are worried. Shares fell 4% on Friday as Amazon's cloud business slowed in April after posting its weakest quarterly growth since the company began breaking out the unit's sales in 2015. The results are in contrast to those of Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Azure cloud business, which grew at 27%. Still, analysts were largely upbeat about Amazon's cloud prospects, with about 17 raising their price targets on the stock, compared with the 10 that lowered their view. "Amazon is the clear market share leader in cloud computing and they will remain that way," Sundaram said.

The company's total revenue fell 4.3% to $29.69 billion in the quarter, but beat analysts' average estimate of $29.30 billion, according to Refinitiv data. However, adjusted losses from the ad-reliant platform widened to $704 million from $456 million a year-ago as Comcast continues to invest heavily in content. Theme parks revenue climbed nearly 25%, thanks to a rebound in attendance at its parks overseas and the lifting of COVID curbs in China. Comcast gained 5,000 broadband customers in the March quarter, while Factset had estimated a loss of 20,000 users. Overall, net income attributable to Comcast rose 8% to $3.83 billion in the quarter.

☆ Capital One posts worse-than-feared quarterly profit on provisions
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 27 (Reuters) - Consumer lender Capital One Financial Corp's (COF.N) first-quarter profit missed estimates on Thursday due to an increase in provisions that reduced gains from interest rate hikes. The Federal Reserve's rate hikes to tame soaring inflation since the past year benefited lenders as they charged higher interest from borrowers. Still the rate hikes left the economy reeling from higher costs of borrowing and saw banks stockpile rainy day funds to prepare for soured loans. Capital One shares are up 3.6% so far this year but fell 4.9% to $91.3 in extended trading on Thursday. Net profit more than halved to $960 million, or $2.31 a share, for the first quarter, from $2.40 billion or $5.62 a share, a year go.

☆ Morning Bid: Cloud control - tech trumps banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Alphabet (GOOGL.O) also gained 1% as it too trumpeted gains in cloud services and AI, alongside plans for a $70 billion buyback. With Meta (META.O) results out later, its stock was up 2% and Amazon (AMZN.O) raced ahead 4%. PacWest Bancorp's (PACW.O) shares jumped 15% in extended trading after the regional lender said deposits have been building recently. And in Europe, Standard Chartered (STAN.L) shares bucked otherwise dour markets on a forecast-beating 21% jump in first-quarter profits. U.S. Treasury markets continued to rally, with yields on 2-year notes dropping below 4% Tuesday and testing 3.9% early today.

☆ India court rejects Xiaomi's challenge to $676 mln asset freeze - Live Law
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

NEW DELHI, April 21 (Reuters) - A court in India's Karnataka state has rejected China-based Xiaomi Corp's (1810.HK) petition challenging the seizure of 55.51 billion rupees ($676.35 million) by the Enforcement Directorate, news website Live Law reported on Friday. India's federal financial crime agency froze Xiaomi's assets last year, alleging the company had made illegal remittances to foreign entities by passing them off as royalty payments. The company denies any wrongdoing. ($1 = 82.0725 Indian rupees)Reporting by Tanvi Mehta; Editing by Krishna N. DasOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Twitter drops 'government-funded media' tag on NPR, other media accounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 21 (Reuters) - Twitter dropped the "Government-funded Media" tag, which implies government involvement in editorial content, on some accounts like National Public Radio (NPR) and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), their accounts showed on Friday. Besides NPR and CBC, the tag, labeled 'state-affiliated media' earlier, was also absent from the British Broadcasting Corp's (BBC) Twitter account. Earlier this month, NPR and CBC paused their activities on the social media platform, arguing that the tag did not accurately capture their governance structure. We're adjusting the label to be 'publicly funded', which I think is perhaps not too objectionable," Musk had said. Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Carlyle eyes fresh backers for McDonald's China arm - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 21 (Reuters) - Carlyle Group Inc (CG.O) is considering bringing in fresh backers for its investment in McDonald's Corp's (MCD.N) China operations, seeking a valuation of $8-$10 billion for the business, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Carlyle, which controls McDonald's China along with Trustar Capital, could sell down part of their stakes in the fast-food giant in the deal while still retaining control, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter. In 2017, the U.S fast-food chain agreed to sell most of its China and Hong Kong business to CITIC and Carlyle for up to $2.1 billion. Trustar Capital is a private equity affiliate of CITIC Capital Holdings. Carlyle, McDonald's and Trustar did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

[1/2] Tide laundry detergent is shown on display in Compton, California, U.S., January 10, 2017. Fabric and family care, which includes the paper products, are among the company's biggest businesses. P&G's margins, a key sign of profitability investors closely watch, could take a hit if the company continues with heavier discounts. “Tide is who we would benchmark, and we’re seeing more discounts with them, and the category at large among bigger players.”Whritenour added that discounts are now deeper and more competitive. Market research firm Circana is forecasting discounts will continue to grow this year across household products as consumers face a darkening economic situation.

April 20 (Reuters) - Union Pacific Corp's (UNP.N) chief executive officer said on Thursday the railroad operator was considering slowing down the pace of hiring in the second half of the year amid a cloudy economic outlook, becoming the latest U.S. company to evaluate its staffing plans. CEO Lance Fritz told Reuters in an interview the outlook was turning a "little cloudier" for consumer-facing companies, which is making railroad volume difficult to predict. A possible slowdown in hiring comes at a time when railroads are struggling to move cargo on time, which has invited severe criticisms from regulators and customers. Shares of Union Pacific, which connects West Coast ports to key terminals such as Chicago, lost its gains in the day to trade flat in the afternoon session. Operating revenue for the quarter ended March 31 rose 3% to $6.06 billion, in line with analysts' estimates.

☆ Western Alliance's stock surges as results allay deposit fears
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Noel Randewich | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We are seeing positive news from a regional bank that was in the crosshairs of the whole crisis. Western Alliance's results soothed concerns about the stability of regional banks following worst U.S. banking crisis since 2008. The rally in Western Alliance following its report stands out among several regional banks that have posted their quarterly results this week. Citizens Financial Group Inc (CFG.N) was trading near flat after reporting a quarterly profit early on Wednesday that missed Wall Street's estimates. Western Alliance's stock remains down over 40% from early March, before Silicon Valley Bank's implosion.

[1/6] Tundra trucks and Sequoia SUV's exit the assembly line as finished products at Toyota's truck plant in San Antonio, Texas, U.S. April 17, 2023. TOYOTA'S PAST SUCCESSWashington's push to accelerate the shift to battery-electric vehicles amplifies the threat posed by Tesla to Toyota's position as the world's largest automaker. Toyota San Antonio has weathered a series of challenges since it built its first truck in 2006. The future for factories like Toyota San Antonio will play out across the next several years. Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu in San Antonio, Texas, Joseph White in Detroit and David Shepardson in Washington Written by Joseph White Editing by Ben Klayman and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The campaign of Donald Trump will be the issue for Fox going forward, says Gamesquare's Tom Rogers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | 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 EmailThe campaign of Donald Trump will be the issue for Fox going forward, says Gamesquare's Tom RogersTom Rogers, Gamesquare executive chairman, and Barton Crockett, Rosenblatt Securities senior analyst, join 'Squawk Box' to discuss the fallout from Fox Corp's defamation lawsuit settlement with Dominion.

April 18 (Reuters) - U.S. weapons maker Lockheed Martin Corp's (LMT.N) first-quarter results surpassed Wall Street targets on Tuesday despite parts and labor shortages, as simmering geopolitical tensions fueled demand from both U.S. and international customers. Shares of the company rose as much as 3.8% to hit a record high of $508.1 in early trading. The Pentagon's $858 billion defense budget for 2023 has also resulted in multiple contract wins for U.S. defense firms such as Lockheed, Raytheon Technologies (RTX.N) and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N), which count the U.S. Department of Defense as their biggest customer. Lockheed's order backlog also fell to $145.1 billion as of quarter-end from $150 billion at the end of 2022. The missiles maker reaffirmed its full-year outlook, projecting net sales in the range of about $65 billion to $66 billion and profits between $26.60 and $26.90 per share.

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