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☆ Opinion | The Curious Conservative Case Against Defending Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Is there a coherent philosophical grounding for these antiwar conservatives? From Vietnam to Iraq, the antiwar left (both in the United States and abroad) tended to be united by a kind of instinctive pacifism, a belief that war was almost never the right answer. There has also often been a fair amount of anti-Americanism on the left — the Chomskyite view that Washington’s foreign policy is generally a force for neo-imperialism and rapacious capitalism. But that’s not the case with the antiwar right. Much of this incoherence is partly explained via the George Costanza school of modern conservatism: If a Democrat is for it, they’re against it.

LONDON, May 1 (Reuters) - Inflation in the euro area is too high for comfort, meaning markets expect the European Central Bank to deliver its seventh straight interest rate hike on Thursday. 1/ How much will the ECB hike rates by on Thursday? Most analysts expect at least one more rate move after Thursday, even as the Federal Reserve looks set to pause its rate hike campaign. Market pricing suggests ECB rates will peak around 3.6% this year, and Belgium's central bank governor Pierre Wunsch says he wouldn't be surprised to see rates rise to 4%. Tuesday's bank lending should offer some clues but it might be too early to gauge the full impact of the March banking crisis on financing conditions.

☆ Analysis: Whether Trump or Biden, some in Europe see the US as an unreliable ally
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But they also knew that Biden would not be able to undo all the damage done in Donald Trump’s four years. First, if Trump could happen once, there is no reason he or someone in his mold won’t happen again. Second, Biden, Europeans believe, has continued much of Trump’s foreign policy of protectionism on trade and maximum pressure on China. I am worried we are underestimating the risk of China,” says an Eastern Europe diplomat. “Europe has lots of ties to China, but it also learned recently how fast a partner can become an adversary.

☆ An Old Lesson for Young N.B.A. Players: It Takes Heat to Make a Star
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Sopan Deb | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was a far cry from just two years ago, when Young was the up-and-coming N.B.A. darling who unexpectedly led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference finals after the team had missed the postseason three years in a row. This time, Young gave the Celtics fits — averaging 29.2 points and 10.2 assists over the series — but Boston dumped Young’s Hawks from the playoffs in six games. Now Young, who just finished his fifth season, is facing an existential challenge more daunting than any one playoff round: the Narrative. And how is he continuously taking his game 1 percent better, 2 percent better over time?

☆ Take Five: Rate hike vs bank stress
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Fed is expected to deliver another 25-basis point interest rate increase on Wednesday and signal a pause in its most aggressive rate-hiking cycle since the 1980s. Futures markets show investors pricing an nearly 90% chance of a rate increase. But confidence in a 25 bps rate hike has wavered in recent days after problems at lender First Republic reignited concerns over the U.S. banking sector. Yet, key inflation and bank lending data releases in the days ahead could sway that outcome. Tuesday's flash April inflation data is likely to confirm underlying price pressures - running above 5% - remains uncomfortably high.

☆ 'Welcome to the recession:' Most of Wall Street still sees trouble ahead for the U.S. economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

In fact, excluding the drag from inventories, GDP growth actually would have been closer to 3.4%, well above trend. However, most economists and strategists on Wall Street think the U.S. economy is still on the path to recession. We continue to expect the drag from higher interest rates and tightening credit conditions to push the economy into a mild recession soon." Jim Baird, chief investment officer, Plante Moran Financial Advisors "For all the discussion of recession risk – which is very real – consumers remain willing and able to spend. Recession risks remain elevated; the first estimate of Q1 GDP confirms that the economy continues to slow.

☆ NBA roundup: Hawks use late rally to stay alive
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Boston's Jaylen Brown (35 points) posted his second straight 30-plus-point game and Jayson Tatum had 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Jamal Murray scored 35 points, Bruce Brown and Aaron Gordon each had 14 and Michael Porter Jr. grabbed 10 rebounds for Denver. The top-seeded Nuggets are headed to the Western Conference semifinals for the fourth time in five seasons. Anthony Edwards put up 29 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 points and 11 rebounds and Rudy Gobert had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the eighth-seeded Timberwolves. Kevin Durant scored 31 points and Deandre Ayton added 21 points and 11 rebounds for the No.

☆ What’s Next for Tucker Carlson? Former Anchors Chart a Possible Course
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Stuart A. Thompson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tucker Carlson is joining a long list of nightly news hosts who once commanded huge audiences before quick departures from their networks. 71 in Apple’s top podcast charts for news shows in the United States, according to Chartable, a podcast insights company. The site had 1.2 million visits last month, according to SimilarWeb, a web traffic monitoring company. That included The Blaze, a news and video website that had 12 million visits last month, according to SimilarWeb. 13 in Apple’s top podcast charts for news shows in the United States, according to Chartable.

☆ NBA roundup: Warriors survive late gaffe, tie series with Kings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Mike Conley added 19 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out for the Wolves. Nikola Jokic had 43 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Nuggets. Josh Hart chipped in 19 points and seven rebounds for the Knicks, who outrebounded the Cavaliers 47-33. The Hawks were within five points with 3:36 to play, but the Celtics took control by scoring the next seven points. Dejounte Murray finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Summary German public sector secures 5.5% rise for 2024Deal sets precedent, piles pressure on ECB's forecastsECB to raise rates on May 4FRANKFURT, April 24 (Reuters) - The "very generous" pay rise secured by Germany's public sector workers may complicate the European Central Bank's fight against inflation, analysts said on Monday. "The permanent increase next year may raise some eyebrows at the ECB because wages were supposed to peak this year," Natixis economist Dirk Schumacher said. Other economists noted the German public sector pay agreement followed a period of falling real wages, when prices grow faster than salaries. "Doves may argue that the deal comes after a period of wage restraint and is reasonably front-loaded," Christian Schulz, an economist at Citi, said. "This means that it will probably take at least another five years for public sector wages to recover this loss of purchasing power and for employees to have the standard of living they had in 2021," Fratzscher said.

☆ NBA roundup: Anthony Davis, Lakers sprint past Grizzlies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Apr 22, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroder (17) shoots the ball against Memphis Grizzlies forward David Roddy (27) in the fourth quarter during game three of the 2023 NBA playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. LeBron James added 25 points and nine rebounds as the Lakers took a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference matchup. D'Angelo Russell had 17 points and Rui Hachimura scored 16 for Los Angeles, which led by as many as 29 points in the wire-to-wire victory. Desmond Bane (18 points) ended the Morant run with a 3-pointer that cut the Los Angeles lead to 108-99 with 1:24 remaining. James Harden collected 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.

☆ Jim Cramer: This is what I learned from the real first week of earnings season
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

"Simply stated we're in a freight recession." That line, uttered last Monday by Shelley Simpson, president of J.B. Hunt (JBHT), the fourth-largest trucking company in the United States, was the most memorable of the real first week of earnings season. If so, it would know that we're dealing with much more than a freight recession. It's not enough to offset the immense deflationary pressure emanating from the regional banks and the freight recession described by J.B. Hunt. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

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☆ NBA roundup: Nikola Jokic, Nuggets take command over Wolves
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The top-seeded Nuggets grabbed a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and will aim for a sweep on Sunday in Minnesota. Julius Randle contributed 11 points and eight rebounds despite 3-of-15 shooting, and Immanuel Quickley also scored 11 points. Dejounte Murray added 25 points for Atlanta, which lost the first two games of the series in Boston. Tatum led the Celtics with 29 points and 10 rebounds and added five assists. Marcus Smart finished with 24 points, eight assists and three steals, and Malcolm Brogdon scored 17 points.

☆ Opinion | Will Biden Face a Democratic Challenger?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Biden has also avoided the kind of gambits and defeats that might leave a large constituency ready to revolt. None of this eliminates the difficulty of imagining his campaign for four more years. But it’s outstripped by the difficulty of seeing how any serious and respectable force inside the Democratic Party could be organized to stop it. However, as the Trump era has taught us, the serious and the respectable aren’t the only forces in American politics; disreputability has potency as well. Right now there’s no clear opening for a major rival like Newsom to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee.

☆ ECB market rate bets: still some unfinished business for the hawks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Stefano Rebaudo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Having firmly scaled-back rate expectations amid last month's market turmoil, investors no longer expect borrowing costs to stay higher for longer and are cautious about pricing in a deposit rate above 4%. The November 2023 ECB euro short-term rate (ESTR) forward rose to 3.65% on Wednesday, implying expectations for a deposit rate of around 3.75%. Citi meanwhile argued that the June ESTR or money market contract was less appealing from a hedging standpoint while markets were pricing a peak of 3.75%. bundfuturevolBut Bund futures volumes declined after March 15 as markets once more revised their rate expectations upwards. This means that the smaller the gap between the current benchmark rate and the expected rate, the lower the volatility, and vice versa.

☆ NBA roundup: Devin Booker, Suns even series with Clippers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Apr 18, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) against the Los Angeles Clippers in the second half during game two of the 2023 NBA playoffs at Footprint Center. Kevin Durant added 25 points, six rebounds and five assists as Phoenix rebounded from a Game 1 home loss. Kawhi Leonard registered 31 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals and Russell Westbrook added 28 points for the Clippers. Mitchell, the seventh-leading scorer in the NBA this season at 28.3 points per game, had just 17 points Tuesday but collected a career-high 13 assists. Mobley had 13 points and 13 rebounds while Garland scored 32 points, including 26 in the first half.

☆ Morning Bid: Crowded bonds unnerved
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

This has some wondering if the recent dash for cash and top-rated bonds has become a bit crowded and how much more tightening central banks have to do. As we move into the weeds of the first-quarter U.S. earnings season, it's been a mixed bag so far. That clearly unnerved UK government bonds - where 10 year yields jumped 10bps - but it also jarred sovereign bonds around the world. Elsewhere, further signs of healing were evident in the global bank funding market. Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) sold $1 billion of additional tier-1 debt, the first major global bank to sell the risky securities since similar bonds issued by Credit Suisse were wiped out last month.

Games are split between TNT, ESPN, ABC, and NBA TV; you can stream them with a live TV service like Sling. NBA Playoffs livestream quick linksUS TV broadcasts: TNT, ESPN, NBA TV, ABC/ESPN3 via Sling Orange ($51/month)Watch from anywhere: Use ExpressVPN service to stream from Sling TVStart time: Playoffs being April 15 at 1 p.m. How to watch the NBA Playoffs in the USYou can watch the NBA Playoffs on ESPN, TNT, ABC, and NBA TV, with select games scheduled across each channel. How to watch the NBA Playoffs with a VPNSign up for a VPN if you don't already have one. ET TNT2023 NBA Playoff bracketThe NBA Playoffs bracket includes eight teams from each conference in the first round.

☆ Asia shares gain as Singapore stops tightening, euro climbs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Wayne Cole | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The dovish signals helped keep non-yielding gold near one-year highs, while the euro led the currency pack as the European Central Bank stays stubbornly hawkish. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) surprised many by leaving policy unchanged, saying the tightening already underway would ensure inflation slowed sharply later this year. A break under 100bp would see the spread at its narrowest since early 2014, when the euro was up around $1.3600. The dollar was relatively steady on the yen at 132.51 yen , supported by the Bank of Japan's easy policy stance. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Thursday he told his G20 counterparts the central bank will likely keep monetary policy ultra-loose.

☆ James leads surging Lakers into playoffs, Bucks enter as favourites
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Apr 11, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) celebrates the victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves following overtime at Crypto.com Arena. By clinching the Western Conference's seventh seed, the Lakers earned the right to face electrifying guard Ja Morant and the No. He's going to get to the paint one way or another," ESPN NBA analyst JJ Reddick said on a conference call. "He's going to elevate. He's going to decide what the hell to do in the air and he's probably going to score.

☆ Opinion: How the battle for Bakhmut exposed Russia’s ‘meat-grinder’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Michael Bociurkiw | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

It will also be recorded in history as a battle that exposed more than anywhere the meat-grinder approach of Russian fighting. Taking Bakhmut would be the first Russian gain since it captured (and later lost) the key southern Ukrainian city of Kherson in November. That Ukrainian forces have demonstrated such endurance in the battle for Bakhmut should come as little surprise. Like the current battle for Bakhmut, it too became emblematic of Ukraine’s tenaciousness to defend itself against Russia’s aggression – particularly considering the Ukrainian Armed Forces were far less prepared and equipped. “The battle for Bakhmut in winter-spring 2023 will surely enter the history books as the bloodiest battle in Europe since World War II,” said Masliychuk.

☆ Macron: France's 'tone deaf' president faces backlash over Taiwan comments
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In it, he said that Europe must not become “just America’s followers” when asked about the prospect of China invading Taiwan. One said that Macron is “simply tone deaf to everything happening in the world. They were surprised to see Macron’s comments so soon after that meeting. For all that Macron’s comments could be put down to a president under pressure at home doing things on the world stage to create a distraction, his comments on Taiwan have done real damage to the fragile transatlantic relationship. It might not have been his intention, but Macron’s comments have come at a yet unknown cost.

The 2023 NBA Play-In Tournament runs from April 11-14 to decide the final seeds in this year's playoffs. How to watch the NBA Play-In Tournament in the USYou can watch the NBA Play-In Tournament on TNT and ESPN, with games spread across both channels. If you're outside the US right now, you might be in a region that doesn't have access to the NBA Play-In Tournament. How to watch the NBA Play-In Tournament with a VPNSign up for a VPN if you don't have one. 2023 NBA Play-In Tournament scheduleGame Date and time Channel Atlanta Hawks at Miami Heat April 11, 7:30 p.m.

☆ NBA roundup: Warriors hang 157 on Blazers, glide into playoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Shaedon Sharpe added 18 points to go with a team-high seven rebounds, while Jeenathan Williams had 17 points for Portland. New Orleans' Brandon Ingram had 42 points and 12 rebounds, CJ McCollum scored 23 points and Trey Murphy III had 20. Lindell Wigginton scored 17 points and Bobby Portis had 16 for the Bucks. Jaden Hardy led all scorers with 25 points, with Theo Pinson forging a triple-double (23 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists) for the Mavericks. De'Aaron Fox, who scored 13 points, played less than 18 minutes.

☆ NBA roundup: Mavs' playoff hopes dashed by Bulls
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

The result ended the Mavericks' hopes of reaching the Western Conference play-in tournament. Chicago, which had already clinched an Eastern Conference play-in spot, played without leading scorers DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine as well as Patrick Beverley. Orlando, which was in contention for a play-in spot over the past month following a 5-20 start, played its second game since being eliminated Tuesday. Grizzlies 137, Bucks 114Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 36 points to lead seven Memphis players in double figures as the Grizzlies clinched the No. Pascal Siakam scored 19 points, Precious Achiuwa added 16 points, and Fred VanVleet had 12 points and eight assists.

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