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☆ Cathay Pacific is facing ‘unprecedented staffing’ shortages, warns top union in Hong Kong
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —Hong Kong’s flagship airline Cathay Pacific is facing “unprecedented” staff shortages and may not be ready to handle a surge in demand, as the city winds up its strict Covid policy and reopens for international travel. Hong Kong’s flagship airline is “facing unprecedented staffing and training shortages,” and “stands unprepared to fully resume its operations, failing to meet demand in a resurgent travel market,” the HKAOA said. But, this month Hong Kong ended its two and a half years of quarantine measures, leading to a surge in demand for outbound travel. On Wednesday, Virgin Atlantic announced it is closing its Hong Kong office and not resuming services between the Asian hub and London’s Heathrow Airport. Wayne Chang in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

A flooded street is seen in downtown as Hurricane Ian makes landfall in southwestern Florida, in Fort Myers, Florida, U.S. September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Marco BelloVENICE, Fla., Sept 29 (Reuters) - A weakened but still formidable Hurricane Ian chugged across Florida toward the Atlantic seaboard on Thursday after thrashing the state's Gulf Coast with fierce winds, torrential downpours and raging surf that flooded oceanside communities. Separately, U.S. border authorities said 20 Cuban migrants were missing after their boat sank off the Florida coast as Ian neared the coast on Wednesday. Up to 30 inches (76 cm) of rain was forecast to fall on parts of central Florida, the NHC said. DeSantis said Ian had generated life-threatening storm surges - waves of wind-driven seawater rushing in along the coast - of up to 12 feet (3.7 meters) in some places.

☆ Mystery leaks hit Russian undersea gas lines, raising European suspicions
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

European countries on Tuesday raced to investigate unexplained leaks in two Russian gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea near Sweden and Denmark, infrastructure at the heart of an energy crisis since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The destruction that occurred on the same day simultaneously on three strings of the offshore gas pipelines of the Nord Stream system is unprecedented,” said network operator Nord Stream AG. Gazprom, the Kremlin-controlled company with a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, declined comment. Russia slashed gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream 1 before suspending flows altogether in August, blaming Western sanctions for causing technical difficulties. The new Nord Stream 2 pipeline had yet to enter commercial operations.

☆ China’s Yuan Has Further to Fall
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Nathaniel Taplin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

China’s yuan is already at its weakest level against the dollar in over two years. But it might be poised to fall further still: Two major factors holding it up so far in 2022 look likely to reverse. Like most emerging market currencies, the yuan has been pummeled this year by the combination of a hawkish Federal Reserve and worries over slowing global growth. Even so, the yuan’s fall in recent months is striking. On Monday, China’s central bank raised the risk reserve institutions must hold when selling forward currency contracts, making it more expensive to bet against the yuan.

☆ It's just not the British pound that's getting pummeled. Bond yields in the UK are now trading at Global Financial Crisis levels
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

UK bond yield traded at levels not seen since the global financial crisis on Tuesday. The two-year gilt's yield jumped as high as 4.761%, the most since 2008. Meanwhile, the UK's 30-year bond yields topped 5% for the first time since 2007. The two-year gilt's yield jumped as high as 4.761%, the most since 2008 and up from about 4.5% on Monday. Now the spread between five- and 30-year yields is the widest since 1997.

☆ Apple is a safe haven amid the stock market rout, says tech investor Gene Munster
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Tech stocks have been pummeled this year but Apple is acting like a safe haven amid the turbulence, according to tech investor Gene Munster. "They are fundamentally in a good place with their products," Munster, founder and managing partner at Loup Ventures, said on CNBC's " Squawk Box ." The iPhone Pro Max is the most popular model in the new lineup, he said in a Medium post. While tech stocks have taken a big hit in 2022, Munster is predicting that 2023 will be a great year for tech. We are going to get back to higher growth rates," he said.

☆ Nord Stream: Mystery leaks hit Russian gas pipelines to Europe
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Sweden’s Maritime Authority issued a warning about two leaks in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, shortly after a leak on the nearby Nord Stream 2 pipeline was discovered that had prompted Denmark to restrict shipping in a five nautical mile radius. “The destruction that occurred on the same day simultaneously on three strings of the offshore gas pipelines of the Nord Stream system is unprecedented,” said network operator Nord Stream AG. Gazprom, the Kremlin-controlled company with a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, declined comment. Russia slashed gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream 1 before suspending flows altogether in August, blaming Western sanctions for causing technical difficulties. The new Nord Stream 2 pipeline had yet to enter commercial operations.

☆ Track Hurricane Ian's path as it takes aim at Florida's west coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Mirna Alsharif | Mirna Alsharif Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Hurricane Ian is set to take aim at Florida's west coast as early as Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. "A few tornadoes" are also possible late Monday night and Tuesday "across the Florida Keys and the southern and central Florida Peninsula." What initially formed as Tropical Depression Nine early Friday morning strengthened that night into Tropical Storm Ian, the NHC said. The hurricane is forecast to bring 8 to 15 inches to central West Florida, 3 to 8 inches to the rest of the Florida Peninsula and 4 to 6 inches to the Keys. On Saturday, the governor expanded that to apply statewide, citing the risk of a major hurricane making landfall on Florida’s western coast.

☆ House Republicans want to cancel Biden's push to make it easier for the IRS to go after tax cheats and send out refunds more quickly
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Joseph Zeballos-Roig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The IRS funding is meant to pursue tax cheats, shorten phone wait times, and issue refunds faster. House Republicans broke with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in rolling out their policy platform. McConnell has opted to keep the focus instead on Biden's handling of the economy without specifying what Senate Republicans intend to do if they recaptured the upper chamber. House Republicans' intention to repeal IRS funding echoes their earlier efforts to overturn the Affordable Care Act under President Barack Obama throughout the 2010s. A group of Senate Republicans led by Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho sent a letter to the tax agency on Thursday urging them to prioritize improving taxpayer services.

☆ FTX in talks to raise up to $1 billion at valuation of about $32 billion, in-line with prior round
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Kate Rooney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto conglomerate FTX is in talks with investors to raise up to $1 billion in new funding that would keep the company's valuation at roughly $32 billion, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Negotiations are ongoing and the terms could change, said the sources, who asked not to be named because the talks are confidential. Coindesk previously reported on a coming investment at flat valuation, following FTX's last capital raise in January. FTX also offered to buy bankrupt crypto brokerage Voyager Digital in August but was turned down for what was called a "low ball bid." FTX saw net income of $388 million last year, up from just $17 million a year earlier.

Sputnik/Grigory Sysoev/Pool via REUTERSLONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Earlier this year, markets were complacent as Russia massed troops on the Ukraine border. Now, they're once again largely shrugging off Vladimir Putin's signal that he could be prepared to use nuclear weapons. read moreIt was Russia's first such mobilisation since World War Two and signified a major escalation of the war, now in its seventh month. Germany's and Italy's reliance on Russia has made their stock markets among the world's worst performers this year. Those close to the fighting, including Poland and Hungary, have also seen their local markets pummeled.

☆ Stocks are set to be pummeled by more volatility as companies head into a season of weak earnings, Charles Schwab says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Stocks are in for more pain as corporate earnings are likely to weaken, Charles Schwab said. It pointed to a low rate beat-rate and low earnings growth estimates in the S&P 500 as cause for concern. Shares of companies that missed earnings estimates were down about 4% in the last quarter. "We believe the weakness in expected earnings growth is early in its trip to an ultimate negative (year-over-year decline) destination," analysts said in a note on Monday. "If higher interest rates continue to dent those stocks' value, and earnings growth slows, there is less upside for profit margins … largely ahead is a further rerating of earnings estimates and likely continued volatility in stocks," the analysts warned.

☆ Bridge built in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria is swept away by Fiona floodwaters
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A temporary metal bridge in Puerto Rico, built in the wake of Hurricane Maria, was swept away in the rushing floodwaters of Hurricane Fiona. Harrowing video shows the moment the metal bridge creaks and groans under the pressure of the rising, fast-moving floodwaters. U.S. House Delegate Roberto Lefranc Fortuño said the bridge, known as PR-123, was built after Hurricane Maria in 2017, the deadliest natural disaster on U.S. territory in 100 years. An island-wide blackout was reported about an hour before as the eye of Fiona neared Puerto Rico's southwestern coast on Sunday. Over 1.3 million power customers in Puerto Rico remained without electricity as of Monday morning.

Outside the Fed, however, there is a growing sense that the path to a soft landing is unlikely. Some analysts estimate the unemployment rate, which hit 3.7% in August, may need to rise as high as 7.5%. The new projections, though, will include anonymous estimates from each official for where the policy rate should be at the end of 2022 and the following three years. Reuters GraphicsThe 1.2-percentage-point difference between the two, the so-called "real" or inflation-adjusted federal funds rate, showed the Fed bowing to the need for tighter policy. But inflation eventually will have to move for the Fed to change course.

☆ MLB roundup: Aaron Judge belts 2 more HRs in Yankees' win
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

Gerrit Cole (12-7) earned the win with four hits, four runs, three walks and eight strikeouts in five innings. Eloy Jimenez had three hits, including a two-run home run, and drove in three runs. Willi Castro hit a two-run homer and Javier Baez had a solo shot for the Tigers. Rays 5, Rangers 3Christian Bethancourt and Jose Siri hit back-to-back homers in host Tampa Bay's win over Texas. The duo went deep in the second inning for a 2-1 lead that the Rays never relinquished.

Tens of thousands of people are scrambling for homeowners insurance in Louisiana at the peak of hurricane season after recent storms drove their carriers out of business. Massive claims from those storms drove large national insurance companies to scale back their coverage and remaining companies to jack up rates. The strategy seemed to work: Rates eventually stabilized, although Louisiana remained one of the most expensive states for homeowners insurance. That pushed the small insurance companies to their financial limits and squeezed reinsurers, who raised their rates. The state insurer’s rolls, which totaled 34,500 in August 2020, ballooned to about 110,000 last week.

☆ Insurance Companies Are Quietly Fleeing California
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Steven Greenhut | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The words “California” and “crisis” seem to go together as the state bounds from one intractable problem to another. The recent spate of flood-level storms in Northern California brought attention to the Golden State’s ailing levees. It would never dawn on the state’s political leadership to invest in infrastructure improvements before near-catastrophic failures stressed levees to the breaking point. Nor would it occur to them to invest in water infrastructure. Such a problem had long been predicted, yet until recently the state didn’t move urgently to approve new desalination plants or improve infrastructure.

“The government is obviously failing us and not protecting us,” said Taylor, who evacuated from St. John before Hurricane Ida hit. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention categorizes St. John and St. James as a community with high levels of Covid-19 transmission. Prior to Ida, at least 16% of residents in St. James Parish and St. John Parish were living below the poverty line, according to Census data. One of their biggest fights was against the Taiwanese plastics manufacturer Formosa, which was set to build a $9.4 billion petrochemical complex in St. James Parish. While the battle to block the multibillion-dollar facility isn’t over, Hurricane Ida added to the community’s problems.

☆ Leaked documents show White House blocked government website used to recruit election workers during the pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-14 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Government emails and documents exclusively obtained by Insider reveal an internal fight within the Trump administration over whether to create the poll-worker recruitment website HelpAmericaVote.gov. The White House's Office of Management and Budget initially rejected the Election Assistance Commission's request to create the website. EAC officials immediately resubmitted their HelpAmericaVote.gov request. In a separate statement to Insider, the General Services Administration, which had overseen distribution of ".gov" website domains since 1997, confirmed it was no longer involved in approving or denying federal agencies' website requests. Hovland added his agency's request for the HelpAmericaVote.gov website contained all the information OMB required and that he was "surprised" approval was so difficult to obtain.

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