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☆ Chinese Authorities Raid Office of U.S. Investigations Firm Mintz Group
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( James T. Areddy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The closed office of the Mintz Group in a Beijing office building on Friday. The due diligence firm said five Chinese nationals employed in the office were detained without notice. NEW YORK—Authorities this week raided the Beijing offices of Mintz Group, detaining all five of the New York-based due diligence company’s staff members in mainland China, an incident likely to unnerve global businesses operating in the country. The move comes as the heads of multinational companies including Apple Inc. and Pfizer Inc. are due to arrive in Beijing to meet with top Chinese officials. This weekend’s China Development Forum will be the first to be held fully in-person since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, and is just weeks after Beijing installed a slate of new government leaders as it signals fresh efforts to boost foreign investment.

☆ Asia shares skid as rate-hike fears unnerve investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Tracking Wall Street, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was 0.68% lower and was set for its third straight week of losses. China shares (.SSEC) slipped 0.18% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (.HSI) fell 0.09%. "The latest data supports the Fed view of needing to continue to raise rates and hold them there higher for longer." The market is now pricing U.S. interest rates to peak at 5.28% in July and remain above 5% till the end of the year. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was up 4.2 basis points at 4.661%.

☆ Selloff in Adani Group Stocks Wipes Out $47 Billion in Market Value
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Weilun Soon | Shan Li | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai. The benchmark Nifty 50 index, which includes two Adani companies, fell to a three-month low Friday. Shares of several companies linked to India’s richest man, Gautam Adani , fell sharply Friday, losing tens of billions of dollars in market value after a U.S. short seller’s allegations of fraud at his sprawling conglomerate continued to unnerve investors. Five of the seven listed Adani Group companies ended the day 16% to 20% lower, and the other two fell by the maximum 5% permitted by India’s exchanges for their stocks. The market’s benchmark Nifty 50 index, which includes two Adani companies, fell to a three-month low.

"Oh FFS (for fuck's sake)," former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves said on Twitter, encapsulating the general feeling among many of France's eastern allies. The annoyance among eastern allies has undermined Macron's own policy agenda to beef up European "strategic autonomy" separate from the U.S.-led NATO umbrella, with eastern allies now trusting the United States more for their defence. An eastern European diplomat said Macron had "misread" Russia once and the fear was he would do so again. The backbone of Macron's foreign policy since 2017 has been to launch initiatives and go against the grain. However, an increasing number of critics and allies see his thrust on Russia as his major foreign policy mistake.

☆ The looming debt ceiling fight could be the messiest since 2011, Goldman Sachs says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“To raise the debt limit next year, bipartisan support will be necessary but hard to achieve,” Goldman Sachs economists wrote in the report. Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota told Bloomberg last week the debt ceiling could be a way to push through budget cuts. Goldman Sachs noted that the political environment next year will have “echoes of 1995 and 2011” — the two most tense standoffs over the debt limit in recent history. The good news is Washington appears to have plenty of time to reach a compromise on the debt ceiling before things get dicey. “Funds could run dry as soon as July and as late as October,” Goldman Sachs said.

LONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The moment of truth is almost here for Britain's new prime minister Rishi Sunak and finance minister Jeremy Hunt. British markets have regained some poise after the carnage triggered by September's fiscal statement, but as the UK slips into recession, the outlook is far from rosy. Here's a look at some of the likely winners and losers from Thursday's budget. "Domestic UK equities are being treated with caution by investors both domestically and internationally," he said. snapshotA CRUDE TARGETEnergy companies have reported bumper profits this year, thanks to soaring crude oil and gas prices.

☆ Russian naval officers discussed nuking Berlin during a training exercise to unnerve Germany and erode support for Ukraine, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russian naval officers chatted last year about nuking Berlin and two military bases in Germany, per Der Spiegel. The military bases — Ramstein and Buchel — are both used by the US military. The Times of London reported that the chatter may have intended to spook Germany and the West. Reuters reported that deeply-held fears of a nuclear war in Germany, felt strongly during the Cold War, have begun to re-emerge. Towns near US military bases, such as Ramstein, are particularly nervous, Reuters said.

☆ Meta’s newest VR headset is impressive. Here’s why you probably won’t buy it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Rachel Metz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN Business —Meta’s newest virtual-reality headset, the Meta Quest Pro, is a slick, powerful device. Buyers can pre-order the Quest Pro as of Tuesday, and it will ship out on October 25. Meta's latest VR headset, the Quest Pro, is aimed at business users and costs $1500. Updated hand controllersThe headset is also more of a mixed-reality headset than a VR headset, as it isn’t meant to block out all ambient light all the time. The Quest Pro headset has sensors that can track your eyes and facial expressions.

☆ The Fed has to balance its latest rate hike with trying not to tank the economy. Here's what to know.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Today, I'm breaking down what to know about the Fed's third jumbo rate hike, and how markets could look in its aftermath. In this March 21, 2018, file photo, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington. A third, outsized rate hike is an unprecedented move by the Federal Reserve. For this meeting in particular, billionaire David Rubenstein warned that a 100-basis-point hike this week would shock and depress markets and investors. What's on deck for markets after a third consecutive large rate hike?

Raindrops hang on a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., October 26, 2020. Unexpectedly hot August inflation data last week also raised bets on increased rate hikes down the road, with the terminal rate for U.S. fed funds now at 4.47%. The Fed regards a recession as regrettable, but necessary to fight inflation," Grisanti said. The CBOE volatility index (.VIX), also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose to 27.72 points, inching closer to a more than two-month high. Focus will also be on new economic projections, due to be published alongside the policy statement at 2 p.m.

☆ The Fed will likely refrain from a 100-basis-point rate hike this week to avoid unnerving already anxious markets, CFRA says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Federal Reserve is set to raise interest rates on Wednesday, but it's unlikely to hike them by 100 basis points, CFRA said Monday. The Fed led by Chair Jerome Powell is expected on Wednesday to deliver its fifth rate increase of 2022. Investors widely expect a third consecutive increase of 75 basis points to bring the fed funds rate to a range of 3% to 3.25%. But investors also see a 20% probability the Fed would vote for an increase of 100 basis points, or 1 percentage point, according to the CME FedWatch tool. "Despite the possibility of an additional near-term decline in equity prices, CFRA Research still thinks the June lows will hold," he wrote.

Raindrops hang on a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., October 26, 2020. Five of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were down in early trading. Unexpectedly hot August inflation data last week also raised bets on increased rate hikes down the road, with the terminal rate for U.S. fed funds now at 4.48%. The S&P 500 has lost 19% so far this year on worries of a central bank-induced recession amid recent warnings of slowing demand from delivery firm FedEx and an inverted U.S. Treasury yield curve. The CBOE volatility index (.VIX), also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose to 27 points, inching closer to a more than two-month high.

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