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☆ Morning Bid: Markets hope China chooses to surprise on the upside
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 17 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Wayne Cole. It's been a careful start to the week in Asia with stocks and bonds little changed and the dollar holding most of Friday's bounce. The caution is understandable given the week holds updates on Chinese economic growth and global PMIs, along with the Fed's Beige book and at least eight Fed speakers. Analysts are generally optimistic for the China data given the stunning strength of recent trade figures. Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) had both been expected to report a drop in profit, though that might not be inevitable given last Friday's upside surprises on earnings.

☆ There's another legal route Biden can use to cancel student debt, and the Supreme Court's latest move shows the justices could be open to it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal to halt debt relief for borrowers who say they were defrauded. The Higher Education Act has been floated as another way for Biden to pursue his debt-relief plan. The Supreme Court is already considering whether Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers is legal. Activists and students protest in front of the Supreme Court during a rally for student-debt cancellation in Washington, DC, on February 28. Still, along with the lawsuits against broad debt relief, the payment pause is also being challenged — leaving millions of borrowers in financial limbo.

☆ WTA set to return to China in September despite uncertainty over Peng Shuai’s situation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Wayne Sterling | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced Thursday that it will return to hosting tournaments in China in the fall after suspending all events in the country in 2021 due to the uncertainty over tennis player Peng Shuai’s safety. Human Rights Watch called the WTA’s decision to return to China a “huge disappointment,” but “not surprising.”“International businesses need to work together to do the right thing,” said Yaqiu Wang, senior China Researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It’s hard to challenge the Chinese government alone, but if businesses band together to address China’s flouting of human rights, the power balance can shift. “After all, sports organizations and companies all want to operate in an environment where the human rights of their players, employees, and consumers are protected and there is rule of law. “The road to expose the Chinese government’s human rights abuses and hold it accountable is difficult and often incurs a cost, and it’s not a straight road.”

☆ Biden basks in Ireland’s welcome as he highlights personal and political ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

A day earlier, Biden jokingly questioned why his predecessors left Ireland for a better life as he visited a local market and deli in Dundalk. In his talks with Irish leaders Thursday, Biden is expected to discuss a number of global issues, including the war in Ukraine. Later, Biden will address the Irish Parliament in a speech expected to touch on the close ties between the US and Ireland, both political and personal. Three years later, Ireland voted decisively to end what, at the time, was one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the world. The Irish identity Biden is exploring this week with visits to two ancestral hometowns is intrinsically linked to his own Catholicism.

☆ Wall Street sees a semiconductor industry bottom coming. Here's how we're playing the stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

NVDA AMD YTD mountain Nvidia vs. AMD year to date So, the question now is: Can the rally in semis continue? To help us read the tea leaves, here's a look at what Wall Street analysts are saying about the underlying fundamentals of the industry. Evercore said a "fundamental bottom" for the semiconductor industry currently playing out in March and April "has only strengthened" recently. Analysts there believe the inventory correction that's plagued the industry in recent quarters will be largely complete by the second quarter. Bottom line While there's some variation on timing, Wall Street clearly believes a bottom is in the process of playing out in the semiconductor industry.

☆ A chief economist who called the 2008 recession sees signs that the economy has already begun to unravel — and says a recession will be apparent as early as this summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The unemployment rate will start to rise this summer, says Ian Shepherdson. The US economy is already starting to unravel and a recession will arrive as soon as this summer, according to Ian Shepherdson, the founder and chief economist of Pantheon Macroeconomics. "We expect to see payrolls falling in the summer, pushing up the unemployment rate." Shepherdson pointed to the National Federation of Independent Businesses Hiring Intentions survey as a leading indicator of where the job market is headed. The current unemployment rate of 3.5% still sits near a more than five-decade low.

☆ Ukraine's military intel chief privately warned Bakhmut was 'catastrophic' as he made a gamble to get it under control, leaked documents show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The disclosure offers a glimpse into Ukrainian decision-making as Russian forces were closing in. Ukrainian soldiers ride atop a tank in the frontline in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. The leaked US intelligence on Bakhmut, which offers insight into high-level Ukrainian decision-making, is only a slice of what the documents contain about Kyiv's military. One document in particular includes information about casualties on each side and indicates that more than twice as many Russian soldiers as Ukrainian soldiers have died fighting. Ukrainian soldiers help a wounded comrade into an evacuation vehicle in the frontline in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023.

☆ Opinion: Don't count DeSantis out yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Patrick T. Brown | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

A third Trump presidential nomination would indicate that Republican primary voters may prefer style over substance. But if they are serious about not just making liberals mad but advancing actual policy, GOP voters should consider other names, starting with the Florida governor. Recognizing key figures and institutions on the right in this way suggests a DeSantis administration would be serious about delivering on conservative principles. In short, DeSantis offers Republicans a glimpse into what a successful conservative approach to governing could look like. If GOP voters decide their primary operating principle is to enrage the media and “own the libs,” they will nominate Trump.

Solari wasn't the only American to veer wildly between frugality and all-out spending sprees during the pandemic. In particular, younger people — Gen Z and millennials — have seen the early parts of their careers and critical years of their financial lives defined by the shifting sands of the pandemic economy. The strange pandemic-savings paradoxThe pandemic recession did not actually mean people had no money. The Fed found that the top quartile of earners added nearly $1.5 trillion to their savings through spending reductions, even as the pandemic consumed millennials and Gen Z's savings. If the mantra of the pandemic recession was giving everyday Americans money, the reaction is now to yank that back.

☆ The city without TikTok offers a window to America's potential future As Americans face a future without TikTok, Hong Kong offers a glimpse into that reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Hong Kong CNN —Across the United States, more than 150 million people are being faced with the possibility of a new reality: life without TikTok. In Hong Kong, there’s no need to imagine that reality: TikTok discontinued its services there in 2020. Lost opportunitiesTikTok announced its exit from Hong Kong in July 2020, a week after China imposed a controversial national security law in the city. At the time, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts had yet to arrive in Hong Kong. And while they occasionally wonder what’s happening on TikTok outside Hong Kong, the allure of it is lost when nobody else around them uses it either.

☆ Analysis: New BOJ chief to slowly unwind Kuroda's policy experiment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

In a sign he will be in no rush to shift policy, Ueda told a parliamentary confirmation hearing in February that he will "spend time and engage in thorough discussions" with BOJ board members on how to address the side-effects of prolonged easing. But a closer look at his past, more candid remarks as a private-sector economist, and as a BOJ board member during Japan's battle with deflation in the late 1990s, offers a glimpse of his policy and communication style. Removing YCC altogether will deprive the BOJ tools to combat an unwelcome spike in bond yields, says former board member Takahide Kiuchi. Accounts of his days as BOJ board member also suggest Ueda is no fan of heavy money printing. Both in the confirmation hearings and in past remarks as board member, he has stressed the importance of using communication to enhance the effects of monetary policy.

Trump arrived via motorcade at 100 Centre Street, a towering, 1940s-era building faced in limestone, granite, and decades of grime. It's the DA investigators who "book" Trump, a process that begins with the former president emptying his pockets. Prints are run on anyone arrested in New York, and Trump will be no different. No one will check if Trump fibsThe DA investigators will also take Trump's pedigree information — name, date of birth, address, phone number, that sort of thing. "There's a cell in the processing area in the DA investigators' offices," she said.

☆ As retail gets choppy, Walmart flexes its grocery muscle, deep pockets and huge reach
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Melissa Repko | In Melissa-Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

In this article WMT Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTBloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAs shoppers get thrifty, Walmart is flexing its muscles. And its huge reach allows Walmart to make money in other ways, including selling ads, offering delivery services and fulfilling online orders for third-party sellers. Here's a closer look at some key themes for Walmart that could emerge at the investor event:Checking the consumer's healthAs the nation's largest retailer, Walmart is a bellwether. It said it expects same-store sales for Walmart U.S. will increase between 2% and 2.5% excluding fuel, in the fiscal year ahead. The retailer will likely showcase how it is growing online sales and trying to make them profitable.

☆ South Korea exports fall for sixth consecutive month in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Jihoon Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It was the longest losing streak in exports in annual terms since August 2020. South Korea is the first major exporting economy to release trade data each month, with a diversified portfolio from chips to cars and ships, providing an early glimpse into the state of global demand. By destination, exports to China dropped 33.4% in March, extending losses to a 10th straight month and marking the worst since January 2009. Semiconductor exports slumped 34.5%, in the eighth month of falls, but with the pace easing from a month before. Imports in March fell 6.4% to $59.75 billion, versus a 3.5% rise in the previous month and a 6.6% fall expected by economists.

☆ Tesla has only installed 3,000 Solar Roof systems in the U.S., far below forecast, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Tesla vehicles parked outside a home with a Tesla Solar Roof on Weems Street in Boca Chica Village, Texas, U.S., on Monday, June 21, 2021. Tesla has only installed 3,000 of its Solar Roof systems in the U.S. since touting the technology seven years ago, according to new research from Wood Mackenzie. That installation rate falls well shy of Tesla's guidance and ambitions for what it previously called its "solar glass" roof tiles. Average weekly Tesla Solar Roof installations reached just 21 in 2022, Wood Mackenzie said. A group of Tesla shareholders eventually sued Tesla and Musk over the deal.

☆ Morning Bid: As banking worries slowly slip into rear view, markets fret on Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

But as we are at the 'no news = good news' stage of the recovery from the banking worries, investors are preparing to try again as Europe wakes up with futures indicating a higher open. In a call to discuss the plan to split into six units, Group CEO Daniel Zhang said on Thursday the company's breakup plan will allow its units to become more agile and eventually list on their own. Investors hope the plan will help unlock value for the internet behemoth. Alibaba US shares traders at 11x forward earningsWith fears of a widespread banking crisis easing, investor attention has switched to Fed vs inflation. Meanwhile, the U.S. banking system's top cop said the scope of blame for Silicon Valley Bank's failure stretches across bank executives, Federal Reserve supervisors and other regulators.

☆ 36 Hours in Panama City, Panama
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Freda Moon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

10:30 p.m. Love the nightlifeFuel your night out with a Coke or a cafe con leche at the Café Coca Cola on Plaza Santa Ana, which — according to its creation myth — has been serving revolutionaries, dictators, Hollywood actors and celebrated poets since the late 19th century. On the edge of Casco, this historic diner and its beautiful neighboring plaza offers a taste of what the Old Town used to be. Walk two blocks to the Selina hostel’s rooftop bar and restaurant, Tacos La Neta , which turns into a party scene at night, when D.J.s play cumbia or remixes of the Cuban-American singer Celia Cruz until 2 a.m. A glimpse of the city’s nightlife is worth the cost of admission ($5) and there are plant-filled nooks in which to drink and people watch. It’s packed after 9:30 p.m. or so on a weekend, with throngs waiting to get in.

CNN —Tennis great Boris Becker says he’s grateful just to be alive as he reflected on spending time in prison in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Soon after his release, Becker told German broadcaster Sat 1 that a prison “inmate tried to kill” him during his incarceration. “It feels great [to be out],” Becker told Amanpour. “Prison life is a very dangerous place. In tennis, as in life, thing were “never easy” and “always a bit of a struggle,” Becker recalls.

☆ The era of generic email blasts is over. Here's why customers expect personalized messaging and how to meet that expectation.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Mailchimp | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

71% of shoppers expect personalized marketing from brands, and 76% are frustrated if this expectation is not met. Success stories from Pack Up + Go, Dirty Girl Produce, and Honeywell Biscuit Co. demonstrate the benefits of personalized marketing. The email marketing company Mailchimp, for example, offers businesses the ability to target their audience, personalize their message, and deliver emails at the optimal time. One company that excels at this is Pack Up + Go, an online travel company that organizes surprise vacations in the US. To re-engage old customers at the end of August, Dirty Girl Produce used Mailchimp's Customer Journey Builder to automatically email customers who hadn't made a purchase in the past 60 days with a discount.

☆ How to spot a liar in seconds using nonverbal cues
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Don Weber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Learning to read nonverbal communication can help you catch a liar and give you an edge in business. What is nonverbal communication? Most likely, you're subconsciously aware of changes in the person's nonverbal communication. Conversely, when your nonverbal communication isn't congruent with your words, people tend to disregard spoken words and focus on body language. There are a few nonverbal signs that when in a cluster, could mean that the truth is not being upheld.

☆ DeSantis opens up for the first time about 'shattering' death of his sister, Christina, at age 30
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

DeSantis opened up for the first time about the sudden death of his sister, Christina, at age 30. DeSantis teared up as he spoke about Christina, Morgan wrote in excerpts of the interview published Wednesday in the New York Post. When she died, Christina had been engaged to Stephen Pasiewicz, a British film editor. When Christina died, DeSantis' family set up an account in her name to fund a scholarship to Florida state. Christina died before DeSantis became governor.

Greg Becker, who was the longtime CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, pictured last year. "Looks like Silicon Valley Bank is in some deep shit," Uncommon Capital general partner Jamie Quint tweeted. Startup founders scrambled to get their funds out of Silicon Valley Bank after its collapse. Andreessen Horowitz announced this week that it will continue banking with Silicon Valley Bank "for the foreseeable future" but is crafting a longer-term plan to diversify. Even so, he added, "I think we'd be supportive, as they stabilize, for them to be one of many partners that our founders bank with."

☆ China's answer to ChatGPT? Baidu shares tumble as it unveils Ernie Bot
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Eduardo Baptista | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"For sure we cannot say that it's perfect," said Baidu CEO Robin Li, presenting Ernie Bot. But the limited presentation of Ernie Bot, restricted to brief, pre-recorded videos, failed to match market hopes and Baidu's Hong Kong-listed shares in the firm tumbled as much as 10% before clawing back some ground. Starting Thursday, Ernie Bot will be open to an initial group of users with invitation codes, and companies can apply to embed the bot into their products via Baidu's cloud platform. "Ernie Bot is not a tool of confrontation between China and the United States," he said. Chinese state media outlets and a Shaolin temple were among the first sign-ups to become Ernie Bot partners.

The company's Ernie bot is based off its AI-driven deep learning model, Ernie - short for "Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration". During the presentation at Baidu's Beijing headquarters that was also livestreamed over nine platforms, Li cautioned it was not perfect. "After the release of ChatGPT, only Baidu has made a benchmark product among the major tech companies in the world," it said. "We continue to advise investors to patiently hold BIDU shares as the best 'national champion' play in China’s (semi-segregated) AI space," he said. "Ernie Bot is not a tool of confrontation between China and the United States," he said.

☆ Stormy Daniels makes surprise appearance in Manhattan DA's Trump probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Sonam Sheth | Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The adult film star Stormy Daniels met with prosecutors in the Manhattan DA's office. Her lawyer said Daniels "responded to questions and has agreed to make herself available as a witness, or for further inquiry if needed." The Manhattan DA's office is in the final stages of its investigation into Trump's $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels in 2016. He's expected to be the last witness to appear before the panel as the DA's office appears to move closer to indicting Trump. "Everyone is looking for their 15 minutes of fame," Trump's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, said when asked about Daniels' visit to the DA.

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