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☆ U.S. House brawl over McCarthy raises worries about Republican governance
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Republicans captured a thin House majority in November's midterm elections, breaking the hold of President Joe Biden's Democrats on both chambers of Congress. That infuriated many House Republicans, including some who are now leading the opposition to McCarthy and demanding greater control over the House agenda. Republican Representative Andy Biggs at the time called McConnell's deal "offensive and dangerous." Lawmakers tried to remove House speakers by invoking the rule in 1910 and in 2015, when former Republican Speaker John Boehner resigned after a hardline conservative filed a request to oust him. Boehner and his successor as speaker, fellow Republican Paul Ryan, both left the post after conflict with conservative hardliners whose influence has since grown.

☆ Republican U.S. House to open in turmoil as McCarthy fights for gavel
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

After four years as the Republican minority leader, McCarthy now needs at least 218 votes to succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi as speaker. House Republicans are expected to meet face-to-face behind closed doors on Tuesday morning, ahead of the speaker election. While Republicans have won back the House, Democrats still hold the White House and Senate. 'TAKES TWO TO TANGO'The record number of voting rounds to elect a House speaker is 133 over a two-month period in the 1850s. The hardline Republican House Freedom Caucus is demanding rule changes that would enhance the group's influence.

☆ Protesters swarm NYC library hosting Drag Story Hour for kids
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Protesters trying to shut down a reading event geared toward neurodiverse children at a branch of the New York City Public Library were met by a wall of counterprotesters. NYC Councilmember Erik Bottcher / via TwitterSaturday's protest was just the latest in a string of standoffs across the country from a fringe movement targeting drag events over unsubstantiated allegations of grooming. New York City Council member Erik Bottcher shared images and videos online of the protesters, some of whom he tried speaking with before entering the children’s reading event. “I want to show you the face of hate, right here in Chelsea,” Bottcher said in a video shared on Twitter, before showing the counterprotesters clad in rainbows. A representative for the New York Public Library said the event went on as planned and added that the library would continue to offer programs supporting diverse voices.

"It's the recession fear that a lot of investors have ... the concern is that profits begin to drop more meaningfully in the recession." As of Dec. 2, analysts expected S&P 500 companies to report a drop of 0.6% in fourth-quarter earnings after posting a 4.4% rise in the third quarter, according to Refinitiv IBES data. ET, Dow e-minis were down 31 points, or 0.09%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 2 points, or 0.05%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 4.75 points, or 0.04%. Meanwhile, a Tuesday runoff election in Georgia between Democratic U.S. Among individual stocks, GameStop Corp (GME.N) rose 1.6% in premarket trading following a media report on layoffs.

☆ Futures subdued after sharp Wall St selloff on Fed worries
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Concerns about steeper increase in borrowing costs have boosted dollar, while weighing on equities and bond markets this year, with the S&P 500 down 16.1% and the widely followed part of the Treasury yield curve deeply inverted - a harbinger of recession. As of Dec. 2, analysts expect S&P 500 companies to report a drop of 0.6% in fourth-quarter earnings after posting a 4.4% rise in the third quarter, according to Refinitiv IBES data. ET, Dow e-minis were down 37 points, or 0.11%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 3.5 points, or 0.09%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 2.25 points, or 0.02%. Among individual stocks, General Electric (GE.N) rose 1.5% in premarket trading after Oppenheimer upgraded the industrial conglomerate's stock to "outperform". Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Why the world’s top chip maker is doubling down on American manufacturing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

That measure invests more than $200 billion to encourage companies to bring chip production back onto American soil. Raising the debt limit, the bank wrote, will be “necessary but hard to achieve.”For the uninitiated: The “debt ceiling” is simply the federal government’s borrowing limit. Senator John Thune 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. (OK, most nights — we believe in a four-day work week around here.)

☆ Premarket stocks: The last time the US faced a debt fight this bad it lost its AAA rating
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In a note on Monday, Goldman Sachs analysts warned that the upcoming debt limit battle in Washington could spark the most uncertainty since the disruptive 2011 debates that cost America its perfect AAA credit score and caused chaos on Wall Street. “To raise the debt limit next year, bipartisan support will be necessary but hard to achieve,” Goldman Sachs economists wrote in the report. Goldman Sachs analysts wrote that the political environment has “echoes of 1995 and 2011” — two very tense standoffs over the debt limit that hurt Main Street and Wall Street. Pain ahead: “It seems likely that uncertainty over the debt limit in 2023 could lead to substantial volatility in financial markets,” wrote Goldman analysts. “A failure to make timely payments would likely hit consumer confidence hard,” Goldman Sachs wrote.

☆ 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.

The vote came about after California passed a law last year requiring law enforcement departments to seek approval for use of military-style equipment. We live in a time when unthinkable mass violence is becoming more commonplace," San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said in the statement. "We need the option to be able to save lives in the event we have that type of tragedy in our city.”Police Chief William Scott speaks during a news conference in San Francisco in 2019. “We run a very serious risk of misuse by police of a robot to inflict deadly force,” he said. Preston said he hoped that outrage following the first vote in San Francisco would sway more of his fellow board members to vote against the measure Tuesday.

REUTERS/Richard Carson/File PhotoLONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - You can sometimes buck the market - for a time at least. Even mention government or central bank intervention in financial markets to many professionals and you elicit a tirade on such futility against forces beyond control. Against that, this year was marked by three very different examples of direct financial market intervention that appear to have succeeded in their narrow and targetted goals at least - despite many doubts whether they would or even could work. And it was at least in some part due to the SPR intervention, even if that was aided by central bank tightening and slowing world demand. All three examples of market intervention had their own dynamics and drivers.

☆ Seeking compromise candidate, Lebanese politician Bassil leaves door ajar for presidency bid
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( John Irish | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

I did not do this to have the vacancy and a bad person to fill the void," he said. "I will not accept to have a bad president and in that case of course I would run." France has spearheaded international efforts to rescue Lebanon from its deepest crisis since the civil war, but to no avail. "That's why the country can't take this and live with it so we need to succeed in finding a solution." Reporting by John Irish in Paris Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The market can accept gridlock," said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina. S&P 500 has risen in every 12-month period following the U.S. midterm elections over the past 70 yearsAt 6:21 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 67 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 2 points, or 0.05%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 8.5 points, or 0.08%. Meanwhile, some market participants expect October U.S. inflation data due on Thursday to be more market-moving. read moreReporting by Medha Singh and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Summary Futures up: Dow 0.02%, S&P 0.15%, Nasdaq 0.41%Nov 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures inched higher on Wednesday as results from midterm elections rolled in, with investors bracing for a political gridlock in Washington that would make it harder for drastic policy changes to come through. "You're in a slightly different situation and it does look like the Biden Presidency has not been dealt a massive blow by these midterm elections, so the markets are in a wait-and-see mode." The S&P 500 has posted a gain in each 12-month period after the midterm vote since World War Two, according to Deutsche Bank. S&P 500 has risen in every 12-month period following the U.S. midterm elections over the past 70 yearsAt 3:07 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 7 points, or 0.02%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 5 points or 0.13%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 45.75 points, or 0.41%.

☆ Migrant rescue ship refuses to leave Italy port in standoff with Meloni
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The captain of a charity-run migrant rescue ship refused Italian orders to leave a Sicilian port Sunday after authorities refused to let 35 of the migrants on his ship disembark — part of directives by Italy’s new far-right-led government targeting foreign-flagged rescue ships. On Sunday, Italy ordered the Humanity 1 to vacate the port of Catania after disembarking 144 rescued migrants, including with children, more than 100 unaccompanied minors and people with medical emergencies. “Free all the people, free them,″ Italian lawmaker Aboubakar Soumahoro said in an emotional appeal directed at Meloni from the Humanity 1 rescue ship. Aboard the Humanity 1, doctors in Italy identified people needing urgent medical care after the ship’s doctor refused to make a selection, said SOS Humanity spokesman Wasil Schauseil. SOS Humanity said it plans to file a civil case in Catania to ensure that all 35 survivors on board have access to formal asylum procedures on land.

☆ How the U.S. midterms could ripple through the stock market
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Lewis Krauskopf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Regardless of the winner, past midterm elections have ushered in a period of positive market performance, something investors would welcome after a year in which the S&P 500 has declined by nearly 21%. The S&P 500 aerospace and defense index (.SPLRCAED) is up nearly 10% this year. HEALTHCAREPharmaceutical and biotech stocks may benefit in a Republican victory, after Democrats recently pushed through a law aimed at lowering prescription drug prices. The S&P 500 healthcare sector (.SPXHC) is down some 7% in 2022, while the S&P 500 pharmaceuticals index (.SPLRCCARG) is up about 1%. Therefore Republican victory in the House or Senate "probably means a legislative standstill, implying an incremental positive for the category," the said.

☆ U.S. warns of 'horrific' consequences if Russia uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Washington responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin's veiled threat of using nuclear weapons, warning of serious consequences and that the U.S. response would be "decisive." "The consequences would be horrific," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an interview. The number cited for the mobilization — 300,000 — is nearly double the size of the initial invasion force. Anti-mobilization protests appear to be continuing, with reports of standoffs with authorities and several arrests in Russia's North Caucasus region of Dagestan. Western and Ukrainian officials are condemning the referendums as a sham that will allow Putin to annex the territories and then use them to justify threatening anyone trying to retake them with nuclear weapons.

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