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☆ The road to First Republic Bank's collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The exterior of a First Republic Bank branch is pictured in San Francisco, California, U.S. April 28, 2023. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File PhotoMay 1 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) is buying most of First Republic Bank's (FRC.N) assets, which had been seized by United States regulators, in a last-ditch rescue for the strained lender, marking the third major U.S. bank to fail in two months. Last week, First Republic reported a more than $100 billion plunge in deposits in the first quarter that sparked a brutal sell-off in the lender's shares. Banks have been staring at the biggest crisis since 2008 after two U.S. lenders collapsed in March and the turmoil has ratcheted up fears of a contagion and prompted action from the U.S. Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury and the private sector. Below is a timeline of key events:Sources: company statements, press conferences, media reportsReporting by Mehnaz Yasmin amd Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Discussions between the SEC and Coinbase broke down in recent weeks, with one source saying the two sides had moved "further apart." The crypto industry believes it operates in a regulatory gray area not governed by existing U.S. securities laws - and that new legislation is needed to regulate the industry. "But if necessary, we welcome the opportunity for Coinbase and the broader crypto community to get clarity in court." Prior to Gensler's arrival, the SEC engaged in targeted enforcement, but the Democratic chair has ratcheted up focus on crypto platforms themselves. "There couldn't be a more significant development for crypto markets and crypto investors," said Philip Moustakis, former SEC enforcement lawyer and partner with Seward and Kissel LLP in New York.

☆ South Korea, US to hold largest live-fire drills amid North Korea tension
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, March 22 (Reuters) - South Korean and U.S. forces will hold their largest-ever live-fire exercises in June in a show of force to North Korea, which has ratcheted up tension with numerous missile launches, South Korea's defence ministry said on Wednesday. "During the live-fire exercises, the combined forces will demonstrate the alliance's formidable firepower and mobility on an unprecedented scale." In recent weeks, North Korea has been ramping up its military tests, firing an intercontinental ballistic missile last week and conducting a nuclear counterattack simulation against the U.S. and South Korea over the weekend. The United States has about 28,500 troops in South Korea. North Korea has reacted furiously to those drills, calling them a rehearsal for its invasion.

☆ JPMorgan cranks up equities "underweight" after market rout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - JPMorgan's strategists ratcheted up the investment bank's "underweight" recommendation on equities on Wednesday and urged switching into cash following the market rout caused by Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. In a note titled "There are many carry trades, and they can't all be bailed out", JPMorgan analysts said: "We maintain a defensive tilt in our model portfolio, and further increase our UW (underweight) in equities vs. raising our cash allocation." "When the (global) economy is slowing down and financing costs are rising, all these implicit or explicit carry trades are pressured to unwind, leading to an end of the cycle. We believe we are in that stage and remain negative on risky asset classes." Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Dhara RanasingheOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The 'mother of all moral hazards': economist Nouriel Roubini cheers the demise of banks with ties to the crypto industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

In a series of tweets, he described the government's decision to backstop losses for depositors of Signature as "sickening." Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate, and Signature have all closed in quick succession, with the cryptocurrency industry facing the loss of three of its most important banking partners. In an series of tweets on Monday, Roubini cheered the demise of the crypto-friendly banks. Roubini added that the government's decision to backstop losses for depositors of Signature Bank is just "sickening." "What is the logic of protecting the depositors of Signature Bank, a bank that recklessly decided to jump into the crappy crypto cesspool & bet the house on shitcoins biz?"

SummarySummary Companies Tech bank's troubles panic marketsFears spread over fallout from rising interest ratesBanks vulnerable as bond values dropLONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - For months, investors had shrugged off the threat of rising interest rates. In SVB's case, venture capital clients, unable to raise cash elsewhere, pulled money from the bank, forcing its hasty sale of bonds at a loss. In February, U.S. regulators said U.S. banks had unrealised losses of more than $620 billion on securities, underscoring the scale of the risks. Jason Benowitz, senior portfolio manager at CI Roosevelt, said SVB's risks were not unique with many banks sitting on such unrealised losses because rates have moved so rapidly. "The SVB situation is a reminder that many institutions are sitting on large unrealised losses," said AJ Bell investment research director Russ Mould.

☆ Consumers keep spending. That might not be good news for them or the Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

And by November and December, those predictions appeared to be materializing, when data showed consumers had pulled back during the holiday shopping season. During a month chock full of suprisingly strong economic data, the Commerce Department’s retail sales and consumer spending reports far surpassed expectations. “It’s not sustainable to keep spending above their means.”Eyes on the FedHearty consumer spending at a time like this is a double-edged sword, said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst for Bankrate and CreditCards.com. “The resilience of consumer spending is probably the biggest thing that’s pushed this recession timetable out,” Rossman said. The Home Depot (HD) warned of flat sales for 2023 as consumers continue shift spending from goods to services.

☆ U.S. dollar strengthens as Fed minutes signal higher rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Laura Matthews | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The dollar index was up 0.40% at 104.57, easing off the high of 104.59 it reached earlier in the day. "The Fed minutes were just released indicating that a few officials could have supported a 50-bps hike in the last meeting, though most backed the 25bps outcome. "The theme throughout February has been a bias towards higher rates, and these minutes are consistent with that perspective." But Fed funds futures traders are now pricing the fed funds rate to reach 5.38% in July, and remaining above 5% all year. "Stronger-than-expected U.S. data releases since the start of this month have reinforced the Fed's messages about stronger for longer interest rates."

Survey data released on Tuesday showed U.S. business activity unexpectedly rebounded in February to reach its highest in eight months. He is the latest Fed official to signal that higher interest rates is likely needed to bring inflation back to desired levels. "Stronger-than-expected U.S. data releases since the start of this month have reinforced the Fed's messages about stronger for longer interest rates." The dollar index up 0.1% at 104.19, but off the high of 104.34 reached earlier in the day. A blockbuster U.S. employment report in early February sparked the rebound in the dollar, which has been helped along by a series of strong data releases.

☆ Wall St set for higher open as investors focus on Fed minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Johann M Cherian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies Fed minutes due at 2:00 p.m. U.S. stocks shed more than 2% on Tuesday as investors worried that a rebound in U.S. business activity in February could mean interest rates might need to stay higher for longer. ET (1900 GMT), are expected to detail the breadth of debate at the central bank over how much further interest rates may need to be raised to slow inflation. However, stocks have had a volatile run in February as traders priced in higher interest rates for longer, considering inflation remains above the 2% target in the face of a sturdy economy. Money market participants expect rates to peak at 5.35% by July and stay around those levels till the end of 2023.

☆ Bullard calls on Fed to get inflation under control this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 22 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve needs to get inflation on to a sustainable path down toward its 2% goal this year or else risk a repeat of the 1970s, when interest rates had to be repeatedly ratcheted up, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Wednesday. "If inflation doesn't start to come down, you risk this replay of the 1970s where you had 15 years where you're trying to battle the inflation drag," Bullard told broadcaster CNBC in an interview. "... That's why I've said let's be sharp now, let's get inflation under control in 2023 and it's a good time to fight inflation because the labor market is still strong." Bullard also repeated his view that a Fed policy rate in the range of 5.25% to 5.5% would be adequate for the task. Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; editing by John Stonestreet and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Wall St inches higher as investors focus on Fed minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Johann M Cherian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies Fed minutes due at 2:00 p.m. U.S. stocks shed more than 2% on Tuesday after a rebound in business activity in February stoked fears of interest rates staying higher for longer. "We expect all indicators to point to the Fed remaining hawkish in its inflation fight." However, stocks have had a volatile run in February as traders priced in higher interest rates for longer, considering inflation remains elevated in the face of a sturdy economy. Money market participants expect rates to peak at 5.35% by July and stay around those levels till the end of 2023.

☆ Sweden increasingly a focus for Islamic extremists, security police say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Houthi supporters rally to denounce the burning of a copy of the holy Koran during Sweden protests, in Sanaa, Yemen January 23, 2023. "Recent developments with threats targeted at Sweden and Swedish interests are serious and affect Sweden's security," the Swedish Security Service SAPO said in a statement. "The developments mean that Sweden is deemed to be in greater focus than previously for violent Islamic extremists globally." SAPO said it had not raised its formal assessment of the threat level against the country, which is at 3 on a scale up to 5, equivalent to "elevated". "The terror-threat level is based on a long-term assessment which means that if the developments continue for a time, the threat level could be raised," SAPO said.

A far-right faction of House Republicans is pushing against continued US aid to Ukraine. Those concerns ratcheted up amid House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's tumultuous journey to secure the gavel last month. Kyiv, for its part, has kept a close eye on Congress' dynamics since the GOP won a narrow House majority in the November midterms. "This GOP House majority will demand more oversight, transparency, and accountability to ensure assistance to Ukraine is used as intended," McCaul said in a statement. "Most Europeans don't think that suddenly the US is going to cut support to Ukraine," Araud said, adding that nobody anticipates Washington will "dump Ukraine."

☆ Facebook-parent Meta announces $40 billion stock buyback
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the F8 Facebook Developers conference on April 30, 2019 in San Jose, California. Facebook parent Meta Platforms said in its quarterly earnings statement on Wednesday that it has increased its share repurchase authorization by $40 billion. In 2022 the social network operator bought back about $28 billion in stock, according to the statement. Net income fell by 55% to $4.65 billion, but Meta had nearly $41 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at the end of 2022. Meta announced a $50 billion increase in its share repurchase authorization in October 2021.

☆ How the market is rating the risk of debt ceiling default and a divided, dysfunctional Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

That would be the worst-case outcome, of course, but even the best case will probably see the sort of brinksmanship that occurred in the 2011 debt ceiling crisis." From the Senate, Mitch McConnell recently said it's an issue for Biden and the House GOP to work out. Kevin Brady , the former top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, dismissed talk of debt default as "fear mongering." Narrowness of GOP House majority does matterJPMorgan also referred to the path for a political agreement as being "narrow." In 2013, the Federal Reserve ran a simulation of a debt default by the U.S. government.

☆ Facing growing calls for reform, Salesforce could use some fresh faces on its board
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The enterprise software giant is considering at least three potential board appointees, Bloomberg News reported Thursday , citing people with knowledge of the matter. Among those reportedly in conversation to join Salesforce's board are former Carnival Cruise CEO Arnold Donald, Mastercard CFO Sachin Mehra and Mason Morfit, the chief executive of ValueAct Capital. And the firm is now planning to nominate candidates for Salesforce's board, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday . Bottom line We're encouraged by the Bloomberg report because Salesforce's board could undoubtedly use a refresh, with multiple directors having served for 10 years or more, according to FactSet. New board members, coupled with growing activist pressure, could could be just the boost Salesforce needs and that the market wants to see.

☆ Meet Jesse Cohn, the hedge fund wunderkind building a campaign on Salesforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Bradley Saacks | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

One of the key players behind the campaign is 42-year-old Jesse Cohn, Paul Singer's right-hand man. Hedge fund Elliott Management has taken a multi-billion dollar stake in Salesforce, as the tech company deals with layoffs and a management shake-up. And Cohn, one of Elliott's chief agitators, has emerged as quarterback, announcing his respect for co-CEO Marc Benioff in a statement. "He said, 'Hey, let me talk to you,'" Knowles told BI in 2019. He had the files laid out on a conference-room table when the board met with Cohn in Elliott's New York office.

WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is set to again slow the pace of its interest rate increases at a Jan. 31-Feb. 1 policy meeting while also signaling that its battle against inflation is far from over. Throughout last year, the Fed's rapid series of rate hikes were announced in a statement that also promised "ongoing increases" until rates were "sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2%." Fed officials were surprised in 2021 by the persistence of inflation that at one point was more than triple their 2% target. The unemployment rate is currently 3.5%, a level seen only rarely since World War Two. "Thus, I anticipate the need for further rate increases."

☆ Union membership fell to record low in 2022, Bureau of Labor Statistics says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Rebecca Shabad | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon Labor Union interim president Chris Smalls celebrates the first union election win at an Amazon warehouse on April 1, 2022, in New York. Union membership in the U.S. dropped to the lowest since the federal government began collecting such data in 1983, according to a report released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency found that the union membership rate fell to 10.1% in 2022, down from 10.3% in 2021. he Bureau of Labor Statistics began measuring the union membership rate in 1983, when it was 20.1% and there were 17.7 million workers. According to the 2022 data, the highest union membership rate was among people who worked in protective service, in education, training and libraries.

☆ Column: China's power sector emissions set to jump as economy reboots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LITTLETON, Colo., Jan 9 (Reuters) - Pollution levels from China's mammoth power sector are set to climb to new highs in 2023 as Beijing's efforts to spur growth across the economy result in increased burning of fossil fuels. The energy sector accounts for roughly 90% of emissions in the country, the world's top polluter, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). SOFT PATCHThe 1.6% rise in China's power sector emissions through November was the smallest increase during that period on record aside from 2020, when China first tackled COVID outbreaks, Ember data shows. China power sector emissionsA more than 10% rise in electricity generated from clean sources such as solar and wind - compared with a 1.5% rise in fossil fuel electricity generation - helped curb overall power sector emissions, according to the Ember data. Diminished energy demand from shuttered factories and several key industries also capped overall power sector pollution, with China's industrial output through most of 2022 holding at suppressed levels.

☆ Technical analysts agree January's strong start is a good omen, but here's what they expect to happen next
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Patti Domm | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Redler expects the S & P 500 could reach 3,980 to 4,000 before reversing lower. The S & P 500 was trading at about 3,940 on Monday. He expects the S & P 500 to put in a near-term top this week. He is watching the 200-day moving average on the S & P 500, which is literally the average of the last 200 closes. "The SPX [S & P 500] has spent the majority of the last three weeks between 3,800 and 3,900," Krinsky wrote in a note.

It was the first time in 100 years that the House has not elected a speaker on its first day. McCarthy has refused to give up against the hardliners, who make up less than one-tenth of the House Republican conference. Supporters of McCarthy, who has served as House Republican leader since 2019, accuse some hardliners of conducting a "Never Kevin" campaign aimed solely at stopping him. He may not want it right now, but George Washington did not want to be president," Representative Lauren Boebert told Fox News. Some Republicans warned that continued obstruction could lead them to work with Democrats to elect a moderate Republican as speaker.

☆ Opinion | Vaccines, Inflation, Abortion: 2022 in Charts
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Steven Rattner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +16 min

By the end of 2022, 23 percent of American women resided in states with effective bans on abortion. June 2022 March 2022 Dec. 2021 Sept. 2022 Dec. 2022 Fed Funds Rate 6% 5 4 3 2 1 2022 2023 2025 2024 Longer run Unemployment 5% 4 3 2 1 2022 2023 2025 2024 Longer run G.D.P. Growth 4% 3 2 1 2022 2023 2025 2024 Longer run Core Inflation 5% 4 3 2 1 2022 2023 2025 2024 Sept. 2022 June 2022 March 2022 Dec. 2021 Dec. 2022 Fed Funds Rate G.D.P. Growth 4% 6% 5 3 4 3 2 2 1 1 2022 2023 2025 2022 2023 2025 2024 2024 Longer run Longer run Core Inflation Unemployment 5% 5% 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 2022 2023 2025 2022 2023 2025 2024 2024 Longer run Source: Federal Open Market CommitteeThe sustained period of high inflation left the Fed playing catch-up, as it had initially believed that the surge would prove transitory. 150 100 Xi Jinping addresses in 2017 & 2022 50 1982-2012 Economy Military Market Technology Reform Security Source: Capital EconomicsThen there was China: Our biggest source of imported goods became ever more clearly our biggest strategic adversary.

☆ She says she was fired in retaliation. Hearst Magazines says she was insubordinate. Here's how Delish's hit YouTube show 'Budget Eats' came crashing down.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Steven Perlberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

Produced by the Hearst-owned food brand Delish, "Budget Eats" was the kind of digital success story that traditional magazine giants crave. As Xie worked her day job developing recipes, "Budget Eats" was morphing from a pandemic experiment to a bonafide hit. A career recipe developer at work, the "Budget Eats" Xie doesn't even measure out ingredients. "It felt like she was afraid that putting 'Budget Eats' from her kitchen onto this cable network might dilute the honesty," Lennon-Simon said. As for "Budget Eats," Delish recently posted what is presumably the last episode.

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