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☆ White House backs Senate bill to boost US ability to ban TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The bill gives the Commerce Department the ability impose restrictions up to and including banning TikTok and other technologies that pose national security risks, said Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who chairs the Intelligence Committee. He said it would also apply to foreign technologies from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba. TikTok said in a statement that any "U.S. ban on TikTok is a ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion-plus people who use our service worldwide." Warner said it was important the government do more to make clear what it believes are the national security risks to U.S. from the use of TikTok. McCaul said he thinks the full U.S. House of Representatives could vote on bill this month.

☆ Twelve U.S. senators back giving Commerce Secretary new powers to ban TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] FILE PHOTO:. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo speaks during the High-Level Economic Dialogue Second Annual Meeting in Mexico City, Mexico September 12, 2022. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha/PoolWASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of 12 U.S. senators will introduce legislation Tuesday that would give Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo new powers to ban Chinese-owned video app TikTok and other foreign-based technologies if they pose national security threats, Senator Mark Warner said. "I think it is a national security threat," Warner said on CNBC, adding the bill would give Raimondo "the ability to do a series of mitigation up to and including banning" TikTok. Reporting by David ShepardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Senators call for two changes to help encourage Social Security beneficiaries to claim retirement benefits later
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Many Americans claim Social Security retirement benefits at the earliest age possible but see their monthly benefit checks reduced for life for doing so. The proposed updates aiming to encourage more Americans to delay tapping Social Security benefits include changing the language the Social Security Administration uses around the claiming process and increasing the mailing of paper Social Security statements. The earliest age to claim Social Security retirement benefits is 62. More from Personal Finance:Why Social Security retirement age, payroll tax may changeExperts argue Social Security retirement age shouldn't pass 67Return on waiting to claim Social Security is 'huge'"When to claim Social Security benefits is a critical decision for older Americans planning their retirement," the senators stated in a letter to the Social Security Administration. Social Security beneficiaries are entitled to full benefits once they reach their full retirement age – 66 to 67, depending on their date of birth.

☆ Fed Collins reiterates more rate rises need to squish inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Bank of Boston leader Susan Collins reiterated in comments made public Friday that more central bank rate rises will be needed to lower high inflation levels. "We have more work to do to bring inflation back down” to the central bank's 2% target, Collins said in a video for a speech on March 1 published on the bank's website Friday. Collins, who is not currently a voting member of the rate setting Federal Open Market Committee, did not comment on the tactics of rate rises, but she did say that when the Fed gets to its stopping point, it will likely need to stay there for a potentially extended period of time. The necessary path of rate rises will likely create some softness in the job market, Collins said. Reporting by Michael S. DerbyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Eli Lilly, along with Sanofi (SASY.PA) and Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) make up 90% of the U.S. market for insulin. Biden, a Democrat, on Tuesday called on Congress and other manufacturers to lower the price of insulin as Lilly had done. The list price for Lispro, a cheaper version of its Humalog insulin, is currently $82.41 for 100 units/mL vials. List prices for drugs often differ from what patients actually pay, including after insurance and other assistance programs. Ricks said the company's insulin price cuts had been planned for some time and were accounted for in Eli Lilly's December financial forecast, which projected 2023 revenue of at least $30.3 billion.

Wray's comments Tuesday came after Baier noted that the Energy Department had cited the FBI's earlier findings in its report. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, said earlier Tuesday that China has "always been open and transparent" about Covid. In its assessment, the Energy Department also described the "likely" laboratory-related leak as an "accident," the official added. The Energy Department is one of 18 government departments and agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said, "China obviously is very threatened by this," but "the lab leak story is not anti-Chinese.

☆ Inflation is doing a crab walk and Fed officials fear its pinch
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Some background: The Covid-19 crisis triggered a sudden shift in student loan policy and a new openness to forgiveness. About 40% of those with federal student loan debt would have a zero balance; even more would have a much smaller monthly payment. But, “if payments resume without debt relief, we expect both student loan default and delinquencies to rise and potentially surpass pre-pandemic levels,” warned Fed researchers. Those missed payments suggest that some federal student loan borrowers are having trouble meeting their monthly debt obligations. “We expect these delinquency patterns to worsen if federal student loan payments resume without relief,” said the report.

☆ Who is Matthew Kacsmaryk, the Trump-appointed Texas judge who could ban abortion pills?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Matthew Kacsmaryk is a Texas federal judge who was nominated by Donald Trump in 2017. Kacsmaryk graduated from Abilene Christian University in 1999 and received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 2003. The Post reported that it was during law school when Kacsmaryk focused on abortion rights. Kacsmaryk also served as the executive editor of the Texas Review of Law & Politics and received two Dean's Achievement Awards, according to the questionnaire. During his undergraduate years, studying political science, Kacsmaryk was outspoken about his conservative views and stances on abortion.

The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation, shot up 0.6% last month after gaining 0.2% in December. In the 12 months through January, the PCE index accelerated 5.4% after rising 5.3% in December. "This PCE number, which to me is a vital number, clearly suggests that the Fed has more to do. ET, Dow e-minis were down 352 points, or 1.06%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 48.25 points, or 1.2%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 202.5 points, or 1.66%. A string of Fed policymakers including Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and Boston Fed President Susan Collins are also slated to speak.

☆ Fed's Collins says more rate hikes needed to curb 'too high' inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins said on Friday more interest rate increases are needed to tame high levels of U.S. inflation. One of the U.S. central bank's newest regional bank presidents, she is not a voting member of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee this year. Collins, who took over as Boston Fed chief in July, 2022, voted in favor of every one of the aggressive rate hikes the Fed delivered last year while she was a voting member of the FOMC. Collins spoke after the release earlier on Friday of fresh data suggesting U.S. inflation pressures, which had been easing, may be more resilient than thought. The data suggested more Fed action will be needed, either in the form of more aggressive rate increases, a higher stopping point for rate increases, or a combination of both.

☆ Morning Bid: War and PCE
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike DolanWith world headlines focussed on first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the inflationary consequences that pounded world markets last year still smoulder. Curiously, the initial energy shock from the Ukraine war is already less of a problem than the change in pricing behaviour that it seeded - especially in services still distorted by the pandemic, in corporate margin building and rising wage settlements. But it's the pickup and stickiness in underlying "core" prices, excluding energy and food, that is irking the central banks and the Federal Reserve most of all. Alongside another tight U.S. weekly jobs report, markets got another glimpse of those price pressures on Thursday. And increasingly buoyed by the still intense geopolitical fallout from a year of the war in Ukraine, the dollar pushed higher yet again.

☆ Senators call on Medicare to offer broad coverage of Alzheimer's treatments as public pressure grows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

U.S. senators on Friday called for Medicare to offer broad coverage of Alzheimer's treatments approved by the Food and Drug Administration, warning that current restrictions cost patients precious time as their disease progresses. The 20 senators told CMS that Alzheimer's will cost the nation $1 trillion by 2050 if the U.S. does not take decisive action. As a consequence, Medicare coverage for the expensive drug is basically nonexistent. The Alzheimer's Association wrote CMS in December calling for the agency to provide unrestricted Medicare coverage for Leqembi. "We believe Medicare beneficiaries should have unimpeded access, broad and simple access to Leqembi because the data fulfill those criteria."

☆ Senate GOP women hail Nikki Haley's entry into the 2024 presidential primary but almost unanimously cheer for 'a lot of other people' to jump in
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Senate Republican women offered guarded praise but seemed interested in additional candidates. And we'll see who else jumps in," Sen. Joni Ernst, who seemed to be on the exact same page as many of her colleagues, told Insider at the US Capitol. While the half-dozen GOP women Insider talked to about Haley's plans were generally supportive of her presidential ambitions, none offered her an endorsement. I thought it was well done," Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska told Insider between Senate votes. "She adds much needed diversity," Collins told Insider — before quickly adding, "I expect there'll be other very good candidates announcing as well."

☆ Brainard's move to the White House leaves a big gap for Biden to fill at the Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

In her more than eight years as a Federal Reserve official, Lael Brainard was an influential voice, particularly for the side that favored keeping monetary policy loose and interest rates low. "Brainard's departure from the Fed leaves a dove-sized hole in its monetary policy," Beacon Policy Advisors wrote in its daily newsletter Wednesday. Indeed, Brainard's influence only accelerated the longer she served as a Fed governor. Her subsequent appointment in 2022 as vice chair solidified her influence, installing her as part of the "troika" of policy-directing power that includes current Chairman Jerome Powell and New York Fed President John Williams. Some candidates outside the Fed ranks, according to Guha, include Karen Dynan, Jason Furman, Janice Eberly and Christina Romer, all of whom served under former President Barack Obama (and his vice president, Biden).

REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinWASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers sharply criticized the U.S. military and the Biden administration on Thursday for failing to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon when it first entered U.S. airspace, instead of waiting a week to do so. Pentagon officials said they were able to monitor the balloon's path and protect and conceal areas sensitive to U.S. national security. Republican Senator Susan Collins said the decision to let the balloon trek across the United States sent the wrong message to China and other U.S. adversaries. "In my judgment, U.S. deterrence was weakened when the spy balloon was permitted to transverse Alaska and several other states, included hovering over sensitive military bases and assets," Collins added. Separately, the House of Representatives on Thursday unanimously backed a resolution condemning the incursion of the balloon as "a brazen violation of United States sovereignty."

☆ Biden proposal to cap all insulin prices at $35 a month has little chance of passing Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Biden's signature legislative achievement, the Inflation Reduction Act, has capped insulin prices for Medicare recipients at $35 per month but the law does not shield younger diabetes patients with private insurance or without insurance from higher prices. Let's cap the cost of insulin for everybody at $35," Biden told Congress Tuesday night. As the president spoke, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., called on Congress to pass the Insulin Act which would expand the $35 price cap to people with private insurance. Even when Democrats controlled both chambers last summer, Senate Republicans managed to kill a measure that would have capped insulin prices at $35 a month for people with private insurance. Should the Senate pass the Insulin Act, it would still face a House that's now in GOP hands.

This year, women will hold all four of the top positions on the House and Senate Appropriations committees for the first time in history. “Oftentimes people say, you know, ‘We need to have women at the table.’ Well, women are the table.”Spending and debt fights loomOver the decades, these women have seen their share of spending fights. But I’m absolutely convinced that we have to stand together,” said Granger, who last week became the first female Republican to chair the House Appropriations Committee. Women, Murray said, are good communicators, and she and her colleagues can translate a big, complicated appropriations bill for everyday Americans. But as a 14-year House Appropriations staffer, she also intimately knows each of the top appropriators and recognizes the significance of this glass-ceiling-shattering moment.

☆ Gold set for fifth straight weekly rise on Fed slowdown bets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Ashitha Shivaprasad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Spot gold was little changed at $1,930.04 per ounce, as of 0308 GMT and was up 0.5% for the week. With lower rates translating into lesser returns on interest-bearing assets like government bonds, investors may prefer zero-yield gold. The dollar index was headed for a second consecutive weekly drop, making bullion cheaper for overseas buyers. Both metals headed for a second straight week of declines. Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Eileen SorengOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Asian stocks edge up, dollar sags as markets mull Fed risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Kevin Buckland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. Treasury yields remained elevated in Tokyo after bouncing off four-month lows overnight. Asian markets showed some resilience despite a selloff on Wall Street overnight, with the S&P 500 (.SPX) losing 0.76%. Worries about more Fed tightening were heightened by robust U.S. employment data and fresh hawkish rhetoric from central bank officials. The market bets the policy rate will been just below 5% in June, implying just over 50 basis points of additional tightening. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was around 3.4% after bouncing off the lowest since mid-September at 3.321% overnight.

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."

☆ Gold rises on tepid U.S. dollar, safe-haven inflows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Gold rings displayed at the Korea Gold Exchange store in Seoul, South Korea. Gold prices fell on Monday, as the dollar held on to gains following U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's signal that the central bank will raise interest rates further to tame sky-high inflation. Gold prices rose nearly 1% on Thursday, supported by a weaker dollar and some safe-haven demand as weak U.S. economic readings and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials fueled recession worries. U.S. gold futures rose 1.41% to $1,933.90.."There is flight to safety. Elsewhere, spot silver rose 1.72% to $23.8292 per ounce, platinum fell 0.45% to $1,033.3007 and palladium jumped 2.18% to $1,775.8759.

The Fed raised its benchmark overnight interest rate rapidly last year, from near-zero in March to the current 4.25%-4.50% range, to restrain inflation that climbed to 40-year highs. In December, Fed policymakers as a group signaled the policy rate will need to rise to at least 5.1%; financial markets, meanwhile, are pricing for the Fed to stop just short of 5%. But she did appear to ratify market expectations for the Fed's upcoming rate hike to be a quarter-of-a-percentage-point, a downshift from December's half-point rate hike and from the four 75-basis-point rate hikes that preceded. "Recent data suggests slightly better prospects that we could see continued disinflation in the context of moderate growth," Brainard said. Even as the Fed parses the progress it has made on inflation, she said it would "stay the course."

The Labor Department's report showed a surprise fall in U.S. weekly jobless claims, highlighting labor market resilience in a higher interest rate environment. "There's virtually no signs of any weakness in the labor market and that's one of the things the Fed's been leaning against to keep rates higher for longer." The S&P 500 (.SPX) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) are now headed for their third straight day of declines. Shares of both the companies fell around 2%, and were among the top drags to the benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq (.IXIC) indexes. Industrial (.SPLRCI) and consumer discretionary stocks (.SPLRCD) were among the leading decliners on the S&P 500, down 1.5% and 1.7%, respectively.

☆ Treasury yields fall as investors assess inflation outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Sophie Kiderlin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Yields and prices move in opposite directions and one basis point is equivalent to 0.01%. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury was down by around one basis point to 3.3624%. The 2-year Treasury was trading at 4.0611% after falling by more than one basis point. On Wednesday, December's producer price index report showed that wholesale inflation fell by more than expected on a monthly basis. Investors are therefore closely following remarks from Fed speakers, who have painted a mixed picture so far.

☆ Morning bid: No safety net?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"I just think we need to keep going," Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said. And many forecasters are now wary the Fed will err on the side of tighter policy to ensure inflation is slayed. Markets wobbled on the prospect on Wednesday, with the S&P500 (.SPX) staging its biggest decline of the year so far. At 3.32%, 10-year U.S. Treasury yields fell to their lowest since September. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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