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The European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE), hosted in Geneva, kicks off on Tuesday and brings together everyone from brokers, planemakers to engine producers. CO2 emissions from private jets in Europe grew by 31% between 2005 and 2019, according to environmental group Transport and Environment. Protesters are expected to gather on Tuesday outside the conference location in Geneva to highlight the rising number of private jet flights amidst a worsening global climate crisis. "The big innovations are usually deployed first in our industry," Kok said. Business jet flights have dropped in Europe by around 6% compared with the same time in 2022, WINGX data showed.

☆ Analysis: US debt ceiling deal could stall safety flight fueling megacap rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( David Randall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Their rally has been responsible for all of the 8.3% year-to-date gain in the S&P 500 (.SPX) through Wednesday's close, a Deutsche Bank report showed. A recent survey of global fund managers from BofA Global Research showed that 71% believe a deal to raise the debt ceiling will be reached before the X-date. Excitement over artificial intelligence, which has boosted some megacap names this year, is another factor that could support the category. At the same time, the debt ceiling has been only one of of several worries weighing on the market. Paul Christopher, head of global market strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, expects lawmakers will reach an agreement to extend the debt ceiling through September.

☆ Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman plans to step down after years of making the bank the envy of Wall Street. Here's a look at his legacy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | Alex Morrell | Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said he will step down in the next 12 months. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman was giddy. Seeking stabilityTo understand where Morgan Stanley is now, you need to return to the peak of the financial crisis. It didn't take long before Morgan Stanley began utilizing its new license to acquire clients' deposits, reducing its reliance on wholesale funding. Mack, who helped design the 1997 Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter merger, had been pushed out by Purcell in 2001.

President Joe Biden and McCarthy reiterated their aim to strike a deal soon on Wednesday to raise the $31.4 trillion federal debt ceiling and agreed to talk as soon as Sunday. Growth stocks led gains, with Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) rising between 1% and 4.4%. Bath & Body Works Inc (BBWI.N) gained 9.6% after the beauty and skincare firm raised its annual profit forecast. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.07-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.04-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded 22 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 68 new highs and 50 new lows.

☆ Turkish lira hits record low as bonds steady after post-election rout
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - Turkey's lira weakened to a record low against the dollar on Thursday, after incumbent Tayyip Erdogan's lead in presidential elections surprised markets, while the nation's sovereign dollar bonds steadied after a three-day post-election rout. The cost of insuring the country's debt against default fell slightly, but equity markets and banking stocks endured fresh losses in afternoon trading. The lira weakened to a record low of 19.8050 to the dollar by 1904 GMT, bringing its losses since the election to more than 1%. The 2045 bond gained close to one cent to trade at just over 70 cents on the dollar by 1300 GMT, Tradeweb data showed. Credit default swaps, which measure the cost of insuring the country's debt against default, narrowed by 8 basis points (bps) by mid afternoon, to 684 bps, data from S&P Global Market Intelligence showed.

☆ Even a technical default in the U.S. could lead to millions of job losses, S&P says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailEven a technical default in the U.S. could lead to millions of job losses, S&P saysJohn Raines of S&P Global Market Intelligence says "it's going to be pretty ugly."

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☆ A new CEO won’t fix Twitter’s biggest problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —During his six months as Twitter’s CEO and owner, Elon Musk decimated its ad business, alienated some news publications and VIP users, and plunged the platform into a constant state of chaos. But she may struggle to address Twitter’s biggest problem: Elon Musk. On Tuesday, Musk said he “didn’t care” if his controversial tweets drew the ire of Twitter advertisers or Tesla shareholders. She may struggle to undo the damage Elon Musk has done to the company's ad business. That could only add to the difficulty Yaccarino will face in shoring up Twitter’s business.

Foreign holdings of Italian government paper increased in February after 10 consecutive monthly declines, according to Bank of Italy data. "This is a magic moment for Italian bonds," he told Reuters. The share of Italian government debt held by foreign investors fell to below 20% at the end of 2022 from around 50% before the 2008 financial crisis, Bank of Italy data shows. The Italian Treasury has already taken steps to shore up demand for its bonds as the ECB retreats, by boosting purchases among domestic households and companies. Together, Italian families and firms now hold around 215 billion euros, or 9%, of Rome's debt, UniCredit's Cazzulani said, the highest level since mid-2015.

☆ US government CDS spreads decline as debt ceiling negotiations progress
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - A measure of the cost to insure exposure to U.S. government debt declined on Tuesday as Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy edged closer to a deal to avoid a debt default. Spreads on U.S. one-year credit default swaps, market-based gauges of the risk of a default, declined to 155 basis points from 164 basis points on Monday, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Spreads on five-year CDS decreased to 69 basis points from 72 bps on Monday. Investor jitters around a possible U.S. default have intensified in recent weeks as the deadline to raise the government's borrowing cap looms closer than what many in the market had anticipated. Reporting by Davide Barbuscia; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"The winner has undoubtedly been our country," Erdogan said in a speech to cheering supporters at the headquarters of his ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party in the capital Ankara overnight. Going into the election, the opposition had sensed its best chance yet of unseating Erdogan, encouraged by polls showing him trailing his main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu. But the results suggested Erdogan and his AK Party had been able to rally conservative voters despite a cost-of-living crisis. [1/4] Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and AK Party (AKP) gather on election night, in Istanbul, Turkey May 15, 2023. "During the campaign period ahead of the runoff, President Erdogan is likely to emphasise stability as he already retains the majority in the parliament," Dalay said.

☆ Big firms are filing for bankruptcy left and right — and it's just the beginning
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Joe Ciolli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Vice Media headlined a group of seven major companies that filed for bankruptcy in a recent 48-hour period. Fast-forward to the present, when Vice — saddled with liabilities of up to $1 billion — has filed for bankruptcy. Still, an uptick in bankruptcy filings clearly demonstrates increasing economic stress. Retailers from Bed Bath & Beyond to David's Bridal have filed for bankruptcy in recent weeks. Envision Healthcare — a medical-staffing company backed by KKR — was one of the six firms to declare alongside Vice.

☆ Morning Bid: Debt ceiling jitters, Turkey vote, Soros ditches Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

President Joe Biden is meeting Congressional leaders on Tuesday to try to hash out a compromise to raise the debt limit and avoid a catastrophic default. A regulatory filing on Friday from the family office of George Soros showed the 92-year old billionaire investor has sold his entire stake in Tesla. Soros bought shares in the electric vehicle maker, run by Elon Musk, in 2022, as well as convertible bonds in 2018. Soros wasn't alone in pulling out of some of the pandemic-era darlings in the first three months of the year. Friday's regulatory filing showed he loaded up on other big tech stocks, including Netflix, Uber, chipmaker Qualcomm and cloud-based data company Snowflake - which fellow 92-year old investor Warren Buffett bought into back in 2020.

☆ Turkish lira sinks to new record low on possibility of Erdogan re-election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The Turkish lira slipped 0.5% to trade at 19.70 against the US dollar, a record low. The uncertainty has investors in Turkish government bonds worrying about the country’s ability to pay them back. Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrate at the AK Party headquarters on May 14, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey. Annual consumer price inflation surged to 85% in October, before slowing to 44% in April, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute shows. “A victory for President Erdogan, which now looks like the base case scenario… would be negative for Turkey’s macroeconomic stability and financial markets,” Peach added.

☆ Turkey's lira slides, credit default swaps spike after election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It was on track for its worst trading session since early November. The five-year Turkey credit default swap spread TRGV5YUSAC=MG jumped 105 basis points (bps) from Friday's levels to 597 bps, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the highest since November 2022. Analysts expect the lira to slump in the wake of the elections following years of economic imbalances and unorthodox monetary policy. JPMorgan (JPM.N) forecast the lira could soften to levels of 24-25 to the dollar. The lira, which is prone to sharp swings before regular trading hours, has weakened 5% since the start of the year.

The number of Twitter mobile app downloads actually declined 18% in February to 14.05 million from 17.2 million in January. Meanwhile, Twitter had 14.9 million app downloads in April, which is a 2% increase from the 14.6 million downloads it accumulated in March. Musk's Twitter makeover has sparked new interest in decentralized social networks. Elon Musk's Twitter is facing new competition from a rival called Bluesky, a so-called decentralized communications app that is backed by Twitter co-founder and twice-former CEO, Jack Dorsey. The front-end apps built atop these decentralized platforms are often clunky, not professional-looking or easy to use.

☆ Hedge funds trim exposure to bank stocks after March buying spree - research
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - Hedge funds cut their exposure to financial stocks in April after buying discounted equities in the March market turmoil that followed the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature bank, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Hedge funds reduced exposure to financial stocks including banks and trading companies by 1% after a March increase of 5.5%, the data showed. Still, overall hedge fund positions on stocks were bullish, said Blake. Short-sellers were particularly active in European financial companies, according to a separate note to clients from Morgan Stanley. Hedge funds turned bearish on European stocks as a whole by the end of last week, with the bulk of short positions added to European banks and capital markets firms, the note said.

Spreads on U.S. one-year credit default swaps (CDS) - market-based gauges of the risk of a default - widened to 172 basis points, an all-time high, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, up from a close of 163 on Tuesday. The cost of insuring U.S. debt against default for five years stood at 73 basis points, up from 72 basis points on Tuesday, touching the highest level since 2009. Due to the mechanics of a potential CDS payout, the probability of a default implied by the CDS could be lower than what current levels suggest, analysts said. As of last week, the spread on one-year CDS implied a 3.9% probability that the U.S. would default, according to MSCI Research analysts. "We found a lower market-implied default probability than in 2011 ... despite much wider CDS spreads today," they said.

☆ Hedge funds cut exposure to bank stocks in April, data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - Hedge funds cut their exposure to financial stocks in April after buying discounted equities in the market turmoil that followed the March failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature bank, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Hedge funds reduced exposure to financial stocks including banks and trading companies by 1%, or $1.3 billion, after an increase of 5.5% in March, the data showed. Still, overall hedge fund positions on stocks were bullish, Blake said. Short-sellers were particularly active in European financial companies, according to a separate note to clients from Morgan Stanley. Hedge funds had turned bearish on European stocks as a whole by the end of last week, with the bulk of short positions added to European banks and capital markets firms, the note said.

☆ Wellness travel is rising among a particularly weary group of travelers — parents
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | Morgan Awyong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

But a new survey shows parents increasingly want in on a trend that isn't often aimed at families: wellness travel. The data showed an emerging picture of family travel — one in which parents may be starting to prioritize their own needs alongside those of their children. Traveling for physical health is up eight points among parents since last year, said Lindsey Roeschke, travel and hospitality analyst at Morning Consult. Planning a wellness family vacationThough some wellness resorts only allow adults, places like The Farm at San Benito welcome guests of all ages. Planning your own wellness tripRather than a resort stay, parents can plan their own wellness trips based on their interests.

The tally of U.S. companies that have gone bankrupt so far in 2023 is higher than the first four months of any year since 2010, data from S&P Global Market Intelligence showed. There were 54 corporate bankruptcy petitions in April, down from 70 in March, S&P Global said. Still, the year-to-date count more than doubled to 236 from a year ago. Consumer discretionary companies logged a higher number of bankruptcies than any other sector in 2023, according to S&P Global, with the once high-flying retailer Bed Bath & Beyond among the latest victims. Largest bankruptcies of 2023 (with more than $1 billion in liabilities):Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence, Refinitiv EikonReporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ PacWest leads losses in regional bank stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 9 (Reuters) - Shares of PacWest Bancorp (PACW.O) looked set to lead declines in U.S. regional lenders at market open on Tuesday as investors feared the ongoing banking crisis could deepen. The KBW Regional Banking Index (.KRX) hit a 30-month low last week after the collapse of First Republic Bank and PacWest's decision to explore strategic options. PacWest and Western Alliance, which have been at the heart of the sell-off in regional banks, saw the steepest decline in deposits in the first quarter after First Republic, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Western Alliance (WAL.N) dropped 1.5%, while First Horizon Corp (FHN.N) and Zion Bancorp (ZION.O) dipped 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively, with Arfstrom noting that the pullback in banks shares overall have made their valuations attractive. Wall Street executives and bank analysts last week called on regulators to quickly provide more protection for bank deposits and consider other backstops, arguing only an intervention could stop the crisis.

☆ PacWest, Western Alliance lead slide in regional bank stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 9 (Reuters) - Shares of regional lenders PacWest Bancorp (PACW.O) and Western Alliance (WAL.N) resumed their slide in premarket trading on Tuesday as investors feared the ongoing banking crisis could deepen. PacWest dropped 13.6%, a day after the Los Angeles-based lender's decision to cut its quarterly dividend failed to stem worries about its financial stability. The KBW Regional Banking Index (.KRX) had last week touched 30-month lows after the collapse of First Republic Bank and PacWest's decision to exploring strategic options. PacWest and Western Alliance, which have been at the heart of the banking selloff, saw the steepest decline in deposits in the first quarter after First Republic, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar; Editing by Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Japan's service activity grows at record pace in April
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, May 8 - Japan's services activity grew at a record pace in April, a private-sector survey showed on Monday, helped by a boost in consumer spending following the end of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. New orders expanded at the fastest pace on record, the survey showed, citing a sharp return of spending for travel and tourism. "Around four times as many service providers expect an increase in activity as those that forecast a decline," Moore said. The subindex for employment expanded for a third month and at the fastest pace in four years, helped by stronger demand and confidence. The composite PMI, which combines the manufacturing and services figures, grew at the fastest pace since June 2022.

☆ Japan's service activity grows at record pace in April - PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Morning Bid: Debt ceiling countdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen didn't pull any punches on Sunday when she said failure to resolve the impasse over the debt ceiling in time could trigger a "constitutional crisis". The last time there was a major showdown over the debt limit in 2011, it cost the United States its prized triple-A credit rating. Scope Ratings, which is seen as the leading European credit rating agency, on Friday said it had placed the United States' AA long-term issuer rating under review for a possible downgrade. Biden, who meets congressional leaders on Tuesday, last week sharply criticized "MAGA" Republicans for their refusal to vote in a higher federal debt ceiling, signalling that there would be little compromise on May 9. Stalemate in Washington over raising the U.S. debt limit raises the risk of fresh turmoil for markets.

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