financializer news A weblog highlighting financial topics making news in the international media.

bus: All share a dogged determination to escape, according to The Guardian. Food became so expensive that for months we weren't able to eat three meals a day, says Harry Flores, 41, who has been queuing for nine days with his family in the hope of boarding a bus to Peru. Some carry their earthly possessions in suitcases or backpacks, others plastic bags containing water and snacks for the long journey ahead. When he does secure those seats, Flores, an unemployed computer engineer who sold his car to bankroll the trip, will join a historic exodus from what was once one of South America's wealthiest and most stable societies. That would mean some 4.3 million people 14% of Venezuela's population had taken flight. The UN estimates that 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled since 2015 with Colombian authorities predicting 2 million more could follow by 2020. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

way: It is a sign of a backs-to-the-wall mentality at the White House that Trump felt the need to lash out in this way, according to The Guardian. Presidents usually go out of their way to avoid saying anything that might give Wall Street cause for concern. There were unmistakable echoes of a mob boss in a gangster movie when Donald Trump insisted that any such action against him would bring an abrupt end to what is now the longest bull market in history. Not this one. Everyone would be very poor. The market would crash, Trump said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

gutama: People around me were crying, says Gutama, a 28-year-old medical laboratory scientist, according to CNN. Seeing this was a dream come true. Within hours, 20,000 fans had packed the venue. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

nelson mandela: The last time a British prime minister visited sub-Saharan Africa was in December 2013 when David Cameron attended Nelson Mandela's funeral, according to The Guardian. He had intended to return in the summer of 2016 in the final days of his premiership but the planned visit was abandoned when May took over as Conservative leader earlier than anticipated. The prime minister will bring a trade delegation with her on a chartered RAF Voyager in an attempt to boost Britain's post-Brexit export prospects, although she comes at a time when the government has been accused of a paying insufficient attention to the region. May has never visited sub-Saharan Africa. Speaking ahead of her flight to South Africa on Monday evening, the prime minister said Africa stands right on the cusp of playing a transformative role in the global economy and that a more prosperous, growing and trading Africa is in all of our interests . May in Africa She also signalled that the three-country tour represented an effort to showcase Britain's standing in the world ahead of Brexit. Her only previous trip to the continent was a visit to Tunisia in 2015 in the aftermath of the Sousse hotel terror attack. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

r seau: So last week's report by the Parliamentary Budget Office PBO criticizing the slow pace of Ottawa outlays on its vaunted infrastructure intentions might not be quite the negative it is described as, according to The Toronto Star. Not until last week did the Grits' new Canada Infrastructure Bank make its first investment, in Montr al's R seau express m tropolitain REM . The feds' 1.28-billion loan toward the 6.3-billion electric passenger rail network makes possible Montr al's biggest public-transit project in half a century. Sums that large invite fears of wasteful spending on white elephants, and of skills shortages and inflationary wage gains. Elsewhere in the country though, a significant 3.6 billion of the 10 billion in the Liberals' first phase of infrastructure investments remains unspent. The PBO notes that those governments appear to be holding back on such projects due to budgetary pressures. But a Liberal government that stands accused of reneging on a centrepiece promise is reliant on planned provincial and municipal infrastructure improvements, to which federal financing is tied. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

shareholders: Given the feedback I've received, it's apparent that most of Tesla's existing shareholders believe we are better off as a public company, Musk wrote online, according to The Toronto Star. Although the majority of shareholders I spoke to said they would remain with Tesla if we went private, the sentiment, in a nutshell, was please don't do this.' SASHA MASLOV / The New York Times Musk met with the electric car and solar panel company's board on Thursday to tell them he thought the company should stay public and the board agreed, according to the statement. The eccentric and sometimes erratic CEO wrote in a late-night statement that he made the decision based on feedback from shareholders, including institutional investors, who said they have internal rules limiting how much they can sink into a private company. In an Aug. 7 post on Twitter, Musk wrote that he was considering taking Tesla private. The tweet said funding had been secured for the deal, but the company later said the details still had to be worked out with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. He said it would avoid the short-term pressures of reporting quarterly results. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

practice: Theoretically, this means a bike could pay for itself in 13 hours, according to The Guardian. In practice there are other substantial costs, such as relocation, servicing and replacing vandalised cycles. The orange-wheeled cycles can be rented out for 1 for every 20 minutes, after being churned out by the company's own Chinese factories at a cost of between 40 and 200 a bike a small fraction of its rivals' manufacturing costs, according to Mobike's former UK general manager Steve Pyer. But those initial unit economics have made Mobike such an attractive business prospect that it has raised close to 1bn 780m in venture capital. As with many tech businesses, conventional wisdom among investors is that dockless cycle hire is a winner-takes-all market consumers gravitate towards the company with the most bikes and the cheapest prices, giving it the scale required to build more bikes and offer cheaper prices still, creating a virtuous cycle that eventually locks out competitors for good. Similar financial backing has been given to Mobike's rival Ofo, which is also now spreading worldwide. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

tesla: In a statement on Friday night Musk announced he had decided against the move based on feedback from shareholders, including institutional investors, who said they had internal rules that limited the stake they could hold in a private company, according to The Guardian. Tesla Tesla Staying Public 25, 2018 The plan was cancelled after a board meeting on Thursday, Musk said. The electric carmaker's founder shocked investors earlier this month after tweeting that he was considering taking the company, which floated in June 2010, private. Although the majority of shareholders I spoke to said they would remain with Tesla if we went private, the sentiment, in a nutshell, was please don't do this', he wrote in the blog post. In his tweet announcing the move, which was written while he was driving to the airport, he said funding had been secured for the deal. Musk initially considered privatisation because he said it would avoid the short-term pressures of reporting quarterly results. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

amazon inc: Andy Haldane's paper, jointly authored with seven BOE staffers, adds to a growing literature on the role played in the economy by superstar' firms whose deep pockets and millions of customers mean they have few serious competitors, according to The Toronto Star. Examples cited by researchers have included Amazon Inc. in retail and Google parent Alphabet Inc. in technology. Andy Haldane, chief economist of the U.K. central bank, in a paper presented at the Kansas City Fed's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., said BOE simulations suggest that when big firms grow to dominate their markets, their ability to raise prices at will appears to have significant knock-on effects on inflation and economic growth. Simon Dawson/Bloomberg News Shifts in market power might plausibly have altered some of the key macroeconomic relationships in the economy, Mr. Haldane said. Haldane said, according to a text of his remarks released by the BOE. In such monopoly-like conditions, the BOE simulations resulted in big swings in inflation and output from their long-term averages, making the task of stabilizing the economy by tweaking interest rates more challenging, Mr. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

index: MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.18 per cent, according to Nine News Australia. Australian stocks rose 0.16 per cent, South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.35 per cent and Japan's Nikkei climbed 0.35 per cent. To improve your experience update it here News World Asia stocks track Wall St lower10 56am Aug 24, stocks have tracked Wall Street losses and edged down in early trade, but the US dollar was buoyant after ending a long losing run ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The S&P 500 shed 0.17 per cent overnight to pull back slightly from a record high scaled midweek, with industrial shares sagging after the United States and China imposed a fresh round of trade tariffs on each other. Caterpillar shares fell 2.0 per cent, and Boeing shares fell 0.7 per cent. Shares of industrial giants Caterpillar Inc and Boeing Co, which have been bellwethers of trade sentiment, were among the biggest drags on the Dow, which lost about 0.3 per cent. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

trade deficits: The greenback's six per cent leap over the past six months has flummoxed markets from Turkey to Argentina, whose governments have to repay debt in dollars, according to Nine News Australia. The stronger currency, which makes US exports more expensive to foreign buyers, has also frustrated President Donald Trump, who is trying to reduce US trade deficits. To improve your experience update it here News WorldUS stock fund investors show no fear9 10pm Aug 24, 2018Facebook Tweet MailUS fund investors are in no rush to shore up defenses against the strong dollar. Yet among the least popular exchange-traded funds ETFs this year are currency hedged funds, which invest in stocks abroad but strip out the effect of a foreign currency's performance using derivatives. Some investors are betting that the dollar's run has gone too far given the risk of seismic US congressional elections in November or the potential for the US Federal Reserve to slow down the pace of interest rate hikes. That makes the funds more resilient in a King Dollar world, when the greenback is dominant, which hurts US investors converting foreign stock gains back into dollars. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

gathering: Trump had suggested that a change of course would be better for the country, according to The Guardian. Powell's comments at the annual gathering of economic policymakers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, will be viewed as a rebuke to the president. Jerome Powell, who was this week attacked by the president for failing to give him some help on the US economy, warned that steadily rising borrowing costs would be required to promote job creation and economic growth. Trump on Monday had directly attacked Powell, saying he was not thrilled with him for raising interest rates. He said the Fed's current strategy of steady rises balanced the risks between moving too quickly, which could limit economic expansion, and raising rates too slowly, which could lead to overheating. Without taking on the president's criticism directly, Powell stuck to his guns at the meeting of central bankers and academics from around the world, which is regarded as a key event for the world economy. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

stitch: That fund around 550 million raised in 2011 has multiplied investors' money roughly 25 times, before fees, according to a person familiar with the returns, according to The Toronto Star. Stitch Fix, a subscription clothing service, was encouraged by Benchmark Capital to hire a financial chief early on. Benchmark Capital is sitting on one of the most profitable venture funds since the dot-com boom after scoring early investments in tech high-fliers Uber Technologies Inc., Snap Inc. and WeWork Cos. Nick Otto/The Washington Post Yet when it raises its next fund, expected by early next year, Benchmark plans to keep it at the same size as it has done since 2004, according to people familiar with the matter, to better concentrate on early-stage investments that are its calling card. Benchmark's rival, Sequoia Capital, is raising the largest-ever fund by a U.S. venture firm at 8 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter, while Soft Bank Group Corp.'s 92 billion Vision Fund has helped spur a record level of investments in late-stage companies. The restraint is unusual given the trend in venture capital to raise ever-larger growth funds to capitalize on highly valued startups delaying public offerings. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

workers: A new ATB report says workers are slowly moving to Alberta from other provinces for jobs, according to The Toronto Star. Carl Patzel / Star Metro files In the first quarter of 2018, net in-migration reached close to 1,900, after seeing about half that growth in the previous two quarters. Workers connect beams while building a structure in Fort McMurray. By comparison, at the peak of the recession in the second quarter of 2016, Alberta lost 6,000 people to other provinces. Article Continued Below Read more Growing number of professionals face job insecurity, study finds Alberta sees more part-time jobs in July, fewer full-time jobs In the wake of the recession, is Alberta's love affair with oil coming to an end Not so fast, say experts Employment also continues to grow slowly, though full-time jobs have not reached the January 2015 peak. react-empty 131 There are still many people who are struggling, particularly those who are without work, ATB's chief economist Todd Hirsch said in a press release. While the numbers have turned positive, they are still a far cry from the first half of 2015, when Alberta was bringing in more than 8,000 interprovincial migrants per quarter. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

analysts: Or maybe valuation, according to The Toronto Star. Neither is perfect, but nor is any quest for science in the stock market. Maybe there's a less subjective way to judge with earnings estimates, perhaps, which have changed a lot during his presidency. Analysts were mostly skeptical U.S. President Donald Trump is in any real danger and not sure there'd be any major impact should he be. At the same time, note the Trump return is only about 1 percentage point higher than the yearly gain since March 2009, an era mostly overseen by Barack Obama. Evan Vucci / The Associated Press Before digging in, acknowledge that stocks have enjoyed unusually strong gains since Election Day, with the S&P 500 rising at an annualized rate of 20 per cent, crushing the historical return of 9.4 per cent since 1927. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

beijing: There had been fears that China would suffer a hard landing after years of supercharged economic growth, yet Beijing has managed to record slower growth without a total collapse, according to The Guardian. Chinese growth might have come down from an annual growth rate of more than 10% in 2010 to 6.9% last year, but it has far from crashed as feared, helping to drive forward the global economy and many American companies in the S&P 500. Global economy The strength of the global economy has helped US stocks. The eurozone sovereign debt crisis snared the European economy straight after the financial crisis, causing problems for US markets, although never enough to unseat the bull market under way since 2009. There are risks emerging in Italy, facing a potential budget clash with the EU, while there are also problems in some emerging market economies, including Turkey, Venezuela and Argentina. More recently, the eurozone appears to have come through the worst of the crisis, helping further propel global economic growth and to support US stocks. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

darren calabrese: The S&P/TSX composite index was down 20.55 points at 16,326.79, according to The Toronto Star. Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 76.62 points at 25,656.98. The S&P/TSX composite index was down 20.55 points at 16,326.79. The S&P 500 index was down 4.84 points at 2,856.98, while the Nasdaq composite was off 10.64 points at 7,878.46. The October crude contract was down three cents at 67.83 U.S. per barrel and the September natural gas contract was up 0.8 of a cent at 2.96 U.S. per mmBTU. Article Continued Below The December gold contract was down 9.30 U.S. at 1,194.00 U.S. an ounce and the September copper contract was down 1.9 cents at 2.654 U.S. a pound. react-empty 142 Read more about Tsx TOP STORIES, DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.NEW NEWSLETTERHEADLINESSIGN UP The Canadian dollar traded down at 76.55 cents U.S. compared with an average of 76.83 cents U.S. on Wednesday. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

group jamboree: Honk! If Burnley make it that far, there's a chance that the team who squeezed past Aberdeen at the start of their campaign will rub up against Scottish opposition again, because both the Pope's O'Rangers and the Queen's Celtic are jostling for tickets to the group jamboree, according to The Guardian. The Queen's Celtic play their first leg away to FK Suduva, the not-to-be-taken-lightly champions of Fiver activates Google Lithuania. That's the sort of heritage Sean Dyche's troupe will be aiming to uphold today when they host Olympiakos in the first leg of a tie that will determine which of the two clubs will be among the 578 who advance to the Euro Vase's group stages. Noted European away-day strategist Brendan Rodgers will have to come up with a plan that doesn't involve Dedryck Boyata, as the Belgian defender who missed the previous round amid speculation about a transfer is still in no state to play despite an intervention by the avant-garde mediator Scott Brown. Dedryck has trained the last few days with the squad but deems himself not ready physically to participate in the game. Dedryck had a meeting with the captain and myself, we all spoke about where we were at and that we wanted to move on, explained Rodgers. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

report diageo: Bloomberg's Rachel Evans has more on What'd You Miss Source Bloomberg react-empty 306 More From What'd You Miss 01 12 27'What'd You Miss ' Full Show 8/24/2018 13 hours ago05 00How AI and Big Data Impact the Structure of the Financial Industry16 hours ago03 23Canadian Marijuana Stocks Jump on Report Diageo Discussing Deal16 hours ago09 25Fed's Bostic Says Slow and Steady Approach to Rates Makes Sense16 hours ago All episodes and clips Bloomberg Markets Bloomberg Markets is focused on bringing you the most important global business and breaking markets news and information as it happens, according to Bloomberg. More episodes and clips46 01'Bloomberg Markets Balance of Power' Full Show 08/24/2018 02 37How MWS Capital's Shapiro Is Trading Tesla03 53How to Play Powell's Comments Through the Futures Markets09 34'Excessively High' Equity Prices Are Biggest Risk, Economist Feldstein Says Quick Takes Bloomberg Quick Take provides context and background on issues of interest. Prospects for such a fund took a nosedive on Wednesday when the Securities and Exchange Commission rejected requests to list nine cryptocurrency funds, citing continuing concerns about manipulation and market surveillance. More episodes and clips02 40The Hidden Dangers of Home DNA Tests03 25How a Bribe-Taking U.S. Informant Changed the World Cup01 38Who Is Not Invited to Russia's World Cup03 31How North Koreans Make Money David Rubeinstein Show The David Rubenstein Show Peer-to-Peer Conversations explores successful leadership through the personal and professional choices of the most influential people in business. More episodes and clips24 05The David Rubenstein Show Oscar Munoz24 02The David Rubenstein Show Dennis Muilenburg24 01The David Rubenstein Show Richard Branson24 01The David Rubenstein Show Steve Ballmer See all shows (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

office: In the residential areas, 100% of the construction has stopped, says Mohamed Karman, a local estate agent, from his small office in the central square of Esenyurt, according to The Guardian. Do you know why The materials. Upon closer examination, however, you notice that tower after tower stands incomplete, lacking windows or furnishings; others are only half-occupied, their windows dark after nightfall. Everything is in dollars, you pay in dollars. Everywhere you look in the city, evidence of a debt-fuelled construction boom abounds new skyscrapers frame the horizon, huge shopping malls dot the streets and among several megaprojects is a new airport, set to be the world's largest. The crash of the Turkish lira last week after two years of steady decline spooked global markets but anyone looking at Istanbul's skyline would have been far from surprised. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

tit-for-tat tariffs: The world's two largest economies have now slapped tit-for-tat tariffs on a combined US100 billion A137 billion of products since early July, with more in the pipeline, adding to risks to global economic growth, according to Nine News Australia. The impact of trade disputes on businesses and households was examined by US central bankers, who also discussed raising interest rates soon to counter excessive economic strength, minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting showed on Wednesday. To improve your experience update it here News World Futures flat as US-China tariffs kick in10 07pm Aug 23, 2018Facebook Tweet MailUS stock index futures are little changed as the United States and China slapped 25 per cent tariffs on US16 billion A22 billion worth of each other's goods, despite ongoing trade talks. With a rate hike widely expected in September, the benchmark S&P 500 index ended the day little changed as it marked its longest bull-market run. Powell's speech on Friday, his first as Fed chairman, will be closely watched for clues on future rate hikes. The Fed's annual economic symposium kicks off in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Thursday, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other central bankers set to discuss the root causes of stubbornly low inflation, slow wage growth and tepid productivity gains. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

trump: Trump was asked in an interview with Fox & Friends if he believes Democrats will launch impeachment proceedings if they win the House in November, as many suspect, according to Nine News Australia. He said, If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. To improve your experience update it here News World Trump impeach me and economy would crash9 59pm Aug 23, 2018Facebook Tweet MailUS President Donald Trump says he believes the American economy would tank if he were to be impeached. I think everybody would be very poor. I don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a great job, he said. Trump said Americans would see economic numbers that you wouldn't believe in reverse . But Trump also expressed doubt that that would ever happen. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

dow jones: The October crude contract was up 1.71 at 67.55 U.S. per barrel and the September natural gas contract was down 1.8 cents at 2.962 U.S. per mmBTU. Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 88.69 points at 25,733.60, according to The Toronto Star. The S&P 500 index was down 1.14 points at 2,861.82, while the Nasdaq composite was up 29.92 points at 7,889.10. The S&P/TSX composite index was up 50.37 points at 16,347.34. The Canadian dollar averaged 76.83 cents U.S. up 0.12 of a U.S. cent. The October crude contract was up 2.02 at 67.86 U.S. per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down two cents at 2.94 U.S. per mmBTU. Article Continued Below The December gold contract was up 3.30 at 1,203.30 U.S. an ounce and the September copper contract was down 2.2 cents at S 2.67 U.S. a pound. react-empty 142 Read more about Tsx TOP STORIES, DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.NEW NEWSLETTERHEADLINESSIGN UP (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

economy favours: Such conditions usually foreshadow rising real inflation-adjusted wages, which would indicate that American workers, many of whom were left behind in the anaemic post-crisis recovery, might finally reap benefits from the strong economy, according to The Guardian. Electoral models predict a strong economy favours the party in power and a weak economy dooms it to crushing losses. For the first time in memory, there are more job openings listed by US companies than there are unemployed people. And yet, with the economy in its best condition in more than a decade, most polls show a substantial Democratic party lead in the run-up to the midterm congressional elections in November. And some even foresee a blue wave in which Democrats also retake the Senate, despite having to defend far more seats than the Republicans. Moreover, most political pundits predict the Democrats will take back control of the House of Representatives. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

government: Chief Minister Michael Gunner revealed his government's 10-year, 50.4 million Population Growth Strategy today, according to Nine News Australia. This financial year, the NT's population is expected to grow by 0.7 percent. To improve your experience update it here News National Families will be offered up to 15,000 to move to the Northern Territory By Rosanna Kingsun Journalist8 52pm Aug 22, of dollars in cash incentives will be offered to people who move to the Northern Territory under a new plan to tackle stagnating population growth. Mr Gunner said it was the result of construction at the Darwin Inpex LNG plant finishing up. In total, 13.8 million in incentives will be offered to people in high priority occupations to make the move. Families who relocate to the Northern Territory will be offered cash incentives of up to 15,000 to help boost population growth. 9NEWS Research identified three million Australians who were open to moving to the north, but only 2600 are needed over the next two years to restore population growth to the historical long-term average of 1.4 percent. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

jones: The record was set with more of a whimper than a roar, according to The Guardian. The S&P 500 dipped 1 point to 2,861 for the day while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 88 points, or 0.3%, to 25,733, and the Nasdaq composite rose 29 points, or 0.4%, to 7,889. The S&P 500 share index, tracking the 500 biggest public companies in America, closed trading on Wednesday having gone 3,453 days nearly nine and a half years without a fall of 20% or more, which is the measure used by some analysts for handing it the status as the longest bull market in US history. But records were set nonetheless. Although there have been numerous wobbles in the past 10 years, including a sharp correction earlier this year, when S&P fell 10% over two weeks after its January high, the milestone comes with help from corporate tax cuts and the rise of internet companies such as Apple, Amazon and Google's owner, Alphabet. Having started in March 2009, following the financial crisis, the longest market rally comes as the global economy continues its recovery from the depths of the last recession. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.