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

patients: The good news is that the outlook for patients suffering from major forms of cancer has got much better, according to The Guardian. On an age standardised basis, fewer than half of patients with rectal cancer in the UK lived more than five years in 1995. And an international study published this week shows that while the UK is making rapid progress, there's still a big gap in the survival rates cancer patients can expect in Britain compared with countries such as Australia, Canada and Norway. By 2014, more than 60% did. There is a risk that some countries look as though their patients are more likely to live extra years just because they have started counting sooner. And we should take the bad news with a pinch of salt because comparing cancer survival across countries is so inherently difficult. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

trump: We're working on a tax cut for the middle-income people that is going to be very, very inspirational, said Trump, who took the stage at the exact time Democratic presidential candidates were lining up in Houston for their third debate, according to CNN. It's going to be something that I think everyone is looking for. Speaking in Baltimore on Thursday night, Trump promised -- yet again -- his administration would announce new tax cuts next year, claiming they would be very, very substantial, without offering any more details. The fresh commitment by the President was reminiscent of a pledge he made last October ahead of the midterm elections, when he announced a mysterious last-minute middle-class tax that puzzled White House officials, congressional leaders and tax wonks in Washington. Read More We are going to go through with what I call 'Tax Cuts 2.0,' and I say that because I spoke with the President at some length about this idea, National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow said Friday. Top aides have echoed the message, while making clear there's no agreement on a plan. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

r-n.y .,: Chris Collins, R-N.Y., leaves the House Republican Conference meeting in the Capitol on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, according to MSNBC. Photo By... Bill Clark Indicted House Republican pleads not guilty to felony charges 09/13/19 10 06 AM By Steve Benen Close video The Rachel Maddow Show, 8/8/18, 9 50 PM ET Long-brewing scandal leads to Republican congressman's arrest Jerry Zremski, Washington bureau chief for The Buffalo News, talks with Rachel Maddow about following the scandal of Rep. Chris Collins UNITED STATES - JUNE 20 Rep. Chris Collins' dealings with an Australian pharmaceutical company that has led to his arrest on charges of insider trading. Chris Collins' dealings with an Australian pharmaceutical company that has led to his arrest on charges of insider trading. share tweet email save Embed One of the oddities of the 2018 election cycle was that two incumbent congressmen ran for re-election while under felony indictment. Jerry Zremski, Washington bureau chief for The Buffalo News, talks with Rachel Maddow about following the scandal of Rep. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

surplus: If you do not redeem your loan on the agreed date your pledged item s may be sold in accordance with your pawnbroking agreement, the company said, according to The Guardian. If your item is sold for a surplus, we will write to inform you how you can receive these funds. But the pawnbroker, which is owned by Oxford-based Speedloan Finance, said nothing about the future of the 116 shops it operates alongside its sister brand, Herbert Brown. A customer service telephone number appeared to be overwhelmed or not working, with calls eliciting an engaged tone. The website offered no detail about the overall financial health of the company, saying only that this store had ceased trading and that affected customers would receive a letter. The Guardian phoned more than a dozen shops around the country, none of which answered the phone, while a staff member at Albermarle & Bond's Reading office could not provide any information. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

unemployment insurance: A strong economy typically leads to narrower deficits, as rising household income and corporate profits help boost tax collections, while spending on safety-net programs such as unemployment insurance tends to decline, according to MSNBC. The U.S. economy has been growing for 10 years as of July, the longest economic expansion on record. As the Wall Street Journal reported late yesterday, pointing to new data from the Treasury Department, we've again passed the threshold and it's worth understanding why. Yet annual U.S. deficits are on track to exceed 1 trillion starting this year, due in part to the 2017 tax law, which constrained federal revenue collection last year, and a 2018 budget deal that busted spending caps enacted in 2011. That said, it's a safe bet that the deficit will still exceed 1 trillion. I should emphasize that there's still another month remaining in the fiscal year, which will likely affect the overall deficit for the 12-month period. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

california bill: AB5 passing is a nightmare scenario for the gig economy not just because of its immediate consequences, but because it proves that such legislation is possible and politically viable, according to The Independent. Licensed real estate agents were given a carve-out in the California bill, along with insurance agents, doctors, securities brokers, and more than half a dozen other professions. The California Senate has voted to end the gig economy as we know it, Quartz said. Real estate agents needed the exemption because they didn't meet the law's ABC test for determining status. B The person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business. To be classified as an independent contractor, the following conditions must be met, according to the bill A The person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

environment minister: By dealing with environmental problems, I believe innovations will occur one after another, which will create business opportunities. ; To create such a positive cycle, Koizumi called for attracting increased investment to Japan, according to The Japan Times. I'll fulfill my duty as if I'm not only the environment minister but also the minister in charge of social reforms, he said. Countermeasures against global warming can't work without innovation, the 38-year-old said at a news conference after assuming his first ministerial post in a Cabinet reshuffle. Koizumi, the second son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has been touted as a potential future prime minister and has recently made headlines for his surprise marriage to TV personality Christel Takigawa. We will be doomed if we let nuclear accidents recur, he said. On Japan's nuclear power plants, many of which remain offline due to strict safety guidelines introduced after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, Koizumi said, I would like to study how we will scrap them, not how to retain them. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

facebook: Despite Libra having certain technological similarities with bitcoin, its creators hope that its more centralised infrastructure will allow it to become a global currency that could rival the US dollar, according to The Independent. ISOCountry Groups euro at be cy ee fi fr de gr ie it lv lt lu mc mt nl pt sk si sm es va uk gb us us variants 1 33.4, 2 33.3, 3 33.3 We'll tell you what's true. Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency was announced earlier this year and is set to launch at some point in 2020. You can form your own view. Subscribe now Libra is designed to allow people to make payments across Facebook's suite of apps, including Whats App and Facebook Messenger, which are used by billions of people around the world. From 15p 0.18 0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

esg-themed products: See Trump administration to repeal Obama-era clean-water rule MSCI MSCI, -1.18% posted a 7.6% rise in net profit to 125.7 million during its second quarter, while operating revenues increased 6.2% from a year earlier to 385.6 million, according to Market Watch. It attributed the gains to a 25% spike in subscription revenue from ESG data and 11% from indexes, which include more than 1,000 ESG-themed products. It is the fastest-growing business, said Remy Briand, head of ESG at MSCI, in an interview on Thursday. AFP/Getty Images Caption outside of wrapper for normal article images Earth model displayed at Rheinaue Park in Bonn, Germany, during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2017. People are starting to change their portfolio, he said. The company's growth comes as investors continue to flock to ESG. Briand said wealth managers like Merrill Lynch BAC, 1.69% and Morgan Stanley MS, 1.90% are increasingly speaking with their high-net-worth clients about impact investing. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

governments critics: Expected to launch in the first half of 2020, Libra is designed to be backed by a basket of currency assets to avoid the wild swings seen with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to The Japan Times. Another major difference is that control over it would not be decentralized but entrusted to a Swiss-based nonprofit association. I want to be absolutely clear In these conditions, we cannot authorize the development of Libra on European soil, Bruno Le Maire said at the opening of an OECD conference on virtual cryptocurrencies. ; Facebook unveiled in June its plans for Libra in an announcement greeted with concern by governments and critics of the social network behemoth whose reputation has been tarnished by its role in spreading fake information and extremist videos. Besides Facebook, backers of Libra include payment giants Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc. and Pay Pal Holdings Inc. as well as ride-hailing companies Lyft Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. The monetary sovereignty of countries is at stake from a possible privatization of money by a sole actor with more than 2 billion users on the planet, he said. French officials have been vocal in their warnings about the danger Libra poses since plans for the virtual currency were announced, and Le Maire kept up the pressure at the Thursday meeting. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

investors: The biggest risk for investors in cloud stocks isn't the losses that have pummeled prices over the past two weeks, but rather the big reversal that may scare them away from the sector, according to Market Watch. It's painful to watch large declines in stocks, yet nobody wants to miss out on a potential 10-bagger either. The story for those stocks hasn't changed, but the valuations have, and that could be a good thing for investors who know what they own. When the market rewards, and penalizes, all cloud software stocks equally, with little differentiation, it's prudent to choose a select group that has compelling stories for a buy-and-hold strategy. I would say to buy when others can't differentiate among companies. An investing adage is to buy when others are fearful. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

london: In fact, before this proposal, as early as 2012, after HKEX acquired the London Metal Exchange LME HKEX implemented business integration, rebuilt the London Metal Exchange Clear, and reformed the warehousing system, pricing system and risk disclosure system, according to Global Times China. On July 28, 2015, the LME said it would accept the yuan as a pledge for banks and brokers to trade on the platform. Together, the two would create an international trading platform connecting the global financial infrastructure, exchange groups and financial assets. The yuan became another pledge currency accepted by the LME after the US dollar, the euro, the pound sterling and the Japanese yen. Establishing a clearing link between the company and the London Metal Exchange and Settlement Agency. Meanwhile, in 2015, Hong Kong Futures Exchange Limited, Hong Kong Futures Settlement Limited, LME and London Metal Exchange Clear signed a memorandum of cooperation, intending to establish trading links between the Hong Kong Futures Exchange and LME, as well as futures settlement. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

relations chairman: Hong Kong and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN including Myanmar, lie along the Belt and Road Lam said, adding that Myanmar enterprises may leverage Hong Kong's advantages as an international financial, transportation and trade center to explore the Belt and Road as well as global markets, according to Global Times China. Hong Kong is actively assisting other regions in capacity building, and is very willing to share its experience in management and training of talent with Myanmar, she added. At a meeting with Myanmar's Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations and Chairman of the Myanmar Investment Commission U Thaung Tun at the Chief Executive's Office on Thursday morning, Lam highlighted the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement under negotiation, as well as the extension of a visa-free arrangement between the two places. The parts relating to Hong Kong and some ASEAN member states including Myanmar under the Hong Kong-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement have taken effect in June, and Hong Kong is actively negotiating an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with Myanmar, Lam said. U Thaung Tun visited Hong Kong to attend the fourth Belt and Road Summit jointly organized by the HKSAR government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Highlighting the extension of the Tourist Visa Exemption Pilot Scheme of Myanmar, which grants visa-free access to HKSAR passport holders for one year until September next year, Lam said she believes that the relations between the two places will be further enhanced and more areas for cooperation between both sides will be explored. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

salary bonus: My employees have always been very important to the company, so I'd like to invite you all to join me in Miami, he wrote in a May 17 letter obtained by The Post, according to Market Watch. To sweeten the deal, Icahn promised that everyone who makes the move will be paid at least as much in salary and bonus next year as they earned in 2018, and that anyone who gets fired before March 31, 2023, would get an immediate payment equal to that amount. Icahn quietly informed the staff of his publicly traded Icahn Enterprises IEP, 0.41% that he'll be shuttering its offices in New York City and White Plains on March 31, and immediately re-opening in Florida's Magic City the next day. He also offered a 50,000 relocation benefit, that will be payable in April 2020 once you have established your permanent residence in Florida, according to a follow-up memo. The current maximum weekly Unemployment benefit rate is 450, which you can receive for a total of 26 weeks, it adds. But for those who don't relocate to the Sunshine State, the Company will not contest your unemployment claim, the memo says. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

thursday ,france: This rebuff is the latest setback for the serially scandalous social media company, in what is arguably the most ambitious project it has ever undertaken, according to The Independent. It all began at the start of 2018, when CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that his annual personal challenge for that year would be to explore and understand cryptocurrency. On Thursday,France said it would block any attempt to launch or develop the firm's Libra cryptocurrency. Six months later, he had set up a taskforce to develop what could eventually become a new global currency to rival the dollar. You can form your own view. ISOCountry Groups euro at be cy ee fi fr de gr ie it lv lt lu mc mt nl pt sk si sm es va uk gb us us variants 1 33.4, 2 33.3, 3 33.3 We'll tell you what's true. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

trade cooperation: The trade cooperation of the two countries is speeding up, and continues to strive for high-quality development, Gao said, according to Global Times China. Li will visit Russia from Monday to Thursday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced earlier, and it is widely believed that his visit will further strengthen and broaden the China-Russia strategic partnership. Gao said the deals will include trade, investment, digital economy, agriculture, technology, aerospace and nucle-ar energy. Trade between China and Russia last year exceeded 100 billion, and China has remained Russia's largest trading partner for nine consecutive years, data from MOFCOM showed. Chinese investment has quickly increased, Gao said, adding the field has expanded from the traditional agri-cultural industry to auto, home appliances and food pro-cessing, and the methods of investing have turned to M&As or setting up funds. In the first eight months of the year, bilateral trade stood at 70 billion, 4.5 percent higher than last year. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

trade negotiators: China on Wednesday announced its first batch of tariff exemptions for 16 types of U.S. products, including some anti-cancer drugs and lubricants, as well as animal feed ingredients whey and fish meal, according to a Ministry of Finance statement on its website, according to The Japan Times. They made a couple of moves that were pretty good, Trump said at an unrelated event on vaping. Stock markets in Asia rose on the news on Thursday, with the Nikkei stock average ending at a four-month high as the concessions came days ahead of a planned meeting aimed at defusing the escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies. ; China's decision to exempt some U.S. goods was a big move by Beijing and a positive gesture before trade negotiators from both countries meet in Washington, Trump told reporters at the White House. I think it was a gesture, okay But it was a big move. The tariffs were set to increase to 30 percent from 25 percent on the goods. On Wednesday, Trump wrote in a post on Twitter that the United States had agreed to delay increasing tariffs on 250 billion worth of Chinese imports from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15 as a gesture of good will. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

chinese: US President Donald Trump followed with plans of his own to push back new tariffs on Chinese goods by two weeks, according to CNN. Chinese companies are also looking into the cost of buying US agricultural products including major imports like soybean and pork, a spokesman for China's Commerce Ministry said Thursday. China announced Wednesday that it would waive tariffs on some US goods. On Thursday, China's Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP closed up 0.8%. Japan's Nikkei N225 also ended 0.8% higher. US market futures also rose. South Korean markets were closed for a holiday. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

morton: Assistant minister Ben Morton announced the red tape reduction plans in Canberra on Thursday, but also used his speech to whack employers for not supporting the coalition, according to Nine News Australia. Too often big businesses have been in the frontline on social issues, but missing in action when arguing for policies which would grow jobs and the economy, the Liberal MP told an Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry event. To improve your experience update it here News National Govt to cut red tape for smaller employers By AAP5 35pm Sep 12, businesses will find it easier to employ people under a Morrison government plan to cut red tape. Instead of pretending you love paying tax or that you're building electric cars rather than mining coal, or are in the solar panel rather than the oil or gas business, tell your employees and the quiet Australians in their communities what you can do for them. If corporate Australia wasn't prepared to make the case for tax cuts, why should I, he said. Mr Morton admitted he didn't speak up in parliament to support the failed plan to cut corporate tax rates, but he blamed big corporations for his quietness. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

security agencies: The sustained attack on the Coalition over the Hong Kong-born member for Chisholm came as the former president of the Victorian Liberal party, Michael Kroger, rejected suggestions the party had been warned by security agencies that it would be unwise for her to run for parliament, according to The Guardian. No one has ever raised with me any security concerns about Gladys, Kroger, who oversaw Liu's preselection, told Guardian Australia. As Labor targeted the government for a second day over Liu's links to various Chinese groups, Morrison accused Labor of smearing the Chinese Australian diaspora by asking questions about her background, while refusing to reveal whether the government ever received any security advice about her suitability for parliament. I've never met anyone from Asio in my life. Morrison accused Labor of mudslinging, and suggested the opposition was casting a smear on Chinese Australians. In question time on Thursday, Labor attempted to pressure Morrison over Liu's membership of Chinese organisations linked to the Communist party, and asked the prime minister to clarify whether any security advice had been provided. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

statement thursday: On Thursday, a source with knowledge of the situation said the pair were arrested in July, accused of taking illegal photos with a drone, according to CNN. The source also confirmed that King is a British-Australian dual citizen. In a statement Thursday, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs DFAT confirmed that Australians Mark Firkin and Jolie King were being held in Iran. In Iran, a permit is required to operate a drone that can take photographs. Their most popular You Tube episode features them driving through the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan and has over 150,000 views. The couple often feature drone shots on their You Tube channel, where they have 21,600 subscribers. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

trade war: Asian stock markets have been turbulent this year, largely because of the trade war between the United States and China, according to CNN. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index is down 5.1% since the beginning of July, hit by a political crisis that has seen months of mass demonstrations. The world's biggest brewer said in a statement Thursday that there is no assurance that the transaction will go through and the decision to proceed will depend on a number of factors and prevailing market conditions. AB InBev was hoping to raise as much as 9.8 billion by listing Budweiser Brewing Company APAC, the largest brewer in Asia by retail sales, before pulling the planned July offering. The Budweiser beer empire was built on debt. The IPO would have topped Uber UBER which raised 8.1 billion in New York in May. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

ali velshi: Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi D-IL Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, joins Ali Velshi to discuss what action they plan to , according to MSNBC. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi D-IL Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, joins Ali Velshi to discuss what action they plan to White House moves to ban flavored White House moves to ban flavored the President addressed what he called a new problem, leaders on Capitol Hill invited the head of the CDC to testify about the recent outbreak of lung illnesses related to e-cigarette use. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

assembly: Asked about the possibility of a meeting between Trump and Rouhani later this month, Pompeo, who was speaking alongside Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, said that Trump was prepared to meet with no preconditions, according to CNN. Both Trump and Rouhani are scheduled to attend the UN General Assembly in New York late September. The comments, made by Pompeo during a press briefing to announce a raft of new sanctions on groups including a unit in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards, came just hours after Trump announced the resignation of national security adviser and Iran hawk John Bolton. Mnuchin maintained that even with Bolton now out of the picture, the US would continue with its maximum pressure campaign against Iran. Read More Rouhani said last month there would be no meeting until economic sanctions imposed on Tehran are removed. The policy aims to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons through economic and military pressure, including sanctions, following Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal last year. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

article images: TD Ameritrade's Oliver Renick just joined the chorus, according to Market Watch. What's disconcerting is that it's remarkably easy to imagine a series of events that by nature should not necessarily pose great risk, but taken together could cause some major shocks to the S&P 500 due to current investor positioning, he explained in a post on Linked In this week. But with each uptick, and each unsettling headline, there seems to be an increasing call for caution. He pointed to this Soc Gen chart, in which he marked up not with a Sharpie to show what he considers the most troubling for investors Caption outside of wrapper for normal article images A sharp market repricing should be the fattest swan on that diagram, Renick continued. What could cause such a ripple Renick painted this bearish scenario The economy improves enough so that the Fed doesn't cut rates, investors get spooked, assets pull back in a highly-correlated march, no cash pours in from the sidelines and the bottom falls out. The greatest risk to investors, the economy, and the tenuous state of geopolitics, is the price of the S&P 500 SPX, 0.29% . That does not mean it is the most likely risk what it means is that the ripple effect of a sizable selloff in stocks right now is monstrous. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

decade: Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty After a decade of progress, US uninsured rate grows under Trump 09/11/19 08 40 AM By Steve Benen There were a wide variety of reasons health care reform advocates pushed for the Affordable Care Act a decade ago, but there was no secret about the top priority the United States had one of the highest uninsured rates in the industrialized world, and reformers believed the ACA would make it better, according to MSNBC. They were right. Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty A family practice provider uses a stethoscope to examine a patient in an exam room. Once Obamacare was passed and implemented, the nation's uninsured rate dropped to the lowest point on record. And then Donald Trump took office and his team went to work. The law set out to achieve a specific goal and it succeeded. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.