Bloomberg Economists say the country is close to full employment, but pay gains for American workers have been flat since 2015. Even last week’s upward blip in wage growth could be wiped out by inflation. Yet Americans haven’t been this optimistic about future pay raises since the century began, according to the Conference Board’s monthly surveys. Perhaps the 3.9 percent ...
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Aston Martin names chairman ahead of London listing
Bloomberg Aston Martin, maker of luxury sports cars for James Bond, is moving ahead with a plan to list shares in London, naming Penny Hughes as chairman to end all-male board representation. The manufacturer will trade on the London Stock Exchange in October, with a free float of at least 25 percent of the issued share capital and Daimler AG ...
Read More »Palestinians condemn Trump decision to close US mission
Bloomberg Palestinian leaders confirmed they’d been informed by the Trump administration that it plans to shut the Palestinian mission in Washington, condemning the move as proof the US is disbanding international efforts towards a peace deal with Israel. The announcement of the closure, earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal citing unidentified White House officials, was expected to be made ...
Read More »Putin allies suffer poll setbacks amid pensions protests
Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin got a taste of public anger at his plans to increase the pension age as voters turned on the ruling party in regional elections and hundreds were arrested at protests against the reform. United Russia’s candidates for governor in four regions, mostly in the country’s east, were forced into runoffs after failing to win majorities ...
Read More »Trump scrutiny may intensify if Democrats win House majority
Bloomberg For President Donald Trump, the nightmare scenario if Democrats win control of the US House would be the death of his legislative agenda, aggressive investigations of his inner circle, and potential impeachment. For Democratic leaders, the vision they’re presenting is far tamer: a limited three-prong agenda of healthcare legislation aimed at cutting costs and drug prices, an infrastructure spending ...
Read More »Sweden heads for political gridlock
Bloomberg Sweden may face weeks or even months of political gridlock after an inconclusive election result left the biggest Scandinavian economy without a clear candidate to form a government. Neither the Social Democrat-led coalition of Prime Minister Stefan Lofven nor the opposition Alliance bloc won enough votes to form majority governments, as a nationalist group that has talked of dragging ...
Read More »Libya forces quash gunmen after attack on state oil company
Bloomberg Libyan security forces overcame gunmen who attacked the state oil company’s headquarters as militias and government-backed forces clashed in the North African country’s capital. “A number of blasts†rocked National Oil Corp. headquarters in Tripoli, and several people were killed and injured, NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanalla told Libya Channel TV after he was evacuated from the building. Some of ...
Read More »What’s the right way to deal with life in the ‘Crazytown’?
This is indeed ‘Crazytown,’ as a quote from Bob Woodward’s new book describes it, and we are watching a ‘nervous breakdown.’ The problem is that it afflicts the country as a whole, and not just our narcissistic chief executive. President Trump has drawn America with him into ‘the devil’s workshop,’ as Woodward quotes former White House chief of staff Reince ...
Read More »Bond traders should believe in wage growth
Talk about an unexpected US jobs day for bond traders. Some strategists were priming their audience for disappointment, noting that August jobs data has missed forecasts almost every year over the past two decades. That didn’t happen this time around: Nonfarm payrolls rose 201,000 last month, beating the 190,000 median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg and crushing the even ...
Read More »Is Tesla going up in smoke?
Elon Musk brought Tesla Inc. into this world, and he seems determined to take it out. The billionaire’s latest self-destructive act was an appearance last night on the podcast of comedian Joe Rogan, where, among other things, Musk confirmed Bob Dylan’s thesis that “everybody must get stoned.†It’s the latest in a long chain of Musk stunts, which Liam Denning ...
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