May, 2017

• 31 May

  Are Americans on the road to impeachment?

  

  I am not a big or even a little fan of President Donald Trump. Many of his policies strike me as undesirable, some in the extreme. His background and temperament have not prepared him for the presidency. He is largely ignorant of many issues he must face. And yet, for all this, the idea of impeaching him and removing him ...

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• 31 May

  Singapore’s puny 1MDB fine won’t fool Credit Suisse

  

  Tidjane Thiam got away with a fine of half a million dollars, or just 0.009 percent of what he paid the Americans late last year. Yet the Credit Suisse Group AG CEO won’t be fooled by Singapore’s apparent leniency. Tuesday’s gentle rap concludes a two-year investigation by the city-state into banks that, knowingly or otherwise, helped facilitate an elaborate scheme ...

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• 31 May

  The Fed’s glacial yield-flattening plan

  

  The Federal Reserve will almost certainly take steps to start reducing its $4.5 trillion balance sheet later this year. The central bankers made that clear in the minutes from their meeting. At first blush, this seems as if it would be bad for longer-term debt, which is yielding much less than it has historically in large part because of the ...

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• 31 May

  Ransomware and the NSA’s mission

  The effects of this month’s global ransomware attack seem to be fading, fortunately. But a crucial question the incident raised is only getting more urgent. When it comes to online security, the U.S. government’s priorities — preventing terrorism and protecting cyberspace — are in permanent tension. Is there a way to resolve it? The National Security Agency (NSA) routinely seeks out ...

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• 31 May

  Merkel salutes a new European partnership

  

  Germany wants good relations with both Russia and the English-speaking world, but it can’t really trust either, according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Such admissions don’t advance her re-election campaign as some claim, but her aim is much broader than that anyhow. Merkel’s remarks that “the time when we could fully rely on others is pretty much gone” and that ...

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• 31 May

  Right investment play on agriculture futures

  Investors with a macro view of the global economy will undoubtedly take into account population growth. Even though the pace of the expansion has peaked (1962-3), the overall number of people continues to grow, led by emerging markets. Estimates have put the total at 8.4 billion by mid-2030, and 9.6 billion by mid-2050. Contributing to this statistic is that people ...

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• 31 May

  China’s 220 million seniors may reshape the world

  

  For decades, Nestle SA has tried to get its infant milk powder into the hands of China’s new mothers with promises of brighter, healthier babies. Now it’s trying to do the same for the elderly. Last week, the company launched “Nestle YIYANG Fuel for brainTM senior milk powder,” a formula designed to help China’s seniors “refuel their brains and start ...

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• 31 May

  US stocks slip from records

  

  Bloomberg US stocks halted a seven-day advance as data showing a rebound in consumer spending offset a wider selloff in commodities. Treasuries advanced amid month-end buying. The S&P 500 Index edged lower from an all-time high banks paced gains while energy producers slumped amid a retreat in crude. Tech shares lifted the Nasdaq 100 Index to a fresh record. The ...

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• 31 May

  Hong Kong stocks cap longest monthly gains since 2013

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s benchmark stock index capped a fifth month of gains, its longest winning streak in more than four years, as improving earnings outweighed concerns about China’s campaign to cut leverage. The Hang Seng Index advanced 4.3 percent in May to be among Asia’s best performers. The gauge retreated 0.2 percent on Wednesday at the close. Geely Automobile Holdings ...

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• 31 May

  Deutsche Bank fined $41mn for money-laundering lapses

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG agreed to pay $41 million to settle Federal Reserve allegations that its U.S. operations failed to maintain adequate protections against money laundering, the latest in a string of fines that have cost the German lender billions of dollars. The Frankfurt-based bank’s US operations fell short in complying with the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires lenders to ...

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