Bloomberg The deadly mass shootings in Texas and Ohio have reignited criticism of President Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric about immigrants and minorities. Several Democratic presidential hopefuls called for reinstating the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004, while many accused Trump of stoking racial animus — he’s described Mexican and Central American immigrants as criminals and gang members — ...
Read More »For the Democrats, it’s winnowing time now
Winnow: verb. To expose (grain or other substances) to the wind or to a current of air so that the lighter particles (as chaff or other refuse matter) are separated or blown away — Oxford English Dictionary It is time to dust off this marvelously appropriate verb for its quadrennial use to describe the thinning of a field of presidential ...
Read More »Verizon: The sleeping wireless giant
Verizon Communications Inc. is the wireless industry’s sleepi- ng giant. Suddenly, its smal-ler rivals — AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Dish Network —are giving it every reason to wake up. Shares of Verizon have been a snooze this year, as AT&T steps up the competition and the drama around T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint continues to dominate the news. Verizon said it ...
Read More »The next bailout may come from consumers
With markets focussed on rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and what sorts of policy levers might be used in a downturn, we got good news this week in learning that Americans’ personal saving rate is higher than previously thought. Should we enter an economic downturn in the near future, households will have room to spend more and save less, ...
Read More »Relocating federal jobs is anything but efficient
The Donald Trump administration is planning to move hundreds of federal jobs away from Washington. In principle, this idea could make sense — so long as it’s competently executed and done for the right reasons. In practice, the plan seems likely to fail both tests. As currently designed, the proposed relocations promise to yield meager, if any, savings to taxpayers. ...
Read More »Apple’s plunge into the app store ads could be a problem
I wrote recently about why Amazon.com Inc.’s commercial messages in product searches are a risky way to levy additional fees on the companies that sell through its digital mall. Apple Inc. is increasingly wading into similar waters. Type in “maps†in the search bar of Apple’s widely used iPhone app storefront, and you might see a result for Google Maps ...
Read More »Barclays CEO Staley gets a Brexit lifeline
The growing threat of a hard Brexit has prompted many investors to steer clear of British banks. For Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley, a rupture with the European Union could turn out to be a handy lifeline. Staley, who has focussed on reviving the UK lender’s investment bank, has set himself a profitability target for 2019 and 2020 ...
Read More »Bond market’s inflation bets show revolt against Fed
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has taken a lot of heat about his failure to effectively communicate the central bank’s intentions with its first interest-rate cut since the financial crisis. One thing he was clear about, though: Policy makers find stubbornly low US inflation concerning, and persistently missing the Fed’s 2 percent target for price growth was a chief reason ...
Read More »US stocks stumble, Treasuries gain as yuan breaches ‘7 level’
Bloomberg US equity futures slumped with European stocks on Monday, tracking a sell-off across Asia after China struck back in its trade dispute with America and let its currency weaken through a milestone level. Treasuries led a global bond rally as investors dashed to safer assets. S&P 500 Index futures slumped as much as 1.5 percent, while declines in mining, ...
Read More »HK stocks match longest losing streak since 1997
Bloomberg Hong Kong equities are rapidly turning into a losing bet as economic woes and escalating street protests hammer sentiment. The MSCI Hong Kong Index closed down 3.2 percent on Monday in a ninth day of declines, matching the longest streak since the 1997 handover. Landlords and retail stocks once again bore the brunt of the selling as protesters sought ...
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