Mighty May auto sales show US economy in sweet spot

Bloomberg Auto sales were supposed to slow again this year. But with the US economy chugging along, car shoppers keep strolling into showrooms. The pickup in hiring and President Donald Trump’s tax cuts have helped keep new-vehicle demand humming. Almost every automaker’s May results beat analysts’ estimates, and several posted increases, led by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s 11 percent jump. ...

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N Korea gets relief only when it gives up nukes, says Mattis

Bloomberg North Korea will get relief from international sanctions only when it has shown irreversible moves toward denuclearisation, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said ahead of a summit next week between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Speaking on Sunday in Singapore at the start of a meeting with the defense ministers of South Korea and ...

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Le Maire to Germany: It’s now or never to strengthen euro zone

Bloomberg French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has a message for the German government on reform in the euro area: “It is now or never — jetzt oder nie.” After more than eight hours of tough talks with his counterparts from the Group of Seven that focused mostly on a trade dispute with the US, Le Maire found some time ...

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US, China risking status quo with actions, says Singapore

Bloomberg Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen criticised both the US and China for taking “unilateral actions,” lumping the two rivals together as nations challenging the current global order. In a speech to the annual IISS Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, Ng said the world’s two-biggest economies were similarly using security considerations to justify their behavior — the US ...

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Venezuela frees more political prisoners

Bloomberg A group of 40 political prisoners in Venezuela were expected to be released on June 2, a day after President Nicolas Maduro granted conditional freedom to at least 39 people. The group includes at least six members of the opposition Voluntad Popular party, lawmaker Adriana Pichardo said. It doesn’t include the party’s founder, Leopoldo Lopez, though National Assembly lawmakers ...

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Duterte leaves to Congress tax law fate blamed for inflation

Bloomberg Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he will let lawmakers decide what to do with a tax law that his administration lobbied for and is now being partly blamed for rising prices. “The law was enacted by Congress, I leave it to Congress to decide whether or not to amend, suspend or modify the law,” Duterte said in a speech ...

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Why the economy roars

Every year, the Federal Reserve conducts a massive survey of American households to paint a portrait of their economic habits and spirits. The recently published findings for 2017 are worth examining for what they say about who should — and shouldn’t — get credit for the resilient US economy. Hint: It’s not who you think. Naturally, President Trump claims paternity. ...

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Low jobless rate isn’t great for stocks

When it comes to the unemployment rate and the stock market, lower is not always better. Investors cheered jobs report, which showed that the unemployment rate in May dropped to 3.8 percent. That was a shift from much of the rest of the year, when investors have reacted to strong earnings numbers and positive economic news with concerns that it ...

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Whispering the D-word in Asia’s junk market

Country Garden Holdings Co. has a message for Asian debt junkies — the party’s over. China’s largest real estate developer may need to return to the dollar bond market after suspending a planned 20 billion yuan ($3.1 billion) sale on May 29. The firm, no stranger to the offshore world, already squeezed in $850 million of issuance in January, just ...

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US slow lane’s OK for Japan’s automakers

As US President Donald Trump lobs tariff threats at China, Mexico and Canada, one of the world’s biggest economies has been largely absent from his rhetoric. And yet, Japan stands to bear the brunt of many of them. Unlike its neighbor South Korea, which was exempted, Japan has been struck with levies on steel and aluminum by a Trump executive ...

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