Authored by Carey Wedler via TheAntiMedia.org, Only one lawyer who prosecuted the Nuremberg trials is still alive today, and he has an important message for the world: war is not the answer. 60 Minutes recently interviewed Ben Ferencz, a son of Romanian Jewish immigrants who found refuge in the United States. His father worked as a janitor, and Ben was the first person in his family to […]
Sign up to receive FirstFT by email here Days after Donald Trump was elected, President Barack Obama warned his successor against hiring former general Michael Flynn as his security adviser. Mr Trump ignored the advice and Mr Flynn resigned after 17 days on the job amid the growing investigation of the Trump team’s ties to Russia. This is just one of the revelations to emerge following a Senate […]
In a week that started with big oil and US shale producers trumpeting their ability to thrive in a world of $50 a barrel crude, the market had a very quick response: let’s see if you can do it at $45. A brutal sell-off across commodity markets this week has quickly taken the shine off strong first-quarter results that would otherwise have been viewed as a triumph […]
May 5, 2017 by: Adam Samson and Mamta Badkar in New York IBM shares came under pressure on Friday when Berkshire Hathaway, one of the technology group’s biggest shareholders, revealed that it sold a third of its stake. The Armonk, New York-based company’s shares declined by 2.8 per cent on the day to $154.58, bringing its year-to-date fall to 6.8 per cent. Big Blue’s market value has […]
The Australian dollar and Norwegian krone are vying for the ignominious title of worst-performing major currency today as commodity prices tumble. Following a stumble in oil prices in Asia on Friday that took Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate to their lowest since November, the krone (pictured above) suffered a sharp fall and surpassed the Aussie dollar as the worst among major currencies. The krone was down […]
By Saikat Chatterjee | HONG KONG HONG KONG Asian stocks declined for a third consecutive day on Friday as fresh falls in commodities raised concerns about the health of the global economy, though the euro bucked the broad weakness on receding concerns about France’s presidential election. Chinese stocks led regional losers, falling to a three-month low as concerns about tighter financial regulations weighed on banking shares while […]
Commodities futures in China are diving further, led by another large drop in the price of iron ore to a six-month low. Iron ore futures were down by their daily limit of 8 per cent on the Dalian Commodity Exchange at Rmb458.5 ($66.48). Yesterday, futures were down by as much as the daily limit, before easing to close 5.3 per cent lower. Dalian coking coal futures were […]
White House officials said foreign leaders would be more willing to help the United States if disagreements over human rights and other issues were aired in private. They cited the recent release of an Egyptian-American aid worker detained in Egypt, which was negotiated in quiet talks with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Continue reading the main story “Obama’s approach was to build support with the Arab public through […]
(Image: file photo) Last month, several competing students from universities across the US descended upon San Antonio for the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC). CCDC, which originated in 2005, is a defensive security competition that puts students in a real-world commercial IT environment and tests their ability to defend, detect, and respond to outside threats, including maintain availability of existing services like mail servers and web […]
As noted earlier, while European stocks and US equity markets have ignored the commodity crash in China, which in addition to iron ore plunging limit down, also saw rubber tumble 7% lower, and steel rebar, coke, coking coal plunge over 6% … … Axiom’s Gordon Johnson warns (as we did a month ago) that the worst is yet to come, and in fact, the “backdrop of […]
US stock markets climbed higher on Monday, as bipartisan agreement over a US budget deal overpowered weak manufacturing data in the US and China, with European markets closed for the May bank holiday. The benchmark S&P 500 climbed 0.3 per cent by midday in New York on news of the budget deal, shrugging off an initial tumble when data from the Institute for Supply Management showed America’s […]
When North Korea deployed hundreds of artillery units, submarines and soldiers to take part in its largest live-fire drill, it was intended as a chilling display of the reclusive regime’s military might. The country boasts the world’s fourth-largest standing army, with more than 1m troops as well as 7m reserves, and last week’s military exercise came as US President Donald Trump ramped up the pressure on Pyongyang […]
Editor’s note: This post was originally published on Scott Helme’s blog, and was reprinted to ZDNet with permission. I was recently invited to take part in some research by BBC Click, alongside Professor Alan Woodward, to analyse a device that had quite a lot of people all excited. With slick marketing, catchy tag lines and some pretty bold claims about their security, nomx claim to have cracked […]
By Sue-Lin Wong and Kevin Yao | BEIJING BEIJING Growth in China’s manufacturing sector slowed faster than expected in April, an official survey showed on Sunday, as producer price inflation cooled and policymakers’ efforts to reduce financial risks in the economy weighed on demand. The National Bureau of Statistics’ official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to a six-month low of 51.2 in April from March’s near five-year […]
Egypt is still suffering from coordinated Palm Sunday bombings of two Christian churches that killed more than 40 people, nearly killed the head of the Coptic Church and prompted President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to declare a three-month state of emergency. Continue reading the main story Francis will lend his support to the roughly 250,000 Roman Catholics in Egypt and insist on the protection of minority rights, including […]
PARIS Fewer French voters believe centrist Emmanuel Macron got off to a good start in the last lap of France’s presidential election than far right leader Marine Le Pen, a poll showed on Thursday. Macron, the favourite to win the presidency, has suffered several costly public relations missteps since he and Le Pen qualified in a first round of voting on Sunday for the decisive May 7 […]
PARIS Far-right leader Marine Le Pen sought to steal presidential rival Emmanuel Macron’s thunder on Wednesday with a surprise visit to striking workers in northern France, aiming to wrong-foot him while he was campaigning in the same town. Visiting the site of a strike at the tumble-drier Whirlpool factory, which is due to close next year, Le Pen pushed her anti-globalisation agenda and attacked Macron who she […]
Oil traders banking on a sustained market recovery in 2017 are growing impatient. As the price of Brent crude falls towards $50 a barrel, Opec, energy analysts and some of the most powerful banks in the commodities sector are urging traders to maintain their composure. After a production cut deal between the cartel and rivals such as Russia was agreed late last year, prices began 2017 $10 […]
By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stock index futures rose on Tuesday, building on a day-earlier rally as investors assessed quarterly earnings, while awaiting a major tax plan from President Donald Trump. * Trump promised last week to make “a big tax reform and tax reduction” announcement on Wednesday. The President has directed his aides to move quickly on a plan to cut the corporate income tax rate to […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian equities advanced on Tuesday as the return of risk appetite following a centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election lifted several regional markets to multi-year highs, while the euro retained most of its overnight gains. Safe-haven assets, including the yen and gold remained under pressure, while the Canadian dollar fell after the U.S. announced new duties […]
By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stock index futures rose sharply on Monday, tracking European and Asian stocks, as investors breathed a sigh of relief after Centrist candidate and market favorite Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French election. * Polls showed pro-EU Macron is expected to beat right-wing rival Marine Le Pen in a deciding vote next month, reducing the chances of France taking a Britain-like […]
Risk is definitely on this morning as European shares soar, led by French stocks and a new record high in Germany’s Dax, after a “French relief rally” in which the first round of the country’s presidential elections prompted investors to bet that establishment candidate Emmanuel Macron will win a runoff vote next month, and who is seen as a 61% to 39% favorite to defeat Le Pen […]
While geopolitical concerns and French election uncertainty are factors, The Wall Street Journal notes that many markets are flashing red on growth as investors begin to return to pre-election bets on the ol ‘new normal’ – a persistently weak economic expansion. There are clear signs that the sugar rush of Donald Trump’s victory and global-growth hopes has faded, raising doubts among some investors about whether stocks can […]
Within the US fixed income market, investors are sending a clear message about the prospect of higher interest rates. In recent weeks, investors have pushed back against a string of leveraged loan transactions, with a handful of deals pulled as money flows into the sector have shrunk. The stumbles underline a diminished appetite for richly valued, floating rate loans, seen as providing investors with some protection from […]
