Authored by Jeffrey Snider via Alhambra Investment Partners, Back on March 10, the New York Fed’s attempt at real-time GDP forecasting predicted that the Q1 2017 estimate would be 3.2%. That would have qualified as another decent quarter, the second out of the past three and somewhat in keeping with “reflation.” As we know today, the advance figure calculated by the Commerce Department amounted to just 0.69% […]
Airline stocks were grounded on Thursday after American Airlines unexpectedly offered to raise wages for its crew members, exacerbating investor concerns over industry costs. American Airlines fell the most in 10 months, dropping 8.6 per cent to a two-week low of $42.41, after the company proposed giving its pilots and flight attendants an average pay bump of 8 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. The pay […]
Uber has new updates in store for its Android app, adding simplified privacy controls designed to make things easier for users. The new privacy controls aim to help users manage their data more easily, as well as streamline the whole process so they’re more in control over what information they want to share with Uber. Uber Android App Update “Making the Uber app simple and easy to […]
This story was originally published on Medium and is being republished here with the permission of its author. Two years ago in Hong Kong, I sat around a conference table with some of the finest journalists to have worked in the Chinese media in the past two decades. Left and right of me were reporters who had broken major stories of corruption, malfeasance and cruelty, and who […]
It has a granite fountain and a bosque of shade trees. And to some rightwing Americans, the new headquarters of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a monument to all that went wrong under eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency. The budget for the refurbishment of the Washington DC building, at about $363 a square foot, makes it more expensive than the Venetian hotel in Macau or […]
BERLIN Online fashion retailer Zalando (ZALG.DE) is pondering opening stores in major cities such as London, Paris or Berlin, the company’s co-chief executive told Germany’s Manager Magazin. “We have proper fans in the metropolises who spend much time with us and order a lot,” co-Chief Executive Rubin Ritter said in an interview published on Saturday. “It could be interesting for them to also experience the brand offline,” […]
ABU DHABI // Driving behaviour needs to change if laws are to be effective in improving safety and compliance, according to the experts. Robert Hodges, a driver education and road safety expert, said new laws are beneficial but they will be workable only if motorists are willing to adapt their driving to them. “The underlying problem, which continues to exist, is that the authorities need to change […]
President Donald Trump’s populist views, reality television stardom, and penchant for Twitter insults all but guaranteed an out-of-the-ordinary first 100 days for the billionaire political neophyte. A look at the data reveals how Mr Trump compares with previous Oval Office occupants. Bills signed into law Enacted legislation for last seven presidents in first 100 days Source: govtrack.us The White House touts that Mr Trump has accomplished more […]
Bret Stephens made his debut in the pages of The New York Times opinion section today with a column defending climate change skepticism in the face of scientific surety, a take that didn’t sit well with many of his colleagues in the newsroom. Stephens, a 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winner who joined The Times earlier this year after critiquing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for The Wall Street Journal’s opinion […]
Astronomers have modeled the two rings around Chariklo, the smallest body in the Solar System known to have rings. This is the first time an entire ring system has been simulated using realistic sizes for the ring particles. The simulation revealed that the ring particles are much smaller than predicted or that an undiscovered shepherd satellite around Chariklo is stabilizing the ring. (via WSJ)
SYDNEY Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google said it will challenge amended tax assessments issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), which is trying to claw back billions of dollars from multinational corporations citing unpaid taxes. The ATO has increased scrutiny over how much tax multinationals operating in Australia pay. In December, it said it was pursuing seven global businesses over A$2 billion ($1.50 billion) in unpaid tax. While […]
Emerging from an Hermès store in Shanghai with a shiny new watch costing “tens of thousands” of renminbi, Zhao Feifei is emblematic of a younger generation of Chinese consumers driving a rebound in sales of European luxury brands. “I’m earning more than before so I’m more willing to spend,” says Ms Zhao, who works in an internet finance company. The 30-year-old is one of the many customers […]
In our latest Taxcast, we talk to the journalists who got the scoop on the Panama Papers last year. Plus: we discuss the raid on Credit Suisse, and new data exposing the profit shifting shenanigans of the EU’s biggest banks. Featuring: The Panama Papers scoop journalists and Pulitzer Prize winners Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier of the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, and John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network. […]
Elon Musk shows off a video about his tunnel boring company, The Boring Company, a self-driving Apple test vehicle is spotted in the wild and Cloudera and Carvana each price their IPO at $15; one does well, the other not so much. All this on Crunch Report. Read More Via ASDA Alltop
From the Slope of Hope: Earlier this week, my son asked me a sincere question: “How come Marissa Mayer got $200 million by screwing up Yahoo?” It was a good question, and one I had trouble answering at first, because I’d like him to think that there’s some level of fairness, meritocracy, and sensibility to this world of ours. In Mayer’s case, however, there is none. Her entire massive fortune is […]
That it fell to Barcelona’s Lionel Messi to score the match-winning goal away to arch-rivals Real Madrid on Sunday was of little surprise to his legions of devotees, who already view the diminutive Argentinian as something of an immortal giant on the football field, and even to casual fans. El Clasico – the lyrical Spanish name for matches played between the two powerhouses of the country’s domestic […]
MANILA A strong earthquake measuring 7.2 struck off the coast of Mindanao island in the Philippines on Saturday, and the country’s seismology agency advised people to stay away from coastal areas but expected no major damage. There were no immediate reports of destruction or casualties, but witnesses said the quake was very strong and shook the ground and walls. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was […]
By Alastair Macdonald | BRUSSELS BRUSSELS European Union leaders will endorse a stiff set of divorce terms for Britain at a summit on Saturday, rejoicing in a rare show of unity in adversity, but well aware that may start to fray once negotiations begin. Meeting for the first time since British Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggered a two-year countdown to Brexit in late March, the 27 […]
Rumors of a mighty Galaxy Note 8 have already been making rounds for a good while, but Samsung just confirmed it. At one point after the two Galaxy Note 7 recalls, it seemed uncertain whether Samsung would continue the series and launch a Galaxy Note 8. Rumors started to intensify nonetheless and it seemed like a given that a Galaxy Note 8 would arrive this year, and […]
When it comes to cars, I take the philosophy of buy and hold – possibly motivated by my regular beat as a personal-finance journalist. If you’re going to buy new, which I resorted to after being horribly stung by poor-quality second-hand motors in the UAE, the only way to justify the high outlay is to keep the car as long as possible. Which is why my family […]
North Korea tested a ballistic missile on Saturday morning local time, in a provocative move that came just hours after Rex Tillerson, US secretary of state, called on UN member states to impose “painful” sanctions on the regime in Pyongyang. US Pacific Command, which oversees US forces in Asia, said North Korea launched a missile at 5.03am local time on Saturday from a location near Pukchang airfield, […]
The bright object seen in this Hubble image is a single and little-studied star named TYC 3203-450-1, located in the constellation of Lacerta (The Lizard). The star is much closer than the much more distant galaxy. (via WSJ)
Average apartment sales prices in Abu Dhabi fell by 1 percent in the first quarter of 2017 while villa prices slumped by 9 percent amid wide-scale downsizing in the emirate, according to Chestertons. The real estate agency’s Abu Dhabi Residential Market Q1 2017 report also said rents for apartments and villas fell by 3 percent in the same period. “Sales prices are expected to further decline due […]
Nobody should ever attempt to judge an investment over a period of just 100 days. It is far too short a time to assess the quality of performance and far too prone to random effects. And in any case, most of us need results over very much more than 100 days. It is therefore a little random to be judging the Trump presidency’s impact on investors after […]
