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John Deere to abandon pride festival sponsorships following online right-wing pressure campaign 2024-07-17 19:42:00+00:00 - John Deere said Wednesday it would cease lending its name to social events like LGBTQ pride parades — the latest corporation to reassess its stance on hot-button social issues as the culture wars ignite ahead of the 2024 presidential election. In a statement posted on its X account, the nearly 200-year old industrial and farming equipment manufacturer said it would “no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events.” It also added that “the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy.” However, the company said it is not abandoning diversity efforts entirely, adding that it “fundamentally believes that a diverse workforce enables us to best meet our customers’ needs and because of that we will continue to track and advance the diversity of our organization.” Deere’s announcement comes on the heels of Tractor Supply’s announcement last month that it had eliminated its diversity, equity and inclusion roles and goals entirely. Deere had begun facing criticism from online right-wing circles led by filmmaker Robby Starbuck, who’d previously led the campaign against Tractor Supply. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Starbuck said the Tractor Supply effort had “proved a model” for pressuring other firms to reexamine their stances on social issues. In the wake of Deere’s announcement, Starbuck posted on X Wednesday a series of screenshots showing the news with the message: “Wall Street is on notice. Corporate America is afraid of YOU. I’m just your instrument. Every woke company is wondering if they’re next.” Deere did not mention Starbuck or the broader online effort in its statement announcing the change — only that it is “always listening to feedback and looking for opportunities to improve.”A John Deere representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tornado damage could affect baby formula supplies, Reckitt says 2024-07-17 19:35:00+00:00 - Baby formula maker Reckitt said supplies of some of its nutrition products are likely to be affected by a tornado that damaged one of its warehouses in Mount Vernon, Indiana. Reckitt, a British consumer goods company, owns Mead Johnson Nutrition, the maker of Enfamil baby formula products. Reckitt on Wednesday said that the tornado, which struck on July 9, caused "significant damage" to the warehouse, which the company called "an important site for the Mead Johnson Nutrition business." The facility, which is operated by a contractor, houses both raw materials and finished products. A cluster of at least four tornadoes whipped up by the remnants of Hurricane Beryl barreled through Indiana's southwestern corner, with winds up to 140 mph. The twister that hit Mount Vernon and other parts of Posey County grew to about 300 yards wide and left a trail of damage nearly six miles long, collapsing much of a warehouse, derailing train cars, damaging mobile homes and ripping roofs off homes. While Reckitt said that it regained access to the warehouse on July 13, the facility is not yet operational. In the meantime, all inbound deliveries have been diverted to other warehouses in the U.S., the company said. That could mean temporary shortages of some of its baby formula products in the near future. Mead Johnson told CBS MoneyWatch that supplies of some of its nutrition products "will likely be affected in the short term." "We are partnering with customers and suppliers on expedited recovery efforts to minimize disruption by leveraging our global supply chain and managing inventory at our other U.S. warehouses," Mead Johnson added in a statement. Reckitt is still assessing the damage to the warehouse and said it would provide on update on its quarterly earnings call on July 24. Reckitt also said the weather event will affect the company's short-term sales. The company is "working closely with all our stakeholders including customers and suppliers, to minimize disruption, by leveraging our global supply chain and managing inventory at our other North American Nutrition warehouses and held by our retail partners," the company said. Reckitt added that it expects its property damage and business interruption insurance policies to mitigate the impact of the temporary facility closure on company earnings. Parents and caregivers around the U.S. faced a severe shortage of infant formula in 2022 as the pandemic disrupted global supply chains. Compounding the problem was the closure of a Sturgis, Michigan, plant operated by Abbott Nutrition, a major manufacturer of baby nutrition products, because of bacterial infections.

UnitedHealth Rises on Q2 Earnings Beat: ETFs to Gain - Fidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF (ARCA:FHLC), iShares U.S. Health Care Providers ETF (ARCA:IHF) 2024-07-17 19:34:00+00:00 - Loading... Loading... UnitedHealth Group UNH, the largest U.S. health insurer, reported better-than-expected second-quarter 2024 results as it breezed past the Zacks Consensus Estimate on both earnings and revenues. UNH shares climbed 6.5% on the day following the results. Investors can tap the opportunity by investing in ETFs having the largest allocation to this health insurance giant. These include iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF IHF, Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund XLV, iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF IYH, Fidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF FHLC and SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF. Earnings in Focus Earnings per share came in at $6.80, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.65 and increasing 10.7% from the year-ago quarter. Revenues grew 6.4% year over year to $98.9 billion and were above the estimated $98.7 billion. The solid results were powered by strong growth in Optum health care unit. Optum revenues increased 11.7% to $62.9 billion, driven by the higher number of patients at Optum Health and the increased number of customers using the Optum Rx pharmacy service. UnitedHealthcare revenues rose 5.3% year over year to $73.9 billion, reflecting growth in the number of people served domestically. Medical ratio (a measure of the percentage of premiums paid out for medical services) deteriorated 190 basis points year over year to 85.1% but came in higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 84.4%. The health insurer affirmed its 2024 earnings per share guidance in the range of $27.50-$28.00, indicating 10.5% year-over-year growth at the mid-point. Notably, UnitedHealth is among the largest players in the Medicare Advantage market, where private insurers offer an alternative to the original Medicare — the federal government's health insurance plan for people aged 65 and older or those with certain disabilities. ETFs in Focus Let's delve into each ETF below: iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF follows the Dow Jones U.S. Select Healthcare Providers Index with exposure to companies that provide health insurance, diagnostics and specialized treatment. The fund holds 66 securities in its basket. UNH occupies the top position with a 23.8% share. iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF has amassed $752.3 million in its asset base, while volume is light at about 76,000 shares per day, on average. It charges 40 bps in annual fees and has a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with a Medium risk outlook. Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund is the most popular healthcare ETF and follows the Health Care Select Sector Index. It holds 63 securities in its basket, with UnitedHealth taking the second spot at 9.1% of the assets. Pharma, healthcare providers & services, and healthcare equipment & supplies take the largest share at 32.5%, 21.2% and 19.7%, respectively, from a sector look. Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund has AUM of $40.3 billion in its asset base and trades in a heavy volume of around 6 million shares. The expense ratio comes in at 0.09%. XLV has a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with a Medium risk outlook. iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF offers exposure to 107 U.S. healthcare equipment and services, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology companies by tracking the Russell 1000 Health Care RIC 22.5/45 Capped Gross Index. Here again, UnitedHealth is the second firm, accounting for 8.8% of the total assets. In terms of industrial exposure, pharma takes the top spot at 32.9%, followed by healthcare equipment (18.9%) and biotech (18.2%). iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF has amassed $3.3 billion in its asset base while charging 40 bps in annual fees. It trades in a good volume of around 205,000 shares a day and has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) with a Medium risk outlook. Fidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF Fidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF provides exposure to 369 healthcare stocks and tracks the MSCI USA IMI Health Care Index. UnitedHealth occupies the second position with 7.6% of the assets. Pharma accounts for 29.5% share while healthcare providers and services, healthcare equipment and supplies, and biotech round off the top three spots with double-digit exposure each. Fidelity MSCI Health Care Index ETF has AUM of $3 billion. Its expense ratio is 0.08%, while volume is good at 119,000 shares a day. FHLC has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a Medium risk outlook. SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF is one of the largest and most popular ETFs in the large-cap space, with AUM of $34.3 billion and an average daily volume of 3 million shares. It tracks the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index, holding 30 stocks in its basket. UNH occupies the top position, accounting for an 8.8% share. Financials (23.3%), information technology (19.4%), healthcare (18.6%), consumer discretionary (14.3%) and industrials (13.9%) are the top five sectors. SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF charges 16 bps in annual fees and has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy) with a Medium risk outlook. To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

One of Biden's Supreme Court reform obstacles: the Supreme Court 2024-07-17 19:22:33+00:00 - President Joe Biden is preparing to endorse Supreme Court reforms like term limits and a binding ethics code for the justices. Generally speaking, it’s a positive development at a time when the Roberts Court is exerting outsized power over the other two, nominally coequal branches of government. But even if Congress (which is partly Republican controlled) were to pass such reforms, the Republican-majority Supreme Court could strike them down as unconstitutional. There’s debate over whether term limits require a constitutional amendment, and the court has resisted perceived intrusions on its operations. The court last year did adopt its own code of conduct, but that lacks an enforcement mechanism. That doesn’t mean that the court’s protective view of itself is correct, or that Democrats shouldn’t push for change in any event. But a Supreme Court that jealously guards its power imposes a practical reality on any efforts to curtail that power. Perhaps counterintuitively, the most significant potential reform could be the least legally controversial: adding seats to the court to balance the 6-3 Republican supermajority. Legislation could accomplish that and wouldn't require a constitutional amendment. The court’s size has changed several times throughout its history. Yet, Biden doesn’t appear to be pushing for court expansion. But while the court itself would be unable to stop it on constitutional grounds, expanding the court would — like any other attempt to diminish the court’s power — have to get through Congress with its Republican-controlled House first.

European Commission Faces Court Criticism Over COVID Vaccine Contract Transparency Ahead Of Vote on Ursula Von Der Leyen's Reappointment - AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Moder 2024-07-17 19:20:00+00:00 - Loading... Loading... The European Commission faced criticism from Europe’s second-highest court regarding transparency issues surrounding COVID-19 vaccine contracts from four years ago. This scrutiny comes on the eve of a crucial vote on Commission head Ursula von der Leyen‘s reelection bid. Some European lawmakers have been vocal about their dissatisfaction with how the Commission handled its multibillion-euro contracts, particularly its failure to disclose text messages between von der Leyen and Pfizer Inc PFE CEO Albert Bourla regarding one of the agreements. In 2022, a Pfizer executive “categorically” ruled out that the pharma giant’s chief executive agreed on the European COVID-19 contract via mobile phone text messages. The Commission contends that these messages were not retained. During the height of the pandemic, the Commission secured agreements with several major companies for COVID vaccine supplies, including AstraZeneca Plc AZN, Sanofi SA SNY, GSK Plc GSK, Johnson & Johnson JNJ, BioNTech SE BNTX, Pfizer, and Moderna Inc MRNA. Also Read: Emergent BioSolutions And Johnson & Johnson Resolve Claims Over COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing. In response to requests from some members of the European Parliament for full access to these documents, Reuters noted that the Commission provided only partial access, citing the need to protect commercial interests and the decision-making process through redactions. “The Commission did not give the public sufficiently wide access to the purchase agreements for COVID-19 vaccines,” they said. The General Court in Luxembourg upheld the lawmakers’ challenge, although the Commission claimed partial success in defending certain contract clauses. “In general, the Commission grants the widest possible public access to documents, in line with the principles of openness and transparency,” Reuters noted, citing the statement. “In these cases, the Commission needed to strike a difficult balance between the right of the public, including MEPs (members of the European Parliament), to information, and the legal requirements emanating from the COVID-19 contracts themselves, which could result in claims for damages at the cost of taxpayers’ money.” Meanwhile, the European Parliament is scheduled to vote on Thursday regarding von der Leyen’s candidacy for a second term amid ongoing scrutiny and legal challenges concerning transparency issues. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Read Next: Photo via Wikimedia Commons

How on-time rent payments can help 'credit invisible' consumers be seen 2024-07-17 19:11:00+00:00 - Housing is the most considerable expense for U.S. consumers — and while high rents and home prices are obstacles to saving for potential homebuyers, access to affordable credit is another significant roadblock. An estimated 50 million Americans are “credit invisible,” according to a 2022 fact sheet from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Project REACh, or Roundtable for Economic Access and Change. That means they don’t have a credit file and lack a credit score and, as a result, find it challenging to qualify for a mortgage, credit card or other financing. ″‘Credit invisible’ is someone who hasn’t interacted with the credit system. They either have no credit file or a thin credit file,” said Priscilla Almodovar, the CEO of the housing financing agency Fannie Mae. “So that impacts people who want to buy a home, and that could be people new to this country; it could be Black, Latinos and young people, the millennials, driving this housing demand.” Still, consumers with thin credit files may have a history of paying rent on time — a factor mortgage financing provider Fannie Mae started to count in late 2022. Its Positive Rent Payment Reporting initiative, which has been extended through the end of 2024, allows people renting in eligible properties to have their rent payments counted by credit rating agencies at no cost. “We’re now able to level the playing field and make access to credit something that’s available to many more consumers,” Almodovar said. On-time rent payments can boost credit scores Having little or no credit is a major stumbling block to getting a mortgage. It also prevents consumers from getting attractive rates on all types of loans. Rent payments can be one way to gain credit visibility. Fannie Mae’s free program works with providers Esusu Financial Inc., Jetty Credit and Rent Dynamics. There are many other players in the market, too. Experian Boost reports rent payments for free as well as payments for utilities, mobile phones and streaming services. Other rent-reporting firms — including Boom, Rental Kharma, RentReporters and Self — also can provide your rental payments to one or more major credit bureaus for free or a modest fee by allowing access to your bank statements. When rent payments are included in credit reports, consumers see an average increase of nearly 60 points to their credit score, according to a 2021 TransUnion report. Fannie Mae’s pilot program has helped more than 35,000 people establish credit scores, the agency reports. Participants who already had a credit score and saw an improvement had an average score increase of up to 40 points, according to Fannie Mae. Florida resident Joe Grande, 56, who works as an inventory control clerk, saw a credit boost of 80 points in his first three months, to 660, after signing up for free reporting from his landlord through rent reporting company Esusu, a vendor that works with Fannie Mae. He says the program has helped keep him on track toward his goal of buying a home. “It makes me feel like I’m in control, but it also makes me want to make sure everything else is paid on time,” Grande said. Experts say the impact on your credit can be significant. “What it accomplishes for you, adding 24 on-time payments, it’s like jumpstarting your car with a truck battery,” said Martin Lynch, president of the Financial Counseling Association of America and education director at the non-profit Cambridge Credit Counseling in Agawam, Massachusetts. But temper your expectations While these programs can help build credit more quickly, experts caution that it takes time to establish a track record. It typically takes six months to create a credit profile and longer to establish a solid track record of repayment, experts say. Credit scores generally range from 300 to 850 — and lenders generally view a credit score lower than 670 as a higher risk. “For somebody with a 680, they’re going to be able to obtain financing, but it’s typically not going to give them access to the lowest interest rates and the best deals,” said Bruce McClary, a senior vice president at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. It’s also important to carefully review the costs and terms of the rent-reporting company you want to use. While the Fannie Mae pilot provides only positive payment history to all three credit bureaus at no cost, consumers using rent reporting outside of that should clarify if there information is being reported to all three of the biggest players: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. “If your good payment history is being reporting to one of the three, that can be less impactful than if reported to all three credit bureaus,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree.

Chip Shares Tumble, Dragging Wall Street to Its Worst Drop in Weeks 2024-07-17 19:09:53+00:00 - Shares of some of the world’s biggest chipmakers tumbled on Wednesday, pulling the stock market down to its worst day in months, as investors reacted to U.S. trade tensions with China and comments made by former President Donald J. Trump about Taiwan. The S&P 500 fell 1.39 percent, its biggest drop since late April, just one day after the index reached a record. The technology-heavy Nasdaq dropped 2.77 percent, its worst day since late 2022. The decline was led by global chip stocks, with shares of some of the biggest players in the chip industry — including ASML, Nvidia and TSMC — plunging in response to geopolitics and the former president’s remarks. Shares of these companies have surged this year amid a rise in demand for advanced artificial intelligence chips. “Stocks that have outperformed so well and for so long can often be more susceptible to bouts of fundamental bad news,” said Steve Sosnick, the chief strategist at Interactive Brokers. “Excellent, sustained performance, such as we saw in the semiconductor sector, may have led the trade to become ‘crowded,’ and therefore more fragile.”

Chip Shares Tumble, Dragging Wall Street to Its Worst Day in Weeks 2024-07-17 19:09:53+00:00 - Shares of some of the world’s biggest chipmakers tumbled on Wednesday, pulling the stock market down to its worst day in months, as investors reacted to U.S. trade tensions with China and comments made by former President Donald J. Trump about Taiwan. The S&P 500 fell 1.4 percent, its biggest drop since late April, just one day after the index reached a record. The technology-heavy Nasdaq dropped 2.8 percent, on track for its worst day since late 2022. The decline was led by global chip stocks, with shares of some of the biggest players in the chip industry — including ASML, Nvidia and TSMC — plunging in response to geopolitics and the former president’s remarks. Here’s what to know about the trading.

Mortgage refinance demand jumps to a 2-year high, as interest rates drop 2024-07-17 18:57:00+00:00 - Mortgage rates dropped to the lowest level since March last week, sparking swift demand in refinancing. Homebuyers, however, seemed unimpressed. Applications to refinance a home loan jumped 15% last week, compared with the previous week, to the highest level since August 2022, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Demand was 37% higher than the same week one year ago when mortgage rates were exactly the same. While the increase last week was large, it is coming off a very small base. Refinance demand is still more than 70% lower than it was in early 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($766,550 or less) decreased to 6.87% from 7.00%, with points dropping to 0.57 from 0.60 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment. “Mortgage rates declined last week, as recent signs of cooling inflation and the increased likelihood of Fed rate cuts later this year pulled them lower,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, in a release. Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home fell 3% for the week and were 14% lower than the same week one year ago. Buyers today are facing a lean and pricey market, and now, with the expectation that rates could drop even more, they may be waiting on the sidelines for a better opportunity. More supply is slowly coming onto the market and sellers are starting to reduce prices, especially for homes that have been sitting on the market for a while. Mortgage rates have not changed much to start this week, despite a stronger-than-expected report on retail sales.

Supreme brand to be sold to Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica 2024-07-17 18:34:00+00:00 - Fashion label Supreme will be sold to Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica for $1.5 billion in cash, Supreme's current parent company, VF Corporation, said Wednesday. The popular skate brand will be added to EssilorLuxottica's portfolio of companies, which include sunglass brands Oakley and Ray-Ban. Founded by James Jebbia in 1994, Supreme has built cachet and a loyal following of mostly young customers in part by regularly releasing limited-edition clothing and accessories, as well as through collaborations with other brands. "We see an incredible opportunity in bringing an iconic brand like Supreme into our company," EssilorLuxottica executives Francesco Milleri and Paul du Saillant said in a statement. "It perfectly aligns with our innovation and development journey, offering us a direct connection to new audiences, languages and creativity." Supreme exclusively sells its products directly to consumers, an approach that EssilorLuxottica said it plans to maintain. VF president and CEO Bracken Darrell cited "limited synergies" between the brand and VF that made the sale "a natural next step." VF's brands include outdoor gear companies such as The North Face and Napapijri, as well as footwear brand Vans. Supreme founder Jebbia said the sale will allow the brand to focus on "our customers, while setting us up for long-term success." VF bought Supreme in 2020 for $2.1 billion from Jebbia and two private equity firms. Supreme operates an online store as well as 17 brick-and-mortar locations across the U.S., Europe and Asia, at which lines of young shoppers often snake around street corners as they await new product releases.

A fire kills 16 people at a shopping mall in southwestern China 2024-07-17 18:31:24+00:00 - BEIJING (AP) — A fire at a shopping mall killed 16 people Wednesday in the southwestern Chinese city of Zigong, state media reported. Firefighters and rescuers responded to a fire call shortly after 6 p.m. at the 14-story commercial building, and pulled 75 people to safety, according to the official news agency Xinhua. Rescue efforts were ongoing. It was not immediately known what caused the fire or how many people were in the building when the fire broke out. The building houses a department store, offices, restaurants and a movie theater. Social media video posts showed clouds of thick black smoke coming out of windows from the building’s lower levels and engulfing the entire 14-story structure as they rose into the sky. Huge flames were visible, and firefighters fought the fire with water sprays. Local media said firefighters also used several drones. Fire hazards remain a problem in China, which reported 947 fire fatalities in this year’s first several months ending on May 20, up 19% from the same period of the previous year, said Li Wanfeng, a spokesperson for the National Fire and Rescue Administration. Li said the number of fires in public places such as hotels and restaurants rose 40% and that the most common causes were malfunctioning in electrical or gas lines and carelessness. In January, a fire killed 39 people in a commercial building in the southeastern Chinese province of Jiangxi. It was caused by unauthorized welding in the basement. In February, another 15 people were killed in a residential building in the eastern city of Nanjing, after an attached parking lot that had electric bikes caught fire.

Britain Approves Lab-Grown Meat for Pet Food 2024-07-17 18:31:18+00:00 - Britain has approved the sale of lab-grown meat for pet food, becoming the first European nation to give its blessing to a process that has prompted opposition in other countries. The move, which became an opportunity for entrepreneurs after Britain’s split from the more-regulated European Union, is a victory for the biotech industry, which the British government hopes to build into a superpower. The landmark approval went to Meatly, a British company that grows meat from chicken cells for pet food. Its product, which will begin feeding trials in August, arrives at a time when the worldwide market for pet food is expected to grow 5 percent this year to $151 billion, according to the research firm Statista. And it is more sustainable and kinder to animals, said Owen Ensor, the chief executive of Meatly. “It allows you to still feed the meat that your pets crave and that you want to feed your pet — while providing all the nutrients that your pet needs,” said Mr. Ensor, who added that he had fed the product to his cats, Lamu and Zanzi.

Global stock markets rocked by potential US crackdown on chipmakers 2024-07-17 18:30:00+00:00 - Global stocks fell on Wednesday as technology shares sank after a report said the US plans tighter import controls on companies that share chipmaking technology with China. London’s FTSE 100 edged 0.1% higher to 8,169.24 as data showed the inflation rate remained steady at the Bank of England’s 2% target in June. That hit hopes for a central bank rate cut, though the better-than-expected data pushed the British pound above $1.30 early on Wednesday. Germany’s DAX lost 0.3% to 18,615.00 and the CAC 40 in Paris declined 0.1% to 7,568.69. The future for the S&P 500 sank 0.7% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1%. A report by Bloomberg that the US plans tighter import controls on companies that share chipmaking technology with China pulled technology shares lower. The unconfirmed report said Joe Biden was considering using a wide-sweeping regulation, the foreign direct product rule, to further restrict sales of critical chipmaking equipment to China. The United States has blocked Chinese access to advanced chips and the equipment to make them, citing security concerns, and urged its allies to follow suit. Most have strengthened their controls but many companies in the industry continue to do business with China. Shares in Tokyo Electron plunged 7.5%. Precision tools maker Disco Corp sank 4.5% and Lasertec, which makes equipment for inspecting for defects in computer chips, dropped 5%. The Dutch chip equipment maker ASML Holding NV dived 7.4% in pre-market trading, while Nvidia fell 3.3%. ASML is the world’s only producer of machines that use extreme ultraviolet lithography to make advanced semiconductors. In 2023, China became ASML’s second-largest market, accounting for 29% of its revenue as Chinese companies bought up equipment before the licensing requirement took effect. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index declined 0.4% to 41,097.69. Taiwan’s Taiex shed 1% as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp lost 2.4%. Markets in Taiwan were rattled by comments by Donald Trump to Bloomberg criticizing the self-governed island claimed by Beijing. “Taiwan should pay us for defense,” Trump said according to a transcript of an interview published by Bloomberg. “Taiwan took our chip business from us, I mean, how stupid are we?” he said. In currency dealings, the US dollar fell to 156.34 Japanese yen from 158.34 yen on Wednesday. It had traded last week near 162 yen but the yen rallied sharply on Friday. Reports said the finance ministry might have intervened in the currency market Wednesday and that it had stepped in last week, buying nearly 6tn yen ($37bn) to support the yen. Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.7% to 8,057.90 after hitting an all-time high of 8,083.70 during morning trading. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.8% to 2,843.29. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.1% to 17,739.41, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.5% to 2,962.85. Traders are awaiting the outcome of a top level policy-setting meeting of the ruling Communist party, which wraps up on Thursday. The closed-door gathering in Beijing is expected to endorse leader Xi Jinping’s vision for investing heavily in strengthening China’s self-sufficiency in advanced technologies. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 5,667.20, setting an all-time high for the 38th time this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 1.9% to 40,954.48, and the Nasdaq composite lagged with a gain of 0.2% to 18,509.34, as the stars dimmed for some of the year’s biggest winners. A report showed sales at US retailers held firm last month despite economists’ expectations for a decline. Still, many market players believe inflation is slowing enough to convince the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates soon. The Fed has been keeping its main interest rate at the highest level in more than two decades in hopes of slowing the economy just enough to get inflation fully under control. In other dealings, US benchmark crude oil added 36 cents to $81.12 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 23 cents to $83.96 a barrel. The euro rose to $1.0934 from $1.0897.

Co-founders of Silicon Valley venture capital firm back Trump’s presidential bid 2024-07-17 18:21:00+00:00 - The co-founders of Silicon Valley’s most prominent venture capital firm have announced their support for Donald Trump’s bid for re-election, and plan to make substantial donations to back him further. Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen, the heads of Andreessen Horowitz, commonly known as A16Z, revealed their plans in a sprawling 90-minute podcast, in which they argued that the future of “American innovation” required a Trump victory. While their financial support is not expected to equal that of the billionaire Elon Musk, who announced plans to donate $45m a month in support of the former president, the two men are seen as intellectual centres of the burgeoning right wing of the American tech scene. In a blogpost published in June, they argued that “bad government policies are now the #1 threat to little tech”; the startups they see as the engine of the US economy. They expressed concern about over-regulation, particularly of cryptocurrency, and proposals to tax unrealised capital gains, as well as criticising the US government’s failure to use its buying power to back startups over incumbents “in critical sectors like defense and intelligence”. But in the blogpost, they fell short of actively backing either candidate. Now, they say, that has changed. “It’s clear now that, at least on little tech – we’re not experts on all things that the government does but on startups and technology we’re certainly among the best experts in the world – we think Donald Trump is a better choice than Joe Biden,” Horowitz said. “I’m going to have a lot of friends who are pissed off at me for saying anything nice about President Trump … I wish it wasn’t this way and we didn’t have to pick a side.” Andreessen specifically highlighted Trump’s support of cryptocurrencies as a reason for supporting his re-election in November. “It’s a flat-out endorsement of the entire space, a complete across-the-board uniform embrace of the entire thing. It’s just an absolute 180 from what we’ve been experiencing … this has been a brutal assault on a nascent industry that I’ve never experienced before.” The pair have been laying the ground for the announcement for a while. In December, Horowitz wrote: “We are non-partisan, one-issue voters: if a candidate supports an optimistic technology-enabled future, we are for them. If they want to choke off important technologies, we are against them.” Already, Andreessen and Horowitz, individually and through the venture capital firm they co-founded, have donated more than $24m in this election, but the majority has gone to a non-partisan campaign, Fairshake, aiming to back or oppose candidates based on their views on cryptocurrency. Fairshake is the second best-funded Super Pac in the race so far, having raised just under the Trump-backing Make America Great Again Super Pac. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion A16Z was founded in 2009 and has backed a string of high-profile tech companies including Facebook, Instagram and Airbnb. According to data from Follow the Crypto, cryptocurrency-focused political action committees have raised more than $187m for the 2024 US election and spent $38m of that. The funds have overwhelmingly gone to support Republicans and oppose Democrats, although some of that spending is in primary campaigns where the opponents are of the same party. The crypto campaign has already claimed a political scalp, spending $10m to oppose the leftwing congresswoman Katie Porter in her attempt to become a Democratic candidate for the US Senate in California.

Labour to hold talks with Aslef over rail strikes next week 2024-07-17 18:18:00+00:00 - Talks between the train drivers’ union Aslef and the Department for Transport (DfT) will take place next week as the new Labour government seeks a swift resolution to the long-running national pay dispute. Aslef’s general secretary, Mick Whelan, said he believed fresh talks “can and will get a deal”, more than two years on from the start of a series of strikes by drivers that have halted train services around the country. The early meeting comes after the government announced more protections for workers and early steps to ensure rail nationalisation in the king’s speech on Wednesday, with the first reading of passenger railway services legislation now due on Thursday. The transport secretary, Louise Haigh, met union leaders last week and promised “an era of grownup industrial relations”. Aslef’s team will hold initial talks directly with the DfT rather than through the representatives of train operators. Steve Montgomery, First Group’s rail director and the former chair of the Rail Delivery Group, who led previous talks for the industry, is no longer in the process. The meeting on Tuesday is expected to be led instead by Alex Hynes, the DfT’s director general of rail services. Whelan said: “We hope, with a new government in place, that we can have constructive talks to get a positive resolution that works for train drivers, who have not had an increase in salary for five years – since 2019 – and will help get our railway back on track. “Mark Harper, Huw Merriman and the Tory government put the brakes on any deal. Now, with a new secretary of state for transport in place, I hope and think we can, and will, get a deal done.” No talks or meetings with the previous government to resolve the dispute had been held since Aslef rejected a deal worth 8% over two years in early 2023, which also included a number of changes to working conditions. It is understood that the union’s leadership could recommend to members a similar increase on a no-strings basis, accepting that any pay rise is likely to still be well below the rates of inflation seen since 2019. The RMT union is no longer in dispute with train operators or Network Rail, although the union is still negotiating over 2024 rises. Its general secretary, Mick Lynch, said it would “actively engage with the government on the pay issues in our sectors which can be resolved quickly”.

Keir Starmer appoints two influential leftwing critics as government advisers 2024-07-17 17:49:00+00:00 - Keir Starmer has drafted into government two leftwing critics of his stance on benefits and green investment, as the prime minister faces pressure to drop Labour’s cautious approach to reviving the economy. Carys Roberts, the influential director of the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank, has joined Downing Street’s policy unit as a special adviser, while Rachel Statham, who headed the IPPR’s work on public services, has been hired to lead his policy unit’s work on childcare, the early years and education. Roberts had been among leading figures behind Labour’s now-scrapped pledge to spend £28bn a year on green investment. When the plan was controversially ditched earlier this year, the economist warned that such a significant scaling back on investment would “undermine efforts to grow the economy and manage the transition to net zero fairly”. Roberts will advise the prime minister on climate, energy and the environment. Statham has also criticised Starmer’s economic caution, and argued as recently as last month that his failure to prioritise scrapping the two-child limit on benefits would ensure Labour was making a “plan for substantial increases in child poverty” over the next five years. In the first weeks since Labour’s election landslide Starmer has been filling key ministerial appointments and recruiting expert figures to play influential roles behind the scenes in his administration. Alongside surprise appointments for the businessman James Timpson, as prisons minister, and the leading barrister Richard Hermer, as attorney general, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has created a council of economic advisers chaired by the London School of Economics academic John Van Reenen. Since taking over as Labour leader four years ago Starmer has gradually shifted the party to the political centre ground, aiming to win back swing voters and to neutralise Tory attacks that it could not be trusted with the economy – despite the risk of alienating some in the Labour base. His government has so far prioritised sticking closely to Labour’s “no drama” election manifesto, with the cabinet minister Pat McFadden telling the BBC on Wednesday that “people shouldn’t expect us to implement the things we didn’t say we’d do” when asked why the two-child benefit limit was being kept. However, Starmer’s appointments give an influential role to economists who have advocated a more radical stance. As the IPPR’s executive director since 2020, Roberts oversaw the thinktank’s Environmental Justice Commission, which recommended a £30bn increase in public investment in a low carbon economy – widely seen as the catalyst behind Labour’s £28bn pledge. IPPR has also consistently criticised the two-child benefit limit, first introduced by the Conservatives in April 2017. Statham wrote on X last month that “to keep the two-child limit is to plan for substantial increases in child poverty over the next parliament”. It comes as Starmer faces pressure from within his own ranks to abolish the policy after official figures showed a record 1.6 million children living in families affected by it.

‘More politicised than any other bank’: HSBC’s new boss prepares to ride the Chinese tiger 2024-07-17 17:47:00+00:00 - When a handful of Hong Kong journalists dialled in to a media call with HSBC bosses in February, Georges Elhedery took them by surprise. In a momentary distraction from the bank’s 80% drop in annual profits, the chief financial officer issued greetings in Mandarin. It put Elhedery’s newly acquired language skills – built up during a six-month sabbatical in 2022 – to a public test. But it also demonstrated his ambition: notably, that he would not let a relative lack of experience in China, where the bank makes the bulk of its profits, get in the way of his ascent at HSBC. Four months later, Elhedery’s drive has been duly rewarded, having been selected to take over from Noel Quinn as chief executive from September. While it is no surprise that HSBC appointed an internal candidate, it is still a coup for the Lebanese-born and French-educated banker, who joined HSBC in 2005 after a four-year stint at Goldman Sachs. He won over board members during his 18 months as chief financial officer, including HSBC’s tough chair, Mark Tucker, who has now outlasted three chief executives since taking the role in 2017. On Wednesday, Tucker called Elhedery, 50, the “outstanding candidate”, saying he had a record of “driving growth, delivering simplification and containing costs” and brought “deep international perspectives” to the role. Elhedery has also gained fans among investors and banking colleagues, who have described him as clever, diligent and gentle, and a clear communicator. Add his seven languages to the mix and the bank has the makings of a skilful diplomat, poised to help HSBC, which operates in 62 countries and territories, and also navigate one of the trickiest roles in global banking. “This is a more politicised appointment than virtually any other bank, given the need for any CEO to have the capability to get on with clients, regulators and politicians globally,” said Thomas Moore, a senior investment director at one of HSBC’s shareholders, Abrdn. Geopolitical tensions between the west and China will be one of the biggest challenges for the incoming boss as he oversees the lender’s $3tn balance sheet. And Elhedery will inherit an increasingly Asia-focused lender. Quinn and Tucker helped to further pivot the bank towards China, investing billions in joint ventures, private banking and wealth management in the region. While they have staved off calls from the activist investor Ping An to split off the lucrative Asia business, they did so in part by selling and scaling down operations in countries including the US, France and Canada. The strategy left Quinn walking a tightrope when political tensions flared. He became notorious for dodging questions about HSBC’s willingness to work with an increasingly authoritarian Beijing, after the bank’s bosses controversially accepted China’s authoritarian crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong in 2020. Elhedery will have to steel himself for further political pressure if Donald Trump wins the US election in November. If comments from Trump’s newly appointed running mate and prospective vice-president, JD Vance, are any indication, tensions between Washington and Beijing could reach fresh heights. “I don’t like China,” Vance told CBS in May as he bluntly blamed the country for problems in the US jobs market. Even colleagues who praise Elhedery’s skills say he faces an uphill battle. “China tensions are unmanageable: it doesn’t matter who the CEO is,” they said. “HSBC is now all-in to China. They now need to prepare to ride the tiger. It won’t be easy.” HSBC’s exposure to China’s lingering property and economic crises could also heap pressure on Elhedery, who in February announced that the bank had taken a shock $3bn impairment on its exposure to the Chinese lender BoCom. While Quinn has predicted a “progressive and gradual recovery” in China’s commercial real estate market, data in May showed house prices falling at their fastest rate in nearly a decade. Official figures this week also showed the economy grew 4.7% in the second quarter, falling short of expectations for a 5.1% rise. Income will also be squeezed in the west, as Elhedery grapples with the start of a new rate-cutting cycle by central banks. HSBC’s net interest income, which is the difference between what is earned from loans versus what is paid out to savers, grew 20% to $36bn in 2023 thanks to high interest rates. Analysts are now expecting the figure to fall back to $33bn for the current financial year as that trend reverses. But analysts are welcoming the certainty that comes with Elhedery’s appointment. UBS’s European banking expert Jason Napier said: “We expect [a] stable strategy.”

Renaming an Airport After Silvio Berlusconi Divides a Region in Italy 2024-07-17 17:14:08+00:00 - Millions of travelers pass through Italian airports every year, but most probably don’t know that Rome’s airport is named for Leonardo da Vinci, Pisa’s is named for Galileo Galilei, and Palermo’s is named for Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, two prosecutors who were murdered in 1992 as payback for their anti-Mafia crusades. But the decision this month to name Milan’s main international airport after Silvio Berlusconi, the media mogul and former Italian prime minister who died last year at age 86, did not go unnoticed. The renaming of Milan Malpensa Airport as International Airport Milan Malpensa — Silvio Berlusconi has unleashed a maelstrom of protests from left-leaning lawmakers, a barrage of memes and an online petition to block the designation, which as of Wednesday had more than 160,000 signatures. It also has made global headlines. “Why not Bunga-Bunga airport,” said one, in a German-language publication, referring to the sex-fueled bacchanals at Mr. Berlusconi’s villa that he described as merely “elegant dinners.”

Rep. Adam Schiff calls on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race 2024-07-17 17:14:00+00:00 - Rep. Adam Schiff, a prominent Democrat and leading candidate for Senate in California, urged President Joe Biden on Wednesday to "pass the torch" and exit the presidential race. “Joe Biden has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better,” Schiff said in a statement. “But our nation is at a crossroads,” he added. “A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November.” His statement echoes calls from other Democrats who have called for the president to step aside in the aftermath of his disappointing debate performance in June. Schiff is an influential voice in the Democratic Party. He is a close ally of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had made him Intelligence Committee chairman when she ran the Democratic Caucus. She had also appointed Schiff to lead the group of House impeachment managers prosecuting the case against former President Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial, and picked Schiff to serve on the House committee investigating Trump’s involvement in the Jan. 6 attack. Even as Biden has insisted he's not dropping out, Pelosi has left the door open to the possibility of a different nominee, saying on MSNBC that Biden needs to decide quickly about his future. Schiff argued Wednesday that it is time for Biden to “pass the torch,” saying Democrats would have a better chance of beating Trump in November if he steps aside. “While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” he said. “And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.” Schiff vowed to get behind a potential replacement for Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket if the president were to drop out. During an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” this month, Schiff had said that Vice President Kamala Harris "very well could win overwhelmingly" if Biden were to step aside and would be a "phenomenal president." Schiff gave the Biden campaign a heads-up before publicly calling on him to drop out, according to a source familiar with the matter. In a defiant interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt on Monday, Biden said he wasn't going anywhere and that he had earned the Democratic nomination, with backing from 14 million primary voters. Asked about his apparent confusion at the June debate with Trump, Biden said his "mental acuity has been pretty damn good." In response to a request for comment about Schiff's statement, the Biden campaign pointed to numerous statements of support from Democratic lawmakers, including from prominent Black leaders like Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Steven Horsford, D-Nev., both of who were traveling with Biden this week in Nevada.

Ex-Trump aide Peter Navarro to speak at RNC after prison release 2024-07-17 16:28:01+00:00 - Former Donald Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro was released from federal prison in Miami on Wednesday morning. His next stop is Milwaukee, where he's scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention. Navarro served his four-month term following his conviction for contempt of Congress after refusing to comply with a House Jan. 6 committee subpoena. The Supreme Court rejected his bid to stay free while he appeals and his legal challenge is pending. Trump ally Steve Bannon is currently incarcerated for his own contempt of Congress conviction, which he’s appealing from behind bars after the Supreme Court also rejected his bid to stay free in the meantime. Navarro’s expected appearance on the convention stage comes shortly after Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey was found guilty on 16 counts in his federal corruption trial; top Democrats quickly called on him to resign. Meanwhile, Navarro’s criminal history isn’t a hindrance to him being platformed by the Republican Party. Indeed, the former Trump adviser’s speaking engagement doesn't come in spite of his conviction but because of it. The party's embrace of Navarro fits well within its “law and order” mantra, which doesn’t mandate a literal application of the law but is rather about maintaining a certain social order. The party’s presidential nominee was criminally indicted four times and convicted once so far, in New York state court (he pleaded not guilty in every case). Trump was supposed to have been sentenced in that case last week, but the sentencing was postponed after the immunity ruling handed down by the Supreme Court majority he helped appoint. If he wins in November, Trump is poised to get his federal cases dismissed by a new attorney general who’d presumably still apply the nation’s laws to those deemed the real criminals by the administration. Or Trump could attempt a legally untested self-pardon should he return to the White House. He has already said that he would grant clemency to Jan. 6 defendants, and he pardoned Bannon before leaving office last time. With that in mind, whatever Navarro’s political plans, his best legal strategy may be staying in Trump’s good graces.