Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday she was optimistic her conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) could agree to join forces as they embarked on five days of talks about reviving the ‘grand coalition’ that has governed Germany since 2013. Persuading the SPD to team up with her is Merkel’s best bet of forming a […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
Iran's Revolutionary Guard says unrest created by foreign enemies has been defeated
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Sunday the country’s people and security forces had defeated unrest fomented by foreign enemies, as parliament and key security officials met to discuss the boldest challenge to the clerical establishment since 2009. “Iran’s revolutionary people along with tens of thousands of Basij forces, police and the Intelligence Ministry have broken […]
Read moreTHE strength of the global economy is one reason why the stockmarket has started 2018 in a buoyant mood (with the Dow passing 25,000). At some point, in any expansion, businesses find it harder to recruit workers or get the materials they need; these bottlenecks cause wages and prices to rise. Central banks then start […]
Read moreThe U.S. economy added a disappointing 148,000 jobs in December while the unemployment rate held at 4.1 percent, according to a Labor Department report Friday. Economists surveyed by Reuters had been expecting nonfarm payrolls to grow by 190,000. The total was well below the November pace of 252,000, which was revised up from the initially […]
Read moreJust two days after California began sales of legalized adult-use cannabis, Attorney General Jeff Sessions decided to rescind the Justice Department’s Cole Memorandum. This Obama-era document listed guidelines for states that legalized marijuana. Sessions decision, however is more bark than bite because it doesn’t change the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment which cut off funds to the Justice […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
Oil likely to see downward correction over the coming months, Commerzbank says
Oil traders should expect prices to pullback by at least 15 percent over the coming months, according to a senior analyst at Commerzbank. Oil prices rose to their highest levels since mid-2015 on Wednesday amid political unrest in Iran, despite analysts saying there was little risk of supply disruption from OPEC’s third largest producer. And […]
Read moreDonald Trump campaigned as a jobs creator, with lofty promises of reviving American manufacturing and reclaiming jobs that had gone overseas. On a campaign stop in 2015, he proclaimed he would “be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average of 174,000 jobs were added per […]
Read moreU.S. employers likely maintained a brisk pace of hiring in December while increasing wages for workers amid growing confidence in the economy, which could pave the way for the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates in March. Nonfarm payrolls probably increased by 190,000 jobs last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists, after a […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
Amazon reportedly in talks over UK rights to stream Premier League soccer league matches
Amazon has held talks to gain U.K. rights to stream Premier League soccer matches ahead of a rights auction next month, according to a report by The Daily Telegraph. The tech giant has spoken with industry experts about the requirements of broadcasting live games as it lacks experience in the space, the newspaper said, citing […]
Read moreEuropean markets are expected to open mixed on Friday morning, as investors await a fresh batch of economic data. The FTSE 100 is poised to open down 7 points at 7,687, while the DAX is seen up 35 points at 13,196 and the CAC 40 is set to open 4 points higher at 5,414, according […]
Read more