Author: News Room

Topline A judge in former President Donald Trump’s hush money case in New York delayed the start of the trial by 30 days Friday, after thousands of pages of new documents were presented, pushing the trial’s start to at least mid-April, just seven months ahead of the presidential elections. Key Facts Trump asked Judge Juan Merchan to adjourn the trial scheduled for March 25, arguing the court should pause the trial for 90 days, until after the Supreme Court rules on his motion to dismiss his separate federal criminal case for trying to overturn the 2020 election. The Supreme Court…

Week in Review Asian equities were mixed for the week as China outperformed and the Hang Seng Tech Index rallied +5% and is close to being positive year-to-date. The “Two Sessions” important policy meetings concluded this week with multiple supportive indications, including potential incentives for trade-ins of appliances and vehicles, which could help improve consumer confidence. Sports apparel maker Li Ning announced plans to go private, which boosted its stock this week. The US House passed a bill to potentially force a sale of TikTok’s US operations, though multiple lawmakers expressed hesitation over the bill and how fast it was…

The release of foreign direct investment figures, showing that inbound investment into China is now the lowest in 30 years (at $33 billion) calls into question the health of the Chinese economy, and what Western investors should do regarding its financial markets. Granted that it is the second largest economy, we know relatively little about what is really happening economically and politically in China. In the past decade, Western investors have put less weight on headline economic measures such as GDP in favour of micro indicators like electricity usage, owing to fears that official indicators do not ‘tell the real…

With funding for fintech startups having fallen precipitously from the days of ultra-low interest rates and a focus on growth at all costs, a reality is setting in: Disrupting the giants of incumbent financial services is no easy task. In many cases, it has proven elusive. This holds especially true for the juggernaut of international money transfers, Belgium-based Swift. In recent years, Swift has moved to address shortcoming in the speed, transparency and efficiency of its transactions while simultaneously bringing an increasing number of high-performing payments fintech into its orbit. One might say that Swift is gradually co-opting some of…

Searches for virtual private networking (VPN) software briefly spiked in Texas this week after Pornhub suspended service in the state over a law forcing adult websites to verify the age or identities of their users. The four-fold rise in Google searches for tools that can circumvent the state-level blocking suggests the law may already be having unintended side effects, days after a federal appeals court upheld the legislation and said it could remain in effect. Visitors with Texas IP addresses who visit Pornhub’s website are now presented with a full-page message calling the Texas law “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.” “Until…

When on July 7, 2023, President Biden first publicly declared the United States’ intention to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, defining their basic purpose as creating a strong foundation for further deterring Russia with a focus on the long-term, post-war perspective, Western partners had the idea that the United States would be the first country to provide security guarantees to Ukraine. In other words, the United States should become a guiding light for Ukraine’s other Western partners, leading them by example. Indeed, the United States was the first among Ukraine’s partners to move in this direction, starting negotiations on security guarantees…

Happy Friday! Dollar Tree is looking a lot more like Dollar Forest as the budget chain is raising its price ceiling again, this time to $7.But first, we’re staying in Miami.If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.The big storyFlorida migrationKen Griffin is used to making big bets as the founder of two of the most powerful firms on Wall Street, but one of his most ambitious wagers took place outside the markets.Nearly two years ago the billionaire uprooted his hedge fund, Citadel, and market maker, Citadel Securities, from their Chicago headquarters to Miami.South Florida always held a financial…

The National Association of Realtors announced a $418 million settlement to end antitrust lawsuits. The NAR agreed to a new set of rules, which will reset long-held standards on commissions.  Real estate stocks including Zillow and Redfin fell Friday after the announcement.  Shares of real estate companies plunged on Friday following an announcement from the National Association of Realtors that resolves a lawsuit with home-selling groups and effectively nixes the standard 6% commission for home purchases.In a landmark case, the NAR — which represents over one million real estate agents in the US —  said it would pay $418 million…

There is no evidence for former President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that “the Congo” has emptied prisons to allow violent criminals to come to the US border as migrants – and the governments of both the Democratic Republic of Congo and the neighboring Republic of Congo say Trump’s assertions are entirely false. “Everything he is saying isn’t true,” Democratic Republic of Congo spokesperson Patrick Muyaya Katembwe told CNN in a text message on Thursday. Asked specifically about Trump’s claims about Congolese prisons being emptied of violent criminals, he said, “Never ever, it’s not true.” And, he said, “we want him…

For decades, research has showed that earning a degree is almost always worthwhile.Recent college graduates working full-time earn $24,000 more a year than those with just a high school diploma, according to newly released data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.Additionally, finishing college puts workers on track to earn a median of $2.8 million over their lifetime, compared with $1.6 million if they only had a high school degree, according to “The College Payoff,” a report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.In general, bachelor’s degree holders earn 75% more over their career, the report found — and, in…