Author: News Room

An early, formative career experience of mine was an internship in the City of London, where I sat a few metres away from the office of Gavyn Davies, then (and now) a very prominent economist. He was instrumental behind the scenes, in spurring some of the early policies of the New Labour government of the 1990’s, such as the radical move to give the Bank of England its independence. At the time, one of the great tasks of City economists was the parsing of the Budget. Budgets were great set pieces affairs, dramatized by Chancellors like Ken Clarke sipping whiskey…

Israel has called the latest set of demands from Hamas “ridiculous” and “absurd” but said it will send a negotiating team to Qatar in the coming days to continue negotiations on a ceasefire in the war in Gaza and release of hostages held by the terror group. Hamas submitted a new set of demands on Thursday, including calls for a large number of Palestinian prisoners to be released and an eventual agreement on a permanent ceasefire. The response from Hamas was long-awaited after discussions over a proposed six-week pause in the fighting appeared to stall. The Biden administration has repeatedly said in recent weeks that the onus…

Halle Bailey swam into the hearts of millions last year in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, demonstrating how her ethereal voice can make a beloved soundtrack new again. She continued her acting streak late last year in another major film role as Nettie Harris in The Color Purple. In the midst of her movie star turn, Halle released her debut solo single “Angel” last August to remind fans that she was introduced to audiences as a singer first alongside her sister Chlöe. And to top it all off, she became a mom, welcoming her son Halo and announcing his birth at…

Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:1. Dow(n)The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a three-day winning streak on Thursday. The 30-stock index fell more than 130 points on the back of hotter-than-expected inflation data, closing 0.35% lower on the day. The Dow is still up 0.47% on the week, though, on pace to reverse course after two weeks of losses. Other major indexes also fell Thursday: The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.3%, and the S&P 500 dipped 0.29%. Follow live market updates.2. In chargeMorgan Stanley has named a head of firm-wide artificial intelligence. Jeff McMillan, who shepherded…

Check out the companies making the biggest moves in premarket trading: Rivian Automotive — The EV stock added nearly 4% following an upgrade by Piper Sandler to overweight . The firm also upped its price target to $21 from $15, suggesting 96% upside from Thursday’s close. Analyst Alexander Potter cited Rivian’s new product launch and its decision to delay capital spending for the call. Micron Technology — The semiconductor stock added 2.5%. On Friday, Citi named Micron one of its top picks and increased its price target to $150 from $95, suggesting 64% upside. The bank believes Micron’s stock should…

In 2023, there have been significant transformations in the global political, economic, and security landscape. The world is gradually emerging from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, with nations actively striving to recover from economic downturns. The repercussions of the Ukraine war persist, posing threats to global food and energy security. Some major nations are imposing unilateral sanctions, exacerbating the challenges faced by the Global South. The ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel has turned Gaza into a harrowing place, where human conscience and morality are continuously disregarded. The prevailing circumstances present unprecedented challenges to the overarching themes of the…

EUR/USD has fallen to the 1.0800s, close to a critical level for the short-term trend. Further weakness could tip the near-term outlook in favor of bears.  Empire State Manufacturing, Michigan Sentiment, US Industrial Production and commentary from ECB’s Nagel round off the week. EUR/USD is trading in the 1.0800s on the last day of the week after taking a step down from its previous range in the 1.0900s. The catalyst seems to be a mixture of better-than-expected US macro data and ECB’s chief economist Philip Lane pushing back on early rate-cut expectations.  US data on Friday in the main built…

Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley said Bitcoin needs to “change as an asset class” for the investment firm to consider it as a viable option and has no intention of changing its mind about spot Bitcoin ETFs until that happens. Buckley made the statement in a preview clip of an upcoming webcast posted on March 15. The full conversation with CIO Greg Davis will be published on March 19. Too volatile Buckley said that Vanguard does not intend to change its stance toward the spot Bitcoin ETFs, primarily because it does not believe they belong in long-term and retirement portfolios. He…

Here’s a way of lowering the overall cost of payments by using circulating bank-issued tokens instead of cash as a means of exchange. It’s called the “deposit-cheque” and I’ll explain it using paper as the implementation (and British spelling for the explanation!) Deposit Checks The deposit-cheque scheme works in this way. Customers are given books of cheques that are preprinted with a maximum amount and protected with a simple anti-rewriting mechanism such as perforations with the same amount on them. To avoid the problem of cheques bouncing and the uncertainties related to clearing (and to obviate the need for any…

A settlement announced by the National Association of Realtors on Friday, which ended its litigation with some homesellers, could fundamentally change how Americans buy and sell their homes. The agreement will effectively destroy the rules that many critics say help drive home prices higher. The new rules are likely to be fairer for home buyers and sellers who’ve been saddled with the most unaffordable housing market in a generation. But even after the $418 million settlement goes into effect in July after court approval, some things will remain familiar. Commissions aren’t disappearing, and they’ll still be negotiable. And sellers’ and…