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<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Charging Business Electric Car money [/INST] Markets news. Title: Electric Car-Charging Business Is Doing Everything But Making Money. Short_description: EV-Charging Industry Is Doing Everything Except Showing a Profit. Description: , President Joe Biden’s , to wean U.S. drivers off fossil fuels requires massive investment in public charging stations to power the electric-car revolution. So far, none of the companies that deploy the equipment has figured out how to make a profit., The dilemma boils down to demand, and there’s a certain chicken-and-egg quality to it. Most electric-vehicle drivers charge their cars at home, so many , get little use. But lots of people still driving gasoline-powered cars won’t consider going electric until they see charging stations widely deployed, for fear that they will run out of juice on the road., Speculators are piling into the industry, convinced that boom times are around the corner, while short sellers and other skeptics warn that some of these companies will go belly-up long before they figure out how to make money. Biden’s plan to spend $15 billion to help create 500,000 more public stations by 2030 is feeding the optimism, with investors flocking to EV charging companies since his election. The risk is that the early movers will get badly burned, potentially souring capital markets on the industry for years to come., “It’s definitely going to require years of investment before they get any return,” said Chris Nelder, who has studied the economics of charging for the RMI energy research institute., Nelder is sure that electric-vehicle charging will eventually be profitable. But when that tipping point will arrive is one of the biggest questions hanging over charging companies., A decade into its existence, the industry is still hunting for a winning business model. Two of the more established names, Blink Charging Co. and Beam Global, made less than $10 million in revenue last year. That didn’t stop investors from sending Blink shares up more than 500% after Biden’s November win, and while it has come well off its peak the company’s market valuation is still north of $1.6 billion. Beam jumped more than 300%, though it has lost about half its value this year., The biggest U.S. company, ChargePoint Holdings Inc., just went public via a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Others including EVgo Services and Volta Industries Inc. are poised to follow., Fueling cars and trucks has always been a low-margin business, with gasoline stations making much of their money from selling snacks, coffee and cigarettes. The business is even tougher when it comes to EVs. Unless they live in dense cities like New York or San Francisco, drivers do the vast majority of charging at home -- their garage is their gas station. They use public chargers infrequently, with most vehicles offering more than enough range to complete daily errands without a topoff. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that , happens at home., Another vexing issue is the nature of using parking spots to double as charging locations. If a customer pulls into a space in her apartment complex at 9 p.m. and hooks , buy a few dollars’ worth of electricity, more often than not, she’ll leave her car there until going to work the next day. No one else can use that charger for the next 10 hours, regardless of when her car is done charging., Then there is the relatively small number of vehicles involved. Americans bought 259,000 new electric cars last year, a record according to BloombergNEF, but it’s still just 2% of total car and truck sales. And of those new EVs, 79% were made by Tesla Inc., which has its own branded network of “superchargers” that can’t be used by any other electric car. General Motors Co. said this week that it signed agreements with seven charging providers to make sure its EV drivers will have places to plug in., Tesla drivers are “close-looped into the Tesla network,” said BNEF analyst Ryan Fisher. “Where is the demand to plug into these other networks? It doesn’t exist.”, The Biden administration hopes it can boost some of that demand with the proposed spending, part of its infrastructure plan now before Congress. Some of the money would go toward grants and incentive programs to install chargers, according to a fact sheet from the White House, and some would go toward research into lowering the cost of the chargers themselves., The charging companies are positioning themselves for profitability in different ways., ChargePoint sells stations and offers various degrees of operational support, but doesn’t get paid from the charging itself. A typical client might be a Silicon Valley company that offers its employees free charging at work as a perk. If a particular station gets little use, ChargePoint still gets paid., “I wouldn’t want a driver as a customer, because I think I’d starve to death,” said Pasquale Romano, ChargePoint’s chief executive officer, in an interview. “There’s not a lot of money in electricity.”, Other companies, like EVgo, own the chargers they deploy and make money each time they’re used., Blink, meanwhile, takes both approaches at once. The company prefers to own and operate as many of its stations as possible, but if a property owner wants to buy the chargers from Blink outright, that’s fine, too. The biggest priority is locking up good sites in high-demand areas, according to CEO Michael Farkas., “Right now, this is a land grab,” Farkas said in an interview. “For us this is about getting as many locations as we can, and we’ll deal with profitability later.”, Volta Industries, which plans to go public in a SPAC deal this year, adds advertising to the mix. Its chargers come with 55-inch digital screens. A grocery store can place chargers in its parking lot and bombard customers with ads for specific products inside., Beam Global offers a self-contained unit with a canopy of solar cells powering a battery and a charger. It doesn’t require digging up the parking lot to install a power line. “You can tell the world you’re driving on sunshine for free,” CEO Desmond Wheatley said in an interview., There’s good reason for Beam to focus on easy installation and self-generated power. The time and cost to install a grid-connected charging station can be significant, often involving construction permits and hooking , the local utility. The equipment itself can range from less than $2,000 for a slower, basic charger to more than $100,000 for the most powerful models, , . Increased production should bring down the hardware costs, but for now, they’re another reason some of the companies struggle to turn a profit., “It’s still early days,” said Colin Rusch, a senior analyst who covers the industry for Oppenheimer & Co. “Like with any early-stage industry, you’ve got to give it some time, until they get to scale.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: David R Baker. Date Created: 30 Apr 2021, 5:00 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Rate Rise manulife ceo Term Lift Short noise [/INST] Markets news. Title: Manulife CEO Sees Lift From Rate Rise After Short-Term ‘Noise’. Short_description: Manulife CEO Sees Lift From Rate Rise After Short-Term ‘Noise’. Description: Manulife Financial Corp.’s first-quarter results took a heavy hit from rising interest rates, but Chief Executive Officer Roy Gori expects the steepening yield curve to be a tailwind over the longer term., The yield on the U.S. 10-Year Treasuries has gained more than half a percentage point this year, to about 1.57% on Wednesday, boosting what Manulife can expect to earn on the lower-risk, long-term debt insurers are apt to hold., “We’ve been in quite a low interest-rate environment, and this is starting to change that somewhat,” Gori said in an interview. “It’s still relatively low if you look back over multiple decades, but higher rates are a plus for us, and we’re enthusiastic about that.”, However, in the first quarter, the rising rates required accounting adjustments that contributed to a C$835 million ($681 million) reduction in net income. Total net income fell 40% to C$783 million, or 38 Canadian cents a share, Toronto-based Manulife said Wednesday. Gori called the charge “accounting noise” that the company isn’t concerned about., The shares fell 4.2% to C$26.05 at 9:55 a.m. in Toronto. A close at that level would represent the biggest one-day drop since Nov. 4., Manulife’s core earnings, which excluded that charge and other items, were 82 cents a share, more than analysts’ 77-cent average estimate., Driving that gain was the firm’s Asia operations, which are shaking off the sluggishness of the pandemic. Core earnings in Manulife’s Asia business rose 16% to C$570 million in the first quarter, helped by higher sales through banking partners in Hong Kong. The unit also benefited from strength in China, Vietnam and Indonesia as Manulife expands its sales through banks and insurance agencies., “You see markets in Asia that are not just fast-growing, they’re the lowest-penetrated from an insurance perspective and even from a wealth-management perspective,” Gori said. “That certainly bodes well for us.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Kevin Orland. Date Created: 06 May 2021, 4:47 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to China Probes Local Firm Trading loss Citi [/INST] Markets news. Title: China Probes Local Firm Over Trading Losses That Hit Citi. Short_description: China Probes Local Firm Over Trading Losses That Hit Citi. Description: (Bloomberg) -- One of China’s biggest brokerages is being probed by the nation’s securities regulator after suffering large trading losses that also wound up hitting Citigroup Inc., people with knowledge of the matter said., The losses at GF Holdings (Hong Kong) Corp., owned by Guangzhou-based GF Securities Co., stem from foreign-exchange wagers by one of its hedge funds, the people said. Those trades also ensnared Citigroup, which in December was said to face as much as $180 million of losses on a loan to the hedge fund., GF Securities, China’s fifth-largest securities firm by revenue, in January cited “operational risks” as the reason behind a decision to cut compensation costs for 2018. It didn’t say whether the move was related to the trading losses at the Hong Kong unit. The fourth quarter was brutal for Chinese brokerages, with the Shanghai Composite Index suffering its biggest quarterly drop in almost three years., GF Securities informed the China Securities Regulatory Commission that month that its Hong Kong unit had suffered large losses, prompting the watchdog to ask for more information about the incident, including whether there had been any shortcomings in risk controls, one person said. The CSRC continued to press GF Securities for additional details after the Lunar New Year holidays in early February, the person said., It isn’t clear whether the CSRC plans to take any disciplinary action. The regulator didn’t respond to a faxed request for comment. GF Securities didn’t return calls seeking comment., Established in 1991, GF Securities has about 12,000 employees spread across brokerage, investment banking and asset management operations. The firm is listed on stock exchanges in Shenzhen and Hong Kong., Citic Securities Co. tried to buy the company in 2004 in part because of its strong presence in Southern China, but the deal failed., GF Holdings has four wholly-owned subsidiaries: GF Securities (Hong Kong) Brokerage Ltd., GF Capital (Hong Kong) Ltd., GF Asset Management (Hong Kong) Ltd. and GF Investments (Hong Kong) Co., according to its , . GF Holdings is separate from GF Fund Management Co., another unit of GF Securities., Citigroup was reorganizing its prime brokerage business as a result of the incident, people familiar with the matter said in December. The eventual losses for the New York-based bank may end up being smaller, depending on how the trades are unwound., ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Bloomberg News. Date Created: 20 Feb 2019, 11:05 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to U.S. Home price Surge Tight inventory [/INST] Markets news. Title: U.S. Home Prices Surge Most Since 2006 With Tight Inventory. Short_description: The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index of property values climbed 12% in February from a year earlier.. Description: U.S. home prices soared the most in 15 years, with low mortgage rates and a scant inventory of properties to buy fueling a tight housing market., Nationally, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index of property values climbed 12% in February from a year earlier, the biggest jump since 2006. That followed an 11.2% gain in January., Home prices in 20 U.S. cities jumped 11.9%, meanwhile, beating the median estimate of 11.8% in a Bloomberg survey of economists., mortgage rates have been at the center of the pandemic , , increasing buying power as Americans look to upgrade their properties. The average for a 30-year loan dropped to 2.97% in the most recent data, moving closer to the record low 2.65% set in January., With inventory tight, especially in suburban markets, prices have jumped to record highs., Read more and follow the story: , “These data remain consistent with the hypothesis that Covid has encouraged potential buyers to move from urban apartments to suburban homes,” according to the S&P report released Tuesday., Phoenix reported the biggest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in February with a 17.4% increase. That was followed by San Diego at 17% and Seattle with a 15.4% increase., Nineteen of the 20 cities reported higher price increases in the year ending February 2021 versus the year ending January 2021., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Craig Giammona. Date Created: 27 Apr 2021, 6:30 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Resume Contract talk Exxon Beaumont Union Oil Giant [/INST] Markets news. Title: Exxon Beaumont Union Asks Oil Giant to Resume Contract Talks. Short_description: Exxon Beaumont Union Asks Oil Giant to Resume Contract Talks. Description: Union leaders at Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Beaumont plant in Texas asked the oil giant to resume contract negotiations and not move forward with its plans for a lockout of more than 650 workers on May 1., United Steelworkers Local 13-243’s six-year work agreement with Exxon expired Feb. 1 and no new collective bargaining agreement was settled upon for the Beaumont refinery and blending and packaging plant. The union, which offered to extend the current contract an additional year, contends Exxon’s offer would enact major changes in the existing contract that impact members’ safety, security and seniority., A one-year extension would “allow our members to maintain their job security and safely operate the facility while the two sides continue to bargain for a fair and equitable agreement, without the risk of a work stoppage,” said Darrell Kyle, president of USW Local 13-243., Exxon said it has made “extensive efforts to reach an agreement” but the union hasn’t allowed employees to vote on its offer, according to a spokesperson. “To ensure our facilities continue to operate safely, Exxon Mobil has communicated its intent for a lockout of the United Steelworkers represented workforce effective May 1.”, The existing contract requires each side give the other 75 days advance notice before a strike or a lockout. The USW and Exxon provided 75-day notices to each other on Feb. 15. On April 23, Exxon rejected the union’s offer of a one-year extension and said it will lock out workers Saturday if they don’t agree to the company’s current proposal., Exxon Beaumont union workers have never been locked out. The facility was also not included in a 2015 strike called by the International Union for 12 U.S. refineries and three other plants., The Beaumont refinery can process 359,000 barrels a day of crude., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Barbara J Powell. Date Created: 26 Apr 2021, 9:49 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Nifty Stage Strong Comeback Banks Recovery Sensex [/INST] Markets news. Title: Sensex, Nifty Stage A Recovery As Banks Make A Strong Comeback. Short_description: Catch all live updates on share prices, index moves, corporate announcements and more from Indian stock markets today.  . Description: Indian equity benchmarks reversed losses made in the first half of the session to snap a two-session losing streak., The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.8% to 48,080, after dropping by as much as 1.1%. The measure has lost about 9% from its recent peak on Feb. 15, nearing losses read as a technical correction., The outlook for Indian assets is turning bearish as spiking infections prompt cities from the financial hub Mumbai to the national capital New Delhi to bring in stringent restrictions on the movement of people. India, which has the world’s second-largest outbreak, reported 314,835 new cases Thursday., The NSE Nifty 50 Index closed nearly 0.8% higher as well after earlier falling 1%. Sentiment among global investors toward India has been souring. Global funds have sold a net $716 million of local stocks in April after a six-month buying spree, helping make Sensex this month’s biggest loser in Asia., Fourteen of the 19 sector sub-indices compiled by BSE Ltd. gained, led by a gauge of lenders. ICICI Bank Ltd. and HDFC were the biggest gainers on the Sensex while Titan and Unilver dragged the most., The rupee was little changed at 74.95 per dollar, paring a decline of as much as 0.6% Thursday, It is down 2.5% this month in Asia’s worst performance. , Petronet LNG Ltd. rose 4.5%, more than any full-day gain since Oct. 22.. Publisher: BQ Desk. Date Created: 22 Apr 2021, 8:53 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Axis Bank Info Edge Bajaj Finance United Breweries stock Britannia [/INST] Markets news. Title: Stocks To Watch: Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Info Edge, Britannia, United Breweries. Short_description: Here are the stocks to watch in trade today.... Description: Indian equity benchmarks rose for a second session on optimism the U.S. decision to offer vaccine support will aid the nation’s effort to control the world’s largest surge in coronavirus infections. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 1.17% to 48,954.16 while the NSE Nifty 50 index gained 1.16% to 14,653.05.. Publisher: BQ Desk. Date Created: 28 Apr 2021, 7:00 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Fed Upgrades View Rates Economy Zero [/INST] Markets news. Title: Fed Upgrades View of Economy While Keeping Rates Near Zero. Short_description: Federal Reserve officials strengthened their assessment of the economy on Wednesday.. Description: , Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues upgraded their assessment of the U.S. economy but said they were not yet ready to consider scaling back pandemic support., “Amid progress on vaccinations and strong policy support, indicators of economic activity and employment have strengthened,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement Wednesday after holding its key interest rate near zero and maintaining a $120 billion monthly pace of asset purchases., Follow reaction in real time here on Bloomberg’s TOPLive blog, Marking a clear improvement since Covid-19 took hold more than a year ago, the Fed said that “risks to the economic outlook remain,” softening previous language that referred to the virus posing “considerable risks.”, The statement also , that sectors hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic had “shown improvement.” And on the risk of prices rising, policy makers said: “Inflation has risen, largely reflecting transitory factors.”, The yield on 10-year Treasuries retreated to be slightly lower on the day as Powell spoke to reporters after briefly touching a fresh session high when the decision was announced and the Bloomberg dollar index slipped to a two-month low. The pricing of Fed policy tightening in the coming years was pared slightly, while the S&P 500 Index reversed an earlier gain to trade little changed., Powell and his colleagues met amid growing optimism for the U.S. recovery, helped by widening vaccinations and aggressive monetary and fiscal support. President Joe Biden will unveil a sweeping $1.8 trillion , to expand educational opportunities and child care when he addresses a joint session of Congress later on Wednesday, while highlighting his $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal and the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package he signed into law last month., At the same time, a rise in coronavirus cases in some regions around the world casts a shadow over global growth prospects, giving policy makers reason to remain patient on withdrawing support. Fed officials have also been largely dismissive of inflation risks for the time being, saying a jump in consumer prices last month was distorted by a pandemic-related decline in prices in March 2020., Wednesday’s FOMC decision was unanimous., Powell told a post-meeting press conference that the recovery has been faster than expected but “it remains uneven and far from complete” and the economy “is a long way from our goals.”, U.S. central bankers repeated they would not change the pace of bond buying until “substantial further progress” is made on their employment and inflation goals. The target range of the benchmark federal funds rate was kept at zero to 0.25%, where it’s been since March 2020., Powell said that it was not yet time to discuss scaling back asset purchases and “it will take some time before we see substantial further progress.”, Forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg expect the U.S. economy this year to expand at the fastest pace in more than three decades, with the Fed , in late 2021 that it will start slowing the pace of asset purchases., U.S. central bankers have backed expansive fiscal policy, noting that millions of Americans are still unemployed and run the risk of remaining jobless for the long-term if they don’t find work soon., Since their March meeting, officials have seen the S&P 500 stock index continue to rally while yields on the government 10-year note, after a sharp move up in the first quarter, have traded in a range around 1.6%. The labor market in March added the most jobs in seven months as improvements across most industries boosted nonfarm payrolls by 916,000., Officials have also said policy changes will be based on outcomes, not a forecast, meaning a string of powerful monthly labor market gains would be needed to merit “substantial further progress.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Craig Torres &. Date Created: 28 Apr 2021, 11:30 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Biggest Covered Bond market Magic World Zero [/INST] Markets news. Title: Zero Loses Its Magic in World's Biggest Covered Bond Market. Short_description: The world’s biggest market for mortgage-backed covered bonds has just set another record.. Description: (Bloomberg) -- The world’s biggest market for mortgage-backed covered bonds has just set another record., The home-loan arm of Denmark’s Jyske Bank A/S is offering a new bond, a callable note maturing in 2030 with a coupon of zero. Never in the market’s two-centuries-plus history has a bank pitched a bond with a coupon that low to finance a mortgage, according to the Silkeborg, Denmark-based lender., Jyske said it’ll start offering loans funded by the bond on Monday, and it’s targeting primarily borrowers who want to improve their homes with a new kitchen or carport., Other lenders are expected to follow, since 0.5 percent bonds maturing in 2030 are trading above par, meaning the series will close. Analysts say the development reflects increased demand for highly rated notes as prospects for Europe’s economy darken., It’s also a sign of how distortions from extraordinary monetary policy have become unremarkable., “This is to a large extent a relative game,” said Anders Aalund, chief Danish rates strategist for Nordea Bank Abp in Copenhagen. “Zero is no magical boundary for investors.”, Yields on non-callable one- to three-year bullet bonds, used to finance adjustable rate mortgages, have been below zero for years now. And in recent refinancing auctions, interest rates for borrowers fell to new lows, according to the mortgage arm of Danske Bank A/S, which this month sold bonds for 49 billion kroner ($7.4 billion). It cited especially the turmoil in the financial markets at the end of last year., The zero coupon bond likewise reflects the fact that there’s lots of liquidity sloshing about and too few highly rated assets., “It is basically due to ‘too much money chasing too few bonds’,” Jens Peter Sorensen, chief analyst at Danske Markets, said. “Excess liquidity is high and demand for Danish mortgages is strong – buy safe assets in an unsafe world!”, The market’s awash in money partly because of a high level of redemptions and prepayments, he said. In addition, Danish pension and insurance companies don’t have to use as much of that money to pay taxes, because 2018 wasn’t a particularly good year for profits., Denmark’s $90 Billion PFA Fund Sees More Room to Cut Its Costs, Danish investors will probably be the biggest buyers of the bonds, Aalund said, partly because there are typically fewer notes offered with that maturity and foreign investors prefer to buy into bigger series., Also, Danish investors have had an easier time wrapping their heads around sub-zero, he said., “There are some for whom zero isn’t really attractive; there are a few for whom this is a magic number,” Aalund said. “The ones that have zero as some kind of mental boundary are normally investors in the 30-year bonds, primarily foreigners.”, Meanwhile, coupons on those too are headed down. Several mortgage banks earlier this month said they’ll be offering 30-year bonds with coupons of 1.5 percent, after those with a 2 percent coupon traded above par, closing the series., ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Frances Schwartzkopff. Date Created: 20 Feb 2019, 2:35 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to U.S. Inch Nuclear Deal Sanctions Consensus Iran [/INST] Markets news. Title: Iran, U.S. Inch Toward Nuclear Deal With Sanctions Consensus. Short_description: Iran Deal Talks Resume Next Week After ‘Indisputable Progress’. Description: , Iran said it reached an agreement with parties to the 2015 nuclear deal for the Biden administration to lift a raft of economic sanctions that could propel talks aimed at restoring the historic accord., Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the negotiations in Vienna on Saturday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there was an “agreement in place” over lifting sanctions on “most individuals” and on Iran’s energy, autos, financial, insurance and ports sectors, adding that negotiations were “ongoing” on penalties that apply to other individuals., He gave no additional details, and U.S. officials attending the talks in Vienna didn’t immediately comment. The U.S. isn’t negotiating directly with Iran, but is participating in the discussions led by the other parties to the treaty., One European official sounded a more cautious note, saying that much was still needed to reach a deal and that there was little time left., The official said they’d hoped more progress could have been made over the past week, and that an understanding has yet to be reached on the most critical points. The official asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter., “Talks have reached a level of maturity, in terms of both contentious issues as well as points over which there’s agreement,” Araghchi said, according to Fars. An agreement had not yet been reached on U.S. lifting terrorism designations, including those on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s state-run Press TV reported, citing Araghchi., World powers led by the European Union, and including Russia and China, are trying to broker an agreement between the U.S. and Iran to revive the landmark accord that former President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018. The Vienna talks are focused on reaching a consensus on how the U.S. will remove hundreds of sanctions from Iran’s economy., Iran has said that the U.S. must remove all sanctions that the Trump administration imposed on Iran, not just those that come under the terms of the nuclear accord., Araghchi added that delegates were also working on the details and minutiae of the text of a document that will formalize the U.S.’s return to, and Iran’s full compliance with, the original agreement, which limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief., Earlier on Saturday, after the latest round of talks ended, Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said that while it was “too early to be excited,” there’d been “indisputable progress,” adding that delegates planned to reconvene at the end of next week after returning to their capitals on Saturday afternoon., Officials have spent three weeks shuttling back and forth to Vienna, and , to complete talks and finalize an agreement over the deal by May 22, Ulyanov said. That’s when Iran’s interim nuclear monitoring agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency expires., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Golnar Motevalli &. Date Created: 01 May 2021, 8:30 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to U.S. Venture Capital Withstanding Biden Tax plan Raimondo [/INST] Markets news. Title: Raimondo Sees U.S. Venture Capital Withstanding Biden Tax Plans. Short_description: Raimondo Sees U.S. Venture Capital Withstanding Biden Tax Plans. Description: U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo defended the Biden administration’s proposals to raise capital-gains tax rates and end a key tax break used by private-equity and venture-capital investors, saying such changes won’t discourage investment., “Entrepreneurs like to invent, like to create businesses. Venture capitalists, they’re going to continue to invest in those entrepreneurs,” Raimondo, a former venture capitalist, said Friday in a Bloomberg Television interview with David Westin. “And truthfully, I think there were many who believe, even in the business, that giving preferential treatment to carried interest was never really fair.”, Biden is calling for restoring the top personal income tax rate to 39.6% for people earning more than $400,000 a year, taxing capital gains at the same rate for people earning $1 million or more, and ending the carried interest tax break utilized by fund managers as a key method of compensation., In addition to salaries, private equity managers rely especially on a share of the appreciation in the assets they oversee -- known as carried interest. Those profits -- sometimes in the millions of dollars -- have been taxed as capital gains, at a rate much lower than the top marginal income tax rate applied to wages. Proponents of carried interest say it encourages long-term investment., Venture capitalists also argue the tax proposal would discourage investors and entrepreneurs from helping the Biden administration achieve its goals around innovation and climate change as part of the Build Back Better program, according to Bobby Franklin, head of the National Venture Capital Association, a trade group., “The tax increases on capital gains, including carried interest, undercut this effort by specifically targeting the very entrepreneurs and long-term investment funds whose participation will ultimately determine whether the Build Back Better agenda is successful,” Franklin said in a , Wednesday., The current capital-gains rate is 20%, while the top marginal income tax rate is 37%., “There isn’t really great evidence to back up the claim that an increase in capital gains taxes will result in a decrease in innovation capital,” Raimondo said., Raimondo also pledged to continue using export controls to protect American innovation and companies from China., “Frankly we can’t afford for some of this technology to get into the hands of the Chinese government, which some of these can be used for military purposes as well,” she said., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Eric Martin. Date Created: 30 Apr 2021, 9:25 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Naftogaz Boss Warns Corruption Risks Ukraine [/INST] Markets news. Title: Ousted Naftogaz Boss Warns of Corruption Risks for Ukraine. Short_description: Ousted Naftogaz Boss Warns of Heightened Graft Risks for Ukraine. Description: The ousted head of Ukraine’s Naftogaz Ukrainy warned of a possible return to an era of mismanagement and corruption at state-owned companies as he prepares to challenge his , by the government., Speaking in an interview, former Chief Executive Officer Andriy Kobolyev maintained that firing him over the energy producer’s 2020 losses was illegal as it contravened governance rules. That’s a position that’s been backed by Western donors including the U.S. and the World Bank, though the Justice Ministry has denied violations., The situation risks further delaying transfers from a $5 billion International Monetary Fund loan and comes before a visit to Kyiv this week by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The State Department has called the matter “troubling.”, Kobolyev’s departure last week prompted the resignations of all but one member of Naftogaz’s supervisory board, which was bypassed by the cabinet. Chair Clare Spottiswoode cited a “total destruction of good corporate governance.”, “If the government thinks supervisory boards don’t matter, then this is a whole new reality,” Kobolyev said Saturday. “I don’t believe Western partners will agree because this is a return to, at best, ineffective management and, at worst, deep corruption. If corporate-governance reforms are nullified, it will be a very big and unpleasant blow to economic growth.”, Corruption has dogged Ukraine since the fall of communism, with successive administrations struggling to make major inroads. This isn’t the first time interference by politicians in the operations of state-run enterprises has bubbled over: Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius complained of similar meddling by lawmakers when he resigned in 2016., Kobolyev, at the helm of Naftogaz since 2014, helped overhaul Ukraine’s energy industry, reduce the burden on the state from subsidies and win a, billion-dollar legal battle with Russia. He did face some criticism, however, as heating costs were gradually increased and the company reported 19 billion hryvnia ($680 million) in losses last year., Kobolyev says he was ousted for refusing to direct Naftogaz funds to the state budget -- something the cabinet requested. He also mentioned an uneasy relationship with Andriy Yermak, who heads President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration. The personnel shakeup has derailed plans for Naftogaz to sell Eurobonds this week, Kobolyev said., The company’s executive board urged the government on Wednesday to resolve the situation around the supervisory panel, saying its continued absence risks disrupting operations. , ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Volodymyr Verbyany &. Date Created: 05 May 2021, 12:59 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Puerto Rico Debt Crunch Eases Lifts Surplus U.S. [/INST] Markets news. Title: Puerto Rico Debt Crunch Eases as U.S. Aid Lifts Surplus. Short_description: Puerto Rico Projects Bigger Surplus on Influx of Federal Aid. Description: , Puerto Rico is expected to post a cumulative budget surplus of $15.2 billion through 2035 as $123.5 billion of federal disaster funds and coronavirus relief money helps boost the local economy, according to the commonwealth’s latest fiscal plan., That surplus is crucial because the island’s financial oversight board anticipates using the money to cover Puerto Rico’s debt-service costs. The commonwealth would begin to repay principal and interest on its bonds as soon as January 2022 if it’s able to restructure its debt this year as part of its bankruptcy, according to the plan posted on its website., While the estimate pushes out anticipated deficits by four years to fiscal 2036, Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi and the island’s legislature will need to implement structural reforms to realize the surpluses and continue economic growth after the federal cash runs out, Natalie Jaresko, the board’s executive director, said Friday during a meeting where the panel voted unanimously to approve the fiscal plan., “We have a unique opportunity, given by significant federal funds, given by the fact that we will be getting out of bankruptcy,” Jaresko said during the meeting. “And we can take not small steps, but big steps to get over the finish line and that finish line is a better life for Puerto Ricans right here in Puerto Rico.”, The, year proposal serves as a framework for Puerto Rico’s yearly operating budgets., The release comes as the board has reached tentative deals with bond insurers and rival bondholder groups that would slash $18.8 billion of debt tied to the central government by 61% to $7.4 billion. Those agreements may allow the commonwealth to resolve its bankruptcy this year., Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy started in May 2017, when it sought to restructure most of the $74 billion of debt the commonwealth and its agencies owed at that time. Puerto Rico will pay an estimated $1.6 billion in professional fees and expenses from fiscal 2018 through fiscal 2026 to restructure its obligations, according to the fiscal plan., The projected $15.2 billion surplus is for fiscal 2022 through fiscal 2035, the last year before deficits are set to return. That’s a boost from May 2020, when the board approved a fiscal plan reflecting the pandemic’s harm to the island’s economy and included a $5.8 billion surplus from fiscal 2022 through fiscal 2031, with deficits beginning in fiscal 2032., Still, the $15.2 billion cushion is smaller than the board’s pre-pandemic estimate of an $18.4 billion surplus from fiscal 2022 through fiscal 2037., If island lawmakers fail to implement structural reforms such as increasing workforce participation and making it easier to do business, the commonwealth would have a budget deficit as soon as fiscal 2023, according to the fiscal plan., “In the next couple of years if these structural reforms aren’t implemented, once this federal money goes away, the commonwealth is going to have some serious financial problems,” said board member John Nixon, who served as Michigan’s budget director from 2011 through 2014., The island’s economy is expected to increase this year by 1%, up from an earlier estimate of .5%. It’s projected to then grow in the next four years by a combined 1.4%, compared with an earlier forecast of a 3% contraction during that time., For long-term growth, the fiscal plan includes labor and welfare reforms to boost workforce participation, improvements to K-12 education, reducing hurdles for starting and sustaining a business, and making electricity on the island more reliant and affordable., If enacted, those changes could increase revenue by nearly $31 billion from fiscal 2022 through fiscal 2051, according to the plan., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Michelle Kaske. Date Created: 23 Apr 2021, 5:59 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to New Highs Rosy Oil Demand Outlook commodity [/INST] Markets news. Title: Commodities Reach New Highs on Rosy Oil-Demand Outlook. Short_description: Commodities Jump to New Highs Amid Oil-Demand Rebound Optimism. Description: Commodities prices jumped to new highs as signs of economic recovery raised hopes of renewed energy demand and a weaker dollar stoked investor appetite for precious metals., The Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index, which tracks price movements for 23 raw materials, rose 0.7% Monday. The index is at levels not seen since 2012., Oil, the most heavily weighted commodity in the group, climbed after the European Union , travel restrictions, a move that could further boost a rebound in fuel demand globally. Meanwhile, the greenback retreated, spurring buying of dollar-denominated commodities including silver and gold., The world could again be using 100 million barrels a day of crude oil by the end of 2021, which would be a full recovery from the devastating impacts of stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions over the past year, according to Enterprise Products Partners. Demand for hydrocarbons could reach all-time highs as soon as next year, Tony Chovanec, Enterprise’s senior vice president for fundamentals and commodity risk assessment, said during a conference call with investors., Prices for everything from copper to oil to timber have sky-rocketed as the world’s largest economies recovers from the pandemic, with growing signs of shortages across markets. Manufacturing and building are picking up, cars are filling the streets again and more people are booking airline tickets as they get vaccinated at a time when supplies are curbed by bottlenecks, production curbs and poor weather. China is buying record amounts of corn, and pricier agricultural grains have upended global trade flows., Hedge funds have increased bullish bets in commodity futures for three consecutive weeks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Massive government spending and loose monetary policy have stoked fears of inflation, which has also fueled the bull run. Commodities are typically seen by investors as a hedge against inflation and a weaker dollar., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Gerson Freitas Jr. Date Created: 04 May 2021, 1:08 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Credit Suisse director Holders Archegos [/INST] Markets news. Title: Credit Suisse Top Holders Seek to Oust Directors Over Archegos. Short_description: Credit Suisse Top Shareholders Call for Removal of Board Members. Description: Credit Suisse Group AG’s top shareholders have called for the removal of key board members ahead of the bank’s annual general meeting, after mounting losses linked to a failed hedge-fund further eroded confidence in the lender’s leadership., Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, one of the bank’s top investors, will vote against re-election to the board of six members including lead independent director Severin Schwan, audit committee head Richard Meddings and risk committee head Andreas Gottschling, according to voting instructions , on its website., Proxy adviser Glass Lewis also advised shareholders , re-electing Gottschling, while David Herro of Harris Associates has called for changes to be made in the bank’s risk control at every level where there are deficiencies., Shareholder discontent has simmered after Credit Suisse was hit harder than any other competitor by the collapse of Archegos, the family office of U.S. investor Bill Hwang. The bank’s hit from the collapse runs to $5.5 billion so far, prompting it to raise $2 billion from investors and cut the hedge fund unit at the center of the losses., The Archegos blowup fueled criticism of Credit Suisse’s risk management, as it came just weeks after the bank found itself at the center of the Greensill Capital scandal, when it was forced to suspend investment funds., Shareholders will vote on compensation and the election of new board members in an annual general meeting on Friday April 30., “Shareholders would be warranted to also attribute accountability to the board’s risk committee,” Glass Lewis wrote earlier this month, adding that a change in leadership of the risk committee is needed to regain shareholder trust after the recent financial and reputation damage., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Patrick Winters. Date Created: 26 Apr 2021, 4:15 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Vaccine IP Waiver Proposal Hits Drugmakers China Stocks Slump [/INST] Markets news. Title: China Stocks Slump as Vaccine IP Waiver Proposal Hits Drugmakers. Short_description: Traders Prepare for Muted China Open, Little Upside for Stocks. Description: China’s key equities index fell on Thursday following the Labor Day break, led by a slump in drugmakers after news that the U.S. will support a proposal to waive intellectual-property protections for Covid-19 vaccines., The CSI 300 Index dropped 1.2%, while the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2% at close. The tech-heavy ChiNext Index fell 2.5%. The health-care subgauge was the worst performer on the benchmark CSI 300, while Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. dropped by as much as 26% in Hong Kong on the prospect of , global supply., Tourism stocks also fell despite the increased number of travelers over the break from a year earlier. Songcheng Performance Development Co. closed 5.4% lower, while China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp. lost 5.2%. Even with domestic travel recovering, spending still lags, Citigroup Inc. analysts including Lydia Ling wrote in a note., Adding to the bearish sentiment was a statement from China saying the nation was , ministerial economic talks with Australia, a largely symbolic move showing Beijing’s growing frustration with Canberra. Rising geopolitical tensions between China and some western countries are also weighing on the market, with the European Union increasingly taking a , stance on Beijing., “It’s unclear what the actual impact of halting the dialogue will be on trade and markets,” said Wu Xuan, chief strategist at Tebon Fund. “It does cast doubt and uncertainty , the safety of investments of Chinese firms overseas, especially in areas where the geopolitical conditions are not so friendly toward China.”, While growth continues in the world’s second-largest economy, traders say the recent economic signals offer few catalysts to push the key benchmark away from its recent narrow band. The , since 2010 were met with , trading, a , of new pandemic cases in developing countries is weighing on markets, a supercharged commodities boom may spur inflation and the Communist Party’s Politburo meeting last week called for a , of macro policies., “The mainland market lacks upside catalyst,” said Castor Pang, head of research at Core Pacific Yamaichi. “The Politburo meeting offered nothing that excite the investors, as there is no additional incentives to boost the economy. The virus situation is worrying and the relationship with the U.S. is relatively sour.”, Traders were , about Thursday’s open as they recalled their return from the last national holiday in February when a rally that pushed the CSI 300 past its 2007 peak fizzled on the back of a renewed deleveraging campaign by Beijing. The gauge is down 12% since that year-to-date high before Thursday., That’s not to say there aren’t drivers that could give the market a lift out of the doldrums. The end of the holidays will mean retail investors could return en masse, having piled into Chinese equity exchange-traded funds ahead of the break. Both Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS Group AG strategists believe the recent decline has made Chinese stocks relatively attractive, as the benchmarks are trading at undemanding price-to-earnings multiples., Read more: ‘Buy in May’ Is Right Strategy for Goldman and UBS: China Today, Foreign investors have been bullish: they bought a combined 52.6 billion yuan ($8.1 billion) of mainland stocks through Hong Kong’s stock trading links with Shanghai and Shenzhen in April, the most in four months, according to , . On Thursday, they net bought 184 million yuan of mainland shares via the links., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Jeanny Yu. Date Created: 06 May 2021, 3:30 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to tax Hikes Rich Americans Shift ETFs [/INST] Markets news. Title: Rich Americans Fleeing Tax Hikes May Turbocharge Shift to ETFs. Short_description: Rich Americans Fleeing Tax Hikes May Turbocharge Shift to ETFs. Description: The booming ETF industry may be set to lure even more cash in the coming years as rich Americans facing higher capital gains taxes look to limit what they owe Uncle Sam., President Joe Biden’s , to double the rate those making more than $1 million a year pay on investment profits would accelerate a shift that’s already seen hundreds of billions of dollars migrate from mutual funds to exchange-traded funds, market watchers say. That’s because ETFs are generally more tax efficient, spinning off fewer capital-gain disbursements that for some could soon become a lot more costly., In fact, by , , the tax efficiency of ETFs has been the single most important driver behind the tectonic shift in asset allocations in recent years. While the administration’s plan remains in its infancy and is sure to face intense scrutiny from lawmakers in the months ahead, even an incremental hike in the capital-gains rate would likely spur further ETF usage, according to David Perlman, an ETF strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management., “If capital gains tax rates are going to be higher, if you have a choice of a structure that helps to defer capital gains and gives you more control over when to recognize those gains, you’d be more inclined to go in that direction,” Perlman said., When an investor exits a mutual fund, the fund’s manager must sell securities to raise cash for the redemption. The same investor leaving an ETF can sell their shares on to another investor, meaning neither the fund nor its manager has made a taxable transaction., Meanwhile, the “in-kind” process used to create and redeem shares in an ETF -- whereby the ETF issuer exchanges the fund’s underlying securities with a market maker rather than transacting in cash -- means the ETF rarely executes a taxable sale., A December study by researchers at Villanova and Lehigh universities found that over the past five years, ETFs have averaged a tax burden 0.92% lower than active mutual funds. Moreover, particularly for high net-worth investors, tax considerations have outweighed both performance and fees as the primary driver of flows out of active mutual funds and into ETFs, the findings showed., “There’s no question Biden’s plan to hike the capital gains tax could be a boon for ETFs,” Nate Geraci, president of the ETF Store, an advisory firm, said via email. “Despite significant market share gains by ETFs over the past decade, there are still trillions of dollars locked in less tax efficient mutual funds.”, Last year alone, the ETF industry took in almost $500 billion, while mutual funds lost about $362 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg., Most ETFs hardly pass along any capital gains to shareholders nowadays. Only 3 of 585 in a CFRA analysis made disbursements in 2020, Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF & mutual fund research at the firm, wrote in an April 26 report. Over the same span, 37 of 39 domestic equity mutual funds from T. Rowe Price Group Inc. incurred a capital gain, the analysis showed., “We expect more people that mix ETFs and mutual funds together will be more inclined to shift toward strategies to avoid paying higher capital gains taxes in the future,” Rosenbluth wrote., Even investors not affected by the higher rate could migrate toward ETFs, he added. Simply the discussion of capital gains reminds investors of the industry’s innate tax advantages over mutual funds., Others aren’t convinced a higher capital-gains rate will do much to boost inflows into ETFs. Wealthy investors would have to sell their mutual fund holdings to make the switch, triggering significant tax liabilities in the process, said Michael Zigmont, head of trading and research at Harvest Volatility Management., “I see this tax hike not being good or bad for ETFs,” he said., Meanwhile, ETFs don’t suit every investment need. The U.S. retirement system remains heavily geared toward mutual funds, for example., Nonetheless, Perlman agrees with Rosenbluth that the potential tax change could even have an impact on investors below the $1 million annual earnings threshold., Those expecting to soon find themselves in the upper tax bracket, or concerned the threshold could be lowered down the road, are also likely to shift their future allocations, he said., “The incentives apply more broadly than just to those impacted by the proposal,” Perlman said., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Claire Ballentine &. Date Created: 02 May 2021, 5:30 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Dead Cat Bounce Charts Heading life record s&p [/INST] Markets news. Title: S&P 500’s ‘Dead Cat Bounce’ Finds More Life With Charts Heading Toward a Record. Short_description: S&P 500’s ‘Dead Cat Bounce’ Finds More Life With Charts Heading Toward a Record. Description: (Bloomberg) -- Just a few weeks ago, the consensus seemed to be that the post-Christmas rally was a , that would lead the market back to its December lows., Up in seven of the last eight weeks, the S&P 500 has barely looked back, and the voices of doom have gone all but mute. To the contrary: calls have gotten louder for the market to reclaim its record of 2,930 reached in September. At around 2,785, the index is about 5 percent away of doing just that., Days after strategists at , pinned the hope on a trade deal between the U.S. and China, Tony Dwyer at Canaccord Genuity highlighted broadening market momentum as evidence in support of a sustained rally. At Friday’s close, more than 90 percent of S&P 500 stocks traded above their average prices over the past 50 days, the most since early 2016., If history is of any guide, such broad participation has boded well for stocks. Out of 14 other similar instances that Canaccord identified since 1990, all but one were followed by higher prices three months later, with the S&P 500 rising 5.1 percent on average., “We found another breadth thrust extreme that suggests the market should see new highs in 2019,” Dwyer wrote in a note Tuesday. “Any pause in the upside should be temporary.”, Stocks are staging one of the fastest recoveries after falling to the brink of a bear market in December amid growing concern over global growth and Federal Reserve monetary tightening. Dwyer attributed much of the turnaround to a shift in the central bank’s tone as Fed Chair Jerome Powell showed more willingness to be patient before hiking rates., Amid improving sentiment on Wall Street, real investors have been reluctant to chase the equity rally. Money has been pulled out of equity funds and even at those that have stay invested, exposure was kept low relative to history, all the reason to , strategists why the market advance should last., By one measure, the market has already regained the ground lost during the fourth quarter. So many stocks have risen over the past two months that a gauge known as the NYSE cumulative advance-decline line exceeded the Sept. 20 peak this month, reaching a fresh record., Of course, nobody actually knows what stocks will do. Momentum is gathering steam, with the S&P 500’s 14-day relative strength index approaching 70 for the first time since August. A reading above that threshold is typically seen as a sign that stocks have risen too far, too fast. , A big barrier in the S&P 500 chart lies around 2,800, a level that has halted five rallies in the past year. The round number is close to a fair value should one apply the five-year average price-earnings ratio of 16.6 to the per-share profit of $168.2 estimated by analysts for 2019., To John Kolovos, a strategist at Macro Risk Advisors, the 2,800 level represents “the Mother of All Resistance.” But investors shouldn’t be blindsided by the risk, he said., “While the rulebook says to play it tight in anticipation of a setback, what is obvious is obviously wrong,” Kolovos said. “We need to be open minded to a melt up scenario to 2900, which in our opinion would be a very painful pain trade.”, ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Lu Wang. Date Created: 20 Feb 2019, 11:10 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Coinbase Backer Parlays fantasy [/INST] Markets news. Title: Coinbase Backer Parlays ‘Fantasy’ Bet Into $4.6 Billion. Short_description: Coinbase Backer Parlays ‘Fantasy’ Bet Into $4.6 Billion. Description: Before his bet on cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. became a, billion-dollar exit, Union Square Ventures co-founder Fred Wilson compared Bitcoin to science fiction., “We may be completely wrong, it may be a fantasy,” he said at a marketing conference in May 2013. That was shortly after he had , $2.5 million in Coinbase, the U.S.’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, where people can buy and sell Bitcoin and other digital tokens such as Ethereum and Litecoin. “It’s straight out of a sci-fi novel, but sci-fi novels are the best things you can read if you want to invest,” Wilson said. “It’s a gut bet.”, Eight years later, Wilson’s wager became Union Square’s most profitable exit. Earlier this month, Coinbase listed on Nasdaq and soared to $328.28 a share, catapulting the company’s valuation on a fully diluted basis to about $86 billion. That’s a ten-fold increase from its last public funding round in 2018 and valued Union Square’s stake at $4.6 billion by the end of the first trading day., Wilson will have to listen carefully to his gut to navigate the volatile cryptocurrency market and Coinbase’s rocky debut. But the large volume of cryptocurrency trading is good for boosting Coinbase’s revenue, and Bitcoin has been rallying again after hitting its lowest level since early March. Wilson has said that “one of the hardest things in managing a venture capital portfolio is managing your big winners.” On the day of the Coinbase listing, Union Square Ventures sold 4.7 million shares for $1.8 billion, according to securities , ., Coinbase isn’t Wilson’s first foray into a nascent technology trend but it’s certainly the largest payout. His New York-based venture capital firm has invested in more than 100 businesses and has had 10 public exits since the firm’s inception in 2003. Nine of those have reaped billion-dollar valuations on the day of their stock market debut, according to data from PitchBook and Securities and Exchange Commission filings compiled by Bloomberg., Wilson was an early believer in the social networks that defined the 2010s and oversaw Union Square’s biggest successes, including Twitter Inc.’s $24 billion valuation after the company went public in 2013, boosting the value of the firm’s stake to $1.2 billion, online gaming company Zynga Inc.’s $7 billion IPO in 2011 and Tumblr’s $1.1 billion purchase by Yahoo!., “Fred is driven by intellectual curiosity,” said Zynga founder and chairman Mark Pincus. “He didn’t get involved for the money.”, Wilson declined to be interviewed for this article saying he doesn’t “think investors should be the focus of attention when the entrepreneurs and management create all of the value.”, Union Square’s , iteration of its investment philosophy homes in on companies with strong communities that “broaden access to knowledge, capital and well-being,” according to the firm’s website. “Coinbase is at the center of this” said , , chief innovation officer at Columbia Business School where she teaches venture capital and leadership courses. “Most venture capital firms deviate from their investment thesis. Union Square is very disciplined. They’re very smart about taking a trend and breaking it into components.”, Wilson began investing in 1987 at Euclid Partners, a small venture capital firm in New York, recalling it “wasn’t a stellar start” to his career, he , in his blog in 2008. Then the internet came along. Wilson co-founded Flatiron Partners with , in 1996 and together they invested $150 million into early stage internet deals that turned into $750 million in the span of three years, according to Wilson’s blog post. “We were undisciplined and not diversified,” Colonna said in an interview. “We were a little too enthusiastic.” Colonna is now the CEO of executive coaching firm Reboot.io, where his work was described in a Wired article as: “, .”, Flatiron folded in 2001 during the dot-com bust, but Wilson carried those lessons to Union Square, Colonna said. “Fred’s not a Vegas gambler. He doesn’t throw darts at the wall and doesn’t just tag along to other people’s investments.”, Wilson’s belief in connecting ideas, people and experiences on the internet through networks was in motion even before social media startups made it into his portfolio. The native New Yorker’s networking ethos was born out of the post-dot-com bubble era that ushered in early social networking startups or “, 2.0” companies like Friendster, Orkut and Tribe.net. His views were first put into practice when he started his popular blog, , , in September 2003, shortly before he co-founded Union Square with Brad Burnham., Though his early posts revolved around family, hobbies and music, the blog expanded into tech, business and management and became a vehicle for sourcing investment ideas and connecting with entrepreneurs, he said in a March 2006 , with Businessweek’s Cutting Edge podcast. “The process of writing helps me crystallize my thoughts about what’s interesting and what’s not interesting, what’s potentially strategic and what’s potentially risky about a particular sector.”, One of Wilson’s earliest musings on cryptocurrency was in 2011, when he , that “an alternative currency with roots in peer to peer networks and based on an algorithm that is transparent to everyone is an idea whose time has come.” Union Square’s founding theory of seeking out emerging, fast-growing online communities has since evolved beyond original social media to include other blockchain and cryptocurrency startups like Stacks 2.0, an open network for decentralized apps and contracts on the blockchain, and even , , an Ethereum-based virtual game that allows players to adopt, raise, and trade virtual cats that kickstarted the craze for non-fungible tokens, or NFTs., Coinbase’s breakthrough listing was the buzziest investment in recent years for Wilson, whose enthusiasm has been more , compared with crypto evangelists like investor Mike Novogratz or the Winklevoss brothers who started the Gemini digital asset exchange., In January 2018, Wilson , about locking in profits at a time when Bitcoin was taking off. “I know that many crypto holders think that selling anything is a mistake. And it might be. Or it might not be. You just don’t know,” he said. By the end of that year, Bitcoin had plunged over 70%., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Jacqueline Davalos. Date Created: 30 Apr 2021, 3:30 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to New Climate Pledge Puts U.S. EU League U.K. [/INST] Markets news. Title: New Climate Pledge Puts U.S. in League of EU, U.K.. Short_description: New Climate Pledge Puts U.S. in League of EU, U.K.. Description: The new U.S. emissions target announced by President Joe Biden on April 22 represents a significant increase in ambition, putting the country almost on equal terms with the EU and U.K. in terms of overall commitment. However, others are further ahead in terms of implementing zero-carbon policies - a gap the U.S. will need to fill to assume a role as a climate leader., See the full research report here, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Victoria Cuming. Date Created: 23 Apr 2021, 4:37 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Asian Currencies Weaken Taper Plan Fed dollar [/INST] Markets news. Title: Asian Currencies Weaken as Fed’s Taper Plan Boosts Dollar. Short_description: Asian Currencies Weaken as Fed’s Taper Plan Boosts Dollar. Description: Most emerging-Asian currencies weakened against the greenback, with the Thai baht hitting the lowest level in four years, as the dollar advanced after the Federal Reserve said taper could start “soon.”, Asian currencies have been weighed down by the hawkish tilt from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who on Wednesday signaled the bond tapering is expected to start in November and would be completed by mid-2022, which is , than the previous tapering cycle in 2014 which lasted for 10 months. , “The FOMC was a bit more hawkish than expected, pushing the U.S. dollar higher,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore. “With the FOMC now out of the way, news around China Evergrande will dominate market sentiment.”, The Korean won led losses in Asia as it fell as much as 0.9% against the dollar, partially playing a catch-up as onshore markets return from a three-day holiday, while the Philippine peso and baht were also among underperformers, with the Thai currency falling to a four-year low. , In addition to signaling the start of taper, the Fed’s median dot plot projections now show officials are evenly split on whether to raise the federal funds rate as soon as the next year, while in June, the median forecast indicated no rate increases until 2023. , ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Marcus Wong. Date Created: 23 Sep 2021, 8:49 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Q4 Profit Falls Indiamart Stock Tumbles [/INST] Markets news. Title: Indiamart Stock Tumbles As Q4 Profit Falls 31% Sequentially. Short_description: Indiamart Intermesh’s profit fell 31% over the previous quarter in Q4.. Description: Shares of Indiamart Intermesh Ltd., operator of the namesake online retail platform, fell the most in 13 months as its profit tumbled sequentially in the quarter ended March. , Net profit rose 26% over a year earlier to Rs 56 crore in the three months ended March, according to its exchange filings. But it fell 31% over the previous quarter. , The company reported a deferred tax asset write-off of Rs 10.9 crore on account of latest tax amendments on goodwill recognition. , Consolidated revenue rose 6% year-on-year to Rs 190 crore. It grew 4% sequentially. The company attributed the growth to improvement in realisation from existing customers and increase in number of paying subscription suppliers. , JM Financial Research in its note, however, said the company’s standalone revenue, contributing 99% to the company’s business, missed estimated by a percent or two as period-end paying customer base of 1,52,000 was slightly below the brokerage’s estimates of about 1,54,000. Standalone other income (net of finance expenses) of Rs 4.7 crore was significantly below its estimate of Rs 16.6 crore., Indiamart’s Ebitda declined 3% sequentially to Rs 85 crore. This was weighed down by a 13% rise in manpower and outsourced sales cost. Operating income, however, rose 63% over a year earlier due to a lower base and a 16% decline in year-on-year manpower costs. , In the fourth quarter, Indiamart successfully completed a qualified institutional placement of equity shares to raise Rs 1,070 crore, the proceeds of which will be used for future growth and expansion. , Cash and Investments balance stood at Rs 2,365 crore as on March 31 compared with Rs 931 crore a year earlier. , The board recommended a final dividend of Rs 15 per share for FY21, subject to shareholder approval. , closed 9.83% down, the most since March 23, 2020, compared with a 1.77% fall in the Nifty 50.. Publisher: Nickey Mirchandani. Date Created: 30 Apr 2021, 3:50 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to oil Posts Weekly Loss Patchy Demand Rebound market [/INST] Markets news. Title: Oil Posts Weekly Loss With Market Facing Patchy Demand Rebound. Short_description: Oil remains more than 25% higher in 2021, aided by the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines & vigilant supply management from the OPEC+.. Description: Oil fell this week with spreading coronavirus cases in countries such as India tempering optimism around positive signs out of the U.S. and Europe., Futures in New York rose the most in over a week on Friday, but were unable to reverse a 1.6% weekly loss as the market weighed a global economic reopening that’s coming in fits and starts. The U.S. has remained near the forefront of the world’s budding demand recovery from the pandemic, and the latest manufacturing figures out of Europe have stoked optimism around a recovery there., However, India has been setting record numbers of daily coronavirus cases, threatening demand in the world’s third-largest oil importer. The country’s diesel and gasoline consumption could fall by a fifth this month, and traders said the nation’s largest refiner had refrained from buying West African oil this week, defying expectations., See also: Oil Traders Fret Lack of Indian Interest in West Africa’s Crude, “There was a real strong belief that we were going to see a very robust demand outlook from Asia,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp. But with concerns in countries such as India and Japan, it shows “the global economic recovery is not going to be balanced by any means, and that’s going to derail the international travel situation.”, Oil is up almost 30% this year, but prices have struggled to reach new heights recently with the coronavirus situation deteriorating in some key oil consuming countries. India’s combined consumption of , is poised to plunge by as much as 20% in April from a month earlier due to renewed restrictions, according to officials from refiners and fuel retailers. Meanwhile, Japan is facing an increase in cases and a , will be declared from Sunday to May 11 in cities including Tokyo., “In the short-term, the market is facing an uneven recovery in demand,” said Andrew Lebow, senior partner at Commodity Research Group. “With concerns around India and Japan, which are two of the top five consumers of petroleum products, the market is trying to gauge where we’re going on demand.”, While India has so far avoided re-entering a nationwide lockdown, the demand impact would be comparable to the one faced during last year’s initial wave were it to do so, Cornerstone Macro analysts Jan Stuart and Thomas Marchetti said in a note., Still, prices have averted further losses, aided by the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and vigilant supply management from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies. OPEC+ is set to start easing deep supply curbs from May, and the group is expected to hold a full ministerial meeting next week to assess the global state of play., Adding to daily gains on Friday was a string of robust economic data out of the U.S. , in the country rebounded in March to the highest since 2006, while a composite gauge of output at manufacturers and service providers reached a , in April. The U.S. dollar weakened on Friday, boosting the appeal of commodities priced in the currency, while the S&P 500 Index climbed., “We are starting to see investors dip their toes back into commodities,” Ryan Fitzmaurice, commodities strategist at Rabobank, said in a note. After next week’s OPEC+ meeting, there’s “upside risk to oil prices developing as investors rush to ramp-up commodity exposure to offset the impacts of a falling dollar and to hedge inflation risks.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Andres Guerra Luz. Date Created: 23 Apr 2021, 5:59 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Extreme Competence ticket Buffett Abel [/INST] Markets news. Title: Abel’s ‘Extreme Competence’ Seen as Ticket to Following Buffett. Short_description: Warren Buffett said Greg Abel would be his likely successor if the billionaire were to step down.. Description: Replacing the irreplaceable Warren Buffett won’t be easy., But that’s the path ahead for Greg Abel, a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. vice chairman who was publicly identified as the successor to America’s most renowned investor for the first time on Monday. Buffett said the 58-year-old executive will take over the $630 billion business when he steps down., Abel’s more than two-decade track record at the conglomerate includes high-profile dealmaking and overseeing its sprawling non-insurance businesses, from the BNSF railroad to Dairy Queen. But Buffett’s aphorisms and stature as the Oracle of Omaha have earned him a reputation as the avuncular face of capitalism, and secured him a following that Abel may find hard to replicate., “There’s only one Warren Buffett,” David Kass, a professor of finance at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, said in a phone interview. “But he brings other strengths to the table,” Kass said of Abel. “He exudes extreme competence.”, While Buffett has still given no indication his departure is imminent, succession questions have long loomed over Berkshire, which counts two nonagenarians as its top executives: Buffett, 90, and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, 97. Buffett has left a trail of crumbs pointing toward the answer, with such moves as the promotion of Abel and Ajit Jain to vice chairmen in 2018. But the biggest hint was the one Munger inadvertently dropped at Saturday’s annual meeting., “Greg will keep the culture,” Munger said, responding to a point made by Buffett about how decentralization only works at companies such as Berkshire because of their culture., Buffett later confirmed what Munger had let slip., “The directors are in agreement that if something were to happen to me tonight, it would be Greg who’d take over tomorrow morning,” Buffett told CNBC. “We’ve always at Berkshire had basically a unanimous agreement as to who should take over the next day.”, Berkshire didn’t respond to requests for comment, and Abel declined to comment through an assistant., Whitney Tilson, a longtime Buffett watcher at Empire Financial Research, said he doesn’t expect the CEO to step down for at least five years., When Abel ascends to the top role, he’ll run a company renowned for its size and breadth -- an empire with businesses including auto insurer Geico and retailers such as See’s Candies and Oriental Trading. But he’ll also need to convince many loyal shareholders, and potentially some newcomers, that he’s the man for the job., Berkshire already is facing pushback from shareholders with two , at Saturday’s meeting, one urging the company to better address climate-change risks and the other about diversity and inclusion. Both were voted down., “The big challenge for Greg is going to be hold off what I perceive to be the increased risk of activism sort of banging on Berkshire’s door,” said Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research. “Greg’s tenure at Berkshire is probably going to start with a heightened amount of pressure and activism.”, “We think Greg Abel would carry on Berkshire’s culture as Buffett’s successor.”, --Matthew Palazola, senior industry analyst, and Kylie Towbin, associate analyst. Read the analysis here., Buffett has spent more than five decades building Berkshire, with its array of seemingly unrelated businesses, into the massive conglomerate it is today. He’s also sought, in past letters and meetings, to explain Berkshire’s structure and all the reasons the corporation makes sense set up the way it is., But the stock has lagged the S&P 500 in recent years, stoking criticism about the structure and the lack of investing opportunities for such a massive company. Buffett has been struggling to find ways to deploy a near-record cash pile of $145.4 billion into higher-returning assets. Those factors could bring calls from activists or shareholders to break up the company, issue a dividend or find other ways to deploy cash., Part of the strategy for the post-Buffett era is already decided. Buffett has previously suggested that one of his sons, Howard Buffett, should take over as non-executive chairman to keep the culture intact. Warren Buffett has historically handled Berkshire’s investments, but has added two deputies, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, in recent years to help him with the $282 billion stock portfolio. The pair could continue to , when Abel takes over., Investors got a glimpse of Abel’s style at the past two annual meetings. This year, he put up a presentation to talk about the energy businesses’ climate disclosures. His demeanor is more formal than the humor that marks presentations by Buffett or Munger., But Abel’s level of insight into Berkshire’s businesses and his formality could give investors a useful level of transparency, according to Jim Shanahan, an analyst at Edward D. Jones & Co. Plus, Buffett has been , on travel in recent years, and Abel’s younger age might afford him the chance to visit the operating businesses more frequently., “There’s a chance here that he’s a more traditional CEO, not a chief capital allocator or stock picker,” Shanahan said. “He’s operationally a more traditional CEO, and there’s maybe some opportunity here for him to have a substantial impact on bottom-line operating results at these operating companies.”, Abel rose to prominence at Berkshire as a key manager of the energy operations, building those units into a business that now has more than 23,000 , . He , a predecessor firm in 1992 and later became part of Berkshire when Buffett , MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. in 2000. The executive, who grew up in Canada, is also an astute dealmaker, helping the energy business buy a Nevada utility, NV Energy, and an electric-transmission company in his native Alberta., Now, Abel has an even wider mandate. He holds roles as a board member at Kraft Heinz Co., the packaged-food company that counts Berkshire as a key shareholder, and sets compensation for the CEOs of the company’s non-insurance businesses. Both Abel and Jain were , vice chairmen in 2018 in promotions that Buffett said at the time were part of the “movement toward succession.” Abel was picked to oversee all the non-insurance businesses, while Jain ran the insurers., Jain, 69, isn’t out of the picture. He was also on stage Saturday, detailing Geico’s battle with Progressive Corp. and joking about how he wouldn’t want to write insurance with Elon Musk on the other end. Buffett has long praised Jain, saying in 2017 that he’s probably , money for Berkshire than Buffett has. But age was a determining factor, Buffett said., “They’re both wonderful guys,” Buffett told CNBC. “The likelihood of someone having a 20-year runway, though, makes a real difference.”, And Jain could stick around to help when Abel takes over, according to Seifert., “Buffett sort of said out loud what everyone was thinking,” she said about the Abel disclosure. “I also believe that Ajit’s role is secure for as long as he chooses.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Katherine Chiglinsky. Date Created: 03 May 2021, 3:56 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Economic Growth Debate Wall Street Splits Fate Dollar [/INST] Markets news. Title: Wall Street Splits on Dollar’s Fate Amid Economic Growth Debate. Short_description: Dollar Consensus Splinters as Investors Clash on U.S. Recovery. Description: The most popular , at the beginning of the year has splintered as Wall Street takes to opposing sides on the fate of the dollar in the world’s pandemic recovery., JPMorgan Asset Management and T. Rowe Price see the dollar weakening as U.S. economic exceptionalism wanes, while PineBridge Investments expects it to strengthen. Currencies from the euro to the Brazilian real -- which suffered in the first quarter -- have attempted rallies this month leaving the greenback sitting at a closely watched technical crossroads., “You have that idiosyncratic U.S. rates outperformance story being offset by the global cyclical upswing and by expensive valuations on the dollar,” said Ian Samson, a, asset fund manager at Fidelity International in Hong Kong, who is long the currency against the euro. “We see significant crosswinds blowing the dollar in different directions.”, While most on Wall Street called for a weaker dollar in January, the world’s reserve currency went on a run that left speculative funds , to cover $30 billion of net short positions as Treasury yields climbed and expectations of rate hikes were brought forward. That trade soured this month, with the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slipping 2.2%. A break of the uptrend in place from its first quarter would point the way to further downside. The gauge was little changed midday Monday in New York., This week’s policy assessment by the Federal Reserve, which has held firm against hawkish expectations, could lend weight to bears. At the crux of dollar forecasts is expectations for the pace of recovery in the world’s biggest economy., As the world strives to break free from the bruising economic effect of coronavirus restrictions, the U.S. has inoculated , than any other country, giving it an edge in the race to re-open. Coupled with the Biden administration’s, trillion dollar fiscal stimulus and a Fed that’s allowing inflation to overshoot, it’s spurring the likes of PineBridge Investments to predict more dollar gains., “U.S. Treasury yields could see another leg higher once we see some inflation come back,” with their premium over peers supporting the dollar, said Omar Slim, portfolio manager at PineBridge in Singapore. “Our view is that the dollar will retain a strengthening bias this year.”, Ten-year U.S. yields surged more than 80 basis points this year to 1.77% in March, the highest since before the pandemic. The benchmark is around 1.57% Monday, well above the 2021 low of 0.90%., “Positive U.S. data might very easily kick-start a dollar rally again,” wrote Commerzbank AG currency strategist Thu Lan Nguyen in a note last week. “So for now U.S. dollar bears should make sure that they don’t get excited too soon.”, But not everyone is convinced the U.S. will continue outpacing peers., For JPMorgan Asset’s Thushka Maharaj, its exceptionalism is set to fade as other nations catch-up on vaccine roll-outs and economic re-openings in the second half of the year., The London-based strategist is keeping tabs on developed markets like Europe, the U.K. and Japan, and sees the euro outperforming the dollar in the medium term. “We are expecting the rebound in these economies to mirror what we are seeing in the U.S. right now,” she said., Signs abound this trend is underway., Coronavirus cases are rising in all regions except , , the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. The European Union is , a new immunization drive to cover the bulk of its population within a few months, while on the economic front, recent PMI data have beaten expectations., The euro has climbed about 3% from a four-month low in March, and broke through the key $1.20 level last week., Some favor other currencies to best the greenback. T. Rowe’s Thomas Poullaouec sees more gains for Australia’s risk-sensitive dollar as China’s economy rebounds from the pandemic and demand for commodities rise., Aberdeen Standard Investments’ Edwin Gutierrez is watching for opportunities to boost exposure to riskier developing currencies as “the rest of the world catches up on the vaccine roll-out.”, The Brazilian real, Indian rupee and Colombian peso -- which have been pummeled as the coronavirus raged across those countries -- stand out for the head of emerging-market sovereign debt in London., In the meantime, vocal bears continue to warn about long-term headwinds for the dollar., “Beyond the near term, we continue to see a structurally negative outlook for the U.S. currency,” wrote Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists including Zach Pandl in a note Tuesday. “The dollar is still substantially overvalued.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Ruth Carson &. Date Created: 26 Apr 2021, 3:00 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Subprime Auto Loans Scary [/INST] Markets news. Title: How Scary Are Subprime Auto Loans?. Short_description: How Scary Are Subprime Auto Loans?. Description: (Bloomberg Opinion) -- One of the lasting legacies of the financial crisis is the market’s tendency to take any sign of bad news and frame it in the context of 2008. Collateralized loan obligations, for instance, have been deemed scary because of similarities to the collateralized debt obligations that were riddled with bad mortgages., Now, auto loans are under the microscope. A ,  last week from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed that as of the end of 2018, more Americans than ever — in excess of 7 million — were at least three months behind on their car payments. On a percentage basis, the delinquency rate is the highest since 2012, even though lending has shifted toward more creditworthy borrowers. The share considered “subprime” who are behind on their payments is the highest since mid-2010., This trend “, B. Riley FBR, wrote in a Feb. 14 note., That was my first thought, too. After all, subprime lending is rife with opportunities for missteps. Plus, the market is booming, with issuance of U.S. auto asset-backed securities reaching a record $107.3 billion in 2018, compared with $59 billion in 2010, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. And delinquencies are increasing when the labor market is hot and economic growth is relatively robust. At first glance, these trends look like reason for alarm., Yet the more you dig into the auto ABS market, the less likely it seems like a flashpoint for a crisis. , For one, it’s not as if all — or even most — of subprime auto loans are packaged into securities. Only about 10 percent of the $437 billion of low-rated loans have been , , according to Wells Fargo. By contrast, at its peak in 2007, the amount of total subprime mortgage debt was about $1.3 trillion. As far as risks go, auto ABS look paltry in terms of size., Of course, because they’re not securitized, the majority of the loans are kept on lenders’ balance sheets. But large banks, which have $389 billion of outstanding auto loans, only have a 25 percent subprime share, according to the New York Fed. And small banks (those with less than $50 billion in assets) are even more skewed toward creditworthy borrowers, with just a 14 percent subprime share. Instead, auto finance companies have a disproportionate amount of subprime loans, at 50 percent., Steve Eisman, who was featured in Michael Lewis’s book “The Big Short,” , two years ago when he said that he was concerned about subprime auto loans. “Banks make mistakes on credit quality, and we are in an environment where credit quality has never been this good in anyone’s lifetime, with the one exception of subprime auto,” he said at the time. But even he acknowledged it’s not a big enough asset class to cause problems for the entire financial system., That doesn’t mean there won’t be isolated problems. Eisman’s 2017 comments came after a period in which underwriting standards loosened as smaller lenders that focus on weaker borrowers stepped into the growing market. In one example, a class of subprime-auto ABS from Honor Finance was downgraded last year by S&P Global Ratings to CCC+ from BB-, the first such cut since the financial crisis. JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts noted in July that it could be the first auto loan ABS to default since the late 1990s. Moody’s Investors Service flagged Global Lending Services, GO Financial and Skopos Financial as issuers with their first transactions in 2015 that all faced relatively high early losses. Other sponsors with somewhat large losses include DriveTime Automotive, American Credit Acceptance, United Auto Credit and CarNow Acceptance., Certainly, if the pace of auto loan delinquencies continues to climb, these lenders may struggle. And they’re already dealing with slim margins because of competition and increasingly sophisticated data for evaluating borrowers. As Bloomberg News’s Adam Tempkin , last week:, Over the last three years, companies that offer loans to the riskiest borrowers tend to be the ones who use securitization the most. And at the same time, strong demand for higher yields has led to more lower-rated bonds in deals., That’s a concern because there are fewer protections baked into the lower end of subprime ABS. So as a result, investors are starting to demand more robust credit protections than compared with a few years ago, eating away at already-thin profit margins at lenders struggling with deteriorating loan quality., If the , is that some private-equity backed new entrants to the auto-loan business close shop, and investors who were reaching for yield get burned, that doesn’t seem so bad, and certainly isn’t a systemic risk. Other factors unique to auto loans limit the potential fallout, like their relatively short length, the ease of repossessing cars and the general lack of derivative products. , Meanwhile, the market as a whole epitomizes stability. The Bloomberg Barclays ABS Auto Index has gained between 0.7 percent and 3.3 percent annually since 2010. It’s up 0.55 percent so far this year. By definition, almost all rating actions in auto ABS are upgrades because the structures usually pay principal sequentially, which boosts the credit enhancement on lower-rated portions as the pool balances pay down. Indeed, the largest ABS in the index are triple-A. That reliance on rating agencies might rekindle some bad memories of the financial crisis, too., Perhaps the biggest difference between subprime auto loans and subprime mortgages is that this sort of stress is a familiar story. In the late 1990s, a surge in inexperienced entrants into the subprime auto market led to bad underwriting, sowing the seeds for a bust. Dozens of lenders were acquired, shut down or filed for bankruptcy. At the time, the auto loan cycle didn’t rattle financial markets or cause a massive shock to the economy. It’s unlikely to now., This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners., Brian Chappatta is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering debt markets. He previously covered bonds for Bloomberg News. He is also a CFA charterholder., ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Brian Chappatta. Date Created: 20 Feb 2019, 3:30 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to EV Charging Stations climate update Biden [/INST] Markets news. Title: Biden Wants $15 Billion for EV Charging Stations: Climate Update. Short_description: Biden’s Virtual Summit Draws Xi, Putin and Pope: Climate Update. Description: President Joe Biden’s climate summit has drawn 40 heads of state including China’s Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Boris Johnson from the U.K. The two-day virtual event ends Friday and will include corporate executives, union heads, Pope Francis and Bill Gates., The stakes are high. While Biden is seeking to reestablish the U.S. as a major player on the climate stage, he’s facing skepticism from other nations after President Donald Trump reversed key environmental policies., “No nation can solve this crisis on our own,” Biden said Thursday from the White House at the opening of the event. “All of us, and particularly those of us who represent the world’s largest economies, we have to step up.”, Here are some highlights:, The Biden administration proposed Thursday spending $15 billion to install 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations along roads, parking lots and apartment buildings, as part of its infrastructure plan now before Congress., Some of the money would go toward grants and incentive programs for state and local governments as well as private companies to install the chargers, according to a fact sheet from the White House that spelled out thre program in detail., But $10 million would be devoted to research into ways to lower the cost of the chargers themselves, while $20 million would go community projects -- like switching to electric school buses -- that can pave the way to wider deployment., The Transportation Department also issued guidance showing how nearly $42 billion of existing federal financing programs could be used for EV charging infrastructure., South Korea is halting state financing for overseas coal power plants, President Moon Jae-in said during the summit., The country has already halted construction of new coal plants within its borders, and Moon is now seeking to slow global demand for the dirtiest fossil fuel. He also expects to announce this year a new, more ambitious target for reducing South Korea’s carbon emissions. South Korea got 40% of its electricity from coal in 2019, according to BloombergNEF., “To become carbon neutral, it’s imperative for the world to scale down coal-fired power plants,” Moon said during the summit., U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin tied the climate crisis to global security., “We face all kinds of threats in our line of work, but few of them truly deserve to be called existential. The climate crisis does,” Austin said. “No nation can find lasting security without addressing the climate crisis.”, Austin described climate change as a “destabilizing force,” which intensifies competition for resources and increases the risks of displacement and famine. “As families risk their lives in search of safety and security, mass migration leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and radicalization,” he said., The Department of Defense has been impacted, Austin said. He cited billions of dollars of damage at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida at the hands of Hurricane Michael, as well as damage to Offutt Air Force Base as a result of severe flooding of the Missouri River., New U.S. standards limiting auto emissions will be coming soon from the Biden team to rework some of the rollbacks under the Trump administration, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg., The transportation sector is responsible for nearly 30% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and, despite President Joe Biden’s emphasis on boosting use of electric vehicles, more stringent rules are still needed on existing gas-powered models., “That’s why we’re not only trying to drive electric vehicle adoption but also continue pursuing robust standards in terms of the emissions of internal combustion engines,” Buttigieg said in an , with Bloomberg Television on David Westin’s Balance of Power on Thursday. “They’re not going away over night.”, Buttigieg said the U.S. “can’t let down our guard down on fuel emissions standards and you’re going to be seeing more from that from us soon,” pursuant to Biden’s Day 1 order to look at the rules and regulations his administration inherited from former President Donald Trump. Trump relaxed federal fuel-economy standards for automakers and sought to limit states from enforcing tougher rules., Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser said her bank, which was the third-largest financier of fossil-fuel companies last year, will focus on bringing clients along on the bank’s own commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions in its financing activities by 2050., Most banks have decided to stand by clients that are major emitters of carbon despite calls from climate activists urging lenders to cut them off. Many banks including Citigroup, have instead developed teams to advise clients on how to reduce their impact on climate., “We know that to truly fight climate change, our clients, which include many of the biggest world multinationals as well as investors and countries like the ones we’ve heard from today will also need to transition to net zero,” Fraser said. “And we will join them on this journey. Net zero is very easy to say but it’s going to be hard to do. Make no mistake about this, this is going to be really hard.”, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Brazil will reduce emissions 30% by 2025 and 43% by 2030. He also vowed to end illegal deforestation by 2030, a feat that would increase its possible CO2 reduction nearer to 50%, he said., “We must face the challenge of improving the lives” of Brazilians living in the Amazon region, Bolsonaro said through a translator. He called for “truly acknowledging the value of the standing forests and biodiversity,” he said. “There must be fair payment for the environmental services provided by our biomes to the planet at large as a way to recognize the economic nature of environmental conservation activities.”, With the world’s largest area of tropical forest, Brazil has a uniquely influential role and responsibility among nations to maintaining system health. Its forests take in an enormous quantity of the world’s carbon pollution every year. So keeping those forests in tact is critical to achieving overall goals. Bolsonaro has said that the forests belong to Brazil, not the world. A previous high-profile effort, established by governments and businesses in 2014, to halve illegal deforestation failed spectacularly last year. Brazilian tree-loss in 2020, despite the pandemic, jumped 25% over the previous year., A new scientific analysis published last month found that the Amazon may already have passed a critical threshold, becoming a net contributor to climate change, instead of a brake on the heating., New York City has filed suit against the American Petroleum Institute and some oil companies, alleging they violated the city’s consumer protection law and misled the public about the environmental impact of using their gasoline., Mayor Bill de Blasio said the lawsuit would be based on an argument similar to litigation that’s been successful against cigarette and opiate-producing companies, accusing them of misleading consumers about the health consequences of using their products. The city was one of the litigants against “Big Tobacco,” the mayor said., “There was a lot of success in court arguing that the advertising, the conscious effort to mislead, these companies specifically have aggregiously broken our laws when it comes to addressing consumers,” de Blasio said during a Thursday briefing., API did not immediately respond to a request for comment., Plaintiffs on the case include Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc., BP Plc., Biden’s new commitment to cut U.S. emissions in half over the coming decade from 2005 levels, with an aim to zero out planet-warming gases in the next 30 years, is the most ambitious climate goal yet by an American leader., Yet it isn’t the most far-reaching goal on the international stage, coming in behind the U.K. and the European Union. And it’s unlikely to prove sufficient to keep average global temperature rise below 1.5°C, according to nonprofit Climate Action Tracker., Before Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris accord, the U.S. had set a target to cut emissions by about 26% by 2025 from 2005 levels. Maintaining that trajectory would mean a roughly 34% reduction by 2030, according to the energy research group BloombergNEF. Biden’s new emissions goal raises that ambition by about a third., But to avoid 1.5°C of warming, according to Climate Action Tracker, the U.S. would have to set a 2030 target of more than 57% relative to 2005 and help developing countries to cut emissions., Some environmental activists left little doubt about their disdain for Biden’s climate pledge on Thursday. They dumped cow manure near the White House in protest., “Biden’s 2030 Plan = Mass Death,” the group Extinction Rebellion D.C. proclaimed as activists pushed pink-painted wheelbarrows of manure on sidewalks blocks from where Biden declared his promise to pare U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 50% to 52% from 2005 levels by the end of the decade., Yet the group’s reaction wasn’t shared across the spectrum of environmentalists. Several large climate organizations, which spent months pushing the U.S. to commit to halve its greenhouse gas emissions, cheered Biden’s commitment., “With this ambitious and credible target, the U.S. has joined the European Union and U.K. at the top of the global league table, recaptured a leadership role on climate and positioned itself to push for greater global ambition in the lead up to COP26 in Glasgow,” said Nathaniel Keohane, senior vice president for climate at the Environmental Defense Fund., Mitchell Bernard, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Biden was “leading by example” by putting forward a pledge that “rises to the urgency of the task” and is “ambitious, yet achievable.”, However, environmentalists were far less sanguine about modest promises of action from other world leaders, including the heads of India, China and Australia. Despite stressing the need for global collaboration to combat climate change, China’s Xi Jinping didn’t announce new goals for scaling back the country’s greenhouse gas emissions., “The core message from today’s speech is China will peak coal consumption by 2025, which is modest,” said Li Shuo, a climate analyst with Greenpeace East Asia. “More ambitious actions are needed” and “it is in China’s self interest to announce and implement further plans ahead of COP26.”, The International Monetary Fund proposes establishing a carbon price floor for the largest emitters, such as the Group of 20 nations, to cover as much as 80% of global emissions, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said., A price floor would need to be pragmatic and equitable, with different pricing for countries at different levels of economic development, Georgieva said in remarks prepared for the U.S. White House climate summit. It could be implemented through carbon taxes, carbon trading systems or equivalent measures and would avoid less efficient and contentious border carbon adjustments, she said., A robust price for carbon has proved to advance investments in renewable energy, electric transportation, energy-efficient buildings, reforestation and other climate friendly activities, while boosting growth and jobs and reducing emissions, Georgieva said., IMF analysis shows that without a robust carbon price, the world won’t reach its climate stabilization goals, Georgieva said. The fund also estimates that a mix of steadily rising carbon prices and green infrastructure investment could increase global gross domestic product by more than 0.7% per year over the next 15 years and create millions of new jobs., “Carbon pricing is gaining momentum,” Georgieva said. “Many businesses now use a shadow carbon price in their models. Over 60 pricing schemes have been implemented. But the average global price is currently $2 a ton, and needs to rise to $75 a ton by 2030 to curb emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.”, The IMF also urges standardized reporting of climate related financial risks and delivering $100 billion a year in climate finance to the developing world, combined with technology transfer and policy support to decouple growth from carbon emissions., Russia President Vladimir Putin pledged to “significantly” reduce his country’s cumulative net emissions over the next three decades. Earlier this week, he said that the total volume of net emissions from Russia should be less than those released from the EU over the next 30 years., Also See: , “It is no secret that the conditions that facilitated global warming and associated problems go way back,” Putin said. “Carbon dioxide can stay in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. So it’s not enough to tackle the issue of new emissions. It is also important to take up the task of absorbing the CO2 that has accumulated in the atmosphere.”, Putin stressed that Russia “makes a gigantic contribution to absorbing global emissions, both ours and from elsewhere.” Absorption capacity of Russia’s eco-system is estimated at around 2.5 billion tons of CO2 equivalent a year, according to Putin. Russia currently emits about 1.6 billion tons of CO2 equivalent per year, compared to about 4 billion tons for the EU., In remarks plagued by technical glitches at the start, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison appeared to skip over his country’s role as a major coal producer. Instead, Morrison focused on Australia’s efforts to produce new technologies to fight climate change and announced A$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion) in climate financing focusing on the Pacific region., “We want to work with others on the how,” Morrison said. “You can always be sure that the commitments Australia makes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are bankable.”, While the U.S.’s re-entry into the Paris deal has been roundly welcomed by developing countries, those nations still face the same old problems. Leaders from developing countries and emerging economies have criticized rich nations’ failure to provide $100 billion of finance that they promised to deliver by 2020 to help them deal with the worst impacts of climate change., Biden didn’t announce any new pledges to increase the amount the U.S. dedicates to climate finance today, despite promising to up his ambition on cutting emissions., China’s Xi highlighted the importance of “common but differentiated responsibilities” -- which is a United Nations adage that means the biggest historical emitters should pay the most. Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s President, said developing countries could consider tougher climate targets like net zero, but only if they receive finance & capacity support., Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reiterated a call for rich countries to deliver the $100 billion goal, which she said should be balanced 50:50 between adaptation and mitigation efforts., Technical glitches marred the beginning of Biden’s virtual climate summit, proving even the U.S. government is not immune to the computer woes that have bedeviled teleconferences amid the pandemic.All time stamps are New York time., The flubs started early with feedback on the audio feed, creating an echo as Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off the event. A few minutes later, Xi Jinping’s speech was broadcast in Mandarin, with an English translation starting late and without including the beginning of the first speech from an international leader., Emmanuel Macron of France spoke in a pre-taped address in French, but there was no translation until the last part of his speech. Then Russia’s Vladimir Putin was introduced while Macron’s remarks were ongoing. A video display in the White House cut to a shot of Putin, who appeared to consult with aides off-screen and looked puzzled about when to begin speaking. Meanwhile, control-room chatter of technicians indicated a scramble behind the scenes to deal with the gaffe., When Putin concluded, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recognized the “technical difficulties,” and returned the floor to Macron. But as the pre-taped speech was broadcast for a second time, the English translation again was delayed, cutting off his initial comments., Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to strengthen his country’s climate ambitions by slashing 2005 emission levels by 40%-45% by 2030. Canada is the only Group of Seven nation to see emissions rise since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015., “Today, Canada is in a position to raise our climate ambition once again,” the Canadian leader said. “Our new climate target for 2030 is to reduce our 2005 emission levels by 40 to 45 % and we will continually strength our plan and take even more actions on our journey to net zero by 2050.”, Trudeau is trying to coordinate the northern nation’s climate policy with the U.S. to develop a cross-border approach to climate change. Biden’s increased ambitions put pressure on the prime minister to take a more aggressive approach to slash Canada’s carbon footprint., German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she is delighted that the U.S. under President Biden is again helping with the “Herculean task” of tackling climate change., “There can be no doubt that the world needs your contribution if we really want to fulfill our ambitious goals,” Merkel said. “This is a herculean task, because this is nothing short of a complete transformation, a complete change in the way we do business, the way we work.”, Merkel reaffirmed Germany’s climate goals, as well as her government’s decision to phase out coal power by 2038 at the latest and invest more in renewables., China’s Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi of India led off the summit by stressing the urgent need for global collaboration to fight climate change, but without announcing any new major goals for curbing emissions., Xi reiterated China’s plans to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and to attain net-zero status by 2060. He also pledged to reduce coal consumption between 2026 and 2030. “We must be committed to green development. Green mountains are gold mountains, to protect environment is o protect productivity,” Xi said., Modi stressed India’s ongoing efforts to install 450 gigawatts of clean energy -- policies that the two nations already have in place., Biden has said that a key goal of this summit is to encourage nations to increase their ambitions toward fighting climate change. The U.S. announced its new, bigger target for curbing emissions Thursday. Japan did as well, and Canada announced a new goal Monday., But China, the world’s biggest emitter, and India, the third-largest source of greenhouse gases, are sticking with their current plans, even after visits in recent weeks from Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry, a development that climate advocates may see as a setback for Biden., United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on countries, especially major emitters, to submit new and more ambitious plans laying out actions and policies that will align the next 10 years with a “2050 net-zero pathway.”, To build a truly global net zero coalition, Guterres said the world needs a breakthrough on finance and adaptation. He called on developed countries to deliver on their pledges to boost public climate finance by coming to the G7 in June with a plan to deliver on a $100 billion climate action fund for developing countries., “Let us mobilize political leadership to move ahead together – to overcome climate change, end our war on nature and build lives of dignity and prosperity for all,” Guterres said., A surge in the world’s largest carbon market reflects the cost of polluting for industry just as world leaders prepare for a crucial climate gathering hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden., Prices in the European Union’s emissions trading system has broken records every day this week as European lawmakers reached a deal on stricter pollution targets and investors got a glimpse of how the bloc will set green standards in the future., Japan , its 2030 emissions reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement, amid an effort to become carbon neutral by the middle of the century., The country aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 46% by 2030 compared with 2013, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Thursday ahead of the global climate summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden. Japan had previously targeted a 26% reduction., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Bloomberg News. Date Created: 22 Apr 2021, 5:31 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Record Aided Nifty Close Metal stock gain Banking Sensex Realty [/INST] Markets news. Title: Sensex, Nifty Close At Record Aided By Gains In Banking, Realty, Metal Stocks. Short_description: Catch all live updates on share prices, index moves, corporate announcements and more from Indian stock markets today.. Description: India's stock benchmarks closed at record aided by gains in banking, realty, metal stocks aided the advance as the markets shrugged off taper concerns., The Sensex rose 1.63%, the most single-day gain in eight weeks, to 59,885,36, a record close. The 30-stock index rose to a record 59,957.25 in intraday trade. The Nifty 50 advanced 1.57%, the most single-day gain in four months, to 17,822.95, a record close. The 50-stock index rose to a record 17,843.90 in intraday trade. Reliance Industries Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.4%. Bajaj Finserv Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 5.1%. Today, 38 of 50 shares rose, while 12 fell., The broader indices almost mirrored its larger peers with the S&P BSE SmallCap and S&P BSE MidCap, rising 1%. All the 19 sectoral indices compiled by the BSE Ltd. advanced, with S&P BSE Realty index nearly 9% while S&P BSE Bankex added over 2%., The market breadth was skewed in favour of bulls. About 1,968 stocks advanced, 1,271 declined and 164 remained unchanged., India’s central bank bought bonds worth Rs 15,000 crore ($2b) as part of its government securities acquisition program and sold an equivalent amount of short-term notes as planned., Source: RBI statement., The NSE Nifty 50 index hit a record high of 17,795.45 in intraday trade, The 50-stock index had previously hit a record high 17,792.95 on September 17, Friday. Publisher: BQ Desk. Date Created: 23 Sep 2021, 8:08 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Vaccine stock Rebound Waiver Merkel patent [/INST] Markets news. Title: Vaccine Stocks Rebound as Merkel Opposes Waiver of Patents. Short_description: Asian Vaccine Makers’ Shares Slammed as U.S. Backs IP Waiver. Description: Shares of Covid-19 vaccine developers got some relief after the German chancellor , a U.S. proposal to waive patent protections for coronavirus shots., Chinese vaccine makers rebounded after slumping Thursday on the news that the U.S. would support lifting the intellectual property protections. The Biden administration’s plan would create “severe complications” for the production of vaccines, a German government spokeswoman said Thursday in an email., Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co., which has the rights to develop and market BioNTech SE’s shot in China, advanced as much as 7% in Hong Kong after sinking 14% the previous day. Walvax Biotechnology Co. gained 0.5% in Shanghai after an 11% slump Thursday., Vaccine makers’ stocks in Europe and the U.S. bounced a bit in late trading Thursday after the German government announced Chancellor Angela Merkel’s opposition. On Friday, AstraZeneca Plc rose again in London, gaining 0.4%, while French developer Valneva SE jumped 5.1%. Among U.S.-listed companies, CureVac NV advanced 5.9% in German trading from its closing price in New York, Novavax Inc. rose 2.6%, BioNTech climbed 1.7% and Pfizer Inc. was little changed., Before Merkel’s announcement, some analysts had pointed out that lifting patent protections wasn’t a done deal. The Biden administration’s plans will only open up a negotiation at the WTO and other countries and members remain unwilling, said Barclays Plc analyst Carter Gould in a note., With many countries struggling with a resurgence of the virus, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai , Wednesday the Biden administration supported the effort at the World Trade Organization to waive the patent rights. The European Union said Thursday it was willing to participate., Vaccines have been a big business for the firms that make them, with Pfizer, BioNTech’s partner outside of China, raising its , for 2021 vaccine sales, to $26 billion just this week. AstraZeneca has pledged not to profit from its Covid shot during the pandemic., Read more: , investor fears of U.S. vaccine waiver support are overblown, The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations condemned the move lift IP protections as “disappointing.”, “A waiver is the simple but the wrong answer to what is a complex problem,” the group said in a statement. “Waiving patents of Covid-19 vaccines will not increase production nor provide practical solutions needed to battle this global health crisis.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Gearoid Reidy &. Date Created: 06 May 2021, 11:02 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Canadian Software Maker Clio New Funding Round [/INST] Markets news. Title: Canadian Software Maker Clio Valued at $1.6 Billion in New Funding Round. Short_description: Canadian Software Maker Clio Valued at $1.6 Billion in New Funding Round. Description: Legal technology company Clio reached a valuation of $1.6 billion in a new $110 million funding round., Clio, which provides software for law firms, has raised the money from funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. and from OMERS Growth Equity. The company’s earlier investors include TCV, Bessemer Venture Partners and JMI Equity., “The legal industry has been behind many other industries in terms of the level of tech adoption relative to what’s possible,” said TCV principal Amol Helekar, explaining why his firm invested. “It’s transforming the practice of law for good.”, Clio, the operating name of Themis Solutions Inc., plans to use the new capital for growth, including hiring and acquisitions, according to founder and Chief Executive Officer Jack Newton. He said that the company will also add new product lines., The Canadian company has more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue, Newton said in an interview. Clio has a range of offerings for its law firm clients. It helps manage contacts, documents and billing., Clio will be able to go public in the not-too-distant future, Newton said., “We’re considering an IPO as an eventual outlook for the company,” he said, adding that a listing isn’t planned for 2021., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Katie Roof. Date Created: 27 Apr 2021, 4:30 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Trade [/INST] Markets news. Title: All You Need To Know Going Into Trade On May 5 . Short_description: Stocks in the news, big brokerage calls of the day, complete trade setup and much more!. Description: U.S. equity futures and Asian stocks were steady Wednesday after a selloff in technology shares amid comments from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on interest rates that rattled markets. The dollar held gains., S&P 500 contracts were little changed following a climb in commodity, financial and industrial sectors that helped the gauge pare losses. Holidays in key markets including Japan, China and South Korea will limit trade in Asian hours., The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 0.4% to 14,593 as of 7:45 a.m after the news of an , from the RBI Governor in a few hours., Commodities rallied to the , as a rebound from the pandemic in the world’s largest economies stokes demand for metals, food and energy. Treasury futures were steady, with cash markets closed in Asia.. Publisher: Darshan A Nakhwa. Date Created: 05 May 2021, 7:37 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Fear Index Credit Suisse play Suit [/INST] Markets news. Title: Credit Suisse Must Face Suit Over Failed Play on Fear Index. Short_description: Credit Suisse Must Face Suit Over Failed Play on Fear Index. Description: Credit Suisse Group AG must face allegations that it engineered a complex fraud to sink an investment vehicle and profit on investors’ losses, after an appeals court revived the claims., The lawsuit, filed in 2018, claimed investors lost $1.8 billion in the Feb. 5, 2018, collapse of the market for VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short Term Exchange Traded Notes, known as “XIV Notes,” a derivative investment that increased in value when the stock market was calm and decreased when it was volatile., Holders of the XIV notes profited inversely from changes in the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s VIX Index, a measure of expected stock market volatility that’s often called Wall Street’s “fear index.”, A group of investors led by Set Capital LLC alleged that they and others lost the money while Credit Suisse made $475 million. The suit also names as defendants two top executives at the bank and Janus Henderson Group , , which placed and marketed the XIV notes., Credit Suisse declined to comment on the ruling. Janus Henderson didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment., A federal judge in New York dismissed the case in September 2019, ruling that Set Capital had failed to plausibly claim that the defendants were intentionally trying to manipulate the market improperly. The federal appeals court in New York on Tuesday revived the market manipulation claim and allegations of misstatements in the offering documents., The case is Set Capital LLC v. Credit Suisse Group AG, Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Manhattan)., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Bob Van Voris. Date Created: 27 Apr 2021, 9:28 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Samsung Puts Korea Tech Bulls Map stock [/INST] Markets news. Title: For Tech Bulls, Samsung Puts Korea Back on the Map: Taking Stock. Short_description: Tech Bull Case Resurfaces in Korea With Big Rally: Taking Stock. Description: (Bloomberg) -- As Samsung Electronics Co. , the next generation of its smartphones Wednesday, investors will no doubt be looking for a better showing from the mobile giant after a difficult 2018., Based on the hot start from Samsung shares, they already seem to be counting on South Korea’s biggest stock to succeed. It has surged 21 percent so far in 2019, recovering almost all of its 24 percent plunge from last year., The gains have propelled the benchmark Kospi Index to a more than 9 percent advance this year, one of the best jumps in the region amid a wider rally thanks to growing optimism of a U.S.-China trade deal. On Wednesday, the South Korean benchmark was one of the biggest gainers among national gauges in Asia., Foreign investors are the biggest buyers of Samsung stock this year, already gobbling up a net 2.76 trillion won ($2.46 billion) of shares, the most of any company in the Kospi, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Domestic institutions and individuals, meanwhile, are net sellers., Given Samsung’s size -- the stock accounts for about a fifth of the Korean benchmark -- the buying has been a key contributor to total foreign inflows of more than $4.1 billion for the market this year. That’s the most among Asian countries after China., The tech behemoth is not the only stock off to a quick start in Korea. Rival SK Hynix Inc. has actually climbed even more, with a 25 percent advance this year as a plan to , 50 percent offset disappointing earnings in January., The pair were the biggest drivers of the Kospi Wednesday, pushing the index to its highest level since October and helping lead a third straight advance for the regional MSCI Asia Pacific Index. Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan also gained, while the Shanghai Composite Index was flat., Traders are still digesting the latest headlines on the trade negotiation front. The U.S. is asking China to keep the value of the yuan , , a move aimed at neutralizing any effort by Beijing to devalue its currency to counter American tariffs, according to people familiar with the ongoing talks. Negotiations resumed Tuesday in Washington, with the March 1 deadline looming next week., ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Eric Lam. Date Created: 20 Feb 2019, 9:51 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Rule Change Quicken India Loan Clean Bad BofA [/INST] Markets news. Title: BofA Seeks Rule Change to Quicken India's Bad-Loan Clean-Up. Short_description: India’s distressed debt market is being hobbled by rules that bar foreign funds from directly buying up bank loans.. Description: (Bloomberg) -- India’s distressed debt market is being hobbled by rules that bar foreign funds from directly buying up bank loans, according to Bank of America Corp., In the past year, the U.S. lender has had to team up with local asset reconstruction companies to purchase loans made to firms including Seven Hills Hospitals and GTL Infrastructure Ltd. that had soured. As it scouts for more opportunities in the nation with the world’s worst non-performing debt ratio, the requirement for local partners is a hindrance, said Jayesh Mehta, country treasurer at Bank of America Merrill Lynch., “Current regulations demand that a foreign bank must bid through the ARC route when a distressed debt is auctioned,” Mumbai-based Mehta said in an interview. “We should have regulations providing direct access for foreign companies to bid without an intermediary. This change is required to create depth in the distressed debt market.”, asset reconstruction companies have been set up in India under a 2002 law passed to help reorganize non-performing credit, RBI data show, though many of these haven’t been active due to a lack of funds., Bank of America was the sole bidder in an auction on Feb. 11 where SBI sought to sell loans made to Essar Steel Ltd., people familiar with the matter had said. The lender is considering scrapping the deal due to lack of demand for the debt, according to the people., While overseas investors including KKR & Co., Blackstone Group LP and SSG Capital Management Ltd. have either set up their own asset reconstruction companies in India or bought into existing ones, others like Bank of America and SC Lowy have structured deals through such firms by paying them a fee., ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Anto Antony &. Date Created: 20 Feb 2019, 8:25 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Newest Foreign CEO Women Managers Japan [/INST] Markets news. Title: Japan’s Newest Foreign CEO Asks: Where Are the Women Managers?. Short_description: Japan’s Newest Foreign CEO Asks: Where Are the Women Managers?. Description: For new managers in foreign countries, many things can be surprising. For Jean-Marc Gilson, the newly-arrived head of a 90-year-old Japanese chemical giant, it was an absence that stood out., “I’ve been to 25, 30, 40 meetings so far, and I have yet to see one woman from a management position in any of these meetings,” said Gilson, the Belgian who took over as chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. this month. “I was amazed.”, Gilson, 57, is no newcomer to Japan, having spent five years in the country in the 2000s as an executive of what is now Dow Inc., where he managed a venture with Japan’s Toray Industries Inc. He was headhunted from France’s Roquette to lead the $11 billion member of the Nikkei 225 Stock Average that has interests in everything from petrochemicals to pharmaceuticals., Gilson says in the absence of government intervention, he’ll push internally and actively promote women when faced with candidates of equal skill. Mitsubishi Chemical has women in 6.7% of management positions, and has two women on the board of directors., “The quality is here. We owe it to our employees to give them the chance to go forward,” Gilson told Bloomberg News in an interview. “We can do better.”, The issue of gender equality remains a hot topic in the country after former prime minister Yoshiro Mori caused an international incident when as head of the organizing committee for the Tokyo Olympic games, he said women talk too much during meetings., Women make up just 8.4% of board positions on listed companies in Japan, according to a March 2021 World Economic Forum report, less than a third of the ratio in the U.S. A government , to boost the number of women in leadership positions to 30% by 2020 was pushed back to a vaguer date of “as early as possible.”, The issue of gender equality is far from the only challenge facing Gilson. The more immediate mission will be to restore the materials company to profitability, with Mitsubishi Chemical forecasting a net loss of 48 billion yen ($441 million) for the fiscal year ended March. It reports results on May 12., “We have to ask ourselves some tough questions,” Gilson said of the firm’s vast portfolio of businesses. “There will be no sacred cows.”, With Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga targeting a , in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, it comes as no surprise that Gilson indicates he doesn’t see a strong future for the petrochemicals business in Japan. He said he’s taking a hard look at sectors that won’t contribute to future growth, and those that don’t fit into a carbon-neutral environment., “If you look down the road, these are not the vectors for growth that we would be looking into,” Gilson said of the firm’s petrochemical business. “This is low-margin, and it’s a really hard business.”, Such businesses will probably be “leading candidates for reorganization,” SMBC Nikko analyst Go Miyamoto wrote in a March report, predicting that the lowest margins this year to be in petrochemicals, health care, and carbon products, though he added that the health-care business has steep upfront costs. Mitsubishi Chemical bought out its drugmaking unit Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma for $4.5 billion in a deal completed just over a year ago., Making decisions to sell or shut down historic but unprofitable operations has in the past been a reason for Japanese boards to turn to foreign executives, fearing local management might find such decisions tricky. Sony Group Corp. turned to Howard Stringer in the 2000s, hoping he could unite the firm’s disparate and often warring branches. While Stringer’s term was widely viewed as a failure, a more successful example might be that of Carlos Ghosn. The controversial executive-turned-fugitive was hailed as a hero for undertaking a difficult restructuring of Nissan Motor Co.’s businesses in the early 2000s, long before his arrest and escape., The specter of Ghosn hangs over Gilson’s appointment as the Belgian is the first foreigner to be named head of a Nikkei 225-listed firm since Ghosn’s arrest in late 2018. Gilson shrugged off suggestions he was daunted by the challenge., “I think I have a much more complete understanding than what other gaijin would have about Japanese companies,” Gilson said, using the Japanese word for foreigners., Even before Ghosn, the record of foreign appointments is mixed. Craig Naylor quit as CEO of Nippon Sheet Glass Co. after less than two years in 2012, citing a clash with the board. In 2011, Michael Woodford was fired after just six months as president of Olympus Corp. after questioning the company’s accounting practices. Gilson’s case is also unusual with his coming from another firm, with major Japanese boards often reluctant to hire from outside, much less from abroad, when replacing top management., Yet perceptions of foreign managers could also be changing. Owen Mahoney has led Nexon Co. into the Nikkei 225, along with a nearly 800% share price rise. U.S. hedge fund ValueAct Capital Management has been , with shaking up Olympus and doubling profits after installing two of its members to the board. Corporate governance reforms encourage firms to add more foreign executives. Gilson says his role is to further this change and add more diversity for what is not an international company., “If we were a truly international company, I’d be one of hundreds being here, of gaijin - I’m not,” he said. “You need different viewpoints.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Gearoid Reidy &. Date Created: 29 Apr 2021, 8:30 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Stock ETF Inflows Bonanza [/INST] Markets news. Title: A $246 Billion Bonanza Means Stock ETF Inflows Already Beat 2020. Short_description: Stock ETF Inflows of $246 Billion Already Top All of Last Year. Description: In less than four months, investors have already poured more cash into ETFs tracking U.S. stocks than they did in all of 2020., The inflows of $246 billion this year eclipse last year’s total of $231 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Equity exchange-traded funds have added more than $26 billion so far in April, after taking in over $80 billion in both February and March., With stocks trading near all-time highs, cash continues to flood into the $6.2 trillion ETF market, especially from new traders looking for a piece of the action as the economy rebounds. There’s also been growing interest in the category due to its tax efficiencies and lower costs relative to mutual funds., “Investors usually are slow on the uptake when it comes to buying in after a bear market, and this was the swiftest bear market on record,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. “The market is doing so well, and they are preferring equity ETFs over mutual funds because of the tax consequences.”, As cash floods into ETFs, debuts have also ramped up, notching the best start to a year in at least a decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Issuers have rolled out numerous thematic funds in particular, as they try to tap , demand for betting on hot market niches., The ETF industry overall lured a record $251 billion in the first quarter, with $210 billion going into equities., Passively managed mutual funds tracking equities have lost $46.5 billion this year and their actively managed peers have faced about $11 billion in outflows, the latest data from Bloomberg Intelligence shows., Leading the equity ETF inflows in 2021 are two Vanguard Group products -- the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), with $20.3 billion and $13.7 billion, respectively. The BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) has lured $10.8 billion., “Investors continue to flock to equity for growth and income,” said James Pillow, managing director at Moors & Cabot Inc. “With most debt instruments at negative real yields, while S&P 500 constituents are beating their respective earnings estimates by more than 20%, there is little surprise money continues to pour into equity markets.”, Stocks climbed on Wednesday as , officials strengthened their assessment of the economy and signaled that risks have diminished while leaving their key interest rate near zero and maintaining a $120 billion monthly pace of asset purchases. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% at 2:52 p.m. in New York, heading toward an all-time high., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Claire Ballentine. Date Created: 28 Apr 2021, 8:38 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Mervyn Chow move Advisory Role firm Hillhouse [/INST] Markets news. Title: Hillhouse’s Mervyn Chow Moves Into Advisory Role at Firm. Short_description: Hillhouse’s Mervyn Chow Moves Into Advisory Role at Firm. Description: Mervyn Chow, a partner at Hillhouse Capital Management, is stepping back from investment and will take on an advisory role at the buyout firm, according to people familiar with the matter., Chow is transitioning to the new role where he will be focusing on advising portfolio companies, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. , at Hong Kong’s securities regulator shows the effective date of his license with Hillhouse ended on April 26., A representative at Hillhouse declined to comment, while Chow didn’t return calls seeking comment., Chow spent almost 20 years at Credit Suisse Group AG before joining Hillhouse in 2018. He was the Swiss bank’s chief executive officer for Greater China and the co-head of investment banking and capital markets for Asia Pacific before his departure., Founded by Lei Zhang in 2005, Hillhouse currently employs more than 350 investment professionals globally, investing across Asia and the world from its home bases in Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore, according to its , ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Vinicy Chan, . Date Created: 29 Apr 2021, 7:11 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Leveraged Loans Lite Cov Fate [/INST] Markets news. Title: Fate of Leveraged Loans Won't Be Decided by ‘Cov-Lite’ Alone. Short_description: Fate of Leveraged Loans Won't Be Decided by ‘Cov-Lite’ Alone. Description: (Bloomberg) -- The lack of covenants on , has become , favorite stick to beat the market with when they warn of overheating, but where companies run into trouble there are other risks impacting how much money lenders will lose., Also of critical importance is how aggressively private equity sponsors use the increased flexibility now found in loan terms, and how good a job investors do in managing credit stress in their loan portfolios without the early warning signal of a formal leverage test., “Underlying documentation is also where investors and regulators should be focusing rather than just the current one-dimensional focus on covenant-lite,” Ranbir Singh Lakhpuri, a senior portfolio manager at Insight Investment Management Global Ltd., said by telephone, calling the attention to this one characteristic “simplistic.”, The outcome of all this means highly-indebted companies will likely experience lower and more dispersed recovery rates in the next downturn of the credit cycle than they did 10 years ago, and the proliferation of “cov-lite” loans will only be one of the contributing factors., Current loan documentation often allows for the addition of incremental debt that can push leverage higher. Private equity sponsors, which drive most leveraged loan issuance in Europe, also have more freedom to move valuable assets out of the lenders’ security package, and to inject new debt that could go in at a more senior level than the original first-lien term loan., “What drives lower recoveries is the rise in senior leverage,” Edward Eyerman, head of European leveraged finance at Fitch Ratings Ltd., said by telephone. “Covenant-lite’s role is misconstrued because it’s the restricted payment covenants that give the company the ability to move value out of lenders’ reach. That’s the real issue.”, A London-based manager for a global asset management firm said he finds it difficult to argue with the consensus view that recovery rates in the next downturn will be around 60 percent of par not 70 percent as previously, since without maintenance covenants lenders won’t get to the negotiating table until later in the process. But given the range of other influences, recoveries will more dispersed with some at just 10 to 20 percent, and others up at 80 to 90 percent, he added., Eyerman also noted that documentation allows shareholders to be “very aggressive via loopholes” in loan terms, and points to ongoing court cases in the U.S. where lenders are contesting such moves such as PetSmart Inc., Another difference that may drive more variation among recoveries in future restructurings is that CLOs, which make up about half of the investor base, could be in a stronger position than they were a decade ago. In theory, it’s now easier for them to inject new “rescue” money into a troubled credit and so benefit from any future increase in value, whereas previously they were barred from doing so., “Recovery rates will be more volatile this time because of the increasing flexibility and optionality in the documentation and uncertainty over new-money needs and its ranking," said Eyerman., Recovery rates emerge after a credit has actually defaulted, but before they reach that point the investors that lent at par won’t be sitting by and helplessly watching bad turn to worse., Many fund managers say that although maintenance covenants were valuable negotiation triggers in the past, they never relied on them to provide a warning of credit stress. Instead, managers have their own internal monitoring processes, which require analysts to regularly reaffirm or “re-underwrite” their confidence in a given credit if it’s to stay in the portfolio., “Whilst recovery rates are expected to fall in a cov-lite world it shouldn’t be the ‘Armageddon-type’ of situation that some present,” said Insight’s Singh Lakhpuri, emphasizing the importance of being highly selective on sectors and credits., If these processes are sound, loan managers ought to be able to dodge credit trouble spots by selling, or they may take a view that the sponsor will manage through a tough period, perhaps even aided by not having formal restrictions on leverage., But there are difficulties here that could also feed into varied experiences around distressed situations., Loan documentation now commonly includes restrictions on which type of funds can buy a loan. Until the borrower defaults, the original lenders may be banned from selling or quietly transferring risk to a distressed fund. However, the language that governs this aspect of a leveraged loan may be open to interpretation and difficult to enforce -- and it’s broadly untested in Europe. High-yield bonds meanwhile are similarly covenant-lite but are freely transferable., Another obstacle to lenders’ ability to manage risk before default and so keep their portfolios healthy is that they are getting fewer and less-detailed updates on how companies are performing., The Long Wait for Numbers Could Cost Leveraged Lenders Dearly, Fund managers must also decide how much weight to give to sponsors’ assertions that they won’t use all the flexibility available to them in loan documentation. It might seem naive to imagine a private equity firm not taking full advantage, but reputation could possibly play a role in their decisions. Lenders continue to be mindful of sponsors’ past behavior during previous restructurings., Over time -- as the next generation of recovery rates emerge from covenant-lite credits that fall into distress -- leveraged lenders will be able to judge how fair the accusations were that the market has run amok in an era of easy-money policy from central banks., (Ruth McGavin is a leveraged finance strategist who writes for Bloomberg. The observations she makes are her own and not intended as investment advice.), ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Ruth McGavin. Date Created: 20 Feb 2019, 6:04 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to TVS Motor Price Upgrades Target Stock Flurry year [/INST] Markets news. Title: TVS Motor’s Stock Jumps Most In Over Six Years Amid A Flurry Of Target Price Upgrades. Short_description: Here’s what analysts have to say about TVS Motor’s Q4 performance.... Description: Shares of , jumped the most in more than six years after analysts hiked price targets for the two-wheeler maker citing improved exports outlook, new launches and cost cuts, among others., The company witnessed its revenue grow by more than 50% and net profit jump threefold over the year-earlier in the quarter ended March. It also reported its highest-ever operating income, while domestic volumes and exports surged during the reported period., Its profit rose 3% over the preceding fiscal to Rs 612 crore in FY21 despite reporting a loss of Rs 139 crore in the first quarter due to Covid-19 lockdown., Shares of the company jumped as much as 17.25%—the biggest since September 2014—to Rs 664 apiece around 11 a.m. on Wednesday. The stock, however, pared some of the gains to trade 14.06% higher at Rs 645.90 apiece., Of the 43 analysts tracking TVS Motor, 23 have a ‘buy’ rating, eight suggest a ‘hold’ and 12 recommend a ‘sell’, according to Bloomberg data. The average of the 12-month consensus price targets implies a downside of 6.3%.. Publisher: Rishabh Bhatnagar. Date Created: 28 Apr 2021, 12:07 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to small Caps Lead Stock Gains solid Economic Data Markets Wrap [/INST] Markets news. Title: Small Caps Lead Stock Gains on Solid Economic Data: Markets Wrap. Short_description: U.S. futures rose on Friday as investors digested a proposal for higher taxes to pay for President Joe Biden’s fiscal stimulus.. Description: Stocks climbed after strong economic data added to evidence the recovery is gaining momentum, with traders also assessing a batch of corporate earnings. The dollar retreated., Most major groups in the S&P 500 advanced, led by financial and material shares. A gauge of smaller companies outperformed major benchmarks, while Tesla Inc. and Apple Inc. paced gains in megacap stocks., s Honeywell International Inc., American Express Co. and Intel Corp. weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average after their quarterly results., Equities whipsawed this week amid a flare-up in global coronavirus cases and news that the , plans to propose almost doubling the capital-gain tax rate for the wealthy. Investors also waded through corporate outlooks and economic readings, with data showing U.S. , rebounded in March to the highest since 2006. Meanwhile, output at manufacturers and service providers reached a , high in April., “It’s evident the U.S. economy continues to be on the right track,” Jeff Schulze, investment strategist at ClearBridge Investments, said this week. “What the market is going to be looking for is continued economic momentum. This is the beginning of a more sustained move toward value and cyclicals.”, Other corporate highlights:, Comparing U.S. stocks to high-yield bonds makes equities “look less stretched,” according to Jeroen Blokland, a manager of, asset funds at Robeco. While the Cboe Volatility Index, or the VIX, set a 14-month low last week, the yield spread for the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High-Yield Index reached its narrowest since July 2007 in the previous week., “Equities are relatively attractive versus high yield” on this basis, he wrote in a blog post., These are some of the main moves in markets:, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Rita Nazareth &. Date Created: 23 Apr 2021, 3:16 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Maker Stake Pakistan Coca Ashmore Funds Cola IPO [/INST] Markets news. Title: Ashmore Funds to Sell Pakistan Coca-Cola Can Maker Stake Via IPO. Short_description: Ashmore Funds to Sell Pakistan Coca-Cola Can Maker Stake Via IPO. Description: A group of funds managed by Ashmore Investment Management Ltd. are planning to sell part of their stake in drink packaging manufacturer Pakistan Aluminium Beverage Cans Ltd. in an initial public offering in June., The U.K.-based asset manager’s funds are looking to sell a 26% stake in the firm through a first-time share sale in Karachi that could raise at least 3.3 billion Pakistani rupees ($22 million), PABC Chief Executive Officer Azam Sakrani said., The funds are selling the rest of their 51% holdings in the can maker through a private placement to local investors that includes a current shareholder, according to Syed Saquib Ali, director of investment banking at Arif Habib Ltd., the sole adviser to the IPO. Liberty Group owns 49% of the company, according to PABC’s , ., The IPO would be the largest in Pakistan since steelmaker Agha Steel Industries Ltd.’s 3.8 billion rupees offering in September, according to data compiled by Bloomberg., Ashmore did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment sent outside of regular business hours., The listing comes as the can maker is eyeing potential expansion. In a short time, PABC has become a supplier to almost all the manufacturers of PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. products in Pakistan as well as in neighboring Afghanistan, Sakrani said., “There is huge growing demand for cans in Pakistan and the region,” Sakrani said in an interview. “The phasing out of plastic bottles is also slowly and gradually expanding across the globe, that will benefit cans.”, The beverage company, which started operations in 2017, is the only manufacturer of aluminum beverage cans in Pakistan, Sakrani said. PABC’s plant, which is located in an industrial zone of Faisalabad, can manufacture 1,800 cans a minute. The company is considering expanding its capacity to as many as one billion cans a year from its current potential output of about 600 million, given rising local demand and export prospects, he said., PABC serves more than 50% of the Afghanistan beverage market, and recently agreed to supply another two large companies in the country, he said. They have also supplied printed cans to clients in Tajikistan as well as in the U.S. including PepsiCo this month, he said. The firm is in discussions with companies in Bangladesh and sees potential in Central Asia, he added., Despite being shut for two months because of the pandemic, the company’s revenue grew by 6% to 5.1 billion Pakistani rupees last year, 35% of which came from exports, Arif Habib’s Ali said. Its net income grew by more than four times to 611 million rupees, he said., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Faseeh Mangi. Date Created: 22 Apr 2021, 12:49 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to targeted approach Navigating Evergrande Woes China Traders [/INST] Markets news. Title: China Traders Take Targeted Approach Navigating Evergrande Woes. Short_description: China Traders Take Targeted Approach Navigating Evergrande Woes. Description: The China Evergrande Group crisis may hurt fewer companies than widely anticipated, with investors on the mainland expecting the fallout from the property developer to be ring-fenced., Here is a rundown of the areas where Chinese investors see more damage given their links to Evergrande and Beijing’s tighter scrutiny of the property sector, even as they bet the government will keep spillover risks in check., Worries are rife about a spike in banks’ bad assets should Evergrande default. The financial subgauge of the CSI 300 Index has fallen 5.5% since , broke out last week on the firm’s overdue wealth management products. China Merchants Bank Co. and financial conglomerate Ping An Insurance Group Co. have been among the biggest drags on the benchmark., Lenders have sought to soothe market concerns via replies on Q&A , run by the bourses. Bank of Jiangsu Co. said its lending was “sufficiently” backed by collateral, while China Everbright Bank Co. said risks were under control. Ping An Insurance Group Co. said its insurance funds have “zero exposure.”, Listed national banks had a total of 7.2 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion) in outstanding corporate real estate loans at the end of June, just 6.3% of their on-balance-sheet lending, China International Capital Corp. analysts including Zhang Shuaishuai estimated. Risk exposure to a single large client would not be sufficient to disrupt major banks’ operation or earnings, they added., The Evergrande incident is unlikely to evolve into a systemic risk and if history is any guide, Chinese authorities may take actions to stabilize the market and contain contagion fears, according to a report by Industrials Securities Co. analysts including Zhang Qirao., The Shanghai Stock Exchange Property Index has been trading below its book value since the end of March as home sales , amid tightening policy to restrain the sector’s debt expansion. Beijing’s more recent campaign to close the wealth gap and increase affordable housing supply also means property price surges seen in the past decades become rather unlikely going forward., While the Evergrande turmoil may hurt smaller developers, the sector should have come to terms with a slowdown as that’s been “a process in the making for over a year now,” said Jiang Liangqing, managing director at Zhuhai Greenbamboo Private Fund Management Co., The gauge of developer stocks tumbled to a five-year low in July. It has since rebounded on bargain hunting, but is still down about 10% from a February peak., Shares of Skshu Paint Co. have nearly halved since the firm revealed in late June it had overdue bills owed by Evergrande. Suzhou Gold Mantis Construction Decoration Co. has seen its stock fall almost 10% to a nine-year low since disclosing on Aug. 31 the developer had missed 60.4 million yuan in commercial bill payment., Evergrande’s crisis may intensify cash shortages at consumer construction material companies that expand rapidly, although a cutoff of all business dealings with the developer should have limited impact on the sector’s income growth, TF Securities analysts including Bao Rongfu wrote in a note., For appliances makers that are highly reliant on new home transactions to drive sales, the knock-on effect of a weak real estate sector is clear. Equities of Gree Electric Appliances Inc. of Zhuhai and Midea Group are 45% and 38% off from this year’s highs, respectively. An ETF of household appliances has plunged to the lowest in over a year.  , The retreat reflects concerns over sluggish demand rather than fears about a full-blown credit crisis, GF Securities analysts including Dai Kang wrote in a note. Retail sales of home appliances shrank 5% on year in August as consumers , on spending amid stringent virus controls, while construction investment fell in first eight months due to the government’s property curbs., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Bloomberg News. Date Created: 23 Sep 2021, 7:03 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to SoftBank Nears end Imperiling Rally Buyback [/INST] Markets news. Title: SoftBank Nears End of $23 Billion Buyback, Imperiling Rally. Short_description: SoftBank Nears End of $23 Billion Buyback, Imperiling Bull Run. Description: Masayoshi Son has run almost all the way through $23 billion allocated to buy back SoftBank Group Corp. shares, raising concerns that his stock’s bull run will end without rapid intervention., The Tokyo-based company purchased more than $20 billion worth of its own shares over the past year through March, according to SoftBank filings, an unprecedented effort that more than doubled the value of the stock. Now, with only about 10% of the committed capital left, the program may run out as soon as next month, Bloomberg’s calculations show., Already, there are signs the buybacks are losing their power to lift SoftBank’s stock. Shares declined 5.7% in March, their worst monthly performance since the pandemic low a year earlier. They fell even as more money was spent on re-purchases, the overall markets advanced, and , for the March quarter is expected to hit a record., “Buybacks are coming to an end,” said Atul Goyal, senior analyst at Jefferies. “When that upward pressure on the stock price ends, the short bets may come out.”, Son hasn’t said whether he will allocate more capital for buybacks, after announcing four overlapping installments last year for a total of 2.5 trillion yen or roughly $23 billion. It’s possible he would make a new commitment when SoftBank reports earnings results on May 12., A SoftBank spokesperson said in an email the stock price reflects not just buybacks but also shareholder appreciation of the progress being made in the investment business, declining to comment on plans for further buybacks., SoftBank shares slipped 1.5%, while Japanese stock indexes rose., After shares plunged in March 2020 with the coronavirus outbreak, Son unveiled plans to sell off assets to reduce debt and fund buybacks. He also announced a deal to sell chip designer Arm Ltd. to Nvidia Corp. for $40 billion. SoftBank’s stock touched a two-decade high before falling last month., It’s difficult to predict exactly when the buyback money will run out, but SoftBank’s history of purchases offers clues. The company spent on average 200 billion yen a month over the past half a year and 253 billion yen in March alone, its biggest monthly outlay this year. It had just shy of 258 billion yen left in the final buyback tranche as of the end of March., “It’s amazing how much they bought back over the past few months even though the shares are at a record high,” said Kirk Boodry, an analyst at Redex Research in Tokyo. “There hasn’t been a deceleration and that lends credence to the idea that the company will buy back more shares when the allocation is done.”, SoftBank has also shown a willingness to make big interventions to bolster the stock against bad news and to build momentum on positive events, at times accounting for as much as 19% of trading volume. It spent over 50 billion yen in a single trading session on Dec. 10. The buybacks sent the shares 11% higher and came a day after Bloomberg broke news about Son debating a new strategy to take his SoftBank private, sparking a rally., The company also spent more than 130 billion yen over 5 business days in mid-April last year, its single biggest week of trading, after forecasting a record annual loss as the value of its startups cratered amid the coronavirus pandemic. When the booming equity markets helped turn the losses into a record profit in the Vision Fund business in early February, SoftBank bought more than 34 billion yen of stock over two days after the results announcement., Overall, SoftBank’s purchases have been effective. For every $1 billion spent on buybacks, the company’s market value increased by more than $6 billion -- until March. That month, the company spent over $2.3 billion only to see its market capitalization slide by almost $11 billion., The coming earnings announcement could offer another opportunity to bolster the share price. SoftBank is likely to report a full-year net income that’s the highest ever for a listed Japanese company in any quarter dating back to 1990, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Vision Fund profit, supercharged by the successful initial public offering of Coupang Inc., may reach an unprecedented $30 billion, people familiar with the matter said., While the profits are largely paper gains on investments, Son has plenty of cash to keep buying back stock. He paid for the original program by offloading about $16 billion of Alibaba stock, an even larger chunk of its stake in T-Mobile US Inc. and some shares of SoftBank Corp., his Japanese telecommunications unit. He then went even further, announcing the sale of Arm, slashing the stake in SoftBank Corp. by about a third and selling a controlling shareholding in phone-distribution company Brightstar Corp. The Japanese conglomerate had 4.45 trillion yen in cash and equivalents as of Dec. 31., Son, who has long railed against the gap between SoftBank’s capitalization and the value of its assets, has flirted with the idea of taking his company private as recently as last March. The buybacks may be part of a, year strategy of reducing outstanding shares until the founder has a big enough stake so that he can squeeze out the remaining investors, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in December. The proportion of treasury stock held by the company rose from just over 1% to almost 17% in the year since the re-purchases began last March. Combined with his personal stake, Son now controls about 40% of the outstanding shares., SoftBank’s stock has climbed more than 160% since the company started buying back shares, but gains have slowed in recent months as the corporate discount shrank. The gap has narrowed from 74% in March 2020 to about 30% without taking capital gains into the account, Jefferies’ Goyal estimates. Boodry at Redex Research sees the discount at about 40% now., The stock will face further headwinds if the sale of Arm to Nvidia falls through, according to Justin Tang, head of Asian research at United First Partners in Singapore. Chinese technology companies including Huawei Technologies Co. are lobbying their government against the transaction, while a regulator in the U.K., where Arm is based, said it plans to intervene “on national security grounds.” At the same time, Arm is , in a legal battle for control of its China unit with the chief executive, who was fired by SoftBank but has refused to leave., “Unless there is a catalyst to expand its net asset value, it is probable that we will see the discount widening out again,” Tang said. “It still is a conglomerate with a lot of unlisted investments in its portfolio.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Pavel Alpeyev. Date Created: 28 Apr 2021, 3:30 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Time High Rally copper Sight [/INST] Markets news. Title: Copper Extends Rally to Top $10,000 With All-Time High in Sight. Short_description: Copper Extends Rally to Top $10,000 With All-Time High in Sight. Description: Copper topped $10,000 a metric ton for the first time since 2011, nearing the all-time high set that year as rebounding economies stoke demand and mines struggle to keep up., Prices rose as much as 1.3% to $10,008 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, before slipping back to trade near unchanged. The metal hit a record $10,190 in February 2011., Copper has been among the best performers in a month where metals ranging from aluminum to iron ore have surged to the highest in years. The rally is being fueled by stimulus measures, near-zero interest rates and signs that economies are recovering from the virus pandemic. A push toward cleaner energy sources is also seen boosting consumption of copper, used in everything from , to solar power systems, further straining supplies., “This is a remarkable run for copper in terms of magnitude and consistency,” said Tai Wong, head of metals derivatives trading at BMO Capital Markets. “The all-time high at $10,190 is just around corner and now practically a foregone conclusion.”, Investors have piled into copper, with aggregate open interest in Shanghai Futures Exchange copper contracts at the highest in more than a year and hedge fund managers boosting bullish Comex copper bets in the week ended April 20., With copper demand set to soar once more, there are mounting concerns that producers will struggle to plug the gap as they battle , technical and regulatory pressures. In the longer term, producers worry that , to boost mining royalties could stifle investment., Prices have doubled from lows in March, along with a surge across raw materials from oil to agriculture. That’s spurring debate about whether the current boom may herald a so-called commodities supercycle., It has also helped push mining shares to multiyear highs., “The copper price has gone stratospheric and probably has further to go, which is a boon for miners who are currently making at least two dollars for every one they spend getting metal out of the ground,” said Robert Edwards, Principal Analyst, base metals at CRU Group., Copper pared earlier gains as the dollar advanced, reducing the appeal of the metal for investors holding other currencies. For the day, the metal rose 0.1% to settle at $9,885 a ton on the LME. Other metal were mixed in London, with aluminum climbing to a three-year high and nickel falling., “The copper rally still has legs to go,” said Wenyu Yao, senior commodities strategist at ING Bank. “The outlook for the U.S. economy keeps getting better. Economic reopening coupled with massive stimulus, faster-than-expected vaccine rollouts and supportive fundamentals all point to even higher prices.”, With copper prices nearing record highs, Newmont Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, is looking to increase output of the metal through several “mega projects,” Chief Executive Officer Tom Palmer said on an earnings call Thursday. Even if just one materializes, copper will account for 15-20% of the company’s total output by the end of the decade, he said., “I’m pretty excited about having good exposure to copper at that time when the world is going through the energy transition,” Palmer said during an interview with Bloomberg TV after the earnings call. “I think copper’s got a pretty good story in front of it. I think its day in the sun is more toward the end of this decade.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Yvonne Yue Li. Date Created: 29 Apr 2021, 6:40 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Shortages Ignite Record Breaking rally palladium [/INST] Markets news. Title: Palladium Smashes $1,500 as Shortages Ignite Record-Breaking Rally. Short_description: The silvery-white metal has more than tripled since January 2016.. Description: (Bloomberg) -- , Palladium surged above $1,500 an ounce to a record, extending a powerful rally that’s been driven by an acute shortage of supply as car manufacturers scramble to get hold of the material to meet stringent emissions controls., Spot palladium surged as much as 1.7 percent to $1,505.46 an ounce, and traded at $1,494.50 as of 1:54 p.m. in New York. Prices are set for a seventh straight monthly gain. The advance will benefit top suppliers in Russia and South Africa. In other precious metals, gold rallied to a 10-month high, while silver and platinum both climbed., Palladium futures for March delivery rose 0.6 percent to settle at $1,462.10 an ounce at 1:03 p.m. on the Nymex in New York., The silvery-white metal used to curb emissions from gasoline-fueled vehicles has tripled since January 2016. Citigroup Inc. said this month that further gains may be in store, warning the market will only balance with a shock to demand. Prices may hit $1,600, the bank forecasts. The global deficit looks set to “widen dramatically” this year, according to Johnson Matthey Plc, a leading maker of autocatalysts., “Until you get an increase in supply coming onstream, which isn’t going to happen for a few years yet, this is going to result in a tight market and prices generally trending higher,” Philip Klapwijk, managing director of Hong Kong-based consultant Precious Metals Insights Ltd., said on Wednesday., Tighter supplies of palladium, used mainly to curb emissions in gasoline vehicles, have spurred a robust borrowing market for the metal, prompting investors to pull the material from exchange-traded funds and offer them for lease. Heraeus, a refiner, said physical palladium ETF holdings fell to 700,000 ounces at the end of 2018, down from a peak of 2.9 million in 2014. It’s hard to gauge the exact level of global stockpiles, but various sources have estimated a range between 10 million and 18 million ounces, which equates to roughly one to two years of demand, Heraeus said., Still, some analysts are questioning the durability of the rally. , in China continued to drop in January after their first full-year slump in more than two decades. Plus, markets in Europe and North America are shrinking as ride-hailing and car-sharing services make it less necessary to own a vehicle., Tighter emissions rules are “outweighing the weakness in global auto sales and the growing threat from EVs,” said Matthew Turner at Macquarie Group Ltd. “So while we’ve known about deficits and projected deficits for years, the market’s ability to adjust to them is unusually constrained.”, Palladium is a rare metal produced mostly in two countries, so it may not be possible to boost output immediately. More than 80 percent comes as a byproduct from nickel mining in Russia and platinum mining in South Africa, so supplies depend on the extraction level and investment in other minerals., Russia’s MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC has said the risk of automakers switching from palladium toward cheaper platinum is low, even as the gap between the two climbs. “It is not easy -- you need to do R&D, register the technology,” said Anton Berlin, head of analysis and market development at Nornickel, the biggest palladium producer. “It may take up to 18 months.”, The jump in palladium has also aided South African producer Anglo American Platinum Ltd., and the company expects the three major platinum-group metals, including rhodium, will again be in a combined deficit in 2019. “Automotive demand seems set to increase, even with little or no growth in vehicle sales, as average vehicle size increases and emissions rules tighten,” it said this week., In other metals, spot gold rose as much as 0.4 percent to $1,346.80 an ounce, the highest since April, as silver and platinum gained. The moves came before the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s , , when policy makers signaled rates won’t be raised again until inflation accelerates., ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Ranjeetha Pakiam. Date Created: 20 Feb 2019, 7:34 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Trade [/INST] Markets news. Title: All You Need To Know Going Into Trade On May 6. Short_description: Stocks in the news, big brokerage calls of the day, complete trade setup and much more!. Description: Asia stocks rose in early trade Thursday after technology shares weighed on U.S. markets, offsetting optimism over solid corporate earnings and economic reports., Shares opened higher in Australia and Japan, where trading resumes after holidays. Futures pointed higher in Hong Kong and U.S. contracts were little changed after the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 ended in the red, while the S&P 500 notched a small gain., The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield edged higher in Asia’s morning. The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 0.5% to 14,764 as of 7:55 a.m., The Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index returned to its highest level since 2011 as growth bets boost demand, while poor weather and transportation bottlenecks threaten supply., Oil gave up earlier gains as traders assessed an increase in gasoline stockpiles.. Publisher: Darshan A Nakhwa. Date Created: 06 May 2021, 7:00 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Europe Loan Market mad Dash Cash Lull history [/INST] Markets news. Title: Europe Loan Market in Lull as Mad Dash for Cash Becomes History. Short_description: Europe Loan Market in Lull as Mad Dash for Cash Becomes History. Description: European loan issuance by companies has plummeted since last year’s record-breaking rush for cash, as borrowers turn to the better terms offered on other types of debt such as bonds., Loan sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa fell 43% to 227 billion euros ($272 billion) between January and April from a year-earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s a far cry from April 2020, which saw record loans of 157 billion euros as companies rushed to raise short-term emergency funding in the face of a spreading pandemic., Volumes would be even lower if they weren’t supported by a 25% increase in leveraged issuance, which accounts for around one-third of the region’s overall loan market., Now, as vaccination programs gather pace across Europe and economies reopen, companies are replacing those funds with later-maturing and cheaper debt -- it costs around twice as much for investment grade companies to borrow in the loan market over five years compared with the bond market., In contrast to the dearth of investment-grade loan supply, the region’s market for newly minted bonds is firing ahead. On Thursday alone, 11 issuers including Banco Santander SA and stock exchange Euronext NV may price at least 6.2 billion euros., Loan demand, specifically from high-grade companies, “has been covered by an exceptionally high volume in the fixed-income markets,” according to Reinhard Haas, Frankfurt-based head of syndicated finance at Commerzbank AG. Borrowers, such as Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Thales SA, have turned to repay some of their debt by raising funds in the bond market where yields have tumbled since the peak of the crisis., Around a third of the 181 billion euros of emergency funding raised in the loan market last year has either been repaid, canceled or replaced by longer-maturity financing. About 116 billion euros of virus loans from 2020 remains outstanding, and 24 billion euros are due by the end of this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg., Besides the short-term liquidity lines, companies also drew down 72 billion euros from existing credit facilities mostly in March and April last year. Only 13 billion euros of those used funds have been replaced., However, many of the emergency credit lines and companies’ revolving facilities come with extension options, delaying the need to refinance in the market. U.K. travel-services provider Saga Plc, for example, extended its loans while amending covenants for greater financial flexibility in March., Even so, the loan market remains a lifeline to the hardest-hit sectors of the Covid era, including airlines and leisure companies after a year of shuttered venues and grounded aircraft fleets., Easyjet Plc and International Consolidated Airlines Group SA are among borrowers to tap the market this year, while 15 companies including Intercontinental Hotels Group Plc and pub chain Fuller Smith & Turner Plc have sought covenant waivers or looser financial terms., Click here for a worksheet of pandemic-driven loan transactions in Europe., Measures of investment grade and high-yield credit default risk are rising on Thursday, after falling during the previous trading session., A glance at indicators for Asian credit tells an optimistic story: spreads not far from the tightest levels since the pandemic, record issuance and even sectors like aviation now easily issuing debt amid reopening bets., Hertz Global Holdings Inc. said a , from Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management to buy the car renter out of bankruptcy was superior to an existing offer from a rival investor group., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Jacqueline Poh &. Date Created: 06 May 2021, 3:51 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Loans time emission bank Offices [/INST] Markets news. Title: Banks Produce 700 Times More Emissions From Loans Than Offices. Short_description: Banks Produce 700 Times More Emissions From Loans Than Offices. Description: It’s through their loan books and investment portfolios that banks and asset managers make their biggest contribution to climate change., The greenhouse gas emissions associated with financial institutions’ investing, lending and underwriting activities are more than 700 times higher, on average, than their direct emissions, according to a report published Wednesday by climate nonprofit CDP. While banks generate emissions from heating their buildings and flying executives to meetings -- when pandemic restrictions allow -- “almost all climate-related impacts and risks of global financial institutions come from financing the wider economy,” CDP said in a statement., Wall Street dollars can either be an enabler for polluting industries, providing the world’s biggest emitters with funding for extraction and drilling, or a powerful lever used to push companies to cut emissions and prepare for a low-carbon future. Several major banks, including Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc and Morgan Stanley, have , in the past year to measuring and reporting the carbon emissions resulting from their lending and investments., “The financial services sector is critical to achieving a net-zero carbon future,” Emily Kreps, global director of capital markets at CDP, said in the statement. “The real economy transition will require a massive amount of capital directed at decarbonizing the economy and enhancing resilience, which only the finance sector can facilitate and provide.”, CDP said its report is the first-ever analysis of so-called financed emissions, which are the indirect, or so-called scope 3, emissions generated from lending and investing. The nonprofit analyzed the financed emissions of 322 financial institutions with $109 trillion of assets, using data that asset managers, asset owners, insurers and banks had reported themselves to CDP., The results were striking yet incomplete. Only 25% of the companies reported financed emissions, and among those that did, most reported on less than 50% of their portfolios, thereby obscuring the true impact of their financing activities., Reported financed emissions totaled 1.04 gigatons of CO2, or about 3% of global emissions in 2020. The true figure is likely significantly higher., Many banks and asset managers are underestimating climate-related risks, CDP said. While 41% of firms said they identify direct operational climate-related risks, such as physical damage to their operations, 65% don’t report climate credit risks, such as borrowers’ defaults on loan repayments. Meanwhile, 74% don’t identify market risks, including stranded assets and financial asset price devaluation, as the economy transitions to net zero., Financial firms face growing scrutiny about their contribution to climate change, as environmental activists, shareholders and regulators better understand their role as enablers of the high-carbon economy: Banks have offered more than $3.8 trillion of fossil-fuel financing since the signing of the Paris Agreement, according to Rainforest Action Network, which used data from Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, for its calculations., Mobilizing financial markets to support the transition away from fossil fuels was among the key goals of the 2015 Paris climate accord, and expectations are growing ahead of the follow-up climate summit scheduled for later this year in Glasgow., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Alastair Marsh. Date Created: 28 Apr 2021, 4:31 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Technical Charts week nifty biggie [/INST] Markets news. Title: Nifty This Week: Technical Charts And More – Look Beyond The Biggies. Short_description: Stay tuned in to the opportunities that lie in the mid-cap and small-cap area, writes CK Narayan.. Description: Long ago, there was a movie called Cool Hand Luke, and in that there was one dialogue that I can never forget. “What we have here is a failure to communicate” says one of the characters. I think that can very well be said about the current market situation. On the one hand, the market is communicating to us, saying it is not too keen to go higher while on the other hand, the people in the market seem to be saying that they shall not allow the market to go lower. It can be a toss-up here as to who is going to win and for the moment, the market seems to be having an upper hand as it pushes the prices lower to yet another lower low, compared to the previous week. But buyers are up to the challenge as they push markets up from those lower lows., However, so long as they are unable to push the market above the prior week’s high (at the bare minimum), they are on a slippery slope in the short-term. The long-term, of course, we have discussed a few times in this column, and that is still quite intact. But with every passing week if we start nearing those tripwires, then small beads of perspiration may start becoming visible on the foreheads of the dogged bulls. But, that’s for another week. For now, we look at what has transpired. Here is the chart of the action so far., Since the market has been going sideways for a while, I threw in the Bollinger band to check on how the volatility is ebbing. No help, I am afraid. Well, prices are down into the mid-band but that’s pretty much it. The bands are still wide apart so the indicator is nowhere near signalling a low-volatility setup. In fact, we are needing to drop down to a much lower intra-day time frame (not shown here) to find the Band flattening out. So while the mid-band in the daily can offer some relief, we may continue to witness the kind of moves that we have been seeing. Certainly not something to look forward to. So in an attempt to find some other clue, let us go and check the other indices using the same Bollinger Band and see what they show. Here is the Bank Nifty., Oops. Not healthy at all., We must remember that Banks form a large percentage of weight in the Nifty and if this is a drag, how can the Nifty make forays higher? But hark! Is that an Inside-Outside pattern that could be forming at the recent lows? Bit of a stretch, I agree, but hey, we are clutching at straws at the moment. If it does become one, then we can start hoping again. So, banks may be something to look at in the week ahead? Perhaps a crackling result or two may do the trick? I took an additional look at the Private Bank index and I find it dropping down into a rising lower Bollinger. This often acts as a support. Let’s see if it does the trick. The PSU bank index is also similar but the levels for support are still far away. So if something has to happen, then it has to be from the private banks., I.T. is the other big-weight sector. Any hopes from there? Here is Nifty IT daily., Nope. No-go here. A flat trend with the bands being crisscrossed. No help here at all., The less said about energy the better (Reliance is in here). Not much support coming from the FMCG set either (HUL, ITC, etc. are in here)., So what is going to help out? Well, the metals index is charged up and that is the reason the commodities index is also up. But these are lightweights on the Nifty. You do have the Nifty Next 50 showing some strength but that is a very mixed index with stocks from all over the place. So difficult to see it giving the index a boost., Then what are people keeping busy with, one wonders? Not difficult to answer. See this chart of the MidSmallcap 400 Index., The only word that jumps into the mind is ‘nice’. So it is evident that people have kind of abandoned the frontline and are happy to seek their fortunes in the mid and small areas. This takes me back to , on Feb. 26. Here is a quote from that article:, “, ”, It does seem like that is what has been happening., With results season in progress, I don’t see any way this trend may change much. Here is the Relative Strength Comparative chart of the Nifty versus the MidSmallcap 400., You can note the consistent underperformance of the large caps vis-à-vis the mid and small. This has now become more pronounced in the last several weeks. We all get distracted by the noise of new highs and the din of TV channels and sometimes miss out on the big picture. Those that heeded the column at the end of February should have profited. If you did, you can always buy me a beer!, So, that’s where we will leave it for this week, with a reminder to stay tuned in to the opportunities that lie in the midcap and smallcap area. On the main board we have to follow a path of short in-and-out forays for trading as trends there are not sustaining. We keep a watch on the main supports that have been mentioned earlier and check how the index fares if those levels are reached.. Publisher: CK Narayan. Date Created: 24 Apr 2021, 11:57 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Tech Mahindra Q4 result Net Profit Declines Misses estimate [/INST] Markets/Quarterly Earnings news. Title: Tech Mahindra Q4 Results: Net Profit Declines 17%, Misses Estimates. Short_description: Tech Mahindra's net profit declined 17% sequentially to Rs 1,081.4 crore in the January-March period.. Description: ’s profit fell in the quarter ended March, missing estimates, despite deal wins., The information technology company saw its net profit drop 17% over the preceding quarter to Rs 1,081.4 crore in the January-March period, according to its exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 1,307.4-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg., Its revenue rose 1% sequentially to Rs 9,729.9 crore, against the Rs 9,831.8-crore forecast., Revenue in dollar terms rose 1.6% to $1,329.6 million., Constant-currency revenue growth stood at 0.7%., Operating profit rose 1% to Rs 1,553 crore., EBIT margin expanded to 16% from 15.9%., Continued focus on cutting-edge technologies has expanded client engagement with large deal wins this quarter, CP Gurnani, managing director and chief executive officer at Tech Mahindra, said in the filing. “We are witnessing a strong demand acceleration.” , The company has recommended a final dividend of Rs 30 apiece and a special dividend of Rs 15 apiece for FY21., Shares of Tech Mahindra closed 1.26% higher before the results were announced. The stock has declined 1.61% so far this year compared with NSE IT index’s 5.01% gain.. Publisher: Darshan A Nakhwa. Date Created: 26 Apr 2021, 6:10 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Adani Ports Q4 result Misses estimate Fourfold Profit [/INST] Markets/Quarterly Earnings news. Title: Adani Ports Q4 Results: Profit Jumps Fourfold But Misses Estimates. Short_description: Net profit of India’s largest port operator stood at Rs 1,287 crore in the three months ended March from Rs 334 crore a year ago.. Description: ’s quarterly profit jumped fourfold over the year earlier as its acquisition of Krishnapatnam port continues to drive volumes. Still, the earnings missed estimates., Net profit of India’s largest port operator stood at Rs 1,287 crore in the three months ended March from Rs 334 crore a year ago, according to its exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 1,465-crore consensus forecast of analysts tracked by Bloomberg., Its revenue rose 24% year-on-year to Rs 3,608 crore—against the estimated Rs 3,721 crore. Revenue of the ports business rose 30% over a year earlier to Rs 3,123 crore, the company said in the filing., Adani Ports in October last year had acquired a , in the all-weather, deep water port located on the east coast of India in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. It bought the , in Krishnapatnam Port in April 2021., Adani Ports’ cargo volumes in the reported quarter rose 27% over the year earlier, the filing said. Krishnapatnam port handled cargo amounting to 3 million metric tonnes in November and 3.5 MMT in December, it said. Krishnapatnam port handled 10 MMT cargo in the quarter ended March., The cargo, according to the company, was higher than that handled by all the major ports in India, helped by 16% growth in container cargo, 9% growth in dry bulk cargo, and due to enhanced capacity and higher cargo in east coast. To be sure, all-India cargo volumes only rose 2% during the period., “FY21 has been a transformational year for APSEZ. Some of the key decisions we took this year have set the foundation for the coming decade,” Karan Adani, chief executive officer of Adani Ports, was quoted as saying in the filing. “Our market share increased 4% on a pan-India basis in the ports sector.”, Adani Ports also said it could abandon its container terminal project in Myanmar, bids for which it had won only last year, and write down the investment if it’s found to be in violation of sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S., This comes after a military coup in the Southeast Asian nation on Feb. 1 led to the deaths of hundreds of civilians, drawing international backlash and sanctions against the military leadership., Adani Ports, which has already invested $127 million (around Rs 889 crore) in the project, said it’s in discussion with U.S.-based counsel Morrison Forrester to ensure compliance with OFAC and also plans to proactively approach OFAC to ensure it’s not violating the sanctions., Shares of Adani Ports closed 0.87% higher before the results were announced, compared with a 0.94% drop in the benchmark Nifty 50.. Publisher: Nishant Sharma. Date Created: 04 May 2021, 5:35 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Net profit Falls Britannia Q4 result quarter [/INST] Markets/Quarterly Earnings news. Title: Britannia Q4 Results: Net Profit Falls After Six Quarters. Short_description: Net profit fell 3% year-on-year to Rs 364.32 crore in the quarter ended March.. Description: ’s profit for the three months through March fell after six quarters amid rising input costs and a shutdown last month to implement three digital projects., Net profit of the maker of Good Day and Tiger biscuits declined 3% year-on-year to Rs 364.32 crore in the quarter ended March, according to its exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 416.9-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg., The company implemented three transformational digital projects in the quarter ended March—S4 HANA, an online dealer management system and an integrated vendor management system. “The delivery of these projects necessitated shutdown of operations for a few days in March which impacted primary billing for the quarter,” said Varun Berry, the company’s managing director., Costs of key raw materials, including palm oil, packing material and dairy products, witnessed a sudden and steep increase while strategic buying helped the company manage cost hikes better, according to Berry. “We’re evaluating the long-term impact of these increases to action necessary price increases while ensuring competitiveness.”, Among the consumer goods firms on the Nifty 50 that have announced their earnings for the quarter ended March, Nestle India Ltd.’s profit and revenue rose amid higher domestic sales., Shares of Britannia ended flat before the results were announced compared with a 1.16% gain in the Nifty 50.. Publisher: Darshan A Nakhwa. Date Created: 27 Apr 2021, 6:54 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to RBL Bank Q4 result Net Profit Falls crore [/INST] Markets/Quarterly Earnings news. Title: RBL Bank Q4 Results: Net Profit Falls 34% To Rs 75 Crore. Short_description: Net interest income fell, while other income rose during the fourth quarter.. Description: reported a fall in its quarterly net profit as core income declined and provisions rose., The private lender’s net profit for the quarter fell 34% to Rs 75 crore, from Rs 114 crore a year ago, according to an exchange filing. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had pegged the net profit at Rs 102 crore., Net interest income, or core income, fell 11% from a year ago to Rs 906 crore. This compares with a forecast of Rs 936 crore. The bank’s other income, however, rose 38% year-on-year to Rs 688 crore., The fall in net interest income was largely due to interest reversals and refunds that the bank had to make to borrowers after the Supreme Court order in the interest-on-interest case, according to Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Vishwavir Ahuja. , The apex court had directed lenders to refund the compounded interest component charged to all borrowers between March and August 2020., Gross non-performing asset ratio for the bank improved marginally to 4.34% as on March 31 compared with 4.57% reported in December., Net NPA ratio improved 40 basis points sequentially to 2.12%., The asset quality numbers for the October-December period included accounts that were not classified as NPA due to a Supreme Court order banks from downgrading stressed accounts at the time., During the quarter, the bank increased provisions against bad loans to Rs 766 crore compared with Rs 601 crore in the year-ago quarter and Rs 610 crore in the three months ended December. This took the bank’s provision coverage ratio up to 72.2% from 68.8% at the end of the third quarter., The challenge in FY21 has come from retail assets of the bank, where almost all of the provisions made during the quarter were against retail loans, Ahuja said. An analyst presentation released by the lender showed that retail loans accounted for more than half of the gross NPAs as on March 31., According to disclosures made by the bank in the filing, it has implemented the Reserve Bank of India’s one-time restructuring scheme for loans worth Rs 466.93 crore. All of the loans which were restructured under the RBI’s one-time scheme belonged to retail borrowers. RBL Bank currently holds provisions worth Rs 102.4 crore against these loans, it said., Collections in March and April 2021 have remained stable so far, despite the fresh surge in Covid-19 infections. The bank will continue to closely monitor any impact on its asset quality in the months ahead, Ahuja said., Advances rose just 1% during the quarter to Rs 58,623 crore but the bank stepped up investments via its debt portfolio. Those rose 28% year-on-year to Rs 23,230 crore. Retail advances for the bank rose 13% year-on-year to Rs 34,390 crore. As of March 31, retail loans constituted 59% of the overall loan book., Among retail assets, credit cards, with outstanding loans worth Rs 12,177 crore, were the largest segment rising 16% year-on-year. This was followed by business loans worth Rs 10,765 crore, which rose 3% year-on-year., The bank, according to Ahuja, is looking to grow its secured retail loans as losses from the unsecured loan portfolio have risen. The bank will invest in growing its home, two-wheeler, gold and tractor loans businesses., “After deliberate de-growth in corporate loan balance sheet, we are seeing growth and are confident that the risk profile of the corporate balance sheet is very high quality. There are segments which have held up well and we will grow in those segments,” Ahuja said., Deposits of RBL Bank rose 26% to Rs 73,121 crore. The ratio of current account savings account deposits or CASA to total deposits stood at 31.8% compared with 31.1% a quarter ago.. Publisher: Vishwanath Nair. Date Created: 04 May 2021, 4:54 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Profit Beats estimate HUL Q4 result volume growth [/INST] Markets/Quarterly Earnings news. Title: HUL Q4 Results: Volume Growth At 16%, Profit Beats Estimates. Short_description: HUL beats estimates, net profit rises 41%. Description: Hindustan Unilever Ltd.’s quarterly profit surged beating estimates, and volumes jumped as India’s largest consumer goods maker continues to recover from the pandemic-driven disruption., The fast-moving consumer goods maker’s net profit rose 41%, over the year earlier to Rs 2,143, crore in the quarter ended March, according to an exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 1,967.9-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg., Its volume growth stood at 16% in the reported quarter. That came on the back of a low base as volumes contracted a year earlier because of the Covid-19 lockdowns., “Our in-quarter performance was strong on both the top line and bottom line. Despite challenging times, in FY21 our business ecosystem has withstood the disruption and demonstrated agility and resilience across the value chain,” Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and managing director of HUL, was quoted as saying in the filing. “Our focus firmly remains behind delivering volume-led competitive growth.”, Srinivas Phatak, chief financial officer at HUL, said in the face of elevated inflationary pressures, HUL’s focus is on volume growth. In the October-December period, the company had said profit margin was in a healthy space between 24% and 25%. Phatak after Q4 results, however, told reporters that the margin profile will have to be navigated., HUL has boosted its supply chain capacity by 30% over the last one year. This was mostly done by adding on 30 new third-party contract manufacturers to de-risk manufacturing from local disruptions., The Shikhar app has now crossed 5 lakh outlets from the earlier 1 lakh. It allows retailers to order directly from the company, even if sales people don’t visit them. The company has also added 16,000 Shakti Ammas, taking the total to 1,30,000, Phatak said. The company, he said, has put in capital in distribution., The category growth stood at 15%, led by strong recovery in fabric wash. Household care delivered double-digit growth. Liquids and fabric sensations continued to outperform, benefitting from robust market development initiatives, the company said in a press release., The category grew 20% with skin cleansing, hair care and oral care delivering high double-digit growth., Skin cleansing performance was led by Lifebuoy and premium segment. ”A calibrated approach towards price increase has helped protect our business model even as vegetable oils continue to inflate at record levels,” the company said in the release., Its skin care portfolio registered strong performance in hand & body care and face cleansing segments. The maker of Lakme said its color cosmetics performance improved sequentially., This segment grew at 36% in the reported quarter. “All our tea brands continued to grow in high double-digits. Ketchups, soups and ice creams also performed well with double-digit growth,” the company said., Nutrition volumes grew in double digits, and HUL launched Rs 2 sachets in Horlicks and Boost. “Our goal remains to drive penetration in this category.”, Discretionary and out-of-home categories also witnessed an improvement sequentially., While HUL’s peers , and , also reported an increase in revenue, underscoring the recovery in demand, even as they flagged raw material price pressures., HUL’s board of directors have proposed a final dividend of Rs 17 apiece., rose as much as 1.8% to Rs 2,449 apiece after the results were announced compared with a flat Nifty 50.. Publisher: Sharleen Dsouza. Date Created: 29 Apr 2021, 1:59 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Axis Bank Q4 result Asset Quality crore Profit report r [/INST] Markets/Quarterly Earnings news. Title: Axis Bank Q4 Results: Reports Rs 2,677-Crore Profit, Asset Quality Improves. Short_description: Axis Bank’s net profit stood at Rs 2,677 crore in the January-March period compared with a net loss of Rs 1,388 crore a year ago.. Description: posted higher-than-expected profit in the quarter ended March and its asset quality improved., The private lender’s net profit stood at Rs 2,677 crore in the three months through March compared with a net loss of Rs 1,388 crore a year ago, according to its exchange filing. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had pegged the bottom line at Rs 1,912 crore., That came as its net interest income rose 11% year-on-year to Rs 7,555 crore, against the Rs 7,011-crore forecast. Fee income, too, rose 15% over the year earlier to Rs 3,376 crore in the fourth quarter., Axis Bank’s asset quality improved during the reported quarter., While the improvement in asset quality numbers is important, Axis Bank has also cautioned against a possible drop in collection efficiency over the next few weeks., “The first few weeks of this fiscal have seen strong collection efficiency. But we are expecting to get impacted over the next few weeks due the current situation. Corporates are adopting a wait and watch approach right now,” said Amitabh Chaudhry, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank., The bank said it restructured loans worth Rs 844.6 crore under the Reserve Bank of India’s one-time restructuring scheme. This included retail loans worth Rs 504 crore and corporate loans worth Rs 340.89 crore. The scheme was introduced to aid borrowers impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic., “We received restructuring requests worth about Rs 3,000 crore from borrowers, where we have invoked the RBI’s Covid-19 restructuring schemes for Rs 1,848 crore worth accounts. As of March 31, we have implemented restructuring plans for Rs 844.6 crore accounts, which includes MSME loans as well,” said Puneet Sharma, chief financial officer., According to Sharma, the bank has time till June 30 to consider the pending restructuring requests and it may or may not choose to proceed with them., In the January-March period, Axis Bank saw fresh slippages worth Rs 5,285 crore and recoveries and upgradations worth Rs 3,462 crore, according to disclosures made in the analyst presentation. The bank also wrote off Rs 5,553 crore worth loans during the quarter., Specific loan loss provisions for the fourth quarter were at Rs 7,038 crore, which included reclassification of NPA provision of Rs 4,266 crore on account of the Supreme Court lifting its bar on downgrading accounts to NPA status. That compares with Rs 4,204 crore worth of loan loss provisions in the same quarter last year., The bank’s provision coverage ratio, including write-offs, stood at 88%., Axis Bank held cumulative provisions of Rs 12,010 crore as on March 31, it said, which includes standard asset provisions as well as additional stressed asset provisions, other than for NPAs., “We have concluded the exercise of building additional provisioning buffers in FY21. We do not believe that we will need to create any more such buffers this year. We are not sure how Covid-19 will pan out, but we believe that we are adequately protected against future losses,” said Chaudhry., According to Chaudhry, the bank will continue to grow its retail loan portfolio with a focus on secured lending products. While Axis Bank will not stop lending to unsecured borrowers, it will be cautious and deal with customers who meet the bank’s risk standards, Chaudhry said., Even as the retail portfolio grows, Axis Bank is seeing resurgence in demand from good quality corporate customers. During the last financial year, 94% of the incremental credit to corporate borrowers went to companies rated A- and above, the bank said., “While corporates are adopting a wait and watch approach, we are seeing some early signs of capex in cement and steel sectors. It is too early to say that this is the start of a strong private capex cycle, but we are seeing early signs,” said Rajiv Anand, the lender’s executive director., Shares of Axis Bank closed flat before the results were announced compared with a 1.16% gain in the benchmark Nifty 50.. Publisher: Vishwanath Nair. Date Created: 27 Apr 2021, 5:20 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Hero MotoCorp Q4 estimate Profit Decline [/INST] Markets/Quarterly Earnings news. Title: Hero MotoCorp Q4 Results: Profit Beats Estimates Despite A Decline . Short_description: Hero MotoCorp.’s Q4 profit fell as high ownership cost hurt two-wheeler demand.. Description: ’s quarterly profit fell as higher ownership cost hurt two-wheeler demand., Net profit of India’s largest two-wheeler maker fell 17% sequentially to Rs 865 crore in the quarter ended March, according to an exchange filing. That, however, surpassed Rs 799-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg., The Pawan Munjal-led company’s revenue fell 11% over the preceding three months to Rs 8,686 crore, against the Rs 8,416-crore forecast., Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 14% to Rs 1,211 crore., Ebitda margin stood at 13.9% against 14.5%., Hero MotoCorp said in the statement that while a late recovery towards the second half of the FY21 saw the company gain strong volumes, the broader market continues to suffer in view of the recent escalations in Covid-19 cases. , The New Delhi-based motorcycle maker sold 15% fewer units than the preceding quarter at 15.68 lakh in the January-March period. The decline came as demand in rural India, which was expected drive two-wheeler sales buoyed by a good monsoon, a bumper crop, increased government spending and less severe Covid-19 restrictions, , . Costly fuel, a series of price hikes prior to the pandemic and then again recently to counter the surge in commodity costs also caused sales to tumble., Hero MotoCorp’s peer Bajaj Auto Ltd. also , the sharp increase in input costs in the fourth quarter, and expects it rise in the ongoing three-month period ending June. Bajaj Auto reported a fall in net profit and revenue over the preceding quarter., across the country indicates pressure on two-wheeler demand, which is causing a pile-up in inventory., Hero MotoCorp has already extended the plant shutdown across its plant until May 9. , Niranjan Gupta, chief financial officer at Hero MotoCorp, said the firm is prepared to address any eventuality in order to stabilise its business in the remaining months of the quarter. He, however, expects normalcy to kick in from the second quarter. , "A healthy monsoon, harvest season and a rebound in GDP to aid the industry’s recovery from Q2 onwards," he said, adding that it also expects significant growth in its global business, and aims to work on developing the key overseas markets. , Shares of Hero MotoCorp ended 4.67% higher before the results were announced compared with a 0.73% gain in the benchmark Nifty 50.. Publisher: Nishant Sharma. Date Created: 06 May 2021, 9:34 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Tata Consumer Q4 result Net Profit Slumps Margin Contracts [/INST] Markets/Quarterly Earnings news. Title: Tata Consumer Q4 Results: Net Profit Slumps 44%, Margin Contracts. Short_description: Net profit of Tata Tea and Tata Salt maker declined 44% sequentially to Rs 133.34 crore in quarter ended March.. Description: saw a fall in quarterly consolidated profit and a contraction in margin over the preceding three months as expenses rose., Net profit of Tata Tea and Tata Salt maker declined 44% sequentially to Rs 133.34 crore in the January-March period, according to an exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 186.9-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg., While India beverages and foods businesses maintained revenue, the international beverage business revenue declined versus the December quarter. “Consolidated Ebitda growth for the quarter was impacted by tea inflation in India and increased A&P investments, that more than offset the strong Ebitda growth in India food and International business,” the company said in it earnings presentation., During the year, Tata Salt gained market share with its value-added salts portfolio growing faster, which is in line with the company’s premiumisation strategy., The company added five new products to its ready-to-cook category under the “Tata Sampann” brand. They include “haldi doodh” mix, “masala daliya khichdi” mix, dhokla mix, supergrain ragi idli and supergrain ragi dosa mixes., “In line with our strategic priority of exploring new opportunities, the health and wellness focused foods portfolio was further enhanced through acquisition of Kottaram Agro Foods Pvt (Soulfull brand)—now renamed as Tata Consumer Soulfull,” the company said in an exchange filing. “This opens significant opportunities in the fast growing ‘on the table’ and ‘on the go’ segments.”, The company said integration of its India foods and beverages businesses is now complete. “A redesigned sales and distribution system is in place with digitisation across channel partners, a new integrated business planning system covering demand and supply planning is now live.”, “We delivered yet another quarter of strong revenue growth, driven by double-digit volume growth (year-on-year) in India business,” Sunil D’Souza, managing director and chief executive of Tata Consumer Products, was quoted as saying. “During the year, we have stepped up our distribution reach, invested behind our brands, and focused on premiumisation in our core portfolio.”, He said the company “continued the momentum in driving the digital agenda with digitalisation of channel partners”., While the consumer goods sector continued to recover from the pandemic-driven disruptions, Tata Consumer’s peers , , , and , flagged raw material price pressures in the reported quarter., Tata Consumer had , Gail (India) Ltd. in the benchmark Nifty 50 in its latest semi-annual rejig, effective March., Shares of Tata Consumer ended flat before the results were announced compared with a 0.7% rise in Nifty 50.. Publisher: Sharleen Dsouza. Date Created: 06 May 2021, 5:33 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Bajaj Auto Q4 result Input Cost Pressures estimate profit [/INST] Markets/Quarterly Earnings news. Title: Bajaj Auto Q4 Results: Profit Meets Estimates Despite Input Cost Pressures. Short_description: Net profit of Bajaj Auto rose 2% year-on-year to Rs 1,332 crore in the January-March period.. Description: Bajaj Auto Ltd.’s quarterly profit rose, in line with estimates, even as two-wheeler demand remained under pressure on account of high ownership cost and increased input prices., Net profit for the Pune-based company rose 2% year-on-year to Rs 1,332 crore in the January-March period, according to an exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 1,312-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg., Revenue rose 26% to Rs 8,596 crore, against the Rs 8,189-crore forecast., Operating profit, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, rose 22% to Rs 1,524 crore., Operating margin, however, contracted to 17.7% from 18.4%, in line with the forecast., Bajaj Auto sold 17% more vehicles over the year earlier at 11.69 lakh units in the quarter ended March. But that was mainly because of a low base as the industry was gearing up for transition to BS-VI emission standards around the same time last year., Rural India was expected to drive two-wheeler sales in India, buoyed by a good monsoon, a bumper crop, increased government spending to boost the economy and less severe Covid-19 restrictions compared to urban centres. But the higher cost of ownership due to costly fuel, a series of price hikes prior to the pandemic and then again recently to counter the surge in commodity costs and the lockdown , ., Bajaj Auto in the filing also acknowledged the sharp increase in input cost in the fourth quarter, and expects it to continue increasing in the ongoing three-month period ending June. That corroborates with , across the country indicating a pile-up in two-wheeler inventory., Rakesh Sharma, executive director at Bajaj Auto, said the demand situation is ambiguous again because of the fresh surge in coronavirus cases. But “supply chain disruption both at vendors side and at our plants are much better manageable this year compared to last year,” he said. “[We] remain optimistic for demand to return swiftly.”, Rahul Bajaj has resigned as the chairman of Bajaj Auto, the company said in the filing accompanying the results. , “Rahul Bajaj has made a huge contribution to the success of the company and the group over the last five decades,” the company said in the statement. “Considering his tremendous experience and in the interest of the company and to continue to benefit from his experience, knowledge and wisdom in an advisory role and as a mentor, the board of directors has approved the appointment of Rahul Bajaj as chairman emeritus of the company for five years with effect from May 1, 2021.”, Niraj Bajaj, non-executive director, will succeed Rahul Bajaj as chairman at the company., dropped as much as 2.12% to Rs 3,807 apiece after the results were announced compared with a flat Nifty 50.. Publisher: Nishant Sharma. Date Created: 29 Apr 2021, 3:31 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Record Deal Wins high Tax Expense Q4 result Profit Tumbles HCL Technologies [/INST] Markets/Quarterly Earnings news. Title: HCL Technologies Q4 Results: Record Deal Wins, Profit Tumbles 72% On Higher Tax Expense. Short_description: Net profit of the software services provider declined sequentially to Rs 1,111 crore.. Description: ’s revenue rose and it won record new deals in the fourth quarter even as profit tumbled on a higher tax expense., Net profit declined 72.1% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 1,111 crore, the software services provider said in an exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 3,230-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg. HCL Tech’s tax expense surged to Rs 2,256 crore from Rs 502 crore in the December quarter., The company registered the “highest-ever new deal booking” this quarter at $3.1 billion with an all-time high exit pipeline, said C Vijayakumar, chief executive officer at HCL Technologies. “The booking and pipeline represent a well balanced mix of service lines, geographies and industries.”, HCL Technologies expects revenue in FY22 to grow in double digits in constant currency terms. It expects EBIT margin for FY22 to range between 19% and 21%., The board declared an interim dividend of Rs 6 per equity share and a special interim dividend of Rs 10 per equity share for FY 2021-22. The special interim dividend was declared in recognition of the $10 billion in yearly revenue milestone in FY21., The company had announced a Rs 700-crore one-time bonus in February to celebrate the milestone., HCL Technologies’ peers Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Infosys Ltd., too, saw their revenue rise in the reported quarter, aided by deal wins and digital transformation. Their net profit also increased during the period. TCS has , a double-digit growth guidance for FY22, while Infosys , revenue to grow 12-14% in constant currency terms in the ongoing fiscal., Shares of HCL Tech closed 0.56% lower before the results were announced compared with a 0.45% fall in Nifty50.. Publisher: Darshan A Nakhwa. Date Created: 23 Apr 2021, 6:51 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Bank Q4 result Net loss crore [/INST] Markets/Quarterly Earnings news. Title: Yes Bank Q4 Results: Net Loss Widens To Rs 3,788 Crore. Short_description: Yes Bank reported a net loss of Rs 3,788 crore in Q4 compared with a net loss of Rs 3,668 crore a year ago.. Description: posted a wider-than-expected net loss for the quarter ended March, a year after the private lender was rescued by the banking regulator., The lender’s net loss stood at Rs 3,788 crore compared with a net loss of Rs 3,668 crore a year ago, according to its exchange filing. Analysts estimates compiled by Bloomberg had pegged the net loss at Rs 495 crore., Yes Bank was placed under a moratorium in March last year after which a reconstruction scheme was implemented., Its net interest income fell 22% year-on-year to Rs 987 crore, compared with the Rs 2,176-crore forecast. Other income, however, rose 36.6% to Rs 816 crore in the fourth quarter., Gross non-performing asset ratio stood at 15.41% in the reported quarter. In the preceding three months, Chief Executive Officer Prashant Kumar had said the bank’s pro-forma gross NPA ratio was close to 20%. It had reported a gross NPA ratio of 15.36% as of December 2020., During the quarter, the bank set aside Rs 5,239.6 crore in provisions to cover for bad loans, which in turn led to the large loss., Post provisioning, the Net NPA ratio was at 5.88% compared with 4.04% as of December. The bank had not released its pro-forma net NPA at the end of the third quarter., “The bank has made accelerated provisions against non-performing loans and investments, which led to the loss during the quarter,” said chief executive Prashant Kumar in a media call after the earnings. The bank’s provision coverage ratio stands at 78.6%., The bank wrote-off Rs 10,300 crore during the quarter., Gross slippages during the quarter stood at Rs 11,873 crore., Out of the gross slippages in Q4, nearly Rs 8,200 crore worth of slippages were accounts which were not classified as NPA in the third quarter due to a Supreme Court order., Loans worth Rs 1,112 crore were restructured, including Rs 940 crore in corporate loans and Rs 13.5 crore in retail loans., The bank expects to restructure Rs 2,500 crore in the first quarter of the current year., Including technical write offs, the provision coverage ratio of the bank stood at 78.6% as of March 31, marginally higher than 78% a year ago, but lower than 81.5% as of December 31., In the current financial year, the bank expects cash recoveries of Rs 5,000 crore, with slippages coming in lower, the CEO said., Kumar said that the bank’s plan to set-up a majority owned asset reconstruction company has not been approved by the Reserve Bank of India. The lender will await the new ARC guidelines before submitting a revised plan. The structure had been considered as a way to clean-up the bank’s balance sheet., “We feel that this is a business opportunity for the bank as we have the necessary expertise within the bank. We would like to pursue this as a business opportunity where we don’t just address the asset quality of Yes Bank but also on the rest of the industry,” Kumar told BloombergQuint in a post-earnings interview., The bank, he said, will continue to pursue an ARC structure where it has the ability to appoint management, rather than depend on the bad bank which the banking industry is currently working on., “The aggregation of the assets itself would not resolve the case. Unless you understand the asset it would take very long to resolve it. We already have that kind of understanding internally. We feel that instead of transferring the asset to such a large entity (national ARC proposed by the banking industry), we would either resolve it internally or transfer it to an ARC where we have our people managing the affairs,” Kumar said., Total advances for the bank dropped 3% year-on-year to Rs 1.67 lakh crore as of March 31., Retail loans grew to nearly Rs 50,000 crore at the end of the fourth quarter, as compared with Rs 40,755 crore a year ago., Retail and MSME loans now account for 51% of the total loan book., “In the current year we are aiming for a 15% overall loan growth, led by a 20% growth in retail and MSME advances. We are looking making our portfolio more granular. We will also grow our corporate book selectively, with a focus on providing more working capital loans to companies,” Kumar said., As of March 31, the bank’s outstanding deposits stood at Rs 1.63 lakh crore, up 55% year-on-year., Low cost current account savings account deposits contributed 26.1% of the deposit portfolio., Last year the bank’s deposit base had taken a hit, after it went through a period of financial turmoil ahead of the rescue plan by RBI., According to the business plan shared by the bank in its investor presentation, it aims to double its deposit base and triple its customer base by March 2024. It will leverage high quality business segments such as government business and capital market custody business to widen its liabilities franchise. Yes Bank plans to increase the CASA ratio to 40% in the next three financial years., The bank’s capital adequacy ratio fell to 17.5% at the end of March as compared with 19.6% as of December 31. This included common equity tier-1 ratio of 11.2% at the end of the last fiscal, as compared with 13.1% in the third quarter., This was largely because of elevated provisioning and credit costs during the quarter, said Kumar. With cash recoveries rising higher than expected slippages, the bank expects its current capital adequacy to cover for any immediate growth needs., “At the start of the first quarter this year, we have 300 basis points of CET-1 ratio over regulatory minimum. If there are better growth opportunities in the times to come, then we would not want to miss out on them. We will take a call on fund raising as the situation evolves,” Kumar said., The bank last raised Rs 15,000 crore through a follow-on public offer in July 2020 and has board approvals to raise another Rs 10,000 crore.. Publisher: Vishwanath Nair. Date Created: 30 Apr 2021, 5:28 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Brokerages Cheer Indus Towers Tower Additions Tenant q4 [/INST] Markets/Quarterly Earnings news. Title: Brokerages Cheer Indus Towers’ Tenant, Tower Additions In Q4. Short_description: Here’s what analysts have to say about Indus Towers’ fourth-quarter results.... Description: Indus Towers Ltd.’s profit rose in the three months ended March, the first full quarter of operations after its merger with Bharti Infratel Ltd., helped by higher exit penalties, tenant additions and reduced expenditure., The tower company’s net profit rose 38% year-on-year to Rs 1,364 crore in the January-March period, according to a company statement. That compares with the Rs 1,271-crore consensus forecast of analysts tracked by Bloomberg., Its consolidated revenue increased 3% to Rs 6,492 crore, against the Rs 6,435-crore estimate., Total expenditure fell to Rs 3,079 crore in the reported quarter against Rs 3,452.7 crore a year ago., Higher tower/tenant additions and decline in other expenses aided the company’s operating income in the fourth quarter., The merger of Bharti Airtel Ltd.’s tower arm with Indus Towers was , in November last year. Prior to the merger, Indus Towers was jointly owned by Bharti Infratel (42%), Vodafone Plc. (42%), Vodafone Idea Ltd. (11.15%) and Providence (4.85%). , After the deal, Vodafone Idea , in the telecommunications tower company. Bharti Infratel now owns 36.7% of Indus Towers, British operator Vodafone Group 28.1%, and the rest is held by investors including KKR & Co. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board., Higher-than-expected exit penalties, and lower spends on charity and donations have helped boost net profit., 3,700 tower additions were the highest ever in a quarter., Strong tower additions drove gross tenancy additions of 5,024—the highest in more than three years., The tenancy ratio moderated due to higher growth in tower base., Margin expansion from current levels is unlikely unless Indus Towers can increase its tenancy ratio., The stock offers limited growth over FY21-23 but has an attractive dividend yield of 6.5% for FY23., Maintains ‘hold’, and increases earnings estimates by 3-5% to factor higher exit penalties and other income., Ebitda was 10% higher than expectations due to lower-than-expected energy losses, lower other expenses and negligible CSR cost., Net tenancy additions were higher due to higher tower additions., Concerned about the sustainability of strong tenancy additions as Bharti Airtel/Reliance Jio recently bought large quantity of spectrum, which may impact capacity-led tenancy demand., Vodafone Idea’s going concern risk has also not receded., Maintains ‘hold’, and increases Ebitda estimates by 1-2% for 2021-22 and 2022-23., Gross tenancy additions increased 8% year-on-year and 10% quarter-on-quarter., FY21 operating free cash flow of Rs 7,100 crore (up 1% YoY) despite capex of Rs 3,600 crore (up 13% YoY)., Indus growth is improving with the ongoing data boom and the company is trading at a compelling valuation of 6 times EV/Ebitda for 2021-22., Indus valuations are at a 65% discount to the global peer tower valuations., Rates ‘buy’ and lifts earnings estimates by 1-8% for the year 2021-22 and 2022-23., Rental revenue fell 4% quarter-on-quarter due to a 5% decline in rentals per month per tenant., The energy revenue fell 3% sequentially to Rs 2,350 crore., The company had a net debt of Rs 5,800 crore at the end of FY21., The capex for 4QFY21 stood at Rs 1,290 crore compared with Rs 1,090 crore in the third quarter., Rates ‘neutral’ due to in line revenue and strong tenancy additions., Q4 performance was marginally better led by higher tower/tenants additions., Tower additions are healthy for the third consecutive quarter. , Tower additions have lagged the tenancy ratio and thus increase the risk of pulling down margins and return ratios., Survivability of Vodafone Idea is on a weak footing and poses a severe business risk to Indus., Company also faces a risk of re-negotiation of rentals as tenancies come out of lock-in in FY23 as also exit penalties get over., Rates ‘accumulate’. The stock currently trades at 12.5 times 2022-23 EPS.. Publisher: Sameer Bhardwaj. Date Created: 23 Apr 2021, 3:38 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Mutual Fund Economy Recovers way Portfolio [/INST] Mutual Funds news. Title: The Mutual Fund Show: One Way To Build A Portfolio As The Economy Recovers. Short_description: One approach that may help mutual fund investors earn higher returns as economy recovers.... Description: While the second wave of Covid-19 rages in India, investors should build portfolios keeping in mind that the current phase will eventually end in a vaccinated, fully open economy., That’s according to A Balasubramanian, managing director and chief executive officer; and Mahesh Patil, chief investment officer at Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co. And with the economic growth likely to pick up, bottom-up stock-picking in selected themes can offer good returns to investors, they told Niraj Shah on BloombergQuint’s weekly special series , ., Over the course of the year, Patil said, the economy-facing themes such as banks and niche areas like specialty chemicals, production-linked incentive scheme beneficiaries and digital disruptors will generate higher returns for investors, but only on specific bottom-up ideas., That prompted the asset manager to launch a multi-cap fund, open-ended equity scheme investing across large, mid and small caps. While a flexi-cap plan has a mid-cap flavour, large-cap stocks still occupy 65% of the flexi-cap fund as per Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC’s design, Balasubramanian said. With the multi-cap offering, the fund house will have a scheme that is equally distributed between the three categories — large, mid and small caps, he said., Still, Vishal Dhawan, founder and CEO of Plan Ahead Wealth Advisors, advised investors to watch the performance of the fund before they take a decision. Instead of NFOs, investors should invest in funds that have some track record so as to be able to make an informed decision, he said on the same show. Dhawan recommended the Parah Parikh Flexicap fund in that category, citing its combination of value-orientation in India component and growth-orientation in the international part of the portfolio, offering diversification., Everybody is caught between this uncertainty of rising Covid cases in India and the vaccination drive going to be started full steam from May 1. How do these two push and pull lead from an investing perspective?, I think it is an interesting trend that we are seeing, the repeat of the second wave of Covid definitely has put many citizens of the country a bit on tenterhooks and has increased the worry among people. Therefore, this is something we’ll have to pay attention to seriously. But at the same time, the effort is being put in by the government in terms of going for a partial lockdown, and lockdowns have varied from state to state, and at the same time had to keep the economy going and continue to provide necessary support that needs to be provided. If we go by that model, definitely what we have seen in the beginning of April 2020 when the pandemic hit the world for the first time there were a lot of unknowns. There were many things that we did not know—how to address or how to handle it. Partly this time around, while there has been a rise in cases, they’ve also been able to take some bit of action that I think are bringing a solution to some of these issues. At the same time from the economic growth perspective, whatever the steps that they took especially in the last one year in terms of making the interest rates low, in terms of increasing the liquidity and the same time giving more support to the borrowers to the banking systems, by the way of getting moratoriums and so on so forth. All these things I think have already started playing in terms of having a positive impact in the economic growth. The current pandemic situations may probably take a bit of backseat by one or two months. As you rightly put it, I think the vaccination drive is also going in a full swing. Probably the number of people that are getting vaccinated in the last three weeks has gone up quite tremendously. With the number of cases coming down, the vaccination rates going up and the continued low interest rate regime to drive the economic growth and put the income in front of the government on various spending—all of this I think after a few months will really make an impact on the economic growth. So that’s how I see it. I think its some of a temporary reversing, but growth should come back as we have seen in the past, with a V-shaped recovery. I think probably, we are on that path too., Mahesh, you want to come in and juxtapose this both not just for an Indian investor but also an investor has the choice between investing into India versus investing into global funds?, As Bala mentioned, clearly, the second wave has kind of slowed down the recovery what we were looking at because the economy was recovering very quickly here and also globally. But I think if you look at it and the protocol is very well laid out in terms of how to handle this. So, there is an end to it like in the year back we didn’t know how it will pan out. So it’s a matter of one or two months where you will see an impact because of the lockdowns which could be there. I think there is an end to it and the market interestingly is willing to look beyond the one quarter and look at the slightly medium-term outlook. At the same time, I would say that the global environment is still fairly good and conducive. Globally, we have already seen the peak of the virus curve and there’s a sharp rebound in the economic growth in fact this year. The global GDP growth has been increased now to around 6%, which is the highest in many years and overall, the financial conditions convey that they’re fairly benign. So, while foreign investors would be slightly worried about the second wave but if anybody is coming with a one-year view or a medium-term view, I think for them it doesn’t really change much because we don’t expect any material change to our FY23 earnings outlook because of the second wave. It will impact a bit in the FY22 numbers slightly. We are yet to establish that impact but for investors, I don’t see any major pullout. For foreign investors or long-only investors, I think, in fact, any correction in the market would be looked at as opportunity to really buy because that will make the market more attractive. I think the recovery will also come from the second wave as in terms of the economy, it should be also equally swift, I would say, and the government would also do its bit to support the economy. It means that probably the interest rates in India also will remain low for an extended period of time and that should help to support the growth comeback., Mahesh, the common parlance at least in the months of January and February was that, try and look beyond the index, the larger activity would happen in the broader end of the spectrum, that is where the real money could be made because the recovery would be more pronounced there, the beta would be higher. Would you second that or would you believe that high-quality, large caps might still outperform compared to the mid caps and the small caps?, I think we have been on the view for now almost three to four months that the breadth of the market is likely to improve and the reason for that are a couple of things. One is, we seeing multiple sectors now looking up. The sectors which were down and weren’t not doing well even in pre-Covid are seeing a cyclical upturn—be it domestic as well as the global cyclicals. We are positive on that despite the short-term disruption which could be caused by the second wave. Our belief is that India’s economic growth coming out of this crisis even beyond the FY22 should be fairly strong and we should probably hit around 7% GDP growth which might be a pretty strong growth compared to the growth what we have seen even in the pre-Covid level, we were tracking a much lower growth rate and in this period, again it is driven by multiple things—not only the easy financial conditions, government focus on stimulating growth, loose fiscal policy but also sectors like real estate which has been in the doldrums is kind of taking off. Even the investments or the whole investment cycle is starting to pick up because of the government focus on manufacturing. The production-led incentive schemes across various sectors which has been rolled out will stimulate growth too. There are multiple levers to sustain that growth and during periods of strong economic growth, we’ve seen that the earnings growth in the mid-cap and small-cap is much stronger and that segment of the market tends to do better. We saw that in the period from 2004 to 2007-08 and again, from 2013 to 2018. I think we are in a similar cycle and considering the underperformance of the mid and small-cap sector in the last two years from 2018 onwards I think there is some room to catch up over there. So, I would say a broad-based recovery is what one would expect going forward compared to the narrow rally we saw in calendar year 2018 and 2019. That means good news for money managers or more diversified equity funds to outperform the benchmark which has been a tough task in the last two years., Bala, would that be the reason why you guys are launching this NFO, the Aditya Birla Sun Life Multi-Cap Fund? Please tell us a bit about the fund and the rationale behind the timing of this. Is it because of Mahesh is saying that the outperformance might come in the broader end of the spectrum?, As Mahesh mentioned that definitely post-pandemic, the way I think the support that is being given to drive the economic growth is making it visibly a more broad-based output that could come across different sectors and across the market caps. Also what we have seen in the last two to three years that a single directional growth was coming in the Nifty companies, that is the time where money managers would have gone through some tough time but I think it looks like probably we are in a broad-based participation rather coming more than the rally. So, with a broad-based participation coming in, I felt that there is a need to fill that gap by offering a product which currently is not in existence in the multi-cap category. As you know SEBI had introduced multi-cap as a category after doing a review of various type of mutual fund products that exist in the mutual fund space. Five large-cap and flexi-cap, the mid-cap and small-cap. That is the time when the multi-cap got announced which gives the flexibility for money managers to choose whichever sectors within the predefined criteria between the large-cap, mid-cap and multi-cap and the small- cap that it can take exposures. So that’s really where the merit of this comes in. Secondly, historically if you see, we’ve taken a 10-year period and in your own chart that you just put out just before, clearly the longer time horizon if we give, the tendency for stocks in the mid and small-cap to outperform the market is very high. Given the fact that earnings growth for the companies as you go down, the smaller the size the earnings growth generally gets better and because of the higher earnings growth and the increased level of pickup that we’ve seen in the economic growth, I think the combination makes it much better in terms of stock price performance in the long run. Keeping that in mind and being in the industry for 25 years, we looked at the gap that exists in every product offering that we have. Therefore it was felt that maybe in the beginning of the financial year, we must begin with the launch of the multi-cap fund. We see a greater opportunity not just one time but it’s going to be an opportunity which is sustainable for the longer-term investment purpose. Therefore our advice to all investors as part of this launch is to consider this fund as part of the normal allocation that they have between large and flexi-cap and multi-cap and the mid-cap kind of portfolio allocations. Now, this also fits into the overall allocation that investors might want to consider. So that’s the purpose that we have planned. Of course, the fund again is being managed by Mahesh Patil and is being supported by another manager named Dhaval Shah and he has certain plans in terms of leverages the benefit of the analyst’s group, bring the best of the ideas in each of the categories and being a part of the portfolio that’s part of the game portfolio strategy which probably Mahesh would explain in a while., Bala, for somebody who has got exposures to say a flexi-cap plan within your stable, what’s the differentiation that this brings to the table vis-à-vis if the person already has a plan or is planning to choose between?, The way I see it is, if you take the large-cap fund they have roughly 80-85% in the large-cap and roughly about 10-15% in the mid-cap. If I take the flexi-cap, generally we have the discipline of having roughly 65-66% in the large-cap and roughly about 38% goes into the mid-cap. Whereas the multi-cap fund will probably have 35+35+35 kind of a model which is between the large, mid and the small-cap. Having said that money managers can choose the segment in which they want to go overweight depending upon the outcome that they have for each of the segment of the market, at each point of time. So, that’s the flexibility that has been given in this category. So that’s the fundamental difference that brings in, in order to bring in the necessary outperformance expectation that one builds in on this fund., Mahesh, do you want to come in on the stock selection methods, what will lead you to choose between the caps and even otherwise. I’m presuming, when I read the literature; it will be a lot more bottom up and then being top down. Can you talk a bit about that?, Just to take it further from what Bala said, I think here compared to a flexi-cap there’ll be equal emphasis on large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap and try to get the best ideas in each of these categories. So, it can be looked as a focused large-cap or a focused mid-cap or a focused small-cap. A combination of these three is what one can get in this fund. So, that’s what one will be looking at and in terms of stocks selection, our bias would be to get companies with a growth-oriented portfolio, companies which have got a very strong competitive advantage, which can drive growth superior to the industry and category growth. We’ll also ensure that companies which are much more secular in terms of their business outlook and have a good filtering criterion for management quality because we understand that this is a slightly more aggressive portfolio because it is small-cap and mid-cap and we don’t want really oar on the management quality because that’s been a big pain point for some of these small-cap names. So clearly there’s a clear filter in terms of the management quality and what we would be looking at before we enter into a particular stock. These are some of the filters which we’ll be looking at. Having said that, it is going to be primarily a bottom-up approach and each of the sectors like for example, a couple of themes which we are looking at and on which we are positive for the next three to five-years timeframe, is on the banking sector as clearly we like large banks. We think that they will continue to gain market share and our primary holdings in the banking sector will be in the large-cap space. Then we’re looking at the shift from unorganised to the organised sector which is being further emphasised by the Covid crisis. This is a segment where we are seeing a lot of consumer discretionary names—retail, apparel, footwear, consumer durable companies were the penetration levels are low and we see a long road map for growth over that driven by higher per capita income, increased penetration and the shift from unorganised to organised. That’s another broad theme which we will be looking at and here primarily the stocks will be in the mid cap and the small cap space. Then we’re looking at certain themes like specialty chemicals, which has been doing well for the last two-three years and we see a long road map over there because of India’s share in specialty chemicals. The global market is still 3-4%, China is around 30%, there is enough room for Indian companies to gain market share looking at the trend of China Plus One foreign policy. So that’s another theme which we like, and we look at stocks building upon that portfolio. Finally, as I said the production-led incentive schemes with the government has announced, has seen initially a good start and is being rolled out across sectors, consumer goods, electronics, auto ancillaries, pharmaceutical API and that could provide additional growth avenues for companies which can take advantage of that. So that’s another area and a growth driver which we see. So, these are some of the secular themes which we see and we will be trying to pick up stocks from these categories to build a portfolio on a more bottom-up basis with a slightly growth-oriented approach., One final follow up to you. Do you reckon that this would have the ability to outperform the benchmarks by a wider margin simply because say 66% of the weightage would be in mid-caps and small-caps which typically tend to have in a good cycle, much higher outperformance?, It depends on what benchmark you’re looking at but I would say a normally a flexi-cap fund or a multi-cap fund across a market cycle if you look at it should be able to outperform the front-line benchmark if you say a Nifty or a BSE 200 because of the ability for one to invest across the spectrum and even though it’s still growth conducive, a lot of new companies which are coming up either through the IPO route which provides an opportunity to do participate in the fund before they actually become a part of the benchmark and there are other sunrise sectors which are coming up which are still nascent. For example, digital—that’s another sector which we are looking at, the digital transformation which is happening, the digital disruption which is happening across sectors and there are more companies you will see coming to the market in that space which definitely we will look at in this fund and there’ll be across mid-cap and small-caps mainly in that space which can enable us to make a difference over a market cycle and potentially deliver better returns than the different front-line indices like the Nifty or the BSE 200., Bala, what would the risk be at such a juncture for anybody wanting to invest in a multi-cap fund of any kind, let alone your fund?, I think the risk which normally exists in equity investment are like in the last one year, the market has run up quite a lot on open optimisms. But open optimism continues to drive the market as a defender. Somewhere the market has to start looking at the earnings and the real growth that’s coming in and then followed by those earnings. Therefore, as the earnings come, generally the market goes through a consolidation phase and probably the markets may not give a return but as that period gets over, then you will see that the market will start driving again. So, we’ll go through that kind of volatility, a big rise with hope and optimism, then a consolidation phase, then the optimism returning. So, it’s a cycle which you go through and then especially in these kinds of scenarios while the volatility in the market as if you stepped in has sometimes also tended to be a little higher in the small and the mid-cap space. For as long as one keeps in mind that the time one is coming in for, this risk can actually be ignored by way of understanding that yes, I’m making an investment for the long term. So that’s something I think one has to keep in mind which normally exists in any market cycle. But this market cycle... has done exceedingly well in the last one and a half years, is mainly thanks to the power of regulators. It was something that is so powerful to drive the sentiment back to normal and increase expectation that growth will come back fast and that’s something which will also lead to a consolidation risk that the market will go through. That’s something I think one has to keep in mind which in my own experience in the last number of years, every investment whether it is multi-cap or large-cap, or any equity investment will go through this cycle of hope and growth phase and the optimism phase. Therefore, as long as one makes the understanding right and stays invested in the long term, then this can be mitigated., Can I please start with the your view if you have one, on this NFO that is coming in from the Aditya Birla Stable?, In general, our view has always been that NFOs need to be brought into portfolios only once they’ve built up a very solid track record. There are such a large range of options available for investors today to buy into funds with track records. There has to be something very distinctly different in an NFO to be able to add in there and therefore I would say that considering that the multi-cap and flexi-cap categories in general have a very large number of funds, I would actually suggest that investors wait for the track record to get built up over a period of time before they allocate capital to this kind of an NFO. Of course Aditya Birla has a good track record on many other schemes of theirs and if someone’s looking for specifically buying a Birla fund for some reason, then I think the flexi-cap fund with a track record already in place could be an alternative that could be it., In which case most NFOs would get discounted because if a house is coming out with an NFO there will always be 10 other houses which already would have a product like that under most categories. So then one could probably not be able to subscribe to an NFO at all. So, what would be the qualifying statistics or characteristics for an NFO to pass the muster of somebody like you? And, the fact that I hear from a lot of people that mid caps and small caps could be the flavour for the next 12 months. Since a flexi-cap fund would not have as much mid cap and small cap exposure as a multi-cap fund in Birla’s case, or somebody wants a slightly higher exposure, could that be considered?, I think the first question is very relevant because what tends to happen with new fund offers is that very rarely do they come in with something which is dramatically different from what already exists. If you do find certain characteristics that are coming in, in an NFO which don’t exist among players in the existing space and those characteristics you believe are likely to add value to you as an investor, I think in those cases you might want to bring that in. Let’s say for example, if you want to bring in some international exposure into a portfolio as well and there is an NFO which combines say Indian equities with international equities and you believe that you’re not comfortable enough as an investor to buy a completely international mutual fund in your portfolio yet. Then I think you might want to consider that provided the fund house or the fund manager or both have good track records managing money, both domestically and internationally. So, I think that might be a kind of case which you could build up to invest in in NFO, otherwise we simply say that you wait for a short period of time. In most cases in about three years or so you’ll be able to see how the fund has actually performed and at that point you then go ahead and invest in that fund which is no more an NFO but now an existing fund with a track record. , To the second question around the mid-cap and small-cap mix, I think what does tend to happen is the advantage of a multi-cap fund, in general, is that the fund manager has got some very fixed rules within which there is a need to operate. I think sometimes that’s very helpful because what could end up happening is in any investment process if let’s say one goes with the hypothesis that mid-caps and small-caps do very well at the time of an economic recovery, then there is a tendency to want to go overweight on mid-caps and small-caps, and vice versa when you’re going through a situation like we were about a year ago, there could be a tendency to want to have only large-caps in a portfolio, which is a mandate that a flexi-cap fund could adhere to because it could swing to extremes on either sides. Whereas a multi-cap fund will always have at least 25% in each of these allocations and it’s only the leftover after the 75% which is 25 large-cap, 25 mid-cap, 25 small-cap, that they have flexibility. So, because the rules are much tighter in terms of the allocation mix that can be taken, I think for investors who prefer a rule-based investing style and don’t want the fund manager to have complete flexibility in terms of doing whatever he or she believes is correct, I think to that extent multi-cap funds have a role to play in this environment as well., Is there a preferred flexi-cap/multi-cap fund that you have, which you would recommend investors to invest in? Why and why would you choose that over the others?, One of the funds that we’ve been talking to investors for a long while and I’ve mentioned this on multiple shows earlier as well, has been the Parag Parikh Flexi-Cap Fund which was earlier called the Parag Parikh Long Term Equity Fund. I think there are two three different reasons why we like what it does. So, one is it does combine domestic investing with international investing, which we feel is quite valuable for investors who are especially starting off or kind of dipping their feet into international markets. I think the merits of being globally diversified are well demonstrated. Covid-19 as we’re going through in India right now is a great example. So, we’re seeing many other parts of the world, especially in the developed world where the economies are starting to open up fully and go back to being much more growth oriented while in India, we are actually seeing a bit of a slowdown on the back of what’s happening today. I think that’s exactly how international investing works which is, it gives you some protection when things that are unexpected happen as far as your primary or base case is concerned. Now, the other reason why we like the fund is because on the India side, it follows a value-oriented style and essentially, we think the value-oriented style is very good for investors because what it means is that the price that you’re paying for individual stocks that you’re buying, are being measured and monitored very carefully rather than just buying a growth business at whatever price it’s available. At the same time for the international part of the portfolio, the fund does have a tilt towards a lot of growth businesses especially high technology businesses which unfortunately, we don’t really have exposure to in India because India is a very IT services kind of a market while a lot of the innovation and changes that are happening globally are happening in other parts of the world. So I think that’s the second reason and the third is the fact that they’ve been very consistent in terms of the approach that they’ve taken over the years of trying to ensure that they’re able to keep portfolio sizes under control, get investors into invest only if they have a five-year investment horizon at least and even set up an exit load on the fund which is typically longer than other funds so that is to disincentivise short-term investors to really come into equities, which actually should never be happening., What are the funds you believe investors should give a miss right now? A lot of people might be at times just investing on the basis of the stars or the rating given to the fund, at times just given on the basis of returns of the funds without quite understanding what the category is or the risk that it brings or at times the performance of the fund is given, but maybe the reasons why the fund may not be able to perform in the future., I think while it’s most common to want to stay away from the best performing funds or the best performing fund category, we think sometimes it’s also important to even be careful about categories where the performances may not have been the best. One shouldn’t automatically believe that a mean reversion will take place as a result of which the fund or the fund category will start to do better going forward. I think one of the categories that we’ve been giving a miss to is the thematic category of PSU funds and while it’s not a very big category because there are much fewer number of schemes in there, I think the way we’ve always looked at it is that the amount of intervention that happens from the government in terms of decisions that are taken can sometimes cause these entities to have to take differing actions depending on what the largest shareholder wants and sometimes the views of the largest shareholder may not necessarily align with the views that the public shareholder could have or the benefits that could be transferred to a public shareholder. Let me give you an example of what I mean by this. Let’s say if you look at public sector banks. So one of the things that public sector banks in a country like India do, is in spite of the increased presence of private sector banks they have a much larger reach as compared to what the private sector banks have and they also have reach into a much wider segment of the population as compared to what the private sector banks have. Therefore, if there is the need for, say for example financial inclusion to take place or there’s a need to increase credit because you want to spur the economy back or you want to provide money into the SME space because capital is not available enough there. Then as a primary shareholder, the government could suggest to a lot of these public sector banks to actually go out and make those credit decisions, which may not necessarily be what a public shareholder might require because he might be saying that the risk in those elements could possibly be even higher. Therefore, we need to be able to run this business independent of what the needs of the economy might be. Similarly, if there’s a need for a lot of money for the government to spend then they may increase dividend payouts in a public sector entity, which may actually be at crossroads because the industry that exists, might actually require more capital to be infused and retained within the company itself for growth. I think it’s very important that the promoters and the public shareholder interests are completely aligned. I think that’s one of the reasons why we would say that rather than just looking at past returns and looking at things like privatisation and a lot of other potential benefits that could flow throughout in the future, I think one needs to look at some of these things very fundamentally and make choices on whether you want to expose yourself to that kind of a risk or not. It doesn’t mean it’s bad to do it but I think you need to be aware of what you’re getting into and the risks that come with some of these choices.. Publisher: BQ Research. Date Created: 01 May 2021, 11:54 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Global Equity Exposure Mutual Fund investor [/INST] Mutual Funds news. Title: The Mutual Fund Show: Why Investors Need Global Equity Exposure. Short_description: A diversified portfolio is the need of the hour. . Description: International funds help diversify a portfolio, which not only requires a balance between debt and equity but also geographies. For example, the correlation between Indian and U.S. markets is always less than 1. Meaning if domestic benchmarks underperform, investors can get compensated by outperformance in the U.S. markets., By buying into the U.S. funds, an investor gets access to nearly 66.45% of the world index as opposed to just 4% by taking exposure to India because of the respective weights of the two markets in global indices, according to Gaurav Rastogi, chief executive officer at investment adviser Kuvera. The U.S. markets, he said, provide indirect global exposure since 29% of sales of S&P 500 companies and about 45% of sales of Nasdaq 100 come from outside America., Mirae Asset Management Company has launched new fund offers for two schemes for global exposure. Mirae Asset NYSE FANG+ ETF, an open-ended scheme tracking the FANG+ Total Return Index, is open till April 30. Mirae Asset NYSE FANG + ETF Fund of Funds will predominantly invest in Mirae Asset NYSE FANG+ ETF. It’s open till May 3., While the schemes are unique, Rastogi said these are meant for the high-risk investors since they invest only in 10 stocks, making them prone to volatility. Investing in the schemes, he said, is almost like a leveraged position on Nasdaq., What kind of people should invest in international funds?, So, let’s break it down into two or three different parts. Let’s say the first part is, who should invest in international funds? Ideally, everyone should have an international allocation in their portfolio. Allocations are percentages of your portfolio so it doesn’t matter how big your corpus is. Someone who’s doing a Rs 5,000 SIP versus someone who’s doing a Rs 50,000 SIP versus someone who’s doing a Rs 5 lakh SIP, as a percentage of your portfolio, if the minimum requirements are allowed by a fund, then you should think international investing for multiple reasons. I’ll just give you a quick rundown on why one should think about this. The biggest of course, is diversification. We usually look at S&P 500 and what we find is, over the past 20 years, the 3-year rolling correlation which basically means S&P 500 and Nifty 50, do they move together or how much do they move together? So, assets which move together don’t add diversification to your portfolio. Assets that don’t tend to move together, add diversification to your portfolio. So, what we find is, that the three-year average correlation in the last 20 years is about 30-34%, which is kind of what is the correlation you will find between G-Secs and Nifty 50 as well. So, it does provide you a diversification., Second is, if you think about the MSCI global index I mean sometimes we have said this before too that if an alien lands on earth, and has no idea about what India is, what U.S. is and wants to own an index portfolio, by default they’ll end up owning 66% of the U.S. market because that’s the weight on the MSCI World Index. By the lottery of birth, we are born Indians it does not mean that we have to have disproportionate investments in India. There’s a term for this, it’s called home bias. The tendency for investors to disproportionately invest more in their home country assets or assets that they know best. So, these are some of the reasons. The U.S. companies generate about 29-45% of their incomes from abroad. So, a diversified portfolio gives you global exposure, helps you avoid this home bias too. So, pretty much, everyone should have an international exposure., Coming to the second question, who is actually investing and how much they are investing. So, that’s very interesting for us to look at the data too. On average, what we find is that across all the portfolios roughly about 5.5% of the portfolio is allocated to international exposure and majority is through mutual funds. Is this the right amount? That’s very hard to say, our math says that the allocation should be somewhere in the 10-20% range. In the past we have recommended roughly about a 13% allocation to international assets that is going back to 2017. What are people investing in, is again very interesting. Both the questions and also your observation that there has been a flux of international funds recently have to be looked through the lens of what have international funds done in the recent past. Whether you look at Nasdaq whether you look at S&P 500, the returns have been really good. Fund houses are seeing that, investors are also seeing that. So, we do see that Nasdaq 100 fund is very popular as an asset from Motilal, it is one of the oldest Nasdaq 100 funds out there. That’s very popular that users invest in. When we first recommended international funds in our portfolio that’s back in 2017, I think our choices were limited to four or five in order which also a couple of them were sectoral funds. There was the DSP Mining Fund which is a pretty old fund, there is a DSP Agriculture Fund which is also a very old fund. If you look at broad market funds, I think Franklin used to offer one and Franklin still offers one I should say. So, Franklin offers one and ICICI offers one. Our recommendation was the ICICI Prudential U.S. Bluechip Equity Fund., On last count that I saw, there are maybe 38 to 40 offerings. Not all the offerings have U.S. as their core. Some have other geographies; some have themes at the core as well. Should people diversify within there too or just keep it simple and maybe stick to U.S. right now as a starting point of diversification?, Our view, and this is a view that we have kind of mentioned again and again in the Indian context too. Sector timing is very hard. It’s very hard to time Indian IT, Indian pharma, and most people lag. The sector moves, then a flood of money comes in and then the sector derates and then the money goes out. So, even though the sector has a certain performance, most investors are not able to capture it which is what is popularly known as the behavioural gap. So, the same thing applies in the international context also. We would suggest that it’s good to know that you can invest into mining or you can invest into specific sectors but it’s very hard to time it as it is hard to time Indian sectors. So, unless you have some expertise or some kind of advantage or edge in the way that you analyse the markets—the macros and the micros, we would suggest, stay away from it. When it comes to regional exposure, should you go for a track fund or an Asia fund or a European fund, they are not bad. They’re also well diversified, they’re targeting a very large GDP area so it’s not like you’re investing in a small country. You are investing in a country with a substantially large GDP. So, they’re fine to have. The only edge I think that a broad U.S. market has, and some of it that I mentioned earlier was, if you look at S&P 500, then I think 2020 data says that 30% of their revenues come from international sales. , If you look at Nasdaq 100, about 45% of their revenues come from international sales. So, although what you’re buying is a U.S. index, you’re actually getting a truly global exposure which will be missing if you go for some of the other regional funds. European companies do not have that much international earnings, Australia is an exception because they are a big exporter of commodities. Chinese companies do not have that much international earnings. So, some of the other regions actually give you pure regional exposure and if that is what you want, you should definitely go for that. But you have to understand that, that is what you’re getting. With U.S., what you get is, you get the best-in-class market but you also get a global exposure to where are these companies making the revenues and profits from., What about taxation? Is there a different method of taxation that people who invest into international funds should keep in mind?, Not really. So, you just have to be clear—whether it’s like an equity fund of fund. I might be wrong with the actual numbers but if the fund of fund is set up as an equity vehicle, then the taxation is exactly the same as equity or else the taxation is like debt. But you don’t have to worry about LRS (liberalised remittance scheme), you don’t have to worry about how your money goes abroad, you don’t have to worry about foreign taxes and all of that. Everything is taken care of for you, you only have to worry about Indian taxes so it will be either taxed as an equity fund or taxed as a debt fund. Both are fairly simplistic in India, but that’s all you have to worry about. Taxation wise, the mutual fund structure actually scores heavily. , You don’t have to worry about sending money abroad so the entire LRS piece is side tracked. You don’t have to worry about what conversion rate that you’re going to get, you’re not going to worry about what fees your bank is going to charge, you don’t have to worry about how the remittance back into the country happens..., If people are diversifying into non-U.S. international funds, do they need to bother about factors such as the currency strength or weakness of that particular geography or nation while they are choosing to invest passively through funds?, It’s simple math. Your international fund return in INR is your international fund return in the international local currency and the currency exchange rate. So, when you invest international, you are hedging INR by buying whatever that foreign currency is. Now, that hedge can work in your favour or that hedge can work against you. If INR depreciates against the U.S. dollar, that hedge is working in your favour. The international fund returns in INR is higher than the fund returns in U.S. dollar because you’re gaining from the INR depreciation. But if INR appreciates against that currency, then you’re losing out but that’s a part and parcel of international investing and it’s actually a very good point. Very few people think about it deeply but when you are buying an international asset and it could be any international asset, the currency exchange rate movement will affect your INR returns. In a way you’re diversifying away from INR as well. So, when you think about it, you’re getting currency diversification and you’re getting stock market diversification too but there’s no guarantee that will work in your favour., What are the more popular international fund and are there some red flags that people should be aware of, maybe the corpus of the fund, or if it is thematic then avoid it—something that you referred to. Any thoughts here?, In terms of flows, I think Motilal Nasdaq and Motilal S&P—both index funds that they have seen fairly good traction and I think they were the first international index funds in some sense. International funds that track an index, they do see a lot of traction on our platform. It is hard, I mean I agree with you, it is hard, there are 38 funds, it’s really hard to figure out which the right fund is in which you should be investing in and it becoming harder because there are a lot of new fund offerings that are happening too. It’s a space that is growing, I think there is a much larger realisation and an investor population that international diversification matters in. AMCs are trying to fill that demand, they’re trying to create products which they think but effectively what happens is when you’re sitting out of India, there’s only that much differentiation that you can create. So, a lot of the funds will end up having very similar portfolios especially if they’re investing in the U.S. market, it will be large-cap. If they invest in other regions, then yes, there is this differentiation. It can be a Japan fund or it can be a China Fund and then there they are actually taking risks but that risk is limited. , Like I said before also, there are no red flags in terms of AUM—whether small or large compared to the Indian market, the flows we talk about at the end of the day, like I said earlier, the international exposure in sum total is just 5.5% of the average portfolio, that’s not much. We’re not talking about that numbers are going to move any large market. In terms of AUM, it doesn’t matter much. The only thing that you have to be worried about is that the AUM is a really small, there is a lot of costs that is split over that small AUM. So usually, either the expense ratios will not fall because traditionally what we have seen is as the fund size grows some of economies of scale savings that a fund house has for a larger AUM, they will pass it on as a lower expense ratio. That will most likely not happen in a small fund because the small corpus that they have, has to bear the entire cost of operating that fund. In international funds, there are costs associated with it, there are fixed costs, there are trading costs associated with it too which the AMC will pass on. So that’s one thing you have to take in mind. , I would say that if the AUM is really low then just ask yourself, is there a really bullish reason to buy this fund and is this the only fund that gives you that particular exposure? It might still make sense if you have a very strong view but otherwise, stick with a diversified fund that has a decent or a large AUM. Most of the large U.S. diversified funds will satisfy that criteria. The only other thing that I’ll add here is that if you’re investing in an international fund of funds, then be very careful that you look at the pass-through expense ratio and not just the expense ratio of the fund of fund. There is not a single established practice on how this is done. Some AMCs, when they disclose an expense ratio, they say this is the expense ratio of the underlying fund, this is our expense ratio, a plus b, this is the total expense ratio that you have paid. I think under SEBI disclosure, you can only disclose the expense ratio of the fund of fund and that’s also fine. In some cases, you have to actually dig in and find out that there is another expense ratio of the fund that this fund of fund is investing in and you have to add that to your costs because it’s also coming out of your pocket. So that’s just one thing that we should also be aware of because sometimes what happens is, a lot of these funds or funds, their expense ratio looks artificially low., Are there examples that you can cite? Or how can people look out or search for them?, At the top of my head, if it’s a fund of fund just make sure that you’re looking at the look-through expense ratio and not just the expense ratio of the fund of fund., One final question on the NFO from Mirae. How is it, please tell us one, an isolation, is it a good NFO or are there things that people should keep in mind on a relative basis, are there other options like that available which might anyway serve the needs of the investor?, I’ll tell you my personal views here. What I like about this fund is, it’s actually a very unique offering in a couple of ways. In the U.S., there’s a money manager called ARK and they do this highly concentrated portfolio. At one point, they were holding 20% and 20% of the fund was invested in Tesla. So, very concentrated bets. I think this is one of the first funds in India that is trying to follow the same philosophy where they’re saying that they’re going to have 10 positions with 10% each. It’s definitely not a diversified fund. The fund carries concentration risk, the fund is not for everyone. So, you have to be very clear and know what you’re getting into. So, who is this fund for? This fund is essentially a big bet on big tech. If you really believe that software will lead the world, if you really believe that the more that these large tech companies have built can continue for another decade or two and lastly companies usually have a multi-decade moat. So, it’s not an illogical viewpoint to have but you have to have these very strong viewpoints to then get into investing with this fund because this fund will be volatile. You have only 10 names, you have massive idiosyncratic risk. A single Apple miss can mean a lot to you in a fund like this and on the other hand if Apple beats, then that could also mean something very different on the upside. So that’s the nature of this fund, it’s a unique offering it’s not for everyone. I would say that the other risk here is that, how do you rotate these names? You have 10 names, how do you rotate these? So, you’re taking a little bit of disruption risk because if any of these businesses get disrupted then what happens? The other plus side of this fund is that they’re rebalancing it back to 10% on a periodic basis. This is actually fantastic. It’s an equal-weight fund which gets rebalanced. So, what happens is if Apple underperforms, you’re buying Apple, if Apple outperforms then you’re selling Apple. A rebalancing effectively is a buy-low, sell-high strategy. So, that’s one way that they are trying to capture some of that reversion to meet alpha. So, overall, I think it’s an interesting option and it’s a very unique option. As I mentioned, international funds are hugely popular in the U.S. and they take super concentrated positions. I think this is the first time someone is trying out something like this in the Indian markets. So, I am very excited to see how investors react to it but like I said it’s not for everyone, you have to be absolutely clear that this is a very big bet on big tech. I don’t think anyone else offers such a concentrated portfolio. So, this is definitely one point where you can kind of say you can get Nasdaq but you will not get the same kind of beta or alpha in this fund that you will get in Nasdaq. So that’s the difference. It’s almost like a leveraged Nasdaq position in some sense if you can think about it like that.. Publisher: BQ Research. Date Created: 24 Apr 2021, 11:08 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Surging Barbie purchase year High Mattel Hits [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Mattel Hits Four-Year High on Surging Barbie Purchases. Short_description: Mattel Nears Four-Year High on Surging Barbie Purchases. Description: Mattel Inc. shares jumped to a four-year high after the toymaker beat Wall Street’s estimates for the first quarter and raised its outlook for all of 2021., Revenue rose 47% to $874 million on soaring doll sales, Mattel said Thursday, beating analysts’ predictions of $684.8 million and marking the fastest growth in at least 25 years. The company reported a loss of 10 cents a share, excluding some items, but that was far less than the 33-cent loss analysts had predicted., The El Segundo, California-based company is bouncing back from disastrous results a year ago, when the pandemic wiped out stores and led to factory closings and production delays. Barbie and American Girl doll sales led the rebound, particularly in North America, with worldwide billings soaring 69%., Mattel now expects sales to rise 6% to 8% in 2021, an increase from its previous projection of a mid-single-digit gain in revenue. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will be $800 million to $825 million, about $25 million more than estimated in February., “Following the third consecutive quarter of growing market share, we are strengthening our position as a consistent leader in the toy industry,” Chief Executive Officer Ynon Kreiz said in a statement. “We believe we are very well-positioned to improve profitability and accelerate top-line growth in 2021 and beyond.”, Mattel rose as much as 12% to $23.31 in New York trading Friday, the highest price for the shares since April 2017. The stock had already advanced 20% this year through Thursday, mostly as Barbie sales continue to outperform., Mattel Gains on Broad-Based, ‘Blowout’ Quarter: Street Wrap, The company has worked to improve profitability through cost cuts and other measures, and its adjusted gross margin increased to 47% from 43.5% a year earlier. Further, its credit rating has improved after the company was downgraded to junk in 2017, when sales and margins were tumbling. It completed a $1.2 billion refinancing over the quarter, reducing annual interest expense by $40 million., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Kelly Gilblom. Date Created: 23 Apr 2021, 4:09 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Singapore Air Travel bubble Hong Kong [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Hong Kong-Singapore Air Travel Bubble to Start on May 26. Short_description: Hong Kong-Singapore Air Travel Bubble to Start on May 26. Description: , Hong Kong and Singapore will announce a start to their highly anticipated two-way air travel bubble as soon as Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, after multiple delays., Flights under the agreement -- which allows people to travel quarantine free between the financial hubs -- will begin from May 26, said the people, who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorized to speak publicly. The number of flights will be increased by June 26 if there aren’t further outbreaks in either city, one of the people said., Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau will hold a briefing on the bubble at 11:30 a.m. local time Monday, the government said in a statement. , Hong Kong and Singapore have been working on the creation of a travel corridor for months after plans for a November start were , due to a virus flareup in the Chinese territory. A plan to announce its revival last week was also , at the last minute by the Singapore side, people familiar with the matter said at the time., The Hong Kong government said a discussion with Singapore on the re-launch “is at an advance stage and the government will make announcement as soon as practicable.” Singapore’s transport ministry referred Bloomberg News to its most recent , on the matter. Singapore last week said the two cities had not fixed a date to announce the resumption of the bubble, but “will do so once we are ready, hopefully very soon.”, While Covid-19 cases in the two places pale in comparison to many countries, strict requirements for the bubble to open meant outbreaks that would be regarded, were enough to halt progress., Virus flareups in Hong Kong were the main reason for the months of delays. Now, after stemming a March outbreak centered on a gym, Hong Kong has been reporting only a handful of new infections a day, or low double-digits at most. Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on April 12 that the virus was “obviously contained” in the city and encouraged more people to get vaccinated, , of looser rules on social distancing for those who were inoculated. Singapore averaged two new cases per week recently., Sporadic outbreaks also complicated a travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand. After many months in the making, a quarantine-free flight corridor between those two countries -- which have largely eliminated the virus due to strict border curbs -- opened on April 19., The Hong Kong-Singapore agreement should unleash a torrent of pent-up demand from people eager to fly overseas and potentially do business in person after more than a year of the pandemic, though it is unclear yet the limited number of flights or seats that will be made available. The desire to travel in any way possible is reflected in the popularity of so-called , in Singapore and tickets selling out for gimmicky dinners on parked aircraft., Under previous travel bubble plans, flights will be operated by Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. The two airlines have been , by Covid-19 as they don’t have domestic markets to compensate for a near-total collapse in international travel. Latest data show Cathay flew just 598 passengers a day on average in March as it operated a , to only 18 destinations. Singapore Airlines’ numbers are also just a tiny fraction of pre-pandemic levels., Cathay’s shares rose as much as 4.8% Monday morning, while Singapore Airlines advanced about 1%. , ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Faris Mokhtar &. Date Created: 25 Apr 2021, 1:51 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Scarce Workers Signs Harbinger summer Inflation [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Summers Sees Signs of Scarce Workers as Harbinger of Inflation. Short_description: Summers Sees Signs of Scarce Workers as Harbinger of Inflation. Description: , President Joe Biden’s $4 trillion plans to overhaul the role of government in American lives is aimed at the right targets but risks inflation in an economy that’s recovering fast from the pandemic, said former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers., “I am concerned that progressives have a tendency to overreach,” Summers said in an interview with David Westin on Bloomberg Television’s “Wall Street Week.” “You need to be progressive but you also need to get the arithmetic right, and I am worried that this program could overheat the economy.”, Summers, who’s a paid contributor to Bloomberg, said there was rising evidence of labor shortages and that “workers are quitting at rates they usually quit at during booms,” which made him concerned about inflation., Data on Friday , that a key measure of consumer prices -- known as the personal consumption expenditure price index that the Federal Reserve uses for its 2% inflation target -- rose 2.3% in March from a year earlier, the biggest gain since 2018. The so-called core PCE price index, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, climbed 1.8% after a 1.4% gain in February., Fed Chair Jerome Powell has repeatedly cautioned investors to expect inflation to rise above 2% this year as the economy reopens. He did so again Wednesday when asked directly about the concerns that Summers has raised in recent weeks about overheating., “Those pressures are likely to be temporary as they are associated with the reopening process,” he said. “An episode of one-time price increases as the economy reopens is not the same thing as, and is not likely to lead to persistently higher year-over-year inflation into the future,” he told a press conference after the Fed held interest rates near zero., Powell also played down the risk from worker scarcity, noting that wages have yet to move up in the way you’d expect in a really tight labor market, while the experience from the last expansion was that people would rejoin the labor force, particularly as pay rises or unemployment benefits run out, as they will in September., “If you were worried about running out of workers, it seemed like we never did,” Powell said. “My guess would be that you will see people coming back into the labor force.”, Summers said he hoped that Powell’s assessment on the temporary nature of higher prices was correct., “He might be right. But the Fed chairmen who did the most talking about transitory factors were the Fed chairmen we had in the mid-70’s and that’s when inflation was accelerating very rapidly,” Summers said., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Alister Bull. Date Created: 01 May 2021, 12:34 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Government Warns Norway cashlessness [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Cashlessness May Have Gone Too Far in Norway, Government Warns. Short_description: Cashlessness May Have Gone Too Far in Norway, Government Warns. Description: Norway’s government wants to make sure banks don’t stop providing cash, as the country becomes the world leader in abandoning physical notes and coins., The Finance Ministry has told the Financial Supervisory Authority in Oslo to put together a plan that will ensure banks continue offering cash services, according to a statement on Friday. That’s after the FSA’s own , found that a number of Norwegian banks “claim that they are not responsible for offering cash services.”, Banknotes and coins are used in only 3-4% of all transactions in Norway, the lowest level of cash usage in world, according to calculations by Norges Bank. Neighboring Sweden, another nearly cashless society, has also sounded the alarm amid concerns that the complete disappearance of paper money would pose a number of risks. The near obsolescence of cash has prompted central banks in both countries to explore their own digital currencies., “There is a need to clarify individual banks’ duty to give customers the opportunity to deposit and withdraw cash,” the Finance Ministry said. That’s amid signs that banks are currently refusing to offer cash services on the grounds that “their customers do not have expectations of such an offer, and that the banks have specialized in other business areas,” it said., Ida Wolden Bache, the deputy governor of Norges Bank, said that “cash serves important functions in the payment system and so we take measures to make sure it is still accessible and available.” Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday, Wolden Bache also said there are no plans to “abolish or stop supplying cash,” if a central bank digital currency were to be introduced., In Sweden, legal changes requiring the country’s biggest banks to provide access to cash services entered into force in January. Last month, the Riksbank said it will , the number of offices available to handle notes and coins., Norway’s watchdog has until Sept. 3 to respond to the finance ministry’s request., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Ott Ummelas &. Date Created: 23 Apr 2021, 5:42 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to London Flotation Sky Valuation darktrace [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Darktrace to Cut Valuation of Its London Flotation, Sky Says. Short_description: Darktrace to Cut Valuation of Its London Flotation, Sky Says. Description: British cybersecurity company Darktrace Plc is cutting the value of its imminent London flotation as it adopts a cautious approach aimed at avoiding a repetition of Deliveroo’s disastrous public debut, Sky News , citing people it didn’t identify., Darktrace and its advisers are leaning toward a price range that will put a valuation of about 2.4 billion pounds ($3.3 billion) to 2.7 billion pounds ($3.75 billion) on the loss-making company, Sky said., The details are likely to be set out in an announcement to the London Stock Exchange that could come as soon as Monday morning, Sky said., Darktrace’s initial public offering in London is expected to value the company at about $3 billion to $4 billion, Bloomberg News , April 12, citing a person familiar with the matter. Darktrace and shareholders plan to sell at least 20% of the company’s equity, and the stock will trade on the London Stock Exchange’s premium market and be eligible for FTSE’s benchmark stock indexes, the company said in a statement., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Hari Govind. Date Created: 25 Apr 2021, 11:11 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Bud Light Counters Stadium sale Free ticket [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Bud Light Counters Lost Stadium Sales With 100,000 Free Tickets. Short_description: Bud Light Is Giving Away 100,000 Tickets to Get You Partying Again. Description: Bud Light markets itself as a party beer, and it’s betting that America is ready to partake again., That’s why it’s unleashing what Andy Goeler, vice president of marketing for the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand, called the “biggest sports ticket giveaway in the history of mankind.” Bud Light, known for its over-the-top , , will nudge America back to events where lots of beer drinking usually happens by dispersing 100,000 free tickets valued at $10 million to sporting events, including the National Football League and Major League Baseball., With vaccinations increasing, the promotion is part of the brand’s push to boost sales by getting Americans back in party mode. Bloomberg recently spoke with Goeler about America’s biggest beer brand., There’s massive pent-up demand to get back to bars. Bars are such a part of America. They’ve been part of the culture for hundreds of years. We talk to a lot of consumers, and people are like: “I miss the smell of hamburgers at my local bar,” or “I even miss getting bumped and the beer spilling on my shirt.”, Number two: As you go back to the bar, Bud Light will buy your first Bud Light. Number three: We are going to be doing live music events as we go into the start of the summer., He is going to go through the 100-page proposal—set up like a C-SPAN read. Then at the end, he’ll ask consumers to go online to endorse it., We had to pivot. Other beers, like craft, are more about enjoying them by yourself, but Bud Light is all about large crowds, sociability and fun. We went really big into streaming. We had some record breaking livestream events in the U.S.—for one of them 17 million people tuned in., A lot of the streaming we did was from the artists’ basements, kitchens, living rooms—it was raw., We started to tell people they could have Bud Light and Bud Light Seltzer delivered to their home. That took off like a rocket ship. I can’t share the numbers, but e-commerce became a more viable part of our business., There will be an appreciation for friendship and socializing that will be just unprecedented, and I think that will be a permanent change for the good. For Bud Light, that is up our alley. What we’re saying internally is when we return, it won’t be a return to normal, it will be a return to better., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Tiffany Kary. Date Created: 27 Apr 2021, 6:17 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to fresh Lockdowns Create Pothole Jobs Recovery Road Canada [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Fresh Lockdowns Create Pothole on Canada’s Road to Jobs Recovery. Short_description: Fresh Lockdowns Create Pothole on Canada’s Road to Jobs Recovery. Description: Canada’s labor-market recovery likely suffered a temporary setback last month amid a third wave of nationwide lockdowns., Employment probably fell by about 160,000 last month, according a Bloomberg survey of economists ahead of Friday’s report by Statistics Canada. That would put a sudden stop to two months of strong gains that had brought Canada’s job numbers to within 10% of pre-pandemic levels., Despite the setback, analysts expect a quick recovery once containment measures have been lifted with the economy back on track toward full recovery -- as has been the case after previous lockdowns., “It doesn’t change the fact that we see a very strong rebound in the second part of the year,” Jocelyn Paquet, an economist at National Bank of Canada Financial, said by phone. “It’s going to be a temporary pause in the recovery.”, Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect a slight pickup in the jobless rate to 7.9% in April, from 7.5% in March. Over the medium-term, economists anticipate the jobless rate will fall to near pre-Covid levels of about 6% by the end of 2022., Rising virus cases due to a combination of rapidly spreading variants and a vaccine rollout plagued by , prompted local authorities in recent weeks to reintroduce strict containment measures that are likely to hit jobs in pandemic-exposed sectors like food, accommodation and retail., The report in Canada will stand in contrast to the U.S., where payrolls data also out Friday are expected to show a gain of about 1 million jobs in April as that country continued to benefit from a speedy vaccine rollout and loosening of restrictions., But Canada’s jobs recovery has been stronger to date. The nation had recovered about 90% of nearly 3 million jobs lost during the first wave of the pandemic, versus just over 60% in the U.S. It’s one of the key reasons why the Bank of Canada has indicated it’s prepared to start paring back its stimulus before the Federal Reserve., The country also has a strong track record of bouncing back prior waves of the virus, bolstering confidence it will do the same again. Investors are still pricing in a two-thirds chance of an interest rate hike over the next 12 months., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Shelly Hagan. Date Created: 06 May 2021, 7:03 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to highest profit Provisions Drop Decade santander [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Santander Sees Highest Profit in a Decade as Provisions Drop. Short_description: Santander Cost-Cutting, U.S. Recovery Deliver Earnings Beat. Description: Banco Santander SA delivered its highest adjusted profit in more than a decade as provisions for loan losses fell and its U.S. unit rebounded, bolstering Chairman Ana Botin’s bid to restore gains eroded during the pandemic., The bank’s net income more than quadrupled, topping analyst estimates, as provisions fell by almost half. Underlying profit jumped to 2.14 billion euros, the highest result since the second quarter of 2010, helped by progress in the firm’s cost-cutting drive., Botin’s tone has become increasingly upbeat recently on signs that the worst of the pandemic has passed, while business activity remains robust. The bank recently signaled that it expects profitability to be at the top end of its forecast this year, and that it plans to return about 40% of underlying profit to shareholders once the European Central Bank gives the green light for increased payouts., The shares fluctuated between gains and losses in early Madrid trading, and were down 0.9% to 3.03 euros as of 10:15 a.m. local time. The stock is up about 19% this year., Santander is shedding thousands of jobs in Spain and shuttering a fifth of its U.K. branches as the bank emerges from what Botin last month described as a “year like no other,” when the bank racked up huge losses because of writedowns on assets hurt by the weakened economy., The bank booked a 530 million-euro net charge linked to expected restructuring in 2021 as it continues with its cost-cutting drive. Santander said in October it would target an additional 1 billion euros of savings in Europe over two years., While Santander has less of an investment banking presence than some of its rivals, its reduced spending is helping the bottom line. Operating expenses were down 8% year-on-year and the bank also saw growth in loans., “We saw good performance across all our regions, with particularly strong growth in the U.S., the U.K. and Santander Corporate and Investment Banking,” Botin said in the statement. Last month, she told shareholders that a strong performance by the bank in the first quarter would drive the business to an underlying return on tangible equity of about 10% for the full year, compared with earlier estimates of 9%-10%., Santander will accrue 40% of underlying profit throughout this year to remunerate shareholders once authorized to do so by regulators, Botin said. The bank has previously said it intends to restore a shareholder remuneration of 40%-50%. The European Central Bank has called on banks to limit payouts to 15% of 2020 profit and said they will revisit the situation in September., Many European banks were disappointed by the ECB’s decision as they sought to boost dividends and buy back shares. Switzerland’s largest lenders are already pushing ahead with fresh repurchase plans after containing provisions and signaling that they don’t expect the ongoing pandemic to have a significant impact on earnings, while Spanish rival Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA plans to buy back about 10% of its shares later this year., Net interest income fell 6.3% to 7.96 billion euros, even as it slightly beat analyst estimates., Underlying profit from the U.S. jumped to a record 616 million euros from 60 million euros a year earlier, while at Santander’s U.K. business, underlying earnings rose to 294 million from 52 million euros a year ago after customer balances rose and deposits repriced. Underlying profit also gained in Spain and Brazil., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Charles Penty. Date Created: 28 Apr 2021, 10:34 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Compare Countries climate goal [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Why It’s So Hard to Compare Countries’ Climate Goals. Short_description: Why It’s So Hard To Compare Countries’ Climate Goals. Description: , There is just no accounting for climate change., This statement is not figurative, in the way "There's no accounting for taste" is figurative. There's literally no common accounting for what nations in the Paris Agreement are doing to fight climate change. And it's causing headaches for anyone trying to figure out what's actually going on as world leaders gathered for the , last week. , The confusion begins with a 2011 diplomatic breakthrough. Developed and developing nations had been locked in a stalemate for two decades over who would do what to fight global warming. Developing nations, which gained access to modern energy decades or even centuries after the West, argued that the climate problem was the rich nations' creation and therefore theirs to solve. Through four presidents, from George H.W. Bush to Barack Obama, the U.S. held a bipartisan position that every country had to do something., Dozens of nations accused the U.S. of blocking progress and holding up the whole world. Until the whole world finally came along. , The 2011 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) talks were held in Durban, South Africa. It's there that nations finally busted through the two-decade divide over who's responsible for doing what. That development would lead diplomats to call for “nationally determined contributions,” or NDCs, each country’s poker-ante into a new era of international debates. With each nation articulating its own goals, the world would make progress, the thinking goes, by the collective imposing peer pressure on everyone to do better — rather than the old treaty model of a centralized edict mandating everyone’s work. , "The Durban climate talks have brought us to an important moment where all nations will be , toward a long-term solution for the climate crisis,” then-House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said at the time., And yet this historic diplomatic breakthrough is the direct cause of the accounting confusion on display last week, when leaders of 40 nations appeared at President Joe Biden's climate summit, each one declaring different goals, often expressed in different metrics, with different strategies, levels of domestic support, actual pollution rates, and—perhaps most confusing of all—the myriad baselines by which nations are measuring their proposed emissions cuts. By 2030: , Who's ahead in the race to cut emissions? It's very difficult to tell when nations use different baselines., Several factors contribute to choosing a baseline, the most important one almost certainly being which number puts a country in its best light. But there are other reasons. A 2018 report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change put the world on its , to eliminate emissions. It concluded that to have a shot at limiting global warming to 1.5° Celsius, emissions must fall by about 45% below the 2010 level by 2030. Few nations have chosen that year. There's an argument for using 1990 as the base year, which the U.K. and EU do, because it's the original benchmark chosen in the 1990s when nations first started grappling with pollution reductions. , In the week leading up to the White House climate summit, several analysts tried to reconcile all these ad hoc numbers to try and determine how nations stand against each other. Peer pressure —the force at the heart of the Paris Agreement—won’t work if nobody can tell how anybody else is doing. , These numbers matter in global climate diplomacy and beyond. A nation’s goals might warm or cool bilateral relationships and ease or complicate finance and trade. That helps explain the lengths some nations have been going to put on their best arithmetic., Australia in particular has earned scrutiny for Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s performance at Biden’s summit. Ketan Joshi, an analyst writing for the clean-energy and policy site RenewEconomy, called Morrison’s math “a , and misdirection” that “involves twisting the numbers tracking and targeting climate action to artificially manufacture emissions reductions where there are none.” South Korea’s 2030 goal is particularly sensitive to baseline swings because of the timing of its emissions, which more than doubled since 1990., The baseline year chosen doesn’t actually affect the amount of work a nation needs to undertake to reduce its emissions, wrote Victoria Cuming of BloombergNEF last week, “but it may be selected based on political reasons to appear more ambitious.”, If there’s any consolation in the make-your-own-accounting world, it’s that everybody wishing to slash climate risk knows the right thing to do: Whatever the stated national goal and whether or a nation has policies in place to achieve it, emissions must go down and end as a clean economy takes its place., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Eric Roston. Date Created: 26 Apr 2021, 3:30 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to New Investment Minister Lahadalia kompa Indonesia [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Indonesia to Name Lahadalia as New Investment Minister: Kompas. Short_description: Indonesia to Name Lahadalia as New Investment Minister: Kompas. Description: Indonesian president Joko Widodo will appoint Bahlil Lahadalia, the current chief of the investment board, as the new investment minister, Kompas reported on Wednesday., The newly created ministry will not replace the existing Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board, according to State Secretary Pratikno, as cited by , . Lahadalia will remain head of the agency. Jokowi, as the president is known, will announce the appointment on Wednesday afternoon, the report said., Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is , attract more direct investment to help boost growth to around 5% this year after its , since the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998. Jokowi’s administration has prioritized luring overseas investors and overcoming the country’s reputation for onerous, overlapping and confusing regulations., The investment ministry was approved by parliament on April 9 with the aim of increasing investment and expanding job creation., Indonesia last year implemented an omnibus law that aims to cut red tape and reform the investment bureaucracy, with a goal of reaching 900 trillion rupiah ($62 billion) of total direct investment this year. Jokowi is also targeting $200 billion for a newly established , to finance long-term development., The country managed to record 826 trillion rupiah in direct investment last year despite the pandemic, not including investments in upstream oil and gas, financial services and those made by the government., Jokowi will also name Nadiem Makarim, co-founder of ride-hailing giant Gojek as minister for the newly merged Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, Kompas reported. The previous Ministry of Research and Technology was led by Bambang Brodjonegoro., Wednesday’s cabinet makeover would be Jokowi’s , in four months. In December, he replaced the country’s health minister amid criticism over the response to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as announcing new appointments for trade, social affairs and tourism posts., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Arys Aditya. Date Created: 28 Apr 2021, 10:56 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to retailer Sue Federal Reserve Card Fee Handling Debit [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Retailers Sue Federal Reserve Over Debit-Card Fee Handling. Short_description: Retailers Sue Federal Reserve Over Handling of Debit-Card Fees. Description: Two lobbying associations representing merchants in North Dakota sued the Federal Reserve to win a reduction in the fees they pay to banks each time a consumer swipes a debit card., The North Dakota Retail Association and the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association said in the complaint that the Fed should vacate its rule that caps those fees at 21 cents for cards from the largest U.S. banks. The fees merchants pay to process both credit- and debit-cards have soared in recent years to more than $100 billion annually., Debit-card fees were capped a decade ago by the so-called Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank overhaul of financial regulations. The Fed was ordered to set rules that capped the fees at a price that was proportional to lenders’ costs., “For a decade, the board has failed to properly follow Congress’s instructions to ensure that debit-card processing fees are reasonable and proportional to the costs of debit-card transactions,” according to the complaint. “American consumers and merchants continue to suffer the same harms that prompted Congress to act in the first place. Enough is enough.”, Initially, the central bank said fees would be limited to as much as 12 cents per transaction. The Fed ultimately set the cap at 21 cents, saying it took into account the fixed costs lenders shoulder to process transactions. Banks also can charge another cent for fraud prevention and 5 basis points for losses., A representative for the Federal Reserve declined to comment on the lawsuit., In the decade since the regulation was passed, the Fed has found that banks’ costs for processing debit-card payments have dropped. The cost was 3.6 cents per swipe in 2017., “As time has gone on and the cost of authorizing, clearing and settlement have regularly gone down per the Fed’s own findings, small businesses in places like North Dakota and all over the country are really being harmed,” said Stephanie Martz, general counsel for the National Retail Federation. Martz is co-counsel in Thursday’s litigation, though the NRF is not a party in the case., It’s not the first time retailers have sought to trim the fees. The National Retail Federation sued the central bank when it originally issued the cap. While the association won its case in front of a trial judge, the decision was overturned on appeal and the Supreme Court declined to take up the case., Part of the pinch for retailers is the fact that card use has surged during the pandemic as consumers avoided cash and did more shopping online., Visa Inc. on Tuesday said spending on debit cards in the U.S. surged 34% in the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2020. For the month of April alone, such spending surged 51% compared to pre-pandemic levels, aided by the distribution of stimulus payments to millions of Americans., “Especially during the pandemic, we’ve seen even more debit cards,” Mike Rud, president of the two North Dakota associations, said in an interview. “That all starts to add up.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Jennifer Surane. Date Created: 29 Apr 2021, 7:23 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Credit Suisse Chairman loss Sorry [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Credit Suisse Chairman Says Sorry for Losses as He Exits. Short_description: Credit Suisse Chairman Says Sorry for Losses as He Exits. Description: In his last words as Credit Suisse Group AG Chairman, Urs Rohner apologized., Eight weeks after the Swiss bank entered one of the most turbulent periods in its history, the its outgoing chairman on Friday offered a mea culpa for the financial hits from the collapse of Archegos Capital Management and Greensill Capital., “The inexcusable losses that we have had to inform you about in recent weeks have cast a shadow over all the other strategic and operating developments in our company in the last years,” Rohner said at the bank’s annual general meeting on Friday. “We’ve disappointed not just our clients but also our shareholders, and not for the first time unfortunately. I offer my apologies for this.”, It was a downbeat exit for the former M&A lawyer who leaves Credit Suisse having survived an attempt by a group of shareholders to oust him last year in the wake of a spying scandal. The bank’s shares have fallen by 73% since Rohner took over a decade ago, while shares of biggest rival UBS dropped 19% over the same period., Incoming chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio said the recent missteps at the Swiss lender went beyond any crises he had seen working at banks over three-and-a-half decades. He said he plans a thorough assessment of the bank’s “strategic options” after the twin hits from the collapse of Archegos Capital Management and Greensill Capital eroded confidence., Risk committee head Andreas Gottschling earlier Friday stepped down from his role after prominent investors indicated they’d vote to oust him following the $5.5 billion hit from the meltdown of Archegos., Credit Suisse was hit harder than any other competitor by the collapse of Archegos, the family office of U.S. investor Bill Hwang. The timing of the blowup could hardly have been worse, coming just weeks after Credit Suisse found itself at the center of the Greensill Capital scandal, in which it was forced to suspend investment funds., “I particularly regret leaving the bank amid these difficult circumstances and I know of course that many of our employees are disappointed and angry,” Rohner said., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Marion Halftermeyer &. Date Created: 30 Apr 2021, 4:36 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Credit Suisse Chairman Horta Osorio stock [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Credit Suisse Chairman Horta-Osorio Buys $1.2 Million in Stock. Short_description: Credit Suisse Chairman Horta-Osorio Buys $1.2 Million in Stock. Description: Credit Suisse Group AG Chairman Antonio-Horta Osorio bought 1.1 million francs ($1.2 million) of shares in a sign of confidence he can turn the bank around from one of the most turbulent periods in its history., An undisclosed board member bought the stock, according to a Swiss stock exchange filing dated May 3. A spokesperson for the bank confirmed Horta-Osorio had made the purchase. The amount is equivalent to just under a quarter of his expected annual compensation., The executive, who previously headed Lloyds Banking Group , , is expected to earn annual fees of about 4.7 million Swiss francs in cash and shares, which is the same as his predecessor Urs Rohner, according to the bank’s annual report., Horta-Osorio said last week he plans a thorough assessment of the bank’s “strategic options” after the twin hits from the collapse of Archegos Capital Management and Greensill Capital. While he backed Chief Executive Officer Thomas Gottstein at the bank’s annual general meeting, the new chairman left little doubt about his appetite for change., The recent missteps at the Swiss lender, he said, went beyond any crises he had lived through over three-and-a-half decades working at banks., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Patrick Winters &. Date Created: 04 May 2021, 3:47 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Deutsche Bank Lets U.S. Interns office [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Deutsche Bank Lets U.S. Interns Choose to Work at Office or Not. Short_description: Deutsche Bank Lets U.S. Interns Choose to Work at Office or Not. Description: Deutsche Bank AG said it will allow its U.S. interns to decide if they want to work from home or be in the office this summer., Interns will be able to choose whether they participate in the program purely virtually or come into the office three days a week, according to an emailed statement from a company spokesperson. The program will run from June 7 to Aug. 13, and interns have until Monday to inform Deutsche Bank of their choice., The Frankfurt-based lender vowed that interns would receive the same quality of training regardless of where they work., With the U.S. in the midst of its biggest vaccination campaign ever, many of Wall Street’s largest employers are weighing how and when to bring employees back to the office. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., for instance, has told its summer interns that the firm’s program will be hosted in-person for those able to travel to their offices safely., At Deutsche Bank, this summer’s U.S. intern class will be its most diverse ever, with half the group female and 13% identifying as Black, the company said. Last year’s group was 30% female and 6% Black., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Jennifer Surane. Date Created: 23 Apr 2021, 2:28 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Warren Buffett Swipe Weekend robinhood Remark Casino [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Robinhood Takes Swipe at Warren Buffett After Weekend ‘Casino’ Remark. Short_description: Robinhood Takes Swipe at Warren Buffett After Weekend ‘Casino’ Remark. Description: Robinhood struck back at Warren Buffett on Monday after the legendary investor said over the weekend that the online brokerage played a significant part in the “casino aspect” aspect of the market., “People are tired of the Warren Buffetts and Charlie Mungers of the world acting like they are the only oracles of investing,” Robinhood head of public policy communications Jacqueline Ortiz Ramsay said in a blog post. “Robinhood and other online trading platforms have opened the doors of financial markets to everyday people, deeply unsettling the old guard who will fight to keep things the same.”, A majority of Robinhood customers are buying shares and holding them as everyday investors build their nest eggs, Ortiz Ramsay said., “At Robinhood, we’re not going to sit back while they disparage everyday people for taking control of their financial lives,” she added., Read More: Buffett Speaks at Berkshire Annual Meeting: TOPLive Transcript; , ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Nathan Crooks. Date Created: 03 May 2021, 10:17 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to NFL Thursday Games Year Fox Amazon [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Amazon to Take NFL Thursday Games From Fox a Year Sooner. Short_description: Amazon to Take Over NFL Thursday Games From Fox a Year Sooner. Description: Amazon.com Inc. will take over “Thursday Night Football” from Fox Corp. a year earlier than originally planned, getting a jump on efforts to lure streaming viewers with the most popular spectator sport in the U.S., The NFL said Monday it’s exercising an option to begin the transfer from Fox, so the 2021 season will be the last for that network’s Thursday night telecasts. The tech giant is paying on average about $1.2 billion a year over the 11-year life of its deal., The league signed landmark deals this year for most of its major game packages, doubling its fees in some cases, and included expanded rights for broadcasters to stream games online., The league said in March that Amazon would have exclusive rights to carry the Thursday games on its Prime streaming service in a 10-year deal scheduled to start with the 2023 season., “This expedited deal is an immediate differentiator for us as a service, as it gives Prime members exclusive access to the most popular sport in the , ,” said Marie Donoghue, vice president of Global Sports Video at Amazon., The Thursday night package, which the league started in 2006, has had many homes over the years including, CBS, NBC and the NFL Network. The rising cost of broadcast rights fees has made the package a tough one for many media companies to justify., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Chris Palmeri &. Date Created: 03 May 2021, 10:30 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to U.S. Missile Defense Warhead Program [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: U.S. Missile Defense Warhead Program to Cost Almost $18 Billion. Short_description: U.S. Missile Defense Warhead Program to Cost Almost $18 Billion. Description: The Pentagon plans to spend almost $18 billion to develop, produce and support its new interceptor to stop incoming nuclear missiles from North Korea or Iran, the first major defense procurement award of the Biden administration, according to newly released figures., Teams led by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. will receive between them as much as $13.1 billion in the development phase of the Next Generation Interceptor. Their competition will culminate in a winner-take-all selection process following a “critical design review” -- possibly by 2026 -- leading to the construction of as many as 31 new interceptors, including 10 for testing., The production phase is estimated to cost $2.3 billion, with long-term support costs totaling another $2.3 billion, according to estimates prepared by the Pentagon’s independent cost assessment unit., “We’re focusing on the technology development phase at this time,” Missile Defense Agency spokesman Mark Wright said in a statement. The agency intends to begin fielding the Next Generation Interceptor “no later than 2028,” he said., Such cost estimates are intended to give civilian officials a reality check on the pricetag of a major weapons system. They also give analysts and investors in Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman a sense for the size and scope of potential revenue from the new program., The interceptors are designed to crash into and destroy incoming missiles from an adversary such as North Korea or Iran. They would be installed on missiles based in Alaska. Each of the 31 interceptors is estimated to cost about $498 million., The new interceptor is intended to correct the mistakes of a failed warhead program that spanned the Obama and Trump administrations before it was canceled in August 2019 after $1.2 billion was spent on a project meant for deployment in 2023., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Anthony Capaccio. Date Created: 27 Apr 2021, 9:59 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Ritz Owner Barclay Wife Ex [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Former Ritz Owner Barclay Must Pay Ex-Wife $139 Million. Short_description: Former Ritz Owner Barclay Must Pay Ex-Wife $139 Million. Description: Frederick Barclay, who amassed a lucrative business empire with his late twin brother, was ordered to pay his former wife 100 million pounds ($139 million) as part of his London divorce., The payout ranks among the highest to be made public by U.K. courts, where large settlements between the rich and famous are generally hashed out behind closed doors. It’s still someway behind the record 450 million pounds., Hiroko Barclay, who had initially sought as much as 120 million pounds, will receive the funds in about a year, Judge Jonathan Cohen said in the ruling Wednesday following the breakdown of the couple’s 34-year marriage., London’s family courts are generally a sympathetic place for a high-stakes divorce battle, with judges prepared to order a more equal share of a couple’s assets. Frederick, 86, has been engaged in multiple legal fights and is separately suing his nephews after they , his conversations at their five-star Ritz Hotel in London. The trial in the case is expected to begin in the summer., Read More: , The nine figure sum is among the highest in U.K. divorce history. The largest ever , to go through a London court was between Russian billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov and his ex-wife, who was granted 450 million-pounds. That’s followed by the dispute between hedge-fund billionaire Chris Hohn and his ex wife, who was awarded 36%, or $530 million, of the couple’s $1.5 billion marital estate., Barclay “is a public figure who should have been aware of the potential consequences of disobedience of court orders and his behavior in the proceedings should not be allowed to pass completely under the radar,” Cohen said in his ruling., The lawsuits have opened a window into the relationship between the publicity-shy twins whose investments put them among the top ranks of the U.K.’s rich and powerful. The brothers spent decades avoiding media attention by isolating themselves on an island in the middle of the English Channel. While David died in January, the Barclay clan still controls the Daily Telegraph newspaper and other businesses., During the court proceedings, which have been running behind closed doors since October 2019, Frederick orchestrated the sale of his luxury yacht and “applied the equity for his own use,” Cohen said. “I regarded that behavior as reprehensible.”, He was also criticized for ignoring court orders to produce documents or answer questions specifically in regards to loan notes he argued he was entitled to. It led to the case being put back by nine months and were “serious acts of omission,” the judge said., Frederick had argued that there should be no publication of the ruling. But his former wife said the family is in the “public eye.” Cohen said the public has a right to know of the way he has behaved, and that it was his behavior that removed his right to privacy., “I am saddened that after 34 years my marriage has come to an end,” Frederick Barclay said through his lawyers after the ruling. “This was not something I wanted.”, Lawyers for Hiroko Barclay couldn’t immediately be reached by phone or email., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Jonathan Browning &. Date Created: 05 May 2021, 7:44 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Nigeria Lawmakers Expand Powers Buying bank Bad debt Firm [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Nigeria Lawmakers Expand Powers of Firm Buying Banks’ Bad Debts. Short_description: Nigeria Lawmakers Expand Powers of Firm Buying Banks’ Bad Debts. Description: Nigerian senate passed a bill that strengthened the power of state-owned Asset Management Corp. of Nigeria to recover bad loans it acquired from commercial lenders during a banking crises more than a decade ago., The lawmakers approved the so-called Amcon Amendment Bill, which empowers the company to take possession, manage or sell all properties traced to debtors, whether or not such assets or property have been used as collateral for obtaining the loan, according to an emailed statement on Wednesday. , The bill also empowers the Abuja-based company to take defaulters to a special tribunal to recover debts. Amcon is struggling to recover about 5.5 trillion naira ($13.4 billion) debts from borrowers since the 2008-09 banking crisis., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Emele Onu. Date Created: 28 Apr 2021, 7:37 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Stock Losses Recouped Retail Army Meme hunt [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: With Most Meme-Stock Losses Recouped, Retail Army Is on the Hunt. Short_description: With Most Meme-Stock Losses Recouped, Retail Army Is on the Hunt. Description: After taking a beating during the meme-stock mania earlier this year, do-it-yourself investors have recovered about three-quarters of their losses. Now having licked their wounds, it’s unclear whether they’ll return to making buzzy bets or stick with safer offerings., Retail portfolios had fallen 13% by the time of their peak drawdowns on March 8 -- a loss of roughly $170 billion, according to estimates from Vanda Research Ltd., which monitors the flows of U.S. individual investors. Since then, they’ve regained about $123 billion, the firm said., While overall U.S. trading volume has declined 74% from the Jan. 27 high, trading has picked up in recent months. Analysts see evidence of retail investors returning to markets as surveys show their bullish sentiment , . And there’s money to spend: Last week’s March economic , showed that Americans’ income had surged the most on record dating back to 1946., “A lot of consumers are feeling pretty good overall,” Ryan Kelley, chief investment officer at Hennessy Funds, said in an interview by phone. “You see your portfolios go up, you see your net worth going up and you naturally , like you want to put some more in,” he said., The question is where that money is going. Some , do-it-yourself traders are , into, s, based on gains in large versus small-company stocks. Vanda sees evidence that they are placing bets on , . And their chatter continues on WallStreetBets, the Reddit forum for the day-trading community, which recently helped drive up prices of new favorites like MicroVision Inc. and Nokia Corp., “I don’t know what the next hunting ground will be for them but it will be something,” Aaron Clark, a portfolio manager at GW&K Investment Management, said about retail traders. “There will be pockets of areas that they target that push stocks, commodities or something to extremes because they all sort of pile into the same area.”, Hennessy Funds’ Kelley has seen this force in action. His firm’s stock price and volume mysteriously spiked and fell in February during the period when special purpose acquisition companies became market darlings, including a similarly-named SPAC, Hennessy Capital Investment Corp., “We were dumbfounded,” Kelley said., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Kamaron Leach. Date Created: 06 May 2021, 12:14 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Local Economy Premier Boost Thailand [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Thailand Plans $12 Billion Boost for Local Economy, Premier Says. Short_description: Thailand Plans $12 Billion Boost for Local Economy, Premier Says. Description: , The Thai government plans to inject 380 billion baht ($12 billion) into the economy, as the country faces its biggest outbreak so far of the coronavirus, according to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha., The funds will be used to stimulate local consumption and promote investment and economic activities, Prayuth said in a televised national address on Friday night, without providing a timeline., The prime minister’s speech came after the country reported its biggest one-day jump in the number of infections on Friday, taking the total case count to more than 50,000. The government has set up field hospitals and boosted medicine supplies to prepare for a surge in patients., “The government and I will do whatever it takes to get us through this crisis,” Prayuth said. “I firmly believe that we will overcome this terrible disease.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Randy Thanthong-Knight. Date Created: 24 Apr 2021, 6:24 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to big Covid Outbreak business Bangkok [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Bangkok Shutting More Businesses to Curb Biggest Covid Outbreak. Short_description: Bangkok Shutting More Businesses to Curb Biggest Covid Outbreak. Description: The Thai capital Bangkok has ordered the shutdown of dozens of businesses considered at high risk for Covid infections as the city tries to contain its , since the pandemic began., Establishments such as cinemas, gyms, and convention centers will be closed for two weeks starting Monday, while malls and convenience stores can still open but with shortened hours, according to the announcement Saturday night by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. , “Given the huge surge in the number of new cases, the city has decided to tighten restrictions to curb infections so that the situation can normalize quickly,” said Governor Aswin Kwanmuang, adding that the city will also strictly enforce mask-wearing rules in all public areas., Bangkok, Thailand’s largest city with an estimated population of over 10 million, has become a hot spot for a new wave of Covid cases this month, with the majority of the country’s new infections reported there. More than half of 2,839 cases reported on Saturday were detected in Bangkok., Earlier this month, the city , the shutdown of pubs and bars, which were identified as sources for new clusters of infections., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Randy Thanthong-Knight. Date Created: 24 Apr 2021, 9:13 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to show New Zealand Covid-19 Success Concert [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Sold-Out Concert for 50,000 Shows New Zealand’s Covid-19 Success. Short_description: Sold-Out Concert for 50,000 Shows New Zealand’s Covid-19 Success. Description: More than 50,000 people attended a concert at New Zealand’s largest sports stadium on Saturday, in what organizers said was the largest live music event since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic., New Zealand band Six60 performed at Eden Park in Auckland to a sold-out event that featured pyrotechnics and was live-streamed to nations across the South Pacific., With no social-distancing or mask-wearing required, the concert was a demonstration of New Zealand’s success in controlling the coronavirus through closing its international border and rigorous testing and contact tracing. It’s a stark contrast to other countries across the world that are in lockdown amid surging infections., New Zealand has recorded only about 2,600 cases of the virus and 26 deaths since the pandemic began and tops Bloomberg’s , . The border , has badly hit the nation’s tourism industry, though it has now opened a quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia., “Our city has shown the world this week that in the midst of a global pandemic, we can live close to normality in Auckland,” Mayor Phil Goff said in a statement., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Ed Johnson. Date Created: 25 Apr 2021, 7:48 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to IMF Special Drawing Rights fiscal Bind Africa [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Africa Faces Fiscal Bind Without More IMF Special Drawing Rights. Short_description: Africa Faces Fiscal Bind Without More IMF Special Drawing Rights. Description: , The International Monetary Fund’s additional special drawing rights of $33 billion allotted to Africa fall short of what the continent needs to tackle the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, according to the African Union., The continent is urging the IMF to reallocate significant amounts of SDRs meant for rich nations that don’t need them to poor nations, according to Donald Kaberuka, a special African Union envoy for the coronavirus pandemic. He declined to give a target because negotiations are ongoing., During the last global financial crisis, the IMF increased SDRs 10 times to about $210 billion to deal with liquidity issues at the time. It has since raised them to $650 billion to help nations fight the pandemic, Kaberuka said Tuesday in an interview., “We are looking for a reallocation of a critical amount of SDRs, which can be used to repair the damage and provide the stimulus for our economies,” said Kaberuka, who was appointed a year ago alongside Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Tidjane Thiam and Trevor Manuel to marshal global support for the continent’s efforts to address the economic challenges arising from the pandemic., Almost 90% of African nations have a vaccine program and have administered 19.3 million doses so far, according to the World Health Organization. This compares to about 1.2 billion shots given globally. The continent had 4.59 million cases and 122,907 fatalities by May 3, according to the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention., The real challenge for Africa is how to quickly reopen economies, which depends on the availability of vaccines to reach the threshold needed for herd immunity, he said., “For the first time in 30 years, many of our countries will experience some degree of recession,” Kaberuka said. “Africa was very well prepared for this pandemic in terms of the measures governments put in place, but it has cost us a lot in terms of loss of output.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Eric Ombok. Date Created: 05 May 2021, 4:49 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Crypto Exchange FTX Launches Lumber Futures hour work [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Crypto Exchange FTX Launches Lumber Futures After Just Two Hours of Work. Short_description: Crypto Exchange FTX Launches Lumber Futures After Just Two Hours of Work. Description: Here’s a quintessential markets-in-2021 story. The crypto exchange , launched a lumber futures market., . It’s a cash-settled contract to the monthly reading of the Lumber & Wood Products Category of the Producer Price Index., In a Twitter DM with Bloomberg, FTX founder (, ) Sam Bankman-Fried said putting together the contract took “about 12 hours lead time and about 2 hours of work.” And that requests for it started picking up among users in just the last day. That’s how quickly they were able to launch a new trading product., Perhaps more importantly, he added, “I also like to do things like this once in a while just to prove to ourselves that we're still able to be nimble and responsive on short timescales.”, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Joe Weisenthal. Date Created: 06 May 2021, 10:38 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to FIFA Chief Wins Swiss Court Bid Prosecutor Probe [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: FIFA Chief Wins Swiss Court Bid to Take Prosecutor Off Probe. Short_description: FIFA Chief Gets Swiss Court Approval to Take Prosecutor Off Case. Description: FIFA boss Gianni Infantino won his bid to have a specially appointed prosecutor removed from an investigation into undocumented meetings Infantino held with former Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber., Keller’s comments in press releases in 2020 and 2021 “were not presented in an objective manner,” and warranted the recusal, the Swiss federal criminal court said in a statement on Wednesday., Keller last year opened an investigation after concluding that there were “indications of criminal conduct” related to the covert meetings between Lauber and Infantino during a corruption investigation into soccer’s governing body., Swiss judges last year , that Lauber had been negligent, made false statements and “knowingly concealed” a meeting with Infantino., Lauber said at the time that he accepts the sanction against him but rejected “the accusation of lying.”, Keller said in a statement that he rejects “the allegations raised in the judgment that he had ‘communicated misleading and factual information.’” Keller said he will liaise with the supervisory commission of the Swiss attorney general’s office, which appointed him, before taking any further steps., FIFA has previously said that the meetings were legitimate and legal., “Every party has the right to have his or her case decided by an impartial, unbiased and unprejudiced judge, acting in accordance with the principles of fairness and good faith,” FIFA said., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Hugo Miller. Date Created: 05 May 2021, 1:21 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to south korean consumer Recovery accelerate optimistic [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: South Korean Consumers More Optimistic as Recovery Accelerates. Short_description: South Korean Consumers More Optimistic as Recovery Accelerates. Description: South Korea’s consumer sentiment strengthened in April for a fourth straight month as the economic recovery powered ahead., The Bank of Korea’s consumer sentiment index rose 1.7 points from March to 102.2, the highest since the pandemic started to hit confidence in early 2020, according to a statement Wednesday. A reading above 100 indicates optimism outweighs pessimism., The data come after Korea posted stronger-than-expected growth in the first quarter, which put the economy among the few globally to surpass its pre-pandemic size. The central bank attributed the rise in sentiment to recovery expectations on export growth, vaccinations and better jobs data., Among the components of the headline sentiment index, households’ assessment of current living standards contributed most to the rise, followed by their view on the economy and the income outlook. A sub-index on households’ consumption outlook declined., Economists have revised up their economic outlooks for the year in light of the faster first-quarter growth. JPMorgan Chase Bank now sees the economy growing 4.6%, versus an earlier 4.1% forecast, while Citibank Korea now expects 3.6% expansion, up from 3.3%., The stronger confidence supports the view that South Korea’s recovery momentum remains intact into the second quarter, but that optimism could be tempered if the pandemic worsens. The country’s daily Covid infections have ranged between 500 to 700 in April, leading the government to keep social distancing rules tight., Households’ inflation expectations for the next 12 months were unchanged at 2.1%. The survey of 2,369 households was taken between April 12-19., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Jiyeun Lee. Date Created: 28 Apr 2021, 2:30 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to fleming Corporate taxis honeypot Rockefeller [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Rockefeller’s Fleming Sees Taxes Rising on the Corporate ‘Honeypot’. Short_description: Rockefeller’s Fleming Sees Taxes Rising on the Corporate ‘Honeypot’. Description: Out of all the targets of President Joe Biden’s proposed tax overhaul, corporations are the ones most likely to experience an increase in rates, said Greg Fleming, head of wealth adviser Rockefeller Capital Management., “If you take the corporate tax from 21% to 28% it’s about $1 trillion over the time frame that the President’s looking at,” Fleming said Tuesday in an interview at the Bloomberg Wealth Summit. “It’s hard for me to see that they don’t try to go after that, given the need for revenue and the few number of places you can really get it. That one looks to me like a bit of a honeypot.”, Fleming, a former president of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, helped create the firm in 2018 as an offshoot of Rockefeller & Co., once the family office of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller. He said the company has $75 billion of client assets, a figure that’s grown more than fourfold in the past three years. The clients’ net worth ranges from several million dollars to more than $100 million., Much of that growth has come through acquisitions. Rockefeller has been on a hiring tear in recent years, adding advisers across the U.S. from rivals including Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. The firm added about two dozen new teams in 2020, expanding its footprint in Texas, California and Arizona., When it comes to Biden’s planned hikes on wealthy individuals, Fleming said it’s too early to say what the impact will be and they’re counseling clients to be patient., “There’s a lot to come in terms of what will actually become law in the U.S.,” he said. “There’s a lot of wood to chop before we get to any bill.”, Other topics included:, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Devon Pendleton &. Date Created: 04 May 2021, 8:30 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Estee Lauder sale Travel Rebound Hint short [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Estee Lauder Sales Fall Short Despite Hint of Travel Rebound. Short_description: Estee Lauder Sales Fall Short Despite Hints of Travel Rebound. Description: Estee Lauder Cos. reported quarterly sales that came in short of analysts’ estimates despite early signs of travel bouncing back., Sales rose in every region but didn’t meet expectations, with demand for makeup still stifled as customers don’t see many occasions to wear cosmetics like lipstick. Global net sales for the fiscal third quarter ended March 31 rose 16% to $3.86 billion, or 13% excluding currency fluctuations, the company said Monday in a statement., Resurgences in Covid-19 cases also caused temporary shutdowns of stores in important markets including the U.K., Japan, Canada, France and Brazil. Consumer traffic to stores remains down globally compared to pre-pandemic levels, the company said., Net sales for makeup declined across nearly all of Estee Lauder’s brands. Products like foundation and lip gloss have been particularly hurt by the pandemic, with workers yet to fully return to offices during the day and nightlife still muted in many countries around the world. The only region that saw growth in makeup last quarter was Asia., The shares fell as much as 4.6% in New York trading Monday. They had climbed 18% this year through April 30., Skin care continues to perform well. In February, Estee Lauder agreed to , in Deciem, owner of the Ordinary cosmetics brand, for about $1 billion, and plans to buy the remaining interest in three years. The transaction is expected to be completed in May., The cosmetics giant said signs of a travel recovery were apparent, with shoppers returning to stores in transit hubs as tourism starts to inch back after grinding to a near total halt amid travel restrictions and shutdowns. Estee Lauder’s global travel retail business for the quarter grew year-over-year despite a lack of international travelers. That includes stores in places like airports and train stations., “We expect the momentum in our sales growth to build in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, not only from easing comparisons but also fundamental strength, as we drive recovery,” said Chief Executive Officer Fabrizio Freda., The company expects reported net sales to climb as much as 12% this fiscal year, or as much as 10% excluding currency impacts., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Kim Bhasin. Date Created: 03 May 2021, 5:21 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Vaccine Doses Moderna Covax [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Moderna to Supply Up to 500 Million Vaccine Doses to Covax. Short_description: Moderna to Supply 500 Million Vaccine Doses to Covax Effort. Description: Moderna Inc. agreed to provide as many as 500 million doses of its Covid-19 shot to the program known as Covax in a boost for the global vaccination effort, but only a small fraction of the shipments are due to arrive this year., The U.S. drugmaker is joining developers including AstraZeneca Plc, Pfizer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson in supplying Covax, which has faced setbacks in its bid to help lower-income nations. The vaccine last week was cleared for , by the World Health Organization, making it eligible for Covax., Covax has encountered funding challenges, delivery delays and other hurdles in a high-stakes campaign to narrow the vaccine-access gap. As India confronts a devastating resurgence of the illness, concerns are rising for many countries around the world that have been left behind their wealthier counterparts., Rich countries last year snapped up vaccine supplies from Moderna and others, and , has already administered more than 240 million doses. Covax meanwhile has shipped about 50 million to more than 120 countries and territories, based on , through late April., More Than 1.16 Billion Shots Given: Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker, Supplies of Moderna’s messenger RNA vaccine to Covax are set to begin in the fourth quarter, with 34 million doses available in 2021, according to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, one of the partners in the initiative. , The U.S. drugmaker will supply as many as 466 million doses in 2022 and potentially provide access to shots that are adapted to fight virus variants in the future. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel last week said he was deeply worried about variant-driven epidemics in places like South America and India., The terms of the agreement with Gavi weren’t disclosed, though Moderna said it’s offering the vaccine at the company’s “lowest-tiered price.”, The doses will help broaden Covax’s portfolio. The program is heavily reliant on the Astra shot, which is cheaper and easier to deploy but has faced worries about rare blood clots that have complicated immunization campaigns. Covax is also leaning on the Serum Institute of India Ltd. as a key supplier, but the country said in March it would slow down exports to focus on its own needs., “Having a diverse portfolio has always been a core goal for Covax, and to remain adaptable in the face of this continually evolving pandemic -- including the rising threat posed by new variants,” Gavi Chief Executive Officer Seth Berkley said Monday., Gavi has said it’s seeking to raise $2 billion by June to secure additional doses to cover as much as 30% of the populations in 92 lower-income economies. Covax is led by Gavi, the WHO and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and works with organizations including UNICEF as well. Sweden also pledged to donate 1 million doses of the Astra and University of Oxford vaccine, Gavi said., Pfizer and BioNTech SE in January agreed to supply as many as 40 million doses to Covax, which is also due to receive , 500 million doses of J&J’s single-shot vaccine., While Astra has pledged not to profit from its vaccine during the pandemic and recorded , in sales from the shot in the first quarter, Moderna has said it expects to bring in more than $18 billion in Covid vaccine sales this year., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: James Paton. Date Created: 03 May 2021, 3:30 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Mideast Bitcoin etf [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: First Mideast Bitcoin ETF Aims to Raise More Than $200 Million. Short_description: First Mideast Bitcoin ETF Aims to Raise More Than $200 Million. Description: , Canada’s largest digital-asset investment fund manager 3iQ Corp. is hoping to raise more than $200 million by listing its Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in Dubai, according to its chief executive officer., The intent of listing on the Nasdaq Dubai exchange is to get trading at all hours around the globe, said CEO Fred Pye. “We trade on the North American market times and Dubai is almost perfectly opposite of what our trading hours are,” he told Bloomberg TV., 3iQ was founded in 2012 and has about $1.5 billion in assets. Its 3iQ Coinshares Bitcoin ETF, which listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange last year, is now set to become the first cryptocurrency fund to go public in the Middle East., Dubai-based Dalma Capital Management Ltd. is the syndicate manager for the offering., The Canadian fund is also looking to work closely with lenders in the region. “Not only the banks in the UAE but also potential banks from other countries in the region,” Pye said., Bitcoin surged past the $63,000 mark earlier this month, its highest ever, before paring gains. JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists , if the largest cryptocurrency isn’t able to break back above $60,000 soon, momentum signals will collapse., Read: , Pye is hopeful, though. Bitcoin could rise to $100,000 in the next three years because of supply scarcity, according to him., “Right now, we’ve seen Bitcoin consolidate in the $50,000-$60,000 range, we expect that to continue,” he said., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Manus Cranny &. Date Created: 22 Apr 2021, 2:39 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Vivendi Near Deal Resolve Dispute Repubblica Mediaset [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Mediaset, Vivendi Near Deal to Resolve Dispute, Repubblica Says. Short_description: Mediaset, Vivendi Near Deal to Resolve Dispute, Repubblica Says. Description: , Italy’s Mediaset SpA and France’s Vivendi SE could reach an accord as soon as this weekend to resolve a dispute over a scrapped pay-TV deal, daily la Repubblica reported on Saturday., The two companies have been fighting since 2016, when the French media conglomerate dropped a plan to buy a Mediaset pay-television unit. Mediaset has sought billions of euros in damages from Vivendi, which is also the largest shareholder of Italy’s former phone monopoly, Telecom Italia SpA., As part of an agreement to settle the dispute, Vivendi could sell off a stake of more than 19% in Mediaset it controls through , within five years, Repubblica said. Vivendi would at that point effectively control less than 10% of the company., A Milan court , on April 19 that Vivendi didn’t have to pay as much as 3 billion euros ($3.6 billion) of damages after the French media conglomerate scrapped the pay-TV deal., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Jerrold Colten &. Date Created: 01 May 2021, 3:09 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Northern Illinois University Borrows Enrollment gain [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Northern Illinois University Borrows After Enrollment Gains. Short_description: Northern Illinois University Borrows After Enrollment Gains. Description: Northern Illinois University sold about $99 million of federally tax-exempt, insured bonds on Tuesday to purchase two residence halls after the school’s enrollment gained slightly, reversing more than a decade of declines with a focus on recruiting more minority students., U.S. colleges saw drops in undergraduate enrollment for the spring semester. That deepened the pandemic-related economic strains faced by schools that had to spend more on Covid-19 testing and Plexiglass as revenue fell because of less-full dorms and dining halls. Overall, college , is running 2.9% below last year’s level, according the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Even before the pandemic, colleges had been bracing for projected enrollment drops -- especially in the Midwest and Northeast-- because of demographic trends that show fewer 18 year-olds., Yet Northern Illinois University saw improved headcount in the current academic year, the first gain since 2009. The university said it’s partly due to greater retention of black, Latino and Asian students and its push to recruit more minority students. The freshman class for the 2020-2021 academic year grew 7.9% from a year earlier, and overall headcount, including undergraduate and graduate students, increased 1% to 16,769, according to bond documents., It’s not only in contrast to the national trend. It’s a reversal from its own history: the university’s total enrollment fell nearly 13% from 2016 to 2019, bond documents show., Increasing enrollment and keeping graduating high-school seniors in-state is important for Illinois, which on Monday lost a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives because of its ongoing population decline. The state has seen more and more college-bound students leave to earn degrees in neighboring states and not come back. Governor J.B. Pritzker on Monday said retaining more college students is a key to reversing the state’s outmigration., About 44% of the students at Northern Illinois, one of 12 four-year public universities in the state, are minorities and 52% are first generation college students, according to the school. Northern has increased hiring of minority faculty to improve recruitment and retention of minority students. The school wants to boost undergraduate Hispanic students by at least 9% annually and reduce equity gaps, which measure differences in retention and graduation rates, for black freshmen to 10% or less by fall 2023, according to its five-year Student Enrollment Plan., “I think they are trying to pitch some of the impact investors,” John Ceffalio, senior municipal research analyst for CreditSights Inc., said in an interview. “It’s smart that universities recruit from a growing demographic.”, Ceffalio cautioned that funds backing the bonds include gross revenues from facilities such as the student center and sports facilities; tuition also backs the bonds after paying operations and maintenance of the university., The focus on minority student recruitment and retention “would certainly be viewed as a positive” factor for ESG-focused investors, said Eric Friedland, director of research for Lord Abbett & Co., “Although there does not seem to be any meaningful pricing impact for those issuers that score high on ESG at this point, I believe that with more investors focused on ESG, that day will come,” Friedland said in an email Monday., The deal was 16 times oversubscribed, exceeding internal expectations, Sarah Chinniah, the university’s chief financial officer, said in an interview on Tuesday. About $85 million of $1.59 billion of orders were from socially conscious ESG bond buyers, according to information underwriters provided to the university, located about 60 miles outside Chicago in a largely rural region., “The interest was high,” Chinniah said. “That really speaks to our success.” Investors see value in a diverse student body that reflects the nation, she said., The spread over benchmark AAA securities ranged from 45 basis points for debt due in 2025 to 77 basis points for debt due in 2043, according to the university. That’s lower than a preliminary pricing wire viewed earlier by Bloomberg. The true interest cost for the bonds is 2.7% and the sale will result in savings of about $77 million by reducing payments the university was making for the residence halls at higher interest rates., S&P Global Ratings has assigned a AA rating with a stable outlook while Moody’s Investors Service rates it a Ba2 stable. Build America Mutual insured the transaction., Moody’s incorporates the university’s “ongoing credit challenges marked by continually narrow operating results, an intensely competitive student market and high reliance on state appropriations,” according to an April 13 report. But it also takes note of stable enrollment after the prolonged declines in student numbers., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Shruti Singh. Date Created: 28 Apr 2021, 3:10 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Staff plane workforce Airline [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Airline With 14,000 Staff for 30 Planes to Cut Half Its Workforce. Short_description: Half of Jobs to Be Cut as Pakistan’s Airline Fights to Survive. Description: Pakistan International Airlines Corp. will , half of its 14,000 employees, replace some of its fleet and permanently close loss-making routes in a bid to become profitable for the first time in more than a decade., Pakistan’s cabinet approved the carrier’s restructuring, said Ishrat Hussain, an adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan. It also requested to explore outsourcing management contract or sale of 26% stake in the airline after improving its balance sheet, he said., The plan follows revival attempts in the past that were blocked by , or political opposition. This time, there are “no grandiose plans to become like Emirates or Etihad or Qatar,” Hussain said in a recent interview. It will be “a very lean and efficient organization,” he said. The aim is to return PIA to profit by 2023., That would be some turnaround for an airline whose finances and reputation have taken a beating in recent times. Even without Covid-related border , , PIA was , from key markets including the U.S. and Europe after Pakistan’s aviation minister said last year that almost a third of the nation’s pilots had fake licenses. While some turned out to be valid, the claim was enough to further dent confidence and came on the same day investigators faulted PIA flight crew for a , in Karachi that killed 97 people., The pandemic put PIA in an even tighter spot. More routes were closed off and it missed out on peak travel periods like the annual , . The carrier posted a net loss of 34.6 billion rupees ($226 million) for 2020, which despite the challenges from Covid was an improvement from a deficit of 52.6 billion rupees the previous year., Even airlines in good financial health have been left reeling because of the coronavirus, which has caused dozens to collapse and thousands of job losses globally. In its latest outlook last week, the International Air Transport Association said carriers worldwide will lose about , in 2021 as virus flareups and mutations extend the timeline for a restart of global air travel., PIA had 30 aircraft as of Sept. 30, including 12 Boeing Co. 777s and 11 Airbus SE A320s. Hussain didn’t specify what changes would be made to the fleet, which also includes ATR aircraft, but he said the size would be “kept under 30” and include more fuel-efficient planes. PIA will no longer serve destinations such as Tokyo and Manila, Hussain said., Pakistan vowed to cut jobs and sell non-core assets after a series of bailouts, including one of 3.2 billion rupees in June so the airline could meet interest payments. About 2,000 employees have taken voluntary redundancy already, according to the airline. Meanwhile, non-core operations such as catering and engineering will be outsourced, said Hussain, a former central bank governor., Other assets are also being assessed, including the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, which the airline acquired during its loftier days as a symbol of Pakistani prestige. The hotel was closed last year and may be sold or redeveloped., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Faseeh Mangi. Date Created: 27 Apr 2021, 4:39 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to high Food price turbocharge Boost La Nina [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: La Nina Gives a Turbocharge Boost to Already High Food Prices. Short_description: La Nina Gives a Turbocharge Boost to Already High Food Prices. Description: Global prices for food and crops are at multi-year highs and there’s a culprit far larger than human commerce: La Nina. , This year, the weather pattern has already made its mark in North and South America as well as Australia and Indonesia. Characterized by the cooling of the equatorial Pacific, , atmospheric gyrations that cause water scarcity in some places and floods in others. And the prospect of drought across the U.S. — and difficult weather just about everywhere else — is roiling commodities markets. Combined with falling yields and growing demand from China, the result is , and fears of inflation among world governments., “Drought is an added cost that producers, processors, retailers, and consumers alike can’t afford right now,” said Jacqueline Holland, an analyst at Farm Futures. , For grain and livestock producers, “processor and end-user demand for commodities is strong and revenue potential is high,” she said. “But input costs have risen alongside profit expectations.”, In the U.S. and Brazil, the outlook is especially gloomy., More than 48% of the contiguous U.S. was gripped by some level of drought through April 27 and just over 68% was abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Drought is particularly dug in across the U.S. West, but it reaches through the Great Plains and into parts of Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, and even New England., One reason for concern is that , . When land is dry, the sun’s energy is focused on heating the air instead of evaporating water. That raises temperatures, which leads to more dryness, which allows drought to spread even further., The problem is already affecting winter wheat across the Great Plains and it could creep into the corn and soybean areas of the western Midwest as summer nears, said Don Keeney, an agricultural meteorologist at Maxar Technologies Inc. With rains averaging 40% to 45% of normal levels, the Midwest “is drier than a lot of people think,” he said. Crop areas in the Mississippi Delta region are also dry, but they could be helped later this year as the remnants of Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms move up the center of the U.S., The western part of the country is likely to remain parched. , “The drought has been long enough out there, it is going to take a couple years to get the reservoirs back to where they should be,” said Dale Mohler, a meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc., In Brazil, many farming areas have received only 60% of the normal amount of rain, said Keeney. , Domestic corn prices have more than doubled in 12 months. Adverse weather hurt the first of the country’s two annual corn crops and now threatens the second, which represents 76% of the nation’s total supply. Last week, Chicago-based firm MD Commodities cut by 7.2% its estimate for the second crop due to the persistent dry conditions. The outlook is for almost no rain in key producing areas in May., “I don’t see any hope for any big improvement for the next three weeks,” Keeney said. “They are going to be under the gun for the rest of the season.”, Parched soil has also pushed up grain, feed, and coffee prices across the country. , Dry conditions have hit Europe too, with rain as much as 80% below normal from Italy to Ireland, although rains in recent weeks have started to alleviate some of the stress. Swathes of the continent were gripped by cold spells in late March and early April, severely damaging vineyards and fruit orchards, according to a , . Rapeseed and durum wheat also suffered, while soft-wheat fields largely weathered the freeze. , Juan Luciano, chief executive officer of crop trader Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., said weather woes were limiting the availability of wheat for global buyers., “Canada and France are too cold and too dry,” Luciano said on a conference call with investors. “That has put some pressure on wheat with all this demand.”  , In Australia, widespread summer and autumn rain is setting up farmers for a bumper winter grain crop. While the country’s ,  damaged some vegetable crops in the eastern states, higher-than-average rainfall across the grain-growing regions of Western Australia between January and March has delivered useful subsoil moisture and could mark one of the , for the state since 2005., Meanwhile, prices for palm oil — the world’s most-consumed edible oil — have experienced a stunning rally after a deluge of rain in Indonesia and Malaysia during the first quarter and are up 11% so far in 2021 after two straight years of gains. Yields, still recovering from long-term effects of drought, fell to multi-year lows. However supply is likely to benefit over the next six to 12 months from wetter weather, which promotes fresh growth of the tropical plant. , India is likely to see a , this year, according to Mohler — good news for an economy that has been ravaged by a devastating wave of Covid-19 infections. While there has been a little drought in southern China, the country overall should have a decent year., La Nina itself is fading or gone, depending on who you ask. , The U.S. Climate Prediction Center says the weather pattern is winding down and will disappear during the summer, while the Australian Bureau of Meteorology — which defines La Nina by different criteria — has declared it over. , The good news for the northern hemisphere is that La Nina’s impact tends to be muted or non-existent through summer, although normal weather patterns will keep things dry. There is a 46% chance La Nina will return in the last three months of the year and a 41% chance the Pacific will stay neutral, according to the U.S. Climate Prediction Center. Neither would help U.S. farmers desperate for water., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Brian K Sullivan, . Date Created: 30 Apr 2021, 2:51 AM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to Powell Duo Supply issue Eco day reputation Canada Biden [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Biden-Powell Duo, Canada’s Reputation, Supply Issues: Eco Day. Short_description: Biden-Powell Duo, Canada’s Reputation, Supply Issues: Eco Day. Description: Welcome to Thursday, Americas. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:, ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: David Goodman. Date Created: 29 Apr 2021, 4:56 PM IST </s>

<s>[INST] Tell me news related to N.Y. AG Eric Schneiderman Barred Practicing Law year [/INST] OnWeb news. Title: Former N.Y. AG Eric Schneiderman Barred From Practicing Law for Year. Short_description: Former N.Y. AG Eric Schneiderman Barred From Practicing Law for Year. Description: Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s license to practice law in the state will be suspended for one year to resolve disciplinary proceedings over his abuse of women, including the slapping and choking of two romantic partners without consent between 2013 and 2017., Schneiderman, who resigned shortly after the behavior was exposed in a May 2018 New Yorker article, must continue treatment with a mental health professional and submit to supervision by the New York City Bar, according to a court order Tuesday in Manhattan approving the settlement., The accord resolves a so-called petition of charges filed in August against Schneiderman by the state court system’s Attorney Grievance Committee. Brandy Bergman, a spokeswoman for Schneiderman, declined to comment., The relatively short one-year ban is warranted because Schneiderman “does not have any criminal or disciplinary history, he has a significant record of public service, and he has taken steps to address his alcohol abuse and past abusive behavior via his participation in AA and therapy,” the order said., Schneiderman, a self-styled advocate for women who built his reputation as a courtroom foe of President Donald Trump, , charges in a separate criminal investigation because of a gap in state law that allows some slapping and choking without consent if it’s for “sexual gratification,” a prosecutor said in November 2018., At the time, Schneiderman’s behavior was quickly condemned by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is now embroiled in his own scandal over alleged mistreatment of women, including employees. New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened a criminal probe into claims against Cuomo made by multiple women, while the New York Assembly is conducting an impeachment inquiry. The governor has said that the investigations would find no misconduct because he “didn’t do anything wrong.”, Schneiderman, a Democrat who took office in 2011, publicly apologized for the behavior in 2018., ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.. Publisher: Erik Larson. Date Created: 28 Apr 2021, 2:06 AM IST </s>