Author: Press Room

By Jarrett Renshaw and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) -When OPEC+ made a surprise decision earlier this month to cut oil production, President Joe Biden responded with the political equivalent of a shrug – a far cry from his declaration that there would be “consequences” for Saudi Arabia, the de facto head of the oil cartel, when it lowered output in October. The tepid response reflects, in part, the Biden administration’s view that the production cut may not have as much of an impact on the slowing U.S. and global economy as last year’s cuts, which came as oil supplies were…

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s economy is expected to grow 3.6% this year, Bank of Thailand (BOT) governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said on Monday, adding that fiscal an monetary policy should prioritize stability rather than economic stimulus. “The economy is resilient and is able to withstand multiple shocks,” Sethaput told TV channel JKN-CNBC. The economy grew 2.6% last year. The BOT last month raised interest rates a quarter a percentage point to 1.75% The BOT has raised its key rate by a total of 125 basis points since August, less aggressive than many of its regional peers. “Policy normalisation will continue, but…

Businesses appear to be in favor of real-time payments, according to a survey by U.S. Bank, and a better payment experience is one of the top drivers. And they want to be able to choose which rails to use. “We are building intelligent routing,” said Anu Somani head of global payables & embedded payments at the bank. “Clients can come to us for a one-stop bank and we can connect to any instant payment rail that meets their business goals. In payment transformation initiatives planned for the year ahead, 53% want to improve vendor and customer payment experiences, 48% want…

BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) is scheduled to report its fiscal Q1 2023 results on Friday, April 14, 2023. We expect BlackRock BLK to top the consensus estimates for revenues and earnings. The company outperformed the estimates in the last quarter, despite a 15% y-o-y decrease in the total revenues to $4.3 billion. The top line suffered due to a drop in assets under management (AuM) because of lower market valuations and negative foreign exchange movement. Notably, the average AuM decreased 14% y-o-y to $8.4 trillion. We expect the same trend to continue in the first quarter. We estimate BlackRock’s valuation to…

The Supreme Court has denied a request to delay $6 billion in student loan forgiveness and other student debt relief under an approved settlement, paving the way for the Education Department to continue to discharge the debts of hundreds of thousands of borrowers. Here’s the latest. Legal Challenge Tries To Stop $6 Billion In Student Loan Forgiveness Under Settlement The dispute before the Supreme Court is over an agreement to end Sweet v. Cardona, a class action lawsuit between the Education Department and student loan borrowers over disputed Borrower Defense to Repayment claims. The Borrower Defense to Repayment program can…

Social Security is routinely clawing back benefits it claims it paid by mistake over years if not decades. This policy is cruel and unusual. It’s based on Social Security’s despicable mantra: Our mistake is your mistake. It leaves 77 million Social Security recipients living in constant fear of having benefits received for years, if not decades, clawed back in part or in full. These letters come with no explanation. If you don’t pay up, your benefits are turned off. Meanwhile you’ve paid taxes on those benefits. Social Security doesn’t seem to care if you are surviving on the benefits and…

You may not even be aware that there’s a Northern California city known as the Endurance Capital of the World. Yes, Auburn, with its Gold Rush history and landmark status has been the site of decades of epic events, such as the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, the Tevis Cup 100-Mile Endurance Equestrian Ride and the Auburn Triathlon. The former mining territory, once rich in gold, boasts natural wealth these days in the form of the Auburn State Regional Park with hiking, camping and whitewater rafting. Stretching along two forks of the American River, the recreation area bumps up against…

Mortgage rates fell for a fifth straight week, according to weekly data compiled by mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.27% as of April 13, down from 6.28% recorded last week. One year ago, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.00%.Meanwhile, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.54%. Last week it averaged 5.56%. At the same time in 2022, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.17%. “Mortgage rates decreased for the fifth consecutive week,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.  COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY ON EDGE AS DOWNTOWN EMPTY OFFICE SPACE GOES UNUSEDKhater continued that, “Incoming data suggest inflation remains…

Some Morgan Stanley financial analysts say the commercial real estate industry could be headed for a crisis worse than the 2008 great recession. This comes after businesses have left downtowns across the country with an increase in remote work and higher interest rates.  Many downtown buildings are owned by investment firms who rely on bank loans. But with businesses not renting as much office space and rising interest rates, some worry these firms may not have the money to pay back the banks.  In downtown Minneapolis, people are returning to see the Minnesota Twins play ball, attend a concert or catch a Broadway show.  “As we sit here today, we’re really beginning to move in a…

The Florida House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation that would ban most abortions after six weeks, when many women don’t know they are pregnant. The bill passed by a vote of 70 to 40, largely along party lines. The measure now goes to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign it into law.He reiterated his support for tighter abortion restrictions just last month, saying, “We welcome pro-life legislation.” The bill would only take effect if the state’s existing 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge that is before the state Supreme Court. The Republican governor last February…