Author: Press Room

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday he had a “very productive” meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom he previously criticized following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. “I just had a very productive, candid meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince and his senior leadership team. The opportunity to enhance the U.S.-Saudi relationship is real and the reforms going on in Saudi Arabia are equally real,” Graham tweeted. Graham, in a three-part tweet, said he looked forward to working with the Biden administration and Congress to “see if we can take the U.S.-Saudi relationship to the next level,…

Traders are growing increasingly confident that U.S. stocks are headed for a selloff. But history shows the opposite is more likely, according to an analysis by one macro strategist. Speculative traders are more bearish than at any time in the last decade, according to the latest release from the Commodity Futures Trading Commmission’s weekly commitment of traders report, which tracks futures-market positioning in a number of currencies, commodities and U.S. equity indexes. Net-short… Read the full article here

Propelled by the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank’s parent SVB Financial Group and other chapter 11 filings, U.S. corporate bankruptcies jumped in March to the highest level in three years, in a sign of a cooling economy. S&P Global Market Intelligence reported 71 U.S. bankruptcy filings in March, up from 58 in February and more than double the March 2022 total of 33. It’s the highest number since 74 bankruptcies in July of 2020, early in the coronavirus pandemic. With… Read the full article here

Quick facts about the gas guzzler tax: If you haven’t researched current models, shopped for new vehicles, or even dreamed about a high-performance car, you may have only a casual familiarity with what is known as the gas guzzler tax. It’s an excise tax the government assesses automakers for cars that don’t meet a minimum designated mileage number. For most offending models, the carmakers pass the tax along to the consumer. You will find it on the Monroney Label (window price sticker) on the glass of new cars. Our… Read the full article here

There are no clear signs of a credit crunch in the economy following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, New York Fed President John Williams said Monday. “We haven’t seen any clear signs yet of credit conditions tightening,” Williams said, during a meeting with students at New York University. There have been periods in the past where banks… Read the full article here

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Solar panels from SunPower are installed on residential buildings at a model home display in the Eureka Grove neighborhood of Granite Bay, California, U.S., October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Nathan Frandino/File Photo By Nichola Groom (Reuters) – U.S. residential solar installers are bracing for a slowdown this year as California, the sector’s pioneer and biggest market, is days away from slashing a subsidy for panel owners that has underpinned more than a decade of explosive growth. The policy change, years in the making, will reduce the money credited to rooftop solar owners for sending excess power into the…

By Barani Krishnan  Investing.com — U.S. crude stockpiles unexpectedly increased last week, petroleum trade group API said in a report Tuesday, adding to concerns about the energy demand outlook amid fears about a global slowdown.     , the U.S. benchmark, traded at $81.48 a barrel following the report after settling up 2.1% at $85.57 a barrel. increased by 377,000 barrels during the week ended Apr. 7, according to the American Petroleum Institute, or API, confounding expectations for a 1.3-million-barrel decline.  In the prior week to March 31, the API reported a 4.3M-barrel decline. Aside from the absolute inventory in crude,…

By Jesús Aguado MADRID (Reuters) -Core inflation in the euro zone is likely to stay high for the rest of 2023, ECB policymaker Pablo Hernandez de Cos said on Monday, leaving the door open for further interest rate hikes. Inflation in the euro zone dropped by the most on record in March, but growth in core prices accelerated, data showed last month. “Core inflation is expected to remain elevated in the rest of the year … that may delay convergence towards the 2% target in the medium run and that will therefore need close monitoring,” De Cos, who also chairs…

Johnson & Johnson stock (NYSE: JNJ) is scheduled to report its Q1 2023 results on Tuesday, April 18. We expect J&J to report revenues and earnings slightly above the consensus estimate, and JNJ stock appears to have more room for growth. The company will likely see a slight rise in revenue led by continued market share gains for some of its drugs, including Darzalex, which will help offset the decline in Remicade sales. The company completed the acquisition of heart pump maker maker – Abiomed – last year, and it is expected to aid the top-line growth of its MedTech…

The resurgence of a once banned liquor in Ghana, Akpeteshie, is shaking up the global distillery market. Brothers Kofi and Raja Owusu-Ansah, owners of Republic Distilleries in Accra, are bringing Akpeteshie, Ghana’s indigenous alcoholic spirit distilled from sugar cane juice, to the rest of world. They are poised to disrupt the international liquor market valued at $1.4 trillion in 2021, a figure that’s expected to grow 10.3% until 2028, one “Kokroko” drink at a time. The Breakdown You Need To Know: The African distillery market has been growing steadily in recent years, with increasing demand for traditional alcoholic beverages in…