Business
Stocks Rise, Bonds Drop With Earnings Picking Up: Markets Wrap – Yahoo Canada Finance
The Canadian Press
The Latest: Haines pledges support role to FBI on US threats
WASHINGTON — The Latest on Senate confirmation hearings for President-elect Joe Biden’s nominees for his administration (all times local): 11:05 a.m. President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for national intelligence director says that the intelligence community under her watch would have a support role in assessing the threat coming from domestic extremists like the ones who stormed the U.S. Capitol this month. Avril Haines said at her Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday that the primary responsibility for U.S.-based threats belongs to the FBI and the Department Homeland Security. But she says she expects that intelligence agencies would be involved in those discussions, particularly if there are connections between Americans and foreign-based extremist groups. Haines called the events of Jan. 6 “truly disturbing” and said it was “eerie” coming to the Senate and seeing the National Guard deployed around Washington. ___ HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDEN’S CABINET PICKS: President-elect Joe Biden’s national security Cabinet may be bare on Day One of his presidency, but an inauguration eve spurt of Senate confirmation hearings suggests that won’t be the case for long. Read more: — Yellen urges Congress to do more to fight pandemic recession ___ HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON: 10:45 a.m. President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for national intelligence director says that perhaps no greater priority on the job right now is “building the trust and confidence necessary to protect the American people.” Avril Haines is vowing at her Senate intelligence committee confirmation hearing Tuesday to speak “truth to power” even when that truth is inconvenient or difficult. The comments signalled a course correction to the four years of the Trump administration, when President Donald Trump repeatedly attacked intelligence community assessments that he disagreed with — particularly about Russia. Haines also says the American people deserve a “government worthy of their trust” and that she will work to promote transparency in the intelligence community. 10:40 a.m. The Democratic vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee is telling President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for national intelligence director that the intelligence community will have to “recover” from the experience of Donald Trump’s leadership. Sen. Mark Warner says that during the four years of the Trump administration, intelligence community officials willing to speak the truth were “vilified, reassigned, fired or retaliated against.” Warner told Avril Haines at her confirmation hearing on Tuesday that she will be expected to keep politics out of national security decision making. He says he expects to hear a strong statement of support for the professionalism of the intelligence community. ___ 10:30 a.m. One of President Donald Trump’s national intelligence directors is introducing President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for the job at her confirmation hearing. Dan Coats, a former Republican senator who held the post under Trump, is speaking Tuesday at Avril Haines’ confirmation hearing before the Senate intelligence community. His appearance is designed to show that Haines, who served in the Obama administration, has bipartisan support. He says Haines is committed to bringing “nonpoliticized truth to power” and restoring trust in confidence in the intelligence community. He calls Haines an “exceptional choice.” ___ 10 a.m. President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security will address the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol at the start of his Senate confirmation hearing. Alejandro Mayorkas says in prepared remarks released ahead of the Tuesday hearing that the Jan. 6 pro-Trump riot was “horrifying” and authorities still have much to learn about what happened that day and what led to the insurrection. Mayorkas says that as secretary of Homeland Security he would do everything he can to ensure that “the tragic loss of life, the assault on law enforcement, the desecration of the building that stands as one of the three pillars of our democracy and the terror felt by you, your colleagues, staff, and everyone present, will not happen again.” If confirmed, the former federal prosecutor and senior Homeland Security official under President Barack Obama would be the first Latino and first immigrant to lead the department. He would lead one of the largest agencies in government to enforce the nation’s immigration laws and run the immigration services agency as well as the components such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the civilian cybersecurity agency. ___ 6:30 a.m. President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to be America’s top diplomat says he’s ready to confront challenges posed by China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. Secretary of State-designate Antony Blinken also says he’s committed to rebuilding the State Department after four years of atrophy under the Trump administration. Blinken is set to appear Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In testimony prepared for his appearance, Blinken says he sees a world of rising nationalism and receding democracy. He also says that mounting threats from authoritarian states are reshaping all aspects of human life, particularly in cyberspace. Blinken says American global leadership still matters and without it rivals will either step in to fill the vacuum or there will be chaos. He says neither choice is palatable. Blinken also promises to bring Congress in as a full foreign-policy partner, a subtle jab at President Donald Trump’s administration and its secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, who routinely ignored or bypassed lawmakers in policy-making. ___ 6 a.m. President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for national intelligence director is planning to tell Senate lawmakers that intelligence and national security issues will not be politicized under her watch. Avril Haines faces a confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate intelligence committee. Haines will also tell lawmakers that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence must not shy away from “speaking truth to power” even if inconvenient or difficult. That’s according to excerpts of her prepared remarks released ahead of the hearing. Haines served in the Obama administration as deputy director of the CIA and deputy national security adviser. If confirmed, Haines would be tasked with restoring stability to an intelligence community that has been repeatedly denigrated by President Donald Trump. She would also be the first woman to hold the position. The Associated Press
Tesla has promised to start selling cheaper models next year, days after a Reuters report revealed that the company had shelved its plans for an all-new Tesla that would cost only $25,000.
The news that Tesla was scrapping the Model 2 came amid a drop in sales and profits, and a decision to slash a tenth of the company’s global workforce. Reuters also noted increased competition from Chinese EV makers.
Tesla’s deliveries slumped in the first quarter for the first annual drop since the start of the pandemic in 2020, missing analyst forecasts by a mile in a sign that even price cuts haven’t been able to stave off an increasingly heated competition on the EV market.
Profits dropped by 50%, disappointing investors and leading to a slump in the company’s share prices, which made any good news urgently needed. Tesla delivered: it said it would bring forward the date for the release of new, lower-cost models. These would be produced on its existing platform and rolled out in the second half of 2025, per the BBC.
Reuters cited the company as warning that this change of plans could “result in achieving less cost reduction than previously expected,” however. This suggests the price tag of the new models is unlikely to be as small as the $25,000 promised for the Model 2.
The decision is based on a substantially reduced risk appetite in Tesla’s management, likely affected by the recent financial results and the intensifying competition with Chinese EV makers. Shelving the Model 2 and opting instead for cars to be produced on existing manufacturing lines is the safer move in these “uncertain times”, per the company.
Tesla is also cutting prices, as many other EV makers are doing amid a palpable decline in sales in key markets such as Europe, where the phaseout of subsidies has hit demand for EVs seriously. The cut is of about $2,000 on all models that Tesla currently sells.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Article content
Divisions within the Bank of Canada over the timing of a much-anticipated cut to its key overnight interest rate stem from concerns of some members of the central bank’s governing council that progress on taming inflation could stall in the face of stronger domestic demand — or even pick up again in the event of “new surprises.”
“Some members emphasized that, with the economy performing well, the risk had diminished that restrictive monetary policy would slow the economy more than necessary to return inflation to target,” according to a summary of deliberations for the April 10 rate decision that were published Wednesday. “They felt more reassurance was needed to reduce the risk that the downward progress on core inflation would stall, and to avoid jeopardizing the progress made thus far.”
Article content
Others argued that there were additional risks from keeping monetary policy too tight in light of progress already made to tame inflation, which had come down “significantly” across most goods and services.
Some pointed out that the distribution of inflation rates across components of the consumer price index had approached normal, despite outsized price increases and decreases in certain components.
“Coupled with indicators that the economy was in excess supply and with a base case projection showing the output gap starting to close only next year, they felt there was a risk of keeping monetary policy more restrictive than needed.”
In the end, though, the central bankers agreed to hold the rate at five per cent because inflation remained too high and there were still upside risks to the outlook, albeit “less acute” than in the past couple of years.
Despite the “diversity of views” about when conditions will warrant cutting the interest rate, central bank officials agreed that monetary policy easing would probably be gradual, given risks to the outlook and the slow path for returning inflation to target, according to the summary of deliberations.
Article content
They considered a number of potential risks to the outlook for economic growth and inflation, including housing and immigration, according to summary of deliberations.
The central bankers discussed the risk that housing market activity could accelerate and further boost shelter prices and acknowledged that easing monetary policy could increase the likelihood of this risk materializing. They concluded that their focus on measures such as CPI-trim, which strips out extreme movements in price changes, allowed them to effectively look through mortgage interest costs while capturing other shelter prices such as rent that are more reflective of supply and demand in housing.
Recommended from Editorial
They also agreed to keep a close eye on immigration in the coming quarters due to uncertainty around recent announcements by the federal government.
“The projection incorporated continued strong population growth in the first half of 2024 followed by much softer growth, in line with the federal government’s target for reducing the share of non-permanent residents,” the summary said. “But details of how these plans will be implemented had not been announced. Governing council recognized that there was some uncertainty about future population growth and agreed it would be important to update the population forecast each quarter.”
• Email: bshecter@nationalpost.com
Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the business news you need to know — add financialpost.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
Share this article in your social network
Shares in US tech giant Meta have sunk in US after-hours trading despite better-than-expected earnings.
The Facebook and Instagram owner said expenses would be higher this year as it spends heavily on artificial intelligence (AI).
Its shares fell more than 15% after it said it expected to spend billions of dollars more than it had previously predicted in 2024.
Meta has been updating its ad-buying products with AI tools to boost earnings growth.
It has also been introducing more AI features on its social media platforms such as chat assistants.
The firm said it now expected to spend between $35bn and $40bn, (£28bn-32bn) in 2024, up from an earlier prediction of $30-$37bn.
Its shares fell despite it beating expectations on its earnings.
First quarter revenue rose 27% to $36.46bn, while analysts had expected earnings of $36.16bn.
Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said its spending plans were “aggressive”.
She said Meta’s “substantial investment” in AI has helped it get people to spend time on its platforms, so advertisers are willing to spend more money “in a time when digital advertising uncertainty remains rife”.
More than 50 countries are due to have elections this year, she said, “which hugely increases uncertainty” and can spook advertisers.
She added that Meta’s “fortunes are probably also being bolstered by TikTok’s uncertain future in the US”.
Meta’s rival has said it will fight an “unconstitutional” law that could result in TikTok being sold or banned in the US.
President Biden has signed into law a bill which gives the social media platform’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, nine months to sell off the app or it will be blocked in the US.
Ms Lund-Yates said that “looking further ahead, the biggest risk [for Meta] remains regulatory”.
Last year, Meta was fined €1.2bn (£1bn) by Ireland’s data authorities for mishandling people’s data when transferring it between Europe and the US.
And in February of this year, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg faced blistering criticism from US lawmakers and was pushed to apologise to families of victims of child sexual exploitation.
Ms Lund-Yates added that the firm has “more than enough resources to throw at legal challenges, but that doesn’t rule out the risks of ups and downs in market sentiment”.
With capital gains change, the Liberals grasp the tax reform nettle again – CBC News
That offer to buy your time-share could be from a Mexican drug cartel – CBC.ca
Investment Statistics (10 Investment Statistics Investors Need To Know) – Forbes
Silver investment demand jumped 12% in 2019
12 Bizarre Things People Did Just To Make Social Media Content
Global Media Markets, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F – TV and Radio Broadcasting, Film and Music, Information Services, Web Content, Search Portals And Social Media, Print Media, & Cable – GlobeNewswire
-
Politics20 hours agoOpinion: Fear the politicization of pensions, no matter the politician
-
Politics19 hours ago
Pecker’s Trump Trial Testimony Is a Lesson in Power Politics
-
Science20 hours ago
NASA Celebrates As 1977’s Voyager 1 Phones Home At Last
-
Media19 hours ago
B.C. puts online harms bill on hold after agreement with social media companies
-
Media13 hours ago
B.C. online harms bill on hold after deal with social media firms
-
Business19 hours ago
Oil Firms Doubtful Trans Mountain Pipeline Will Start Full Service by May 1st
-
Art21 hours ago
Turner Prize: Shortlisted artist showcases Scottish Sikh community
-
Investment21 hours ago
FLAGSHIP COMMUNITIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST ANNOUNCES CLOSING OF APPROXIMATELY US
