Business
Le Pen steps down as FN president to gather "all the French"
The next round will present their starkly different visions, with Macron representing a France that has thrived on its openness to the world and Le Pen speaking for those who have been hurt by it. The party has years of xenophobic, anti-immigration, anti-Semitic and other racist behavior and rhetoric to overcome, in spite of Ms. Le Pen's purging the party's founder (her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen).
Business
What Are Analysts Report About Medical Properties Trust Inc. (MPW)
About 2.43M shares traded. Easterly Government Properties has a 52 week low of $17.58 and a 52 week high of $21.38. Government Properties Income Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT). Easterly Government Properties Inc (NYSE:DEA) has risen 2.01% since September 27, 2016 and is uptrending. 284.83 million shares or 11.13% more from 256.30 million shares in 2016Q3 were reported.
Business
Massive floods hit Missouri and Arkansas
Flooding is blamed in at least nine deaths, and an 18-month-old Arkansas girl swept away by floodwater is missing and presumed dead. Catastrophic flooding ensued in parts of Arkansas this week after torrential rain and levee failures. Flooding has forced Missouri transportation officials to close Interstate 55, along with other major routes Wednesday, effectively cutting off St. Louis from any roads to the south.
Business
Crude futures settle higher but post third weekly loss
The precise trigger for the two-day sell off, which has loped more than 7% from global crude prices, is hard to pinpoint, but the downward slope has been evident since last month's OPEC report in which the cartel raised its supply forecast for non-members, thanks in part to a huge upswing in shale oil production.
Business
British prime minister, Corbyn trade blows in final pre-election clash
Mr Cash said: "Jeremy Corbyn is the genuine article who has a vision of Britain based on hope not fear that delivers for working people". Asked whether Mr Corbyn would attend a broadcast which did not involve Mrs May, the spokesman said: "Obviously, if you are talking about a debate about the possible outcomes of the election, you are talking about a debate between the Conservative Party and the Labour Party first and foremost".
Business
China's 1st big passenger jet completes maiden flight
Built by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), the plane has taken nine years to get off the drawing board and into the air. "The biggest challenge is that the whole manufacturing experience still needs improvement because this is the first time China is making a primary route plane", Bao said.
Business
Terex Announces Results for First Quarter of 2017
Stifel Nicolaus has "Buy" rating and $37 target. 8,000 Terex Corporation (NYSE:TEX) shares with value of $230,000 were sold by Clair Mark I. They now have a Dollars 36 price target on the stock. Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Credit Suisse Group AG reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Terex in a report on Thursday.
Business
Delta Apologizes For Booting Passenger Off Flight
Mr Schear claims a member of airline staff told him: 'You have to give up the seat or you're going to jail, your wife is going to jail and they'll take your kids from you'. "It's a federal offence if you don't abide by it", she explains, to which the dad responds, "I bought that seat!" Apparently, the flight was overbooked and the airline needed the seat Grayson was sitting on, but the Schears didn't want to give up the seat.
Business
DOJ press conference for Alton Sterling investigation set for 1 p.m.
She added that she believes Blane Salamoni, the officer who fired the deadly shot, was wrong and became incredibly emotional when describing the events that unfolded. Salamoni pulls out his gun and fires three shots into Sterling's chest. The officers were put on leave after the shooting. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is considering whether to bring state charges .
Business
Warren Buffett says he sold a third of stake in IBM
During an interview on CNBC's Squawk Box on Thursday, Buffett explained that he cut his stake in IBM after "revising his view of the company's competitive prospects". "We're taking time to make sure we invest in the right places and make sure we get the kind of margin high-value profile we're looking for". Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) posted lower quarterly earnings than Wall Street expected as underwriting losses overpowered growth at the conglomerate's Burlington ...
Business
Oil prices near 5-month low as global oversupply weighs
Some stock markets across Asia fell in tandem with oil prices yesterday as analysts forecast further weakness amid signs that global U.S. and China demand may not be strong enough to mop up the excess production. It came after a Kremlin spokesperson said no decision had been made on whether Russian Federation would agree to extend oil cuts - which were introduced by Opec and other major oil producing states in January - into the second half of the year.
Business
China eyes global market after Comac C919 maiden flight
Even the name was carefully crafted: "C" stands for China as well as COMAC; the first "9" means "forever", since the word for "nine" sounds like "forever" in Chinese; and the "19" represents the fact that the plane can host 190 passengers. Failing to win FAA certification would restrict the sale of the aircraft to only domestic market and certain regional clients. Boeing forecasts that an annual 6% growth in China's air passenger traffic over the next two decades will create demand for 6,810 ...
Business
Dollar steady with eyes on Fed for rate clues; kiwi higher
Combined with the Fed's signal that two more hikes can be expected this year, the implication is that committee members' preferred timetable includes "rate hikes in June and September, and the first step in the (Fed's) balance sheet normalization process in December", wrote Ward McCarthy, Jefferies' chief financial economist.
Business
France's Marine Le Pen steps down as leader of party
Voter turnout in France was over 75 percent, which is actually the lowest in a French presidential election for more than 15 years. Macron remains the favored candidate , however, and other candidates have voiced support for him over Le Pen in the final election.
Business
FOMC Holds Rates, Mush "Transitory" Statement Follows: Interesting Bond Reaction
Previously used to describe a period of inflation below the Fed's 2% target, that term was now used to describe a weakening of the economy's performance during the first quarter, when the annualized rate of growth slowed to a three-year low of 0.7%.
Business
Alphabet Rides Mobile Ad Binge, Ending First-Quarter Miss Streak
Mobile advertisements are cheaper than desktop, but thanks to growing volume, the business is making up the difference. "We will continue to invest here for the long-term opportunity", said Porat, on an analyst conference call last night .
Business
U.S. jobs report shores up markets but oil weakens further
U.S. light sweet West Texas Intermediate ( WTI ) crude futures were trading at $45.40 per barrel, down 12 cents, or 0.3 per cent, after a more than 4 per cent drop the previous session. USA production "could go pretty high", Hamm said in March at the CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston, one of the largest gatherings of oil executives in the world.
Business
Justice Department launches criminal investigation into Uber
Uber's "Greyball" software revealed to a be a program that enables Uber drivers to identify government authorities. Greyball even helped Uber evade authorities overseas in countries such as Australia and China, according to the New York Times .
Business
US Economy Grows At Slowest Pace Since 2014
The Atlanta Federal Reserve was predicting first-quarter growth of just 0.2%. "Household spending was held down by a drop back in motor vehicle sales from a near-record high at the end of past year and the unseasonably warm winter weather, which depressed utilities spending", said Paul Ashworth, chief USA economist at Capital Economics .
Business
Fed holds interest rates steady, downplays economic weakness
Analysts and traders widely expected the Fed to leave rates unchanged and keep to a forecast of two more potential hikes this year. The report indicated that economic growth seems to have accelerated at the start of the second quarter after slowing to 0.3% in the first three months of the year.
Business
United Nations should consider 'stronger sanctions' on N.Korea
While South Korea's Defence Ministry could not immediately confirm the report, the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said: "Our military is closely monitoring the North Korean military's movement in Wonsan areas and we are firmly maintaining readiness".
Business
Macron Targeted in Massive Hack, France Warns against Republishing Campaign Emails
As much as nine gigabytes of data were posted on a profile called EM LEAKS to Paste Bin, a site that allows anonymous document sharing. It said that the hackers had mixed fake documents along with authentic ones, "to sow doubt and misinformation".
Business
Fed leaves rates unchanged but signals further hikes ahead
The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, lower than the 2.1 percent growth in the previous quarter and the weakest performance in three years, the Commerce Department said Last week. A statement from the Federal Reserve said: "In view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation, the Committee made a decision to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3/4 to 1 percent".
Business
Philippine justice writes online book on China's sea claims
The New York Times reports today that, six weeks ago, during the lead-up to the Mar-a-Lago summit between Trump and Xi Jinping, the Pentagon turned down a request from the Pacific Command to sail a warship near a disputed reef in the South China Sea.
Business
Buffett dumps Big Blue: 'I don't value IBM the same way ...'
Berkshire spent $10.7bn (£8.3bn) to acquire a 5.4% stake in IBM in 2011 - a move that took analysts by surprise as Buffett had previously steered clear of technology firms. "We're taking time to make sure we invest in the right places and make sure we get the kind of margin high-value profile we're looking for". The conglomerate also ended the quarter with roughly US$96.5 billion of cash, equivalents and Treasury bills, a record sum and enough for one or more major acquisitions.
Business
Comac C919 lands after uneventful maiden sortie
China hopes, in the course of time, to convert the current worldwide airliner duopoly of Airbus and Boeing into a triumvirate, by making Comac a major manufacturer as well. Both companies said in November that they have started the hunt for suppliers, and they're aiming to conduct a maiden flight for the C929 in 2022. A letter from China's ministerial cabinet, read out after the plane landed, said the successful flight marked a "major breakthrough" and milestone for China's passenger jet ...
Business
Parents, Two Infants Kicked off Overbooked Delta Flight
Because their flight was over-sold, Brian and Brittany Schear say flight attendants told them their 2-year-old would have to vacate a seat they'd paid for, and he would have to sit on their laps instead. "So, then, it's going to be a federal offense", one agent said, "and you and your wife will be in jail and your kids will be -". Schear responded to that by saying there was no where he or his family including a pair of infants could go the crew member said, "You guys are on your own".
Business
SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center
The launch was originally supposed to be for Sunday, but the mission was postponed due to an issue with one of the first stage sensors. According to a tweet by SpaceX founder Elon Musk, the second launch almost didn't happen due to the wind.
Business
Lawmakers to airlines: Improve service or Congress steps in
United Airlines Inc executives will visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to face lawmakers' questions about the forcible removal of a passenger on an overbooked flight last month, an incident that provoked worldwide outrage.United Chief Executive Oscar Munoz's appearance before the U.S.
Business
US Secretary of State lays out US diplomatic priorities
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (C) shakes hands with ASEAN foreign ministers before a working lunch at the State Department in Washington , U.S., May 4, 2017. The secretary of state also threatened that Washington will impose restrictions on foreign companies and individuals doing business with North Korea if the respective countries did not act.
Business
GDP Growth Below Wall Street Estimates
Meanwhile, the large drag on fourth quarter growth was net exports, with economic headwinds overseas and the strong USA dollar challenging manufacturers. The U.S. economy's output grew at the slowest pace in three years during the first quarter, underscoring the challenges facing the Trump administration as it seeks to rev up economic growth.
Business
Delta boots family off red-eye flight, threatens kids with "foster care"
Brian and Brittany Schear originally bought the seat on the April 23 flight for their 18-year-old son, but at Delta's suggestion, Brian Schear told NBC Chicago , the teen took an earlier flight so the baby could ride in his vehicle seat in an airplane seat of his own.
Business
Esure Group PLC 11.3% Potential Decrease Indicated by Barclays Capital
This would imply the analyst believes there is a potential downside of -11 .3% from the opening price of 267.2 GBX. The last stock close price is down -5.74% from the 200-day moving average, compared to the S&P 500 which has increased 0.02% over the same time.
Business
Heavily Indebted Puerto Rico Files for Bankruptcy
According to NYT , the state was on brink, needing to make a decision for its financial future because a court stay that had been keeping Puerto Rico's creditors from suing for full and timely debt repayment expired Monday. And the scale of Puerto Rico's debts is far larger than any other major American government, exceeded only by those of the more populated and wealthier New York, California and MA.
Business
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Cuts Stake in IBM by Third
The news comes from CNBC, and manages to take many unawares. Berkshire's share price has slightly lagged the Standard Poor's 500 including dividends during the eight-year bull market, but has outperformed since the global financial crisis mushroomed in September 2008.