WORLD
Macron stalls, Le Pen gets tailwind as France goes to polls
An early belief the vote would be a repeat of 2017, when Macron faced Le Pen and easily won, was overturned by the candidacy of far-right media pundit Eric Zemmour in November and the conservative Republicains party’s first ever female presidential contender, Valerie Pecresse, in December, both of whom initially shot up in polls.
WORLD
Russia’s first default in a century looks all but inevitable now
A freeze on the central bank’s foreign reserves unplugged Russia from the global financial system, making it the world’s most-sanctioned nation in a matter of days.
BUSINESS
Schultz’s early moves at Starbucks suggest deeper changes coming
He’s already frozen stock repurchases that were part of a $20 billion package, saying the money would be better spent on employees and cafe improvements.
BUSINESS
Tesla May Start Mining Lithium as Musk Cites Battery Metal Cost
Lithium is a key component in electric vehicle batteries and so automakers are racing to secure supplies.
BUSINESS
Elon Musk Promises to Bring Even More Drama to Twitter Board
The story of Twitter’s leadership up until this point is an eventful one.
WORLD
Myanmar Central Bank Deputy Governor shot by unidentified gunmen
The attack Thursday came days after the Central Bank tightened rules to reduce the use of U.S. dollars, ordering local holders of foreign currencies to exchange them for kyat within one working day of receiving them.
WORLD
Shanghai’s locked-down elite are joining hunt for groceries
Shanghai is the epicenter of China’s worst outbreak since the early days of the pandemic in Wuhan and authorities have doubled down on their Covid Zero pillars of mass testing and lockdowns to try and stamp out infections.
BUSINESS
India optimistic on US defense talks despite Russia strain
Recent public statements from Washington warning India about consequences for purchases of weapons and discounted oil from Russia are contrary to private discussions between the two sides, the people said, asking for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the talks.
BUSINESS
Elon Musk is diversifying world’s biggest fortune with Twitter stake
Elon Musk’s holding in his favored social-media platform is worth $3.67 billion. He’s already up more than $1.2 billion on the position based on Twitter’s closing share price on March 14, the date of the event that triggered the disclosure, and its closing level on Monday, when the stock surged 27% in the biggest rally since the company’s 2013 trading debut.
BUSINESS
MacKenzie Scott is expanding her $12.4 billion giving spree globally
MacKenzie Scott’s latest giving spree — $3.9 billion — included about 60 nonprofits based outside the U.S., out of a total 465 that received grants since last June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
BUSINESS
Surge in car-crash deaths could be magnified by new breed of EVs
The occupants of heavy vehicles tend to fare better in an accident, explained Michael Anderson, the University of California professor who co-wrote the study “Pounds That Kill: The External Costs of Vehicle Weight.”
BUSINESS
Tata packs power brands in mega app to rival Amazon, Ambani
Mumbai-based Tata Digital Pvt.’s digital services platform, Tata Neu, which went live to consumers on Thursday, will have in-house brands including Croma, Westside, AirAsia India, the Taj chain of luxury hotels and BigBasket, according to the group’s website.
BUSINESS
Robinhood rolls out Cryptocurrency wallet to 2 million users
Chief Product Officer Aparna Chennapragada made the announcement as part of the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami and said in an interview at the event that the product shows the company’s commitment to the crypto space.
BUSINESS
Peter Thiel blasts Jamie Dimon, Warren Buffett and Larry Fink as ‘Finance Gerontocracy’ at Bitcoin 2022
In his keynote speech at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami Thursday, Thiel blamed the finance titans for the digital currency’s failure to reach $100,000, a benchmark popular among the asset’s die-hard supporters.
BUSINESS
Oil sheds most invasion-driven gains on stock release, China virus, Fed rates
West Texas Intermediate traded below $97 a barrel, with prices almost 3% lower this week. The recent drop means the U.S. benchmark has now lost the bulk of the gains seen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in late February.
WORLD
Europe’s hypocritical gas policy isn’t sustainable
For the 2022-23 winter, the European Union has set itself a target of filling its underground gas storage to 80 percent of capacity by October. That may be possible, but only at a huge political – and moral – cost: The EU will have to continue buying as much Russian gas as it does now, paying Vladimir Putin about $200 million per day, or about $36 billion for the next six months.
BUSINESS
Consumer stocks start to believe the US Fed is serious
The Federal Reserve is fighting the worst US inflation in 40 years, and its assault on rising consumer prices is probably going to get messy.
BUSINESS
Shell to write down as much as $5 billion on Russia withdrawal
The statement from the London-based giant shows that, despite a surge in oil and gas prices, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the supermajors’ plans and left them scrambling to adapt to historic shifts in energy markets.
BUSINESS
Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan in first such trip for 25 years, FNN Says
Nancy Pelosi will arrive in Taipei on Sunday following a visit to Japan, according to reports in both Taiwanese and Japanese media Thursday. It will be the first visit by a serving U.S. house speaker since Newt Gingrich traveled to Taiwan in 1997.
BUSINESS
JD’s Billionaire founder Richard Liu steps down as CEO of $92 billion empire
Xu Lei, who was recently promoted to president after more than a decade at the company, takes the helm of the e-commerce titan effective immediately. Liu’s lieutenant joins JD’s six-member board while Liu remains chairman, the company said in a filing Thursday. Its shares slid as much as 2.9% in early Hong Kong trading.
BUSINESS
Deutsche Bank predicts US recession in ‘23 as Fed boosts rates
They see the Fed raising rates by 50 basis points at each of its next three meetings on its way to a peak above 3.5% by the middle of next year. The Fed’s current target for the federal funds rate is 0.25% to 0.5%, after it lifted off levels near zero last month.
BUSINESS
Mocked as ‘Rubble’ by Joe Biden, Russia’s Ruble comes roaring back
International sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s regime sank it to a record low of 121.5 rubles per dollar, triggering memories of the battering it took during the 1998 Russian financial crisis.
BUSINESS
Canada to ban foreigners from buying homes as prices soar
The measures will be contained in Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s budget on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter, asking not to be named because the matter is private.
BUSINESS
Hypersonic-Missile delay puts US further behind Russia and China
The goal to declare an “early operational capability” for the Lockheed Martin Corp. missile by Sept. 30 has been moved back to sometime in the next fiscal year, according to an Air Force statement. The Pentagon has said the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, is expected to be the “nation’s first operational hypsersonic weapon.”
