Fed minutes show little support for interest rate cut later this month
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Who gains most from Trump's retirement fund reforms?
Earlier this month, the White House announced that US President Donald Trump had signed an executive order 'to allow 401(k) investors to access alternative assets for better returns and diversification'. Aside from perhaps property tycoons and tech barons, few have reason to applaud this move, which allows retirement fund investors to access risky financial assets such as cryptocurrencies and real estate. Setting aside for a moment the fact that Trump or members of his family have vested interests in some of these asset classes, Trump's apparent contempt for prudential regulation threatens to put trillions of dollars of pension fund assets at risk just at a time when they are badly needed for more responsible forms of investment. Already, pension funds are invested in arguably overvalued tech stocks, which dominate US and other stock markets. Such investments have the power to topple markets. Adding further risk to this shaky structure at a time when underfunded areas such as the fight against global warming , inadequate infrastructure and health services are crying out for investment seems irresponsible, to say the least. In the US, 401(k) plans are portable schemes where contributions, instead of benefits, are defined in advance. In theory, investors have the right to assume their savings are being deployed wisely and safely. A 401(k) is a deferred arrangement. Employees can elect to defer receiving a portion of their salary, which is instead contributed on their behalf, before taxes, to their 401(k) plan. Sometimes employers match these contributions.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Chinese researchers lodge concerns over US debt as Beijing limits exposure
Calls for China to gradually reduce its exposure to US dollar assets are growing louder as Washington's national debt continues to set records, reigniting persistent worries over the long-term sustainability of an investment formerly considered rock solid. 'Although US Treasuries have not yet reached the default threshold, their expansion is unsustainable,' researchers from the Bank of China wrote in the latest issue of China Money, a publication supervised by the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank. With this concern in mind, China has been trimming its US Treasury holdings for three consecutive months, while keeping them roughly unchanged at the US$756 billion level in June, according to data released on Friday by the US Treasury Department. This remains the lowest level since March 2009. The researchers noted that US economic growth would be unlikely to offset rising debt from persistent budget and trade imbalances, warning that US President Donald Trump's efforts to narrow the trade deficit could curb global demand for the US dollar and undermine the currency's international role. This, they said, would put the country in a 'tug-of-war', oscillating between its economic and monetary priorities. 'Uncertainty over tariff, tax and fiscal reforms, coupled with a potential US dollar credibility crisis and speculation over the Mar-a-Lago Accord , could heighten volatility in the US Treasury market,' they said. '[We need to] gradually adjust US Treasury holdings and appropriately increase reserves of gold, key resources and strategic materials.'
RTHK
3 hours ago
- RTHK
Air Canada strike begins as contract talks break down
Air Canada strike begins as contract talks break down An Air Canada ground staff member addresses the issue of flight disruption with a passenger at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Photo: Reuters Air Canada's unionized flight attendants walked off the job early on Saturday after contract talks with the country's largest carrier stalled, in a move that could disrupt travel plans for more than 100,000 passengers. The union representing more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants confirmed the action in a social media post at around 0100 ET, 1pm Hong Kong time, in the first strike by cabin crew since 1985. Air Canada, which flies directly to 180 cities worldwide, said it had "suspended all operations" in response to the work stoppage. "Air Canada is strongly advising affected customers not to go to the airport," it said, adding that it "deeply regrets the effect the strike is having on customers." Attendants are currently paid when the plane is moving and the union is seeking to also be compensated for time on the ground between flights and helping passengers board. Montreal-based Air Canada, which is expected to respond quickly by locking out the workers, has said it anticipated cancelling 500 flights by the end of Friday during the busy summer travel season. It expected around 100,000 people to be affected on Friday alone. Flight attendants are likely on Saturday to picket at major Canadian airports, where passengers were already trying to secure new bookings earlier in the week, as the carrier gradually wound down operations. Passenger Freddy Ramos, 24, said on Friday at Canada's largest airport in Toronto that his earlier flight was cancelled due to the labor dispute and he had been rebooked by Air Canada to a different destination. "Probably 10 minutes prior to boarding, our gate got changed and then it was cancelled and then it was delayed and then it was cancelled again," he said. Air Canada and its low-cost affiliate Air Canada Rouge normally carry about 130,000 customers a day. Air Canada is also the foreign carrier with the largest number of flights to the United States. While the dispute has generated support from passengers on social media for the flight attendants, Canadian businesses reeling from a trade dispute with the United States urged the federal government to impose binding arbitration on both sides, which would end the strike. Air Canada has asked the minority Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney to order both sides into binding arbitration although the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the attendants, said it opposed the move. The Canada Labour Code gives Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu the right to ask the country's Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration in the interests of protecting the economy. Hajdu has repeatedly urged the two sides, which are not bargaining, to return to the table. The union has said Air Canada offered to begin compensating flight attendants for some work that is now unpaid but only at 50 percent of their hourly rate. The carrier had offered a 38 percent increase in total compensation for flight attendants over four years, with a 25 percent raise in the first year, which the union said was insufficient. In a note to clients on Friday, analysts at financial services firm TD Cowen urged the carrier to "extend an olive branch to end the impasse," adding that investors are worried that any cost savings on labour are outweighed by lost earnings in the airline's most important quarter. "We think it would be best for AC to achieve labor peace," the note said. "Not budging on negotiations risks being a Pyrrhic victory." (Reuters)
