Melbourne city center skyline alongside the Yarra River.Photo loop | Global Photo Collection | Getty ImagesThe Nikkei hit a new all-time high as Asian markets rose after the Federal Reserve maintained its forecast for three interest rate cuts while keeping the federal funds rate at 5.25%-5.5%.Expectations for three cuts came from the Fed's “dot chart,” a closely watched matrix of anonymous forecasts from the 19 officials who make up the Federal Open Market Committee. However, the chart provides no indication of the timing of the moves.Updated dot plots indicated three reductions in 2025 as well — one fewer than the…
Author: ricardofrancois
In an effort to impose tougher penalties on repeat felony offenders, top law enforcement officials in Southern California announced a new initiative Wednesday to target and prosecute more suspects under federal guidelines.Dubbed “Operation Safe Cities,” the initiative was born out of frustration with violent criminals carrying out brazen robberies using firearms — and seeks to build on existing partnerships to secure additional resources and more easily report related crimes to federal authorities who have access. To more stringent penal laws. .“This effort aims to ensure that the most violent people on the streets are prosecuted and spend the time they…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.The northern leg of HS2 should be replaced with a cheaper version on the same route, according to the interim findings of a privately-backed review conducted by two city mayors in England. Experts appointed by the leaders of the West Midlands and Greater Manchester have concluded that a new line is still needed to fill the “missing” transport link between the city's two largest areas outside the capital. They said the existing M6 motorway and west coast railway lines would not be…
Reddit priced its shares on Wednesday at $34 per share, above the expected range, a sign that investors are excited about the company's initial public offering on Thursday. The social media giant raised nearly $500 million in the offering. Excluding employee stock options, the 19-year-old company's valuation will start at $5.4 billion, a far cry from its last private market value of $10 billion, which was set in August 2021, the peak of the last boom in technology markets. The stock, the most anticipated offering of the year so far, will debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday…
A runner runs near the US Capitol as the deadline approaches to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the day on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, September 30, 2023.Ken Cedeno | ReutersBEIJING – The US Congress is increasingly monitoring US capital that allegedly financed military development in China, suggesting that greater scrutiny of US investments in China may extend beyond presidential terms and become part of the law.After a few false starts in 2023, which never ended up derailing American investment in some Chinese industries, some in the House are still forging ahead.“I think Congress needs to…
New York – New York state lawyers urged the Court of Appeals on Wednesday not to accept former President Trump's claims that it is impossible to post a bond that fully covers a $454 million civil fraud judgment during his appeal.Lawyers for the presumptive Republican nominee said earlier this week that he had been unable to find a guarantor willing to foot the full amount. But the state says Trump and the other defendants did not explore all options. “Defendants failed to propose a serious alternative to fully secure the verdict,” Dennis Vann, an attorney with the state Attorney General’s…
A historic class action lawsuit may change the way Americans buy and sell homes.The National Association of Realtors agreed to a $418 million settlement last week in an antitrust lawsuit, in which a federal jury found that the organization and several major real estate brokerage firms conspired to artificially inflate agents' commissions on buying and selling real estate. NAR's Multiple Listing Service, or MLS, used locally across regions in the United States, has streamlined compensation rates for both buyer and seller agents.At the time of listing the property, the home seller negotiated with the listing agent about the compensation the…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Social media company Reddit priced its shares at $34 ahead of its expected public offering in New York on Thursday, coming in at the top of its previous price guidance, giving it a fully diluted valuation of $6.4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. This puts Reddit's valuation well below the $10 billion it received in its last private fundraising in 2021.Based on the number of shares outstanding immediately after the IPO, the price implies a market capitalization of $5.4…
Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading. Micron Technology – Shares rose 13% after the semiconductor company beat expectations on revenue and provided strong guidance on the measure. Micron reported revenue of $5.82 billion for the fiscal second quarter and said it expects $6.6 billion in the current period. Both numbers exceeded analyst consensus estimates of $5.35 billion and $6.02 billion, per LSEG. Adjusted earnings per share were 42 cents for the quarter, while analysts expected a loss of 25 cents per share. Five Below – The value retailer fell 13% on weak fourth-quarter earnings and forecasts. Five…
The Federal Reserve (US central bank) on Wednesday kept interest rates steady as expected and indicated that it still plans multiple cuts before the end of the year.After the two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates, said the central bank would keep its benchmark overnight borrowing rate in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%, where it has remained steady since July 2023.Along with the decision, Fed officials planned three quarter-point cuts by the end of 2024, which would be the first cuts since the early days of the Covid pandemic in March 2020.The current level…