The Hong Kong Observatory received more than 10 reports of a locally felt tremor from a magnitude 5.2 earthquake that struck Guangxi early on Monday. According to the forecaster, the epicentre was located about 550km (342 miles) west-northwest of Hong Kong, with a focal depth of about 10km. “The Observatory received more than 10 locally felt reports of the tremor, which lasted a few seconds,” it s...
The Hong Kong Observatory received more than 10 reports of a locally felt tremor from a magnitude 5.2 earthquake that struck Guangxi early on Monday. According to the forecaster, the epicentre was located about 550km (342 miles) west-northwest of Hong Kong, with a focal depth of about 10km. “The Observatory received more than 10 locally felt reports of the tremor, which lasted a few seconds,” it said on Monday. “Initial estimates put the local intensity at II (two) on the Modified Mercalli...
Rakuten Bank Ltd. shares surged after Mizuho Financial Group Inc. said it is considering investing in the firm as one of the options for Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Group Inc. ’s planned reorganization of its financial businesses. Shares of Rakuten Bank rose as much as 10.4% in Tokyo on Monday, the biggest gain in three months. Its parent Rakuten Group’s shares fell 0.7% after rising as much...
Rakuten Bank Ltd. shares surged after Mizuho Financial Group Inc. said it is considering investing in the firm as one of the options for Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Group Inc. ’s planned reorganization of its financial businesses. Shares of Rakuten Bank rose as much as 10.4% in Tokyo on Monday, the biggest gain in three months. Its parent Rakuten Group’s shares fell 0.7% after rising as much as 4.6% earlier. Mizuho shares fell as much as 7.7%, weighed down also by its move to buy back stock that fell short of analyst estimates. Mizuho, whose bank and securities units are already stakeholders in Rakuten Group’s card and brokerage businesses, is studying various options, it said in a filing with the stock exchange. Rakuten Group said in a separate statement that nothing has been decided. Rakuten’s Fintech Restructure More Likely With Mizuho In: React Rakuten Group, whose sprawling businesses include e-commerce and telecommunications, said in February it started discussions to consolidate its bank, card and brokerage businesses under a single group. This is expected to happen in October. The conglomerate said then that it will also talk with Mizuho on their capital tie-up after the reorganization. Mizuho Bank Ltd. has a 14.99% stake in Rakuten Card Co., and Mizuho Securities Co. holds 49% in Rakuten Securities Inc. Rakuten Bank, which was established in 2000, has total assets of ¥16.6 trillion ($105 billion), in line with those of large regional banks that have been in business for decades more. Its market capitalization is about ¥1.15 trillion, one of only about 15 Japanese banks exceeding the ¥1 trillion mark, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Rakuten Group’s financial empire draw its strength from what the e-commerce giant calls “Rakuten economic zone,” which locks in loyal customers by giving reward points for using its various businesses. One sign of that focus is the increase in Rakuten Bank accounts to about 18 million as of the end of March, up 7.3...
New Zealand’s population grew by the most since 2024 in the first quarter, as signs emerge that the exodus of citizens is slowing. The estimated population increased by 0.8%, or 43,500 people, in the 12 months through March, reaching 5.36 million, Statistics New Zealand said Monday in Wellington. That’s the strongest annual expansion since the fourth quarter of 2024. The modest increase is in cont...
New Zealand’s population grew by the most since 2024 in the first quarter, as signs emerge that the exodus of citizens is slowing. The estimated population increased by 0.8%, or 43,500 people, in the 12 months through March, reaching 5.36 million, Statistics New Zealand said Monday in Wellington. That’s the strongest annual expansion since the fourth quarter of 2024. The modest increase is in contrast to mid-2025 when population growth was just 0.6% — the weakest in 13 years excluding a period in 2021 and 2022 when the border was closed to most foreigners during the Covid lockdown. Still, it remains well short of the average 64,400 over the past 15 years. “Both migration and population growth are below their long-term average level, and we expect both to remain at a similarly modest level for the short-to-medium term,” Infometrics economist Nick Brunsdon said in an emailed note. The pick-up in population should help fan demand in an economy that has struggled to gain much momentum over the past year, although the immediate outlook has turned gloomy as the Middle East conflict drives up fuel costs. The risk is that new arrivals fail to find work in a slowing economy, pushing up the unemployment rate, while New Zealanders will again start looking overseas for job opportunities and higher pay. Net immigration added 24,300 people to the population in the 12 months through March, also the most since 2024, today’s report showed. A report last week showed the number of migrants arriving in the country was the most since February last year while the number leaving was the lowest since mid 2024. The number of New Zealand citizens who departed was the lowest since August 2023. Signs the exodus of citizens is slowing may ease pressure on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon , who argues his center-right government is a better economic manager than the opposition, but has yet to convince voters. His party has trailed in recent polls and an election is due in November.
3 Sector ETFs Catching Fire After Earnings BeatsInterDigital (NASDAQ:IDCC) Chief Financial Officer Rich Brezski outlined the company’s patent licensing model, recent financial performance and long-term growth targets during a presentation at the 21st Annual Needham Technology, Me
3 Sector ETFs Catching Fire After Earnings BeatsInterDigital (NASDAQ:IDCC) Chief Financial Officer Rich Brezski outlined the company’s patent licensing model, recent financial performance and long-term growth targets during a presentation at the 21st Annual Needham Technology, Me
Alex Cristi /iStock via Getty Images Performance Review ▪ The Fund (Institutional Class) returned 0.79 percent in the first quarter, compared with a 0.88 percent return for the Bloomberg U. S. Treasury Bill 1–3 Month Index. ▪ Absolute performance was driven primarily by carry (earned income). ▪ Spread widening across fixed income sectors, prompted by heightened geopolitical tensions, detracted fro...
Alex Cristi /iStock via Getty Images Performance Review ▪ The Fund (Institutional Class) returned 0.79 percent in the first quarter, compared with a 0.88 percent return for the Bloomberg U. S. Treasury Bill 1–3 Month Index. ▪ Absolute performance was driven primarily by carry (earned income). ▪ Spread widening across fixed income sectors, prompted by heightened geopolitical tensions, detracted from absolute return. The effect was felt broadly across credit-sensitive holdings. ▪ Duration modestly detracted from relative performance as rates rose over the quarter. Strategy and Positioning ▪ We modestly increased the Fund’s duration over the quarter. ▪ Within securitized markets, the Fund increased its allocation to structured credit sectors, with a focus on select asset-backed securities (ABS) subsectors and non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) residential mortgage-backed securities ( RMBS ). ▪ The Fund used the period of spread widening to add modestly to both investment-grade ( IG ) and high-yield ( HY ) corporate bond exposures. ▪ The Fund continues to favor mortgage credit and structured credit sectors, which we believe offer attractive risk-adjusted yields, supporting strong carry income and offering total return potential if spreads tighten. QTD Contributors / Detractors ▪ Carry contributed 0.8 percent to return while duration detracted by 0.2 percent. ▪ Spread widening in IG and HY corporate credit detracted from performance. ▪ Spread widening in ABS, CLOs, and commercial mortgage-backed securities detracted marginally. Economic and Market Review ▪ U. S. economic growth began the year on a solid foot, backed by tailwinds from artificial intelligence (AI), fiscal policy, and supportive financial conditions. However, risks to our economic and market outlook have risen as the war in Iran and spike in energy prices pose both upside risks to inflation and downside risks to growth. While we believe the impact to growth could be moderate if the conflict is resolved soon, r...
(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 100 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 4,135-point plateau and it may extend its losses again on Monday.
(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 100 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 4,135-point plateau and it may extend its losses again on Monday.
A man in southern China suspected of poisoning an online celebrity dog which is famous for collecting plastic bottles in the street has been caught after its owner called the police. The French Bulldog nicknamed Xiaobai won the hearts of millions last year for diligently collecting plastic bottles for its owner. It has earned over 100,000 yuan (US$15,000) over the past five years as its owner, sur...
A man in southern China suspected of poisoning an online celebrity dog which is famous for collecting plastic bottles in the street has been caught after its owner called the police. The French Bulldog nicknamed Xiaobai won the hearts of millions last year for diligently collecting plastic bottles for its owner. It has earned over 100,000 yuan (US$15,000) over the past five years as its owner, surnamed Zhang, sold the waste bottles. The social media account @gouxiaobai boasts half a million...
By Targeting Dairy Farmers, ESG Wants To Decide Your Milk Authored by Samantha Fillmore via RealClearMarkets , It starts with a letter in the mail. A dairy farmer opens it to find new requirements from their milk processing plant. Herd data, energy usage, emissions figures. The letter calls it voluntary but if you don't comply, the plant can't take your milk. And if the plant can't take your milk,...
By Targeting Dairy Farmers, ESG Wants To Decide Your Milk Authored by Samantha Fillmore via RealClearMarkets , It starts with a letter in the mail. A dairy farmer opens it to find new requirements from their milk processing plant. Herd data, energy usage, emissions figures. The letter calls it voluntary but if you don't comply, the plant can't take your milk. And if the plant can't take your milk, you're out of business. That's 'Pathways to Dairy Net Zero' in practice... Pathways to Dairy Net Zero (P2DNZ) is presented as a voluntary, science-based initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from dairy producers. In practice, however, it functions as yet another sector-specific implementation of global ESG and net-zero governance. In the case of P2DNZ, this governance model is applied to large-scale milk producers. The result is the downward transfer of climate-compliance costs and onerous ESG restrictions on farmers. Especially mid-sized and small farms, while offering no plausible pathway to detectable global emissions reductions. In short, this is the latest attack on American farmers from globalist board rooms seeking to control what you consume. P2DNZ may be presented as a voluntary, science-based initiative but in reality, it's the same ESG playbook we've seen used to squeeze entire industries into net-zero compliance without a single vote being cast. The pressure doesn't come from government. It comes from the giant food corporations at the top of the supply chain. It comes from the boardrooms of companies like Nestlé and Danone and filters down through processors until it lands on the farmer who has no real choice but to comply. What begins as “guidance” quickly becomes obligation. For dairy farmers, especially the ones that make up the lifeblood of the American Heartland, that obligation carries a heavy cost. P2DNZ effectively embeds climate compliance into the financial and commercial conduits of the industry. It deeply impacts how farmers access credit, ...
The United States spent $25 billion fighting the Iran war -- but other countries suffered far more. Kuwait, in particular, was targeted by an onslaught of 13 cruise missiles, 336 ballistic missiles, and 740 drones over the course of the war, straining its defense network past the limit. In addition to U.S. military bases in Kuwait -- Ali al-Salem Air Base, Camp Arifjan, and Camp Buehring -- Iran a...
The United States spent $25 billion fighting the Iran war -- but other countries suffered far more. Kuwait, in particular, was targeted by an onslaught of 13 cruise missiles, 336 ballistic missiles, and 740 drones over the course of the war, straining its defense network past the limit. In addition to U.S. military bases in Kuwait -- Ali al-Salem Air Base, Camp Arifjan, and Camp Buehring -- Iran also damaged the country's Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery, the Shuwaikh oil sector complex, and power generation facilities and water desalination plants. Even air defense systems were successfully targeted, including a Patriot missile battery at Ali al-Salem. "The Iranian attacks were precise. There are no random craters indicating misses," Center for Strategic and International Studies advisor and retired USMC Colonel Mark Cancian told The Washington Post . Continue reading