FILE PHOTO: European Union Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton talks to journalists during an online news conference at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium September 3, 2020. Francisco Seco/Pool via REUTERS (Reuters) – The European Union wants to arm itself with new powers to penalize big technology companies, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The...
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Interview with La Razón
Via ECB (Den Europæiske Centralbank) INTERVIEW Interview with Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, conducted by Jesús Rivasés on 14 September 2020 20 September 2020 Are we already living in a new economic world? At the moment we are suffering the effects of a pandemic. The world was not ready for the type of...
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Thai protesters directly challenge king
Thailand’s student protesters took demands for sweeping royal reforms directly to the seat of monarchical power on Sunday, delivering a list of 10 demands and planting a plaque declaring that “the nation belongs to the people, not the monarchy”. The move came a day after tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered at Thammasat University and...
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Dividend Hikes Lift REITs | Seeking Alpha
Real Estate Weekly Outlook Is 2020 just getting started? On another choppy week, U.S. equity markets finished mostly lower despite a solid slate of economic and housing data and assurances from the Federal Reserve that it would keep interest rates near-zero indefinitely. In the midst of a historically contentious U.S. election season, consumer sentiment rebounded...
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Trump touts ‘fantastic’ TikTok deal with Walmart and Oracle
Via Yahoo Finance Donald Trump on Saturday touted a “fantastic” deal that could see Oracle and Walmart become the US tech partners for TikTok, which the president is seeking to ban over security concerns. “I think it’s going to be a fantastic deal,” Trump said. “I have given the deal my blessing. If they get...
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Implementing a radical strategy at Red Bull’s football teams
Ralf Rangnick remembers the advice he once gave Dietrich Mateschitz, the Austrian billionaire and co-founder of Red Bull, the energy drinks company: “I said: ‘Listen, I’d change almost everything.’” It was the summer of 2012 and Mr Rangnick, a renowned football coach, had a year earlier steered German team Schalke 04 to the semi-finals of...
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12% Yield, 20% Discount: BlackRock TCP Capital (NASDAQ:TCPC)
BlackRock TCP Capital Corp (TCPC) is a Business Development Corp. specializing in direct equity and debt investments in middle-market, senior secured loans, junior loans, originated loans, mezzanine, senior debt instruments, bonds, and secondary-market investments. It seeks to invest in the United States. The fund typically invests between $10 million and $35 million in companies with...
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EU seeks new powers to penalise tech giants
The EU wants to arm itself with powerful new weapons against the big technology companies. These include forcing them to break up or sell some of their European operations if their market dominance is deemed to threaten the interests of customers and smaller rivals. EU commissioner Thierry Breton told the Financial Times that the proposed...
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TikTok files complaint against Trump administration to try to block U.S. ban
(Reuters) – Popular video-sharing app TikTok has asked a U.S. judge to block the Trump administration from enforcing a ban on the Chinese social media network, according to court documents filed late on Friday. TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance Ltd., filed a complaint in a Washington federal court challenging the recent prohibitory moves by...
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Active Oil Rigs Fall Again As WTI Finishes Strong
Baker Hughes reported on Friday that the number of oil rigs in the United States fell by 1 to 179. The total number of active oil and gas rigs increased for the week by 1, with oil rigs falling by 1 and gas rigs increasing by 2. Total oil and gas rigs in the United...
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US and Middle East: strongmen contemplate post-Trump era
It took Donald Trump less than 48 hours to lay the foundations of a radical shift in US Middle East policy and ingratiate himself with some of the region’s most powerful leaders. On visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel — his first overseas as US president in May 2017 — he set the tone for...
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ETFMG Prime Mobile Payments ETF: Investing In The Digital Payments Industry (NYSEARCA:IPAY)
The digital payments industry has many catalysts for growth in both pre and post pandemic. The ETFMG Prime Mobile Payments ETF (IPAY) gives exposure to innovative companies in this sector and is my recommended ETF for this purpose. Digital Payment Market Growth Prior to the COVID pandemic, digital payments were already growing significantly, as more...
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Asset Class of Vintage Cars During the Pandemic: Sales at High End on Ice, After Steep Price Drops Earlier in the Year
Via Wolf Street Affordable Classics rise the most, American Muscle Cars fall the most. Ferraris flat, after big drops earlier. Beautiful machines all of them. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. Selling these beautiful machines, from American muscle cars to rare Ferraris, got a lot tougher during the Pandemic, after it had already gotten tough before the Pandemic....
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German towns unite to offer refugees shelter from the storm
Seen from afar Germany, like most of Europe, looks hopelessly divided over how best to handle the refugees stuck in miserable conditions along its borders. But a movement of German towns is arguing they can help alleviate the crisis on their own. They call themselves “sichere Häfen”, or “safe harbours”, and include more than 180 German...
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Wind turbines and solar farms drive down house prices
Renewable energy is on the rise (Newberry 2018). While global demand is still strongly increasing amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for fossil fuels has steeply declined (IEA 2020). Wind turbines are an important source of renewable energy, with 30% of total capacity located in Europe and 17% in the US in 2018. China has...
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Wall Street Weekahead: Corporate debt frenzy rolls on as worries loom over markets
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors are gearing up for the year’s record-breaking pace of corporate bond issuance to continue in the coming week, even after the U.S. Federal Reserve rattled nerves at its September meeting with a gloomier-than-expected economic outlook. FILE PHOTO: The front facade of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is seen in...
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Oil Bulls Return As OPEC+ Reassures Markets
It’s been a busy month for oil markets, with a build-up of bearish news sending oil prices crashing at the start of the month, only for prices to rally again this week. A combination of outages from Hurricane Sally, a drawdown in oil storage, and high compliance from OPEC is responsible for the rebound. For...
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Popular Children’s App Allegedly Requests Minor To Take Naked Pictures
A shocking claim, made by one parent in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, alleges a popular smartphone app designed for children asked a 5-year-old user to take naked pictures of themselves and siblings while in the bathroom and threatened to strangle the child if they didn’t comply, reported WBAL Baltimore. Anne Arundel County police learned about the incident on Wednesday (Sept....
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Treasure Hunting In Rough Seas With Farmland Partners Preferred (NYSE:FPI.PB)
Participating preferred stocks are unusual in the public market, but I’ve seen plenty of these in Venture Capital for earlier stage companies. While diving into the details, I licked my chops in excitement. That excitement stemmed from knowing these funny beasts are typically sold by an issuer from a position of weakness. In other words,...
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Trump backs proposed deal to keep TikTok operating in US
Via AP Business NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday he’s given his “blessing” to a proposed deal that would see the popular video-sharing app TikTok partner with Oracle and Walmart and form a U.S. company. Trump has targeted Chinese-owned TikTok for national security and data privacy concerns in the latest flashpoint in...