Southern Business Review

Category: Economy and Policy

Economic trends, analysis, and policy discussions that impact businesses and industries in the Southern United States. This section may provide in-depth articles and reports on topics such as regional economic growth, business regulations, tax policies, and the influence of state and federal legislation on local markets. It could also cover issues like labor markets, trade policies, infrastructure developments, and government initiatives designed to stimulate economic activity in the South. Additionally, this section might feature expert opinions, interviews with policymakers, and case studies of how businesses are adapting to changing economic conditions. The goal is to provide valuable insights for business leaders, investors, and policymakers seeking to understand and navigate the economic and policy landscape in the region.

  • US STOCKS-Downbeat earnings push Wall Street lower

    (Reuters) – Wall Street dipped on Wednesday as disappointing forecasts from videogame makers pulled the communications sector lower, but a boost from technology companies kept the main indexes near two-month highs.

    FILE PHOTO – Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., February 4, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

    Electronic Arts Inc slid 13.2 percent, while Take-Two Interactive Software Inc fell 10.5 percent, leading the communication services sector down 1.10 percent, the most among the nine major sectors in the red.

    Activision Blizzard Inc also fell 9.1 percent.

    Anadarko Petroleum Corp was down 6.1 percent after the oil and gas producer reported a fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates by a wide margin.

    Leading gains on the technology sector, which was up 0.15 percent, were chipmakers with the Philadelphia chip index up 2.67 percent.

    Apple supplier Skyworks Solutions Inc jumped 12.6 percent after announcing a $2 billion buyback, while Microchip Technology rose 7.6 percent after its quarterly profit beat estimates.

    The possibility of the S&P 500 extending its winning streak for the sixth straight day was under pressure.

    A strong run in stocks recently, boosted by U.S.-China trade optimism and a dovish stance from the Federal Reserve has put the benchmark index about 7 percent away from its record closing high in September.

    Earnings have also been contributing to market optimism. About 70 percent of more than half of the S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings have topped profit expectations, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

    “The market’s recovery has been pretty strong and it’s running out of little bit of momentum here. The next big step really would require some kind of trade agreement with China,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey.

    “Today’s dip is very normal profit taking after weeks of positive gains.”

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said trade talks with China last week were “very productive” and confirmed that he and other U.S. officials will travel to Beijing for the next round of meetings, as the world’s biggest economies aim to clinch a deal to avert a March 2 increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.

    At 11:27 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 40.32 points, or 0.16 percent, at 25,371.20, the S&P 500 was down 8.34 points, or 0.30 percent, at 2,729.36 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 27.70 points, or 0.37 percent, at 7,374.39.

    Capri Holdings Ltd, formerly Michael Kors, jumped 13 percent after the company posted a better-than-expected holiday-quarter profit and raised its full-year revenue forecast.

    On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump offered no specific economic policy initiatives in his State of the Union address and reiterated his vow to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. His reference to the Feb. 15 deadline for a budget deal also reminded investors that a second shutdown was not fully off the table.

    Also expected on Wednesday is Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s address at 7:00 p.m. ET (0000 GMT) in Virginia.

    Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.82-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.38-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

    The S&P index recorded 13 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 25 new highs and 11 new lows.

    Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Amy Caren Daniel; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta

  • Publicis lifts full-year profits despite sluggish sales

    * Q4 organic growth far below consensus

    * Operating margin and EPS above targets

    * CEO doubles down on strategy to move toward consulting

    By Mathieu Rosemain and Gwénaëlle Barzic

    PARIS, Feb 6 (Reuters) – France’s Publicis booked record earnings per share in 2018 by squeezing costs and simplifying its organisation as it races against time to convince clients it has the right business model in a world that is going digital.

    The world’s third-biggest advertising company said fourth-quarter net revenue fell 0.3 percent to about 2.49 billion euros ($2.83 billion), excluding the impact of acquisitions and foreign exchange, far below market expectations of growth of 2.5 percent.

    Yet the Paris-based company managed to beef up its full-year operating margin rate by 0.60 percentage points to 16.7 percent, above its self-set targets, thus strengthening its position as the most profitable ad group compared to rivals WPP and Omnicom.

    Rigorous cost management and greater collaboration between a myriad of creative agencies worldwide helped increase profits, as Publicis strives to move away from traditional advertising and closer to digital transformation and consulting via its arm Publicis.Sapient.

    “We’ve made structural efforts to simplify things, get people to work together, cut the number of profit and losses statements so that we all work more like a platform and not like a holding company,” Chief Executive Officer Arthur Sadoun told reporters ahead of the results. (Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain and Gwenaelle Barzic)

  • GLOBAL MARKETS-Aussie dollar tumbles; U.S. shutdown jitters dent stocks

    * Aussie dollar poised for biggest one-day drop since Nov 2016

    * No surprises from State of the Union address

    * European equities slightly higher on bank lift (Updates with open of U.S. markets, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)

    By Chuck Mikolajczak

    NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) – The Australian dollar tumbled on Wednesday after its central bank signaled a possible interest-rate cut, in the latest indication a global economic slowdown is tilting policymakers towards slowing rate hikes, while worries of another U.S. government shutdown weighed on stocks.

    A gauge of world equity markets stalled just shy of two-month highs on concerns over growth and another possible U.S. government shutdown in the wake of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday. European shares were modestly higher.

    Australia’s central bank was the latest to signal policy easing in the face of economic headwinds. Last week, the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would be patient with regard to further rate hikes, while the European Central Bank also sounded less certain that it will start tightening policy later this year.

    The about-face pushed the Australian dollar down 1.53 percent against the U.S. dollar, putting it on track for its biggest daily drop since November 2016. In turn, the dollar moved higher against a basket of major currencies.

    “We are starting to see central banks follow (Fed Chair Jerome) Powell’s lead,” said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank in St. Louis. “That’s what’s actually contributed to this dollar rally that we have seen recently.”

    The dollar index, tracking the unit against six major currencies, rose 0.2 percent, with the euro down 0.3 percent to $1.1378. The index is on pace for a fifth day of gains.

    In his address, Trump vowed to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, a divide with Democrats that had led to the previous 35-day partial government shutdown.

    “While he wasn’t confrontational, he still didn’t reach out an olive branch across the aisle in any manner. Both sides still seem dug in so there’s a real fear that we are going to head toward another government shutdown,” said Gaffney.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.66 points, or 0.02 percent, to 25,405.86, the S&P 500 lost 4.06 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,733.64 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 14.25 points, or 0.19 percent, to 7,387.83.

    European stocks were buoyed by gains in banking shares, despite a fall in BNP Paribas after the French-listed bank lowered its profit and revenue growth targets for 2020. British lender CYBG jumped after posting a rise in lending growth.

    The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.15 percent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.18 percent.

    The dovish shift by the Fed, along with evidence of slowing growth in Germany in the form of falling industrial orders for December, also pushed U.S. Treasury yields lower.

    Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 4/32 in price to yield 2.6911 percent, from 2.704 percent late on Tuesday.

    The concerns over slowing global growth spread to energy demand, along with a report showing a rise in U.S. crude inventories.

    U.S. crude rose 0.88 percent to $54.13 per barrel and Brent was last at $62.65, up 1.08 percent on the day. (Additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

  • J.C. Penney ditches home appliances to focus on apparel

    A shopper leaves the J.C. Penney department store in North Riverside, Illinois, U.S., November 17, 2017. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski

    (Reuters) – J.C. Penney Co Inc said on Wednesday it would stop selling major appliances, including fridges and washing machines, and revamp the layout of its stores in a bid to focus on apparel to boost profits.

    The company also plans to largely halt selling furniture, which will now only be available in select stores in Puerto Rico and on J.C. Penney websites.

    All moves will happen at the end of February, the department store chain said.

    “Optimizing the allocation of store space will enable us to prioritize and focus on the company’s legacy strengths in apparel and soft home furnishings, which represent higher margin opportunities,” the Plano, Texas-based company said in a statement.

    The retailer had said in November that appliances, a big-ticket category in home products, had performed badly in the third quarter.

    The company like other brick-and-mortar stores has been battling falling sales as shoppers move online. J.C. Penny, trying to stay afloat, has shut locations around the country, cut jobs and renovated stores as part of a multi-year turnaround plan that sped up under newly-installed Chief Executive Officer Jill Soltau.

    Shares of the company, which have slid 63 percent in the past 12 months, were down about 2.2 percent at $1.32 on Wednesday morning.

    Reporting by Soundarya J in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar

  • REFILE-EMERGING MARKETS-Latam FX weaken, Brazil stocks down more than 2 pct

     (Corrects day of the week in first paragraph) Feb 6 (Reuters) - Latin American currencies weakened against
    a firmer U.S. dollar on Wednesday, weighed by Brazil's real as
    it awaited a central bank decision on interest rates, while the
    country's stock market tumbled amid a drop in shares of lenders. The real declined 1.1 percent and was on course for
    its worst day in two weeks. Brazil's central bank is expected to
    stand pat on interest rates at 6.50 percent and hold off on
    hiking the benchmark borrowing rate for the rest of the year, a
    Reuters poll showed. The decision is expected later in the day, with analysts
    saying the focus may slowly be shifting to whether the bank's
    next policy move could be a rate cut. "We think such speculation (rate cut) is way premature,"
    analysts at Commerzbank said in a note, pointing to the fact
    that a much-anticipated pension reform was yet to be passed. "The central bank had always stressed that fiscal policy
    reforms were necessary to keep inflation in check. Against this
    backdrop, the central bank should stay cautious and not fuel
    rate cut speculation further." Over the year, however, a separate Reuters poll showed that
    the Brazilian real will advance on hopes President Jair
    Bolsonaro will deliver on his economic reform agenda, although
    investors' optimism may already largely be priced in. The Bovepsa stock index slumped more than 2 percent,
    with all sectors in the red. Top lenders were the biggest drags
    on the finance-heavy index. Meanwhile, Mexico's peso fell after gains in the
    previous session when President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said
    his government would take extraordinary measures to support
    debt-laden state oil company Pemex after it was recently
    downgraded by Fitch rating agency. Mexico's central bank is to meet on Thursday to decide on
    interest rates, with expectations that it would hold the key
    rate at 8.25 percent. "We think that the board will leave the door open to further
    hikes if the inflation scenario were to worsen," Credit Suisse
    analysts said in a note. "It will likely acknowledge a clear
    worsening in the growth outlook in early 2019 partly due to the
    gasoline shortages in several areas of the country last year." "We are inclined to think that the bank will likely maintain
    the same policy guidance as in previous statements." The Chilean peso broke a six-day wining streak and
    was down 0.3 percent, while oil exporter Colombia's peso
    slipped, in line with a decline in oil prices. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1415 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 1050.11 -0.17 MSCI LatAm 2906.61 -1.76 Brazil Bovespa 96371.66 -1.97 Mexico IPC - - Chile IPSA 5447.97 -0.34 Argentina MerVal - - Colombia IGBC - - Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 3.7079 -1.14 Mexico peso 19.1475 -0.62 Chile peso 653.2 -0.34 Colombia peso 3109.88 -0.09 Peru sol - - Argentina peso - - (interbank) (Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernadette
    Baum)

  • Sanofi blood disorder drug wins FDA approval

    (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Wednesday it had approved Sanofi SA’s drug to treat a rare blood-clotting disorder in adults in combination with standard-of-care treatments.

    The treatment, called Cablivi, is already approved in the European Union as a treatment for acquired forms of the disorder, called thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

    Cablivi should come with a warning about the risk of severe bleeding, the FDA said.

    Reporting by Manogna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar

  • EU mergers and takeovers (Feb 6)

    BRUSSELS, Feb 6 (Reuters) – The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

    APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS

    — German auto company Siemens AG to acquire French multinational rail company Alstom SA (prohibited Feb. 6)

    — Copper supplier Wieland Werke AG to acquire sole control over the flat rolled products segment of Aurubis AG by way of share and asset purchase (prohibited Feb. 6)

    — Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC to acquire joint control of mobile-tracking technology firm Fleet Complete (approved Feb. 5)

    — Germany’s Pierburg Pump Technology and China’s Shanghai Xingfu Motorcycle Co. to acquire joint control over of Xingfu’s automotive pumps business through joint venture Pierburg Huayu (approved Feb. 5)

    — Italy’s Societa Cattolica di Assicurazione – Societa cooperativa and France’s Inter Mutelles Assistance S.A. to acquire joint control over Italian non-life insurance and non-life reinsurance company IMA Italia Assistance S.p.A. and IMA Servizi S.c. a r.l. (approved Feb. 5)

    — Korea’s climate control systems company Hanon to acquire part of Magna’s cooling and pump technology company Rotor (approved Feb. 5)

    NEW LISTINGS

    — DA Agravis Machinery Holding and Danish Agro Machinery Holding to acquire Kesko Group’s agrimachinery activities in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from Finnish subsidiary Konekesko Oy (notified Feb. 4/deadline March 11)

    — Insurer Marsh & McLennan Companies to acquire share capital of British peer Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8)

    EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

    None

    FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

    FEB 6

    — French sea transportation company CMA CGM to acquire sole control over Swiss freight forwarding and logistics company CEVA (notified Dec. 21/deadline Feb. 6/simplified)

    FEB 11

    — French financial services group Societe Generale to acquire sole control of German peer Commerzbank’s equity markets and commodities business (notified Jan. 7/deadline Feb. 11)

    — Global packaging supplier Amcor to acquire U.S.-rival Bemis (notified Dec. 12/deadline Feb. 11/Amcor offered concessions on Feb. 21)

    FEB 12

    — French airline Air France-KLM to acquire a stake and joint control with U.S. Delta Air Lines and Virgin Group of U.K.-based Virgin Atlantic Limited (notified Jan. 8/deadline Feb. 12)

    FEB 13

    — Singapore’s Sivantos and Denmark’s Widex to create a hearing aid and hearing accessory manufacturing and supply joint venture (notified Jan. 9/deadline Feb. 13)

    FEB 15

    — United Arab Emirates-based Mubadala Investment Company and Amerra Capital Management LLC to jointly acquire majority stakes in Greek fish farming companies Nireus and Selonda (notified Dec. 18/deadline extended to Feb. 15 from Feb. 1 after the companies offered concessions)

    FEB 18

    — Siemens and Alstom to merge their railway operations (notified June 8/deadline extended to Feb. 18 from Jan. 28 after the companies offered concessions)

    — U.S.-established Ares Management Corp. and energy company Electricite de France SA to acquire joint control over a Duesseldorf office complex owned by an IKB AG subsidiary (notified Jan. 14/deadline Feb. 18/simplified)

    — Private equity firm Triton to acquire sole control of online tour operator Sunweb (notified Jan. 14/deadline Feb. 18/simplified)

    FEB 19

    — Japanese technology group NEC to acquire sole control of Danish IT company KMD Holding (notified Jan. 15/deadline Feb. 19/simplified)

    FEB 20

    — German brewers Radeberger and Veltins to set up a joint venture to distribute and sell their beers (notified Jan. 16/deadline Feb. 20/simplified)

    — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Danfoss to take joint control of Edinburgh-based hydraulics technology firm Artemis Intelligent Power (notified Jan. 16/deadline Feb. 20/simplified)

    — Japanese heating, ventilation and air conditioning manufacturer Daikin Europe to acquire sole control of plug-in display case manufacturer Cool International Holding (notified Jan. 16/deadline Feb. 20/simplified)

    — Brookfields Asset Management to acquire Johnson Controls’ power solutions business (notified Jan. 16/deadline Feb. 20/simplified)

    FEB 21

    — Automotive parts manufacturer Financiere SNOP Dunois S.A. to acquire sole control of peer Tower Automotive Holdings Europe (notified Jan. 17/deadline Feb. 21/simplified)

    — Caise des Depots et Consignations and a unit of Swiss Life REIM to jointly buy a building in Bracon, France (notified Jan. 17/deadline Feb. 21/simplified)

    — A consortium led by China’s Anta Sports to acquire Finland’s Amer Sports (notified Jan. 17/deadline Feb. 21/simplified)

    FEB 22

    — Swiss insurance company Swiss Life Holding and English private equity firm Montagu Private Equity to indirectly acquire joint control of a Munich office building through an asset deal (notified Jan. 18/deadline Feb. 22/simplified)

    FEB 26

    — U.S. global investment firm KKR to acquire indirect joint control of Australia’s Genesis Care Pty Ltd. with Hong Kong holding company China Resources (notified Jan. 22/deadline Feb. 26/simplified)

    — German utility RWE to acquire networks and renewables unit Innogy with the assets to be divided between RWE and E.ON (notified Jan. 22/deadline Feb. 26)

    — IIF Int’l Holding to acquire joint control of gas infrastructive business North Sea Midstream Partners Ltd. (notified Jan. 22/deadline Feb. 26/simplified)

    FEB 27

    — Agricultural commodities trader Archer Daniels Midlands to acquire UK grains supplier Gleadell Agriculture (notified Jan. 23/deadline Feb. 27/simplified)

    FEB 28

    — France’s Engie and BPCE Group to acquire joint control of French power producer Engie PV Curbans (notified Jan. 24/deadline Feb. 28/simplified)

    — Energy investment holding company LetterOne Holdings and chemical sector stock corporation BASF to create joint venture combining oil and gas activities (notified Jan. 24/deadline Feb. 28)

    MARCH 1

    — Greencycle Holding and Germany’s cardboard producing group Nord-Westdeutsche Papierrohstoff to create online waste material trading platform joint venture (notified Jan. 25/deadline March 1/simplified)

    — U.S.-headquartered Blackstone Group to acquire indirect joint control by way of share acquisition with Ireland-based Sretaw over Irish waste, recycling and utilities company Beauparc (notified Jan. 25/deadline March 1/simplified)

    — Brussels Airport Company to acquire indirect joint control of Airhotel Belgium with Marriot (notified Jan. 25/deadline March 1/simplified)

    — French energy group Engie, French tyre maker Michelin, the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Region and French public sector lender Caisse des Depots et Consignations to set up a joint venture (notified Jan. 25/deadline March 1/simplified)

    MARCH 4

    — CVC Capital Partners to acquire sole control of insurer April Group (notified Jan. 28/deadline March 4/simplified)

    — Real estate investor Patron Fund and U.S. hotel chain Marriot to acquire joint control of Poland’s Sheraton Warsaw Hotel (notified Jan. 28/deadline March 4/simplified)

    MARCH 6

    — U.S. aircraft parts maker Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc to acquire EU-based supplier Asco Industries NV (notified Jan. 30/deadline March 6)

    MARCH 7

    — German energy company E.ON to acquire German peer Innogy’s retail and network activities (notified Jan. 31/deadline March 7)

    — U.S. telecoms equipment maker CommScope to acquire set-top box maker Arris International Plc (notified Jan. 31/deadline March 7/simplified)

    — Private equity firm The Carlyle Group to acquire aviation services company StandardAero from buyout firm Veritas Capital (notified Jan. 31/deadline March 7/simplified)

    — Cayman Island-based private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Fund X, L.P. to acquire sole control from investment vehicle Cheadle Developments Ltd. over Jersey-based FH Investments Ltd. through a share purchase (notified Jan. 31/deadline March 7/simplified)

    MARCH 8

    — Energy producer and provider Total Holdings USA to acquire sole control over oil and natural gas production company Chevron Denmark (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8)

    MARCH 11

    — Global aerospace producer, designer and supplier TransDigm Group to acquire sole control over manufacturing company Esterline Technologies (notified Feb. 4/deadline March 11)

    APRIL 16

    — Steel company Aperam to acquire Netherlands producer of materials from nickel and nickel alloy VDM Metals Holding (notified Oct. 23/deadline extended to April 16 from Nov. 29 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)

    APRIL 29

    —- Germany’s Thyssenkrupp and India’s Tata Steel to set up a steel joint venture (notified Sept. 25/deadline April 29)

    MAY 2

    — UK mobile telephony provider Vodafone to acquire U.S. Liberty Global’s telecommunications business in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Romania (notified Oct. 19/deadline Nov. 27/deadline extended to May 2 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)

    MAY 3

    — Electronic and motor manufacturing company Nidec to acquire sole control of U.S. white goods maker Whirlpool Corp’s compressor subsidiary Embraco (notified Oct. 8/deadline extended to May 3 from April 15)

    DEADLINES:

    The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company’s proposed remedies or an EU member state’s request to handle the case. Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days.

    SIMPLIFIED:

    Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified – that is, ordinary first-stage reviews – until they are approved. (Reporting by Clare Roth;)

  • U.S. fund investors pull most cash in 3 months from domestic stocks -ICI

     NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - U.S. fund investors snatched the
    most cash in three months from domestic stocks, Investment
    Company Institute (ICI) data showed on Wednesday, pointing to
    ongoing reticence and profit-taking in the face of a strong
    start to the new year. The trade group said a net $13.6 billion poured out of stock
    funds during the week ended Jan. 30, mostly driven by
    exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are heavily used by
    institutional investors. During the week, the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled its
    three-year-drive to tighten monetary policy may be at an end,
    boosting riskier assets. The central bank discarded its promises
    of "further gradual increases" in interest rates, and said it
    would be "patient" before making any further moves. The S&P 500 added to its gains for the year, and the
    stock index has returned more than 9 percent in 2019. Domestic equity funds posted $14 billion in withdrawals, the
    most pulled since October and offset only marginally by around
    $400 million of demand for stock funds focused abroad. Overall, stock mutual funds typically used by retail
    investors took in $183 million, while U.S.-based equity ETFs
    posted $13.8 billion of withdrawals, ICI said. Investors showed further signs of hesitation by snapping up
    bonds and commodity funds, such as those that invest in gold.
    Debt funds attracted $7.8 billion during the week and commodity
    funds pulled in $767 million, according to the ICI. The following table shows estimated ICI flows for mutual
    funds and ETFs (all figures in millions of dollars): 1/30 1/23 1/16 1/9/ 1/2/2019 Equity -13,645 1,485 -2,783 11,326 -11,294 Domestic -14,039 -571 -4,931 6,630 -6,260 World 394 2,056 2,148 4,696 -5,033 Hybrid -530 355 16 11 -5,421 Bond 7,763 6,798 9,327 6,300 -14,176 Taxable 5,816 5,367 7,633 4,350 -14,073 Municipal 1,947 1,431 1,694 1,950 -103 Commodity 767 584 -213 711 478 Total -5,646 9,222 6,347 18,348 -30,413 (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt
    Editing by Susan Thomas)

  • Boeing says aircraft demand supports even faster 737 production

    FILE PHOTO – The first Boeing 737 MAX 7 is unveiled in Renton, Washington, U.S. February 5, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Redmond

    SEATTLE (Reuters) – A top Boeing Co executive said on Wednesday market demand was strong enough to support an even higher production rate of 63 single-aisle 737 aircraft per month but such an increase depends more on suppliers being able to keep up.

    The world’s largest planemaker is also looking to remove as much risk as possible from a proposed new mid-sized jet plan by focusing on batting down development costs and applying lessons learned across multiple civil and military programs, Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith told a conference.

    Boeing is currently building 52 737 aircraft per month at its Seattle-area factory. Reuters reported this week that Boeing plans to speed up to 57 planes per month in June if it can smooth out supplier delays.

    Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama

  • Suncor CEO sees Alberta government oil curtailments ending early

    FILE PHOTO – A Suncor refinery is seen in Sherwood Park, near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada November 13, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

    WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – Suncor Energy Inc, one of Canada’s biggest oil producers, expects the province of Alberta to end mandatory production curtailments ahead of schedule as they have caused a price boost that makes rail shipments uneconomic, Chief Executive Officer Steve Williams said.

    Such unintended consequences are happening faster than the Alberta government likely expected, and it should now plan for a “soft exit” from curtailments that is fair to producers, Williams said on a quarterly conference call on Wednesday.

    Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe