2024-11-15 21:50

WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday that he was creating a National Energy Council to coordinate policies to boost U.S. energy production that will be led by his pick for interior secretary, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. The National Energy Council will represent federal departments and agencies involved in permitting and regulating all forms of energy, the statement said. "This Council will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation," Trump said in a statement. The news came a day after Trump said Burgum, a wealthy former software executive, would lead the Interior Department. A cabinet post, the interior secretary oversees policies guiding the use of 500 million acres (202 million hectares) of federal and tribal land -- including energy and mineral development. As chair of the National Energy Council, Burgum will also have a seat on the National Security Council. Burgum's state of North Dakota ranks third in the nation in crude oil production, behind Texas and New Mexico. It relies heavily on both coal and wind for electricity production. "Gov. Burgum implemented an energy dominance agenda in North Dakota and is the perfect choice to advance forward President-elect Trump’s agenda on public lands and the nation overall," Kathleen Sgamma, president of the oil industry trade group Western Energy Alliance, said in an email. "The simultaneous role as chairman of the National Energy Council is really encouraging, as it shows a focus on what’s the real obstacle—excessive red tape and overregulation." Trump said his government would seek to expand energy production, including baseload power to support power demand tied to the development of artificial intelligence, while reducing electricity bills for consumers. He also said his policies would reduce the national deficit and create jobs while preserving landscapes. "Doug Burgum will protect our Nation's Natural Resources, restore our fabulous Oil and Gas advantage, and Make America, and its Energy, Dominant and Great Again!" Trump said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-doug-burgum-will-chair-new-national-energy-council-2024-11-15/

2024-11-15 21:43

Nov 15 (Reuters) - North Dakota regulators on Friday approved Summit Carbon Solutions' application for a permit to run a section of its carbon dioxide pipeline through the state and store the captured greenhouse gas underground. The unanimous vote by the three-member Public Service Commission is a critical step for Summit's hopes to build the biggest carbon pipeline in the world and carry captured carbon dioxide from 57 Midwest ethanol plants to a North Dakota underground storage site. The progress of the $8 billion project is being closely watched by backers of carbon capture and storage, or CCS, who say it is an important way to curb climate change, though development of the technology has been rife with problems for decades. Ethanol producers hope to secure lower-emission fuel tax credits with carbon sequestration projects. Commissioner Sheri Haugen-Hoffart, ahead of the vote, noted the importance of carbon capture projects to national energy goals but also acknowledged landowner concerns. "Carbon capture technology, incentivized by federal programs, is part of a large national strategy to advance energy goals, manage carbon dioxide emissions, and it remains a tool for energy producers and users to develop and expand a marketable commodity," Haugen-Hoffart said. "To all the landowners, please know that state law provides protection and legal remedies regarding the use of unfair tactics in acquiring land. Your rights are safeguarded and resources are available, should you choose." The commission denied Summit's first application last year arguing the company failed to prove its project would not cause harm to people or the environment. The company modified its route and appealed the decision. "This decision is a testament to North Dakota's commitment to fostering innovation while working closely with communities and industries," Summit Carbon Solutions Executive Vice President Wade Boeshans said in a statement. Iowa regulators approved Summit's permit in June. In South Dakota, regulators denied Summit's first permit application last September. The company plans to apply again on Nov. 19, it told Reuters. Minnesota regulators are expected to vote on a small segment of the pipeline that runs through the state on Dec. 12. Nebraska, the fifth state on Summit's route, has no statewide permit process for carbon pipelines. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/north-dakota-approves-summit-carbon-pipeline-permit-2024-11-15/

2024-11-15 21:38

Nov 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday confirmed highly pathogenic form of bird flu in a person in Oregon. The infected person is linked to a previously reported outbreak tied to a commercial poultry operation in the state, where the virus has been confirmed in 150,000 birds, the state health authority said. A total of 52 people from eight states have tested positive in the U.S. this year as the virus has infected poultry flocks and spread to more than 500 dairy herds, the CDC said. All the cases were farm workers who had known contact with infected animals, except for one person in Missouri. Health officials did not provide more details about the individual infected in Oregon, but said there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission and the risk to the public is low. Last month, the H5N1 bird flu was confirmed in a pig on a backyard farm in Oregon, the first detection of the virus in swine in the country. The CDC has instructed that farm workers who have been exposed to animals with bird flu should be tested even if they do not have symptoms. Since 2022, the virus has wiped out more than 100 million poultry birds in the nation's worst-ever bird flu outbreak. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/oregon-confirms-first-human-case-bird-flu-2024-11-15/

2024-11-15 21:17

Strong data may slow policy path Investors trim odds for a December cut Fed's Goolsbee sees 125 bps of rate cuts through 2025 Several Fed policymakers lean into slower rate-cut pace WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Strong U.S. economic and inflation data continue to reshape the debate among Federal Reserve policymakers over the pace and extent of interest rate cuts as investors on Friday further downgraded their expectations for a rate reduction at the central bank's December meeting. In the latest round of comments on U.S. monetary policy, U.S. central bankers continued to express faith that inflation was coming under control and would allow the central bank to lower its benchmark rate over time from the current 4.5%-4.75% range, a level felt to discourage spending and investment, to a more neutral setting. But how fast they do that, and what level represents "neutral," remain under debate, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday saying the economy's continued strength meant the Fed could take its time with the discussion. The signs of increasing hesitancy over what a month ago had been baked-in expectations for a quick run of cuts into next year come as a major political shift is underway following Donald Trump's victory in last week's election, with Wall Street trying to reconcile what it sees as further inflationary pressures arising in the year ahead as the incoming Republican president pushes for tax cuts, higher tariffs and a crackdown on immigration. Fed officials have been reluctant to say they are taking that into account, but investors already are and market bets on how quickly and how much the Fed will cut rates have ratcheted down over the last week. Boston Fed President Susan Collins said she did not see a big urgency to lower rates but did not rule out another rate cut at the Fed's next meeting on Dec. 17-18. "I certainly wouldn’t take December off the table. But again, we're not on a preset path and so we'll have a look carefully at the data and see what makes sense when we get" to the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting, she told Bloomberg TV. And while several Fed policymakers appear to be on the fence over another rate cut in December, they have also signaled that skipping a meeting would mean they are going slower on rate cuts rather than stopping altogether. Thomas Barkin, president of the Richmond Fed, told Yahoo! Finance that he liked how Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan put it earlier this week: that a captain should be "slowing the boat down , opens new tab as you approach the dock." DATA SURPRISES TO UPSIDE, AGAIN Data that arrived Friday morning continued firmer than expected, with strong retail sales and rising prices for imported goods. After the data, traders reduced bets on a December rate cut to around a 60% chance from about 70% on Thursday. Citigroup's gauge of the degree to which incoming data exceeds consensus expectations among economists was at a seven-month high as of Thursday ahead of the stronger-than-expected retail sales figures. Speaking to CNBC, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee acknowledged that one important indicator of inflation, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index stripped of food and energy costs, remains "too high" at an estimated 2.8% for October. And, he said, if officials disagree on where they see the "neutral" stopping point, "it does make sense to start slowing at some point how rapidly you are getting there just to figure out ... are we at neutral, are we getting close?" But he also reiterated his broad expectation that inflation will continue to fall towards the Fed's 2% target, and in an interview with Bloomberg TV later Friday signaled he feels the Fed will end up cutting rates by a quarter of a percentage point next month and by another full percentage point over the course of next year, as Fed policymakers projected in September. Those projections also reflected an expectation that the policy rate would fall to 2.9% some time in 2026. Investors in contracts tied to that rate now see rates staying as much as a percentage point higher than that. The Fed will release fresh projections in December when it makes its next rate-setting decision. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/strong-us-data-continues-reshaping-fed-views-pace-extent-rate-cuts-2024-11-15/

2024-11-15 20:53

Manhattan federal prosecutors seen reducing crypto cases Trump to pivot Justice Department's priorities to immigration Crypto executives supported Trump, blasted regulators NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Less enforcement in the cryptocurrency sector is on the horizon, as Republican President-elect Donald Trump prepares to reset policy at the Justice Department and regulatory agencies, current and former senior government lawyers said on Friday. Speaking at a conference in New York, the lawyers said financial fraud cases would still be brought, but that the new administration's Justice Department would prioritize other areas such as enforcing immigration laws - a major focus of Trump's campaign. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan will devote fewer resources to policing cryptocurrency crimes after securing several major convictions, including that of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, said Scott Hartman, the co-chief of the office's securities and commodities task force. Hartman told the conference hosted by the Practising Law Institute that the office would not ignore crypto cases, but has fewer prosecutors working on them than when digital asset prices collapsed in 2022, a period known as "crypto winter." "We brought a lot of big cases in the wake of the crypto winter - there were a lot of important fraud cases to bring there," Hartman said. "But we know our regulatory partners are very active in this space, and we don't have a lot of people." Hartman gave his assessment one day after Trump said he would nominate former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair Jay Clayton to become the new U.S. attorney in Manhattan. Clayton led the SEC during Trump's first term as president from 2017 to 2021. He would replace Damian Williams, an appointee of President Joe Biden, as U.S. attorney. While at the SEC, Clayton pursued some crypto-related cases, but was less aggressive at policing the industry, which was smaller at the time, than current SEC chair Gary Gensler. Gensler has targeted large crypto firms for failing to register with the agency and is still embroiled in litigation with some of them, including Coinbase (COIN.O) , opens new tab and Binance. Trump has not yet proposed an SEC chair but has said he will fire Gensler. It is unclear whether those cases will continue in his administration. Many cryptocurrency executives supported Trump's campaign, believing Gensler's crackdown went too far. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a regulator with roots overseeing agricultural markets, brought its first crypto-related case in 2015. By last year, digital assets had grown to occupy nearly half its docket, CFTC enforcement director Ian McGinley told the PLI conference. "I don't know if that trend will necessarily continue," McGinley said. "To the extent there's fraud and manipulation in those markets, we'll continue to be active." PIVOT TO IMMIGRATION Beyond cryptocurrency cases, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan is known for bringing high-profile financial crime cases against traditional Wall Street firms and executives, as well as corruption cases against prominent politicians. Steve Peikin, who led SEC enforcement under Clayton, praised Clayton as a "great choice" to lead the office, but said the Justice Department's overall priorities may change. "There could be a reallocation of substantial resources to immigration enforcement," said Peikin, now a partner at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. "I would be surprised if that doesn't happen." Hartman acknowledged the president had the right to set priorities, but said his unit's work cracking down on financial fraud was nonpartisan. "I don't have a ton of people right now," Hartman said, noting there are 16 prosecutors in the securities and commodities unit. "I hope they don't trim it more." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/manhattan-us-attorney-scale-back-crypto-cases-prosecutor-says-2024-11-15/

2024-11-15 20:46

NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Hedge funds including Millennium Management, Capula Management and Tudor Investment increased their exposure to U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the third quarter, securities filings showed, as a popular election-driven arbitrage trade ramped up. President-elect Donald Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising friendly regulation and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin. The cryptocurrency surpassed the $90,000 level to reach an all-time high earlier this week, although it has pared gains. During the election price volatility, some hedge funds have been taking advantage of a price difference between spot bitcoin and its derivatives in the futures market in a leveraged trade, according to analysts. Spot ETFs were approved by the Securities and Exchanged Commission earlier this year. In the so-called bitcoin basis trade, investors buy spot bitcoin - or its ETFs - and short the cryptocurrency futures, which have been trading at substantially higher prices this year. This gap widened after the election result and on Nov. 11 reached 17% in an annual basis, CF Bitcoin data showed, but pared gains to 12% on Friday. "Hedge funds are harvesting that spread. It creates a very tactical, opportunistic trade," said Gabe Selby, head of research at Kraken's CF Benchmarks. "It has an uncorrelated return." Positions unveiled in 13-F filings this week only show long equity bets placed by hedge funds and not wagers on the fall of share prices or derivatives. Reuters could not determine whether specific hedge funds were putting on such an arbitrage bet, only if they have taken long positions. Among those that increased their exposure to the cryptocurrency was Israel Englander's Millennium, which more than doubled its number of shares in iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT.O) , opens new tab to 23.5 million shares, worth $849 million, from the previous quarter. It also increased its positions in ARK 21Shares Bitcoin and Bitwise Bitcoin funds. Overall, the New York-based hedge fund ended September with $1.7 billion in crypto ETFs, including spot bitcoin and ethereum funds. The ETFs account for a small portion of the firm's $70 billion in assets under management. Capula, a London-based macro hedge fund, also added more shares in iShares Bitcoin Trust and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, according to an SEC filing on Thursday. Those positions totaled roughly $600 million. Paul Tudor Jones' hedge fund Tudor turbocharged its exposure to iShares Bitcoin Trust fund, increasing its number of shares by five times, to 4.4 million. Schonfeld Strategic Partners is also a hedge fund that added more shares in bitcoin funds. Millennium and Tudor declined to comment on their positions. The other hedge funds did not immediately comment on the matter. If hedge funds kept their positions through the fourth quarter, they could be poised to post big gains. Since the end of September, spot bitcoin ETFs are up roughly 40%, mainly driven by the result of the U.S. presidential election. Given bitcoin's more volatile price, many hedge funds prefer more neutral trades that do not take a directional bet on its rise or fall. David Duong, Coinbase's institutional head of research, said the bitcoin basis trade has climbed for the last few weeks. "Leading into the election, we had multiple clients actually requesting increases in their credit lines (to trade)," he added. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/millennium-capula-tudor-pile-bitcoin-etfs-into-portfolios-2024-11-15/