2024-05-15 21:30
May 15 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City on Wednesday said its annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, will take place from Aug. 22-24. The event, one of the premier global central bank gatherings of the year, which typically features a keynote speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, will focus on the topic "Reassessing the Effectiveness and Transmission of Monetary Policy," the bank said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/kansas-city-fed-sets-jackson-hole-conference-dates-aug-22-24-2024-05-15/
2024-05-15 21:16
NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association said on Wednesday that bankrupt broadcaster Diamond Sports may not survive without a new deal with cable distributor Comcast (CMCSA.O) New Tab, opens new tab. The sports leagues told a bankruptcy judge at a court hearing in Houston that they need more information about a negotiating impasse that caused Diamond's Bally Sports-branded channels to be pulled from Comcast at the start of May, with baseball season underway and the NBA and NHL in the midst of postseason playoffs. Diamond, a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI.O) New Tab, opens new tab, had been pushing to finalize its bankruptcy restructuring by June 15, but the sports leagues said Diamond must first reach deals with the three major cable partners, including Comcast, that provide 80% of the company's revenue. Without those deals, Diamond's revenue might not be enough to sustain its business, and the leagues may have to seek alternative broadcast arrangements for the teams currently under contract with Diamond. Diamond currently broadcasts games for over one-third of NBA, NHL and MLB teams. "Sitting here today, we don't know what the go forward plan is, or even if there is a viable plan," the NHL's attorney Shana Elberg said. "We cannot head into another offseason in that position." U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez urged Diamond to keep working on its bankruptcy restructuring and to provide more information to the sports leagues at a status conference in two weeks. "There's been a lot of good work that's been done, and I don't want to lose sight of that," Lopez said. "But there are still serious questions that need to be answered." The NBA and NHL had, until now, been supportive of Diamond's restructuring efforts, staying largely on the sidelines in the company's bankruptcy while it worked out deals with other stakeholders. Diamond has said it intends to reach new long-term broadcast deals with NBA and NHL teams as part of its restructuring. MLB, which was already at odds with Diamond over the broadcaster's desire to stream more games to fans online, has seen two teams' broadcast contracts canceled during the bankruptcy, and suffered further disruption when Comcast removed Bally Sports channels in May. Diamond's inability to reach a deal with Comcast was a "potentially insurmountable obstacle" that had already proven "profoundly harmful to MLB" and its fans Major League Baseball wrote in a court filing ahead of the hearing. Diamond has said it is continuing to negotiate with Comcast, and it has reached long-term agreements with its other critical cable partners, DirecTV and Charter. Diamond filed for bankruptcy in March 2023, caught between expensive broadcast rights agreements and a drop in revenue due to cord-cutting by sports viewers. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/sports-leagues-question-whether-broadcaster-diamond-can-survive-without-comcast-2024-05-15/
2024-05-15 20:49
TORONTO, May 15 (Reuters) - A self-proclaimed Canadian "Crypto King" and an associate who received more than C$40 million ($29.4 million) from investors have been arrested and charged with fraud, police said on Wednesday. Aiden Pleterski, 25, was charged with fraud over C$5,000 and laundering the proceeds of crime on May 2, Durham Regional Police said in a statement. Pleterski's associate, Colin Murphy, 27, was also charged with fraud and released on an undertaking, the statement added. The two men were charged following a 16-month investigation after police began receiving numerous complaints starting July 2022 about an investment fraud. The investigation revealed that the two were "generating large weekly profits through savvy investments," the statement said, adding that the victims were ultimately "defrauded" and unable to recover their funds. In August 2022, an Ontario's Superior Court ordered Pleterski and his company, AP Private Equity Ltd, into bankruptcy and appointed Grant Thornton Ltd as trustee. Pleterski received C$41.5 million in investment funds but only 1.6% of that sum appears to have been invested, according to court records posted online by Grant Thornton. Pleterski, who was released on a C$100,000 bail with his parents signing as sureties, is required to hand in his passport to the Durham police. Michael Simaan, a lawyer who has represented Pleterski in the past, did not respond to calls for comment from Reuters. Pleterski, who has over 100,000 social media followers, would flaunt his travels and several luxury cars, including Lamborghinis and McLarens. "18-25 is a weird age. We have friends who don't drive, some have kids, some are getting married, some are dating, and some still have to ask their parents go out [sic] after 10 pm," wrote Pleterski in the text overlay of a video posted to TikTok late on Tuesday. ($1 = 1.3602 Canadian dollars) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadian-self-proclaimed-crypto-king-associate-charged-with-fraud-2024-05-15/
2024-05-15 20:44
BOGOTA May 15 (Reuters) - Colombia's Trasandino pipeline is forecast to remain offline until December, the chief executive of Colombia's majority state-owned energy company Ecopetrol (ECO.CN) New Tab, opens new tab said on Wednesday. Earlier this month, while reporting its first-quarter financial results, Ecopetrol said it had been transporting crude oil through Ecuador since November in order to combat oil theft. Thousands of barrels of oil are stolen daily in Colombia. The crude is taken to clandestine refineries where it is converted into a bootleg fuel known as pategrillo, or "cricket's foot," and then used in cocaine production or illegal mining. To combat theft on the Trasandino, which runs from Putumayo province to the Pacific coastal city of Tumaco, the pipeline is expected to remain shut this year while staying under evaluation, Ecopetrol CEO Ricardo Roa told Reuters. The decision to stop pumping through the pipeline followed an increase in theft, Roa said, explaining that up to 20% of oil pumped via the Trasandino, equivalent to some 3,000 barrels per day, was being stolen. Since Ecopetrol switched to pumping oil through Ecuador, losses have fallen to 0.3%, Roa said. Earlier this month, Ecopetrol signed a contract with its Ecuadorean counterpart, Petroecaudor, to transport up to 22,000 bpd through the neighboring country's pipelines. Reuters visited a destroyed clandestine refinery near Colombia's Pacific coast in November 2022, when oil theft from the Trasandino pipeline averaged just under 1,000 bpd. Roa on Wednesday spoke on the sidelines of the inauguration of a resin recycling plant in Tocancipa, near the capital Bogota. The $20 million plant is operated by Ecopetrol subsidiary Esenttia and is expected to recycle 12,000 metric tonnes of plastic resin per year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/colombia-trasandino-oil-pipeline-expected-stay-offline-through-2024-ecopetrol-2024-05-15/
2024-05-15 20:44
Consumer prices rise less than expected in April; core CPI slows Retail sales flat in April Meme stocks snap sharp rally Indexes up: Dow 0.88%, S&P 1.17%, Nasdaq 1.40% May 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street's three major indexes notched record closes on Wednesday with the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) New Tab, opens new tab and the Nasdaq (.IXIC) New Tab, opens new tab both advancing more than 1%, after a smaller-than-expected rise in consumer inflation bolstered investors' hopes for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. All three indexes hit intraday record highs with technology stocks leading the charge. The blue-chip Dow (.DJI) New Tab, opens new tab drew closer to the 40,000 milestone. Tepid U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for April fueled optimism that inflation was easing after three months of higher-than-expected numbers. This led traders to raise bets that the Fed will cut its policy rate in September and December. "It's a relief we didn't have a fourth hot CPI report," said Carol Schleif, chief investment officer at the BMO family office in Minneapolis. "Clearly markets liked that the inflation numbers looked softer. Retail sales came in softer. It's pretty clear evidence that the economy came off the boil and is operating at a more sustainable pace." Other data released on Wednesday showed U.S. retail sales were unexpectedly flat in April as higher gasoline prices pulled expenditure away from other goods, indicating that consumer spending was losing momentum. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) New Tab, opens new tab rose 349.89 points, or 0.88%, to 39,908.00 while the S&P 500 (.SPX) New Tab, opens new tab gained 61.47 points, or 1.17%, at 5,308.15. The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) New Tab, opens new tab advanced 231.21 points, or 1.40%, to 16,742.39, its second record close in as many days. The S&P 500 and the Dow last registered record closing prices on March 28. Among the S&P 500's 11 major industry sector indexes, most gained ground with rate-sensitive technology stocks (.SPLRCT) New Tab, opens new tab and real estate (.SPLRCR) New Tab, opens new tab outpaced the rest with respective gains of 2.3% and 1.7%. Consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) New Tab, opens new tab was the biggest laggard, ending the day virtually unchanged from Tuesday. Equities had built on Tuesday's gains, when Fed Chair Jerome Powell's assessment of U.S. growth, inflation and the interest rate outlook reassured investors after hotter-than-expected producer prices for April. Stocks have rallied so far this year on better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and expectations that the Fed will be able to cool inflation without damaging growth and eventually transition to cutting interest rates. Among megacap stocks, Nvidia (NVDA.O) New Tab, opens new tab was the S&P 500's biggest index point contributor, rising 3.6%. Microsoft (MSFT.O) New Tab, opens new tab, the benchmark's next biggest boost, added 1.7% and Apple (AAPL.O) New Tab, opens new tab advanced 1.2%. Leading S&P 500 percentage gains was a 15.8% advance in Super Micro Computer Inc (SMCI.O) New Tab, opens new tab, which like Nvidia is seen as a good way to bet on the take-off in demand for artificial intelligence technology. In earnings, investors waited for Walmart (WMT.N) New Tab, opens new tab to provide more color on consumer spending in its quarterly report due out early on Thursday. The retail giant's shares ended down 0.05%, marking its third straight day of declines. Retail investor darling GameStop (GME.N) New Tab, opens new tab ended down 18.9%, snapping this week's sharp rally driven by "Roaring Kitty" Keith Gill, a central figure behind the 2021 meme stock frenzy, who posted bullish comments on social media platform X. Other meme stocks followed suit with AMC Entertainment (AMC.N) New Tab, opens new tab dropping 20% and Koss Corp (KOSS.O) New Tab, opens new tab ending down 19.2%. Trading volume was brisk with 14.78 billion shares changing hands on U.S. exchanges, according to the latest tally, compared with the 11.11 billion average for the last 20 sessions. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.02-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, which had 645 new highs and 40 new lows. On the Nasdaq advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.69-to-1 ratio while it recorded 285 new highs and 76 new lows. The S&P 500 posted 71 new 52-week highs and no new lows. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-flat-before-key-inflation-test-2024-05-15/
2024-05-15 20:41
RIO DE JANEIRO, May 15 (Reuters) - Brazil's Petrobras (PETR4.SA) New Tab, opens new tab announced the exit of its CEO and chief financial officer on Wednesday, and shares tumbled on news that a former regulator with views closer to those of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will take the helm of the state-run oil firm. Along with the confirmation of CEO Jean Paul Prates' exit after months of intense speculation about his tenure, the firm said in a filing that CFO Sergio Caetano Leite was also out. Prates lasted less than a year and a half on the job – the fourth Petrobras CEO dismissed in about as many years for political reasons. His firing raises fresh fears that Petrobras will be used as a tool to fire up the Brazilian economy at the expense of minority shareholders. Shares of Petrobras dropped 6%, the biggest loser on Brazil's benchmark stock index (.BVSP) New Tab, opens new tab on Wednesday. Industry analysts expressed concern, as Prates was seen as balancing the market demands for disciplined capital spending and healthy dividends with political demands to stabilize fuel prices and invest in job-creating sectors. "It was unnecessary, because Jean Paul Prates was doing a very reasonable job," said Frederico Nobre, chief equities analyst at Warren Investimentos. Jefferies analysts said the CEO swap "appears to be an escalation of the push to intervene in the company," in a note to clients downgrading Petrobras from "buy" to "hold." The ouster of Prates represents a win for members of Lula's cabinet pushing for lower fuel prices, smaller dividends and more capital spending to create jobs and boost the economy. Despite all the management turnover, the company has profited from a series of reforms following a corruption scandal a decade ago. New legislation and corporate bylaws now restrict political appointments, unprofitable investments and selling fuel at a loss, which has helped to boost the company's earnings and lift its stock by about 138% in the past two years. "We see it as negative, as we believe it increases uncertainties in Petrobras' investment case amid a period of stability, particularly as it relates to capital allocation," Santander analysts said in a note to clients. Prates played down those concerns as he departed Petrobras headquarters in downtown Rio de Janeiro, telling journalists the firm is in good shape. He said Petrobras has a solid path ahead with reindustrialization, a good fuel pricing policy and planned investments in refining, fertilizers and shipbuilding. In Prates' place, the government appointed Magda Chambriard, a former head of Brazilian oil and gas regulator ANP under Lula's previous Workers Party administration. Petrobras' workers union FUP, linked to Lula's party, praised Chambriard's nomination, saying the future CEO shares the group's views on the need to strengthen Brazil's shipbuilding industry and expand local refining capacity. After Lula was elected in 2022, Chambriard was considered for the role of Petrobras CEO, and in an interview echoed many of Lula's views on how the firm should be run - arguing for lower dividends to investors to free up cash for investments. Until Chambriard takes over, the company's board of directors appointed Clarice Coppetti, executive officer for corporate matters, as interim CEO. Carlos Alberto Rechelo, executive manager of finances will act as interim CFO, Petrobras said in its securities filing. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/shares-brazils-petrobras-plunge-8-ouster-ceo-2024-05-15/
