Investors brace for more swings as U.S. inflation specter rises - Reuters

FEBRUARY 9, 2018 / 5:07 PM / UPDATED

Investors brace for more swings as U.S. inflation specter rises

Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The inflation bogeyman has reared its ugly head and sent U.S. stock investors racing for the hills in recent days.

Traders work near the end of the day on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, U.S., February 8, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid

Next week, coming off one of the most volatile stretches in years, two important readings on U.S. inflation could help determine whether the stock market begins to settle or if another bout of volatility is in store.

If the January’s U.S. consumer price index due next Wednesday from the U.S. Labor Department, and the producer price index the next day, come in higher than the market anticipates, brace for more selling and gyrations for stocks.

U.S. consumer prices rose 2.1 percent year-on-year in December and is forecast to stay around that pace this month.

“If we get a hot CPI print it will insert additional uncertainty, but if we get a quiet, below-consensus print, you may see yields down and equities rally,” said Jason Ware, Chief Investment Officer & Chief Economist at Albion Financial Group in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The equity market has become highly sensitive to inflation this month. A selloff in U.S. stocks earlier this week was in large part sparked by the Feb. 2 monthly U.S. employment report which showed the largest year-on-year increase in average hourly earnings since June 2009.

Recent U.S. tax cuts that may spur economic growth, the prospect of more government borrowing to fund a widening fiscal deficit, and rising wages, have all pushed up benchmark U.S. Treasury yields to near four year highs.

“This is how we started, go back to Friday and this is exactly where we were,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in New York.

“The conversation about equity risk premium, interest rates and inflation, we are coming full circle.”

The jump in wage inflation pushed yields on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note US10YT=RR closer to the 3.0 percent mark last seen four years ago, denting the attractiveness of equities, and unnerving investors fearful inflation will force the U.S. Federal Reserve to raises short term interest rates at a faster pace than is currently priced into the market.

The current earnings yield for the S&P 500 index companies stands at 5.4 percent, below the 6.4 percent average of the past 20 years. As bond yields rise the spread between the two narrows, prompting asset allocation changes between equities and fixed income.

Investor concerns over inflation was reflected in Lipper funds data on Thursday, which showed U.S.-based inflation-protected bond funds attracted $859 million over the weekly period, the largest inflows since November 2016.

On Thursday, New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley said the central bank’s forecast of three rate hikes still seemed a “very reasonable projection” but added there was a potential for more, should the economy look stronger.

Traders are currently putting the chances of a 25 basis point hike by the Fed at its March meeting at 84.5 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Benchmark 10-year note yields US10YT=RR rose as high as 2.884 percent on Thursday, just below Monday’s four-year high of 2.885 percent. The notes ended down 6/32 in price to yield 2.853 percent.

While many analysts were predicting bond yields to rise this year as global economies improve, the suddenness of the move was a large factor in the recent stock market selloff.

The 10-day correlation between the S&P 500 index and yields on the 10-year note stands at a negative 0.79.

Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 index were on track on Thursday for their biggest two-week percentage declines since August 2011.

“The pace really does matter,” said Ron Temple, Head of US Equities and Co-Head of Multi Asset Investing at Lazard Asset Management in New York.

“If we see 3.0 percent next week that is going to spook people more - the equity market psyche is fragile at this point.”

The fragile investor psyche is likely to lead to continued volatility coming off a week that saw the Dow suffer its largest intraday index point decline in history on Monday, nearly 1,600 points. The Dow currently has an average intraday swing over the past 50 days of 265.76 points, the highest since March 2016.

While volatility has subsided a little from the heights touched earlier this week, it is far from an all clear, Nigol Koulajian, chief executive of Quest Partners, a New York-based systematic commodity trading advisor with $1.4 billion in assets under management, said.

Koulajian pointed to the fixed income market as the main catalyst right now for near-term moves in the stock market.

“Investors need to keep a very, very close eye on fixed income,” he said. “The catalyst needn’t be big. When the market is this levered, even tiny events can trigger a big avalanche.”

But analysts also caution yields are not at levels that should be alarming to investors, and in fact are at levels that signal a healthier global economy, and the performance of some stocks this week points to a belief the consumer is also getting healthier.

The average yield on the 10-year Treasury note over the past 30 years is 4.834 percent, still well above current levels.

“Fundamentals are still positive, there is strong economic growth and strong earnings growth - those will help stocks move higher over time,” said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis.

“But it doesn’t do much for predicting short-term moves.”

(This version of the story corrects bond price code to text in paragraph 15.)

Additional reporting by Megan Davies, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and April Joyner; Editing by Alden Bentley and Clive McKeef

Kim Jong-un's Sister Is Making History at the Winter Olympics. Here’s What We Know About Her - TIME

Kim Jong-un's Sister Is Making History at the Winter Olympics. Here’s What We Know About Her

By MELISSA CHAN February 9, 2018

The younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made history Friday when she paid an unprecedented visit to South Korea during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Kim Yo Jong, who is believed to be one of her brother’s most trusted aides, smiled and looked on as she attended the widely watched opening ceremony in PyeongChang before meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

She is the first member of the Kim dynasty to visit South Korea since the Korean War, in a move many experts say may have lasting political implications.

“This is unprecedented in a lot of different ways,” said Clark Sorensen, a professor of international studies who heads the Korea Studies program at the University of Washington. “There’s a lot of speculation as to what the North Korean strategy is right now. The one thing you can say is communication has opened up to the highest levels between the South Korean and North Korean regimes.”

Here’s what we know about Kim Yo Jong.

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen watch on during the Opening Ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Behind pence sits Kim Yo-jong (back left), the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, at PyeongChang Olympic Stadium in South Korea on Feb. 9, 2018.

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen watch on during the Opening Ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Behind pence sits Kim Yo-jong (back left), the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, at PyeongChang Olympic Stadium in South Korea on Feb. 9, 2018. Matthias Hangst—Getty Images

Kim Yo Jong is a powerful figure in North Korea

Much about Kim Yo Jong is shrouded in mystery, as the Kim dynasty reveals very little publicly, experts say. The dignitary is the vice director of the Workers’ Party of Korea Propaganda and Agitation Department, according to the U.S. Department of Treasury, which added her name to the Specially Designated Nationals List in January 2017. The Treasury Department believes Kim Yo Jong is 28, although some news outlets, including the Associated Press, say she is 30.

Kim Yo Jong serves as a sort of “chief-of-staff figure” for Kim Jong-un and protects his image, according to experts. “She’s the one who watches Kim Jong-un’s back,” Sorensen told TIME.

In October 2017, Kim Yo Jong was named as a member to the Workers Party’s Politburo, the country’s highest political assembly. She is considered the gatekeeper of her brother’s appearances and security, according to Michael Madden, the founder and director of NK Leadership Watch, an analysis website focused on North Korea.

“She has access to anything that goes to Kim Jong-un’s desk. If you want to get a hold of Kim Jong-un and you’re a North Korean, maybe you should befriend Kim Yo Jong,” Madden said.

Kim Yo Jong is the only “full-blooded” sister of Kim Jong-un, who also has half-sisters, according to Sorensen and Madden.

Sung-Yoon Lee, a professor of Korean Studies at Tufts University, said Kim Yo Jong “clearly holds real power.”

“She is more powerful than all others besides her brother,” Lee said.

Kim Yo Jong made her political debut a few years ago

Kim Yo Jong had remained out of the public spotlight until about three years ago, when she began being photographed beside her brother at official ceremonies. “She made her sort of debut, seen in a political capacity by North Korea media, for the first time in 2014,” Lee said. The Guardian said she was keeping her brother company at the time during elections for North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly.

Kim Yo Jong went to school in Switzerland

Before she emerged as a powerful public figure, Kim Yo Jong was largely secluded from the rest of the population as a youngster, according to Lee. She had been sent to study abroad at a school in Switzerland when she was about eight or nine years old, the professor said, although few details are known about her time there.

Kim Yo Jong is reportedly married

Kim Yo Jong reportedly tied the knot in 2014 to Choe Song, whose father is apparently a close aide to Kim Jong-un, according to the Yonhap News Agency, which cited anonymous sources.

South Korean President Moon Jae-In Has Been Invited for a Meeting in North Korea - TIME ( source ; Associated Press )

South Korean President Moon Jae-In Has Been Invited for a Meeting in North Korea

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in stands at attention as the South Korean national anthem is played during the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 9, 2018.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS Updated: February 10, 2018 3:21 AM ET

(SEOUL, South Korea) — A rare invitation to Pyongyang for the South Korean president marked Day Two of the North Korean Kim dynasty’s southern road tour Saturday, part of an accelerated diplomatic warming that included more handshakes, some Korean liquor over lunch and the potential shared joy of watching a “unified” Korea team play hockey at the Olympics.

Nothing has been settled on any trip north by South Korean President Moon Jae-in. But the verbal message to come at a “convenient time” from dictator Kim Jong Un, delivered by his visiting little sister, Kim Yo Jong, is part of a sudden rush of improving feelings between the rivals during the Pyeongchang Olympics. The result: a heady, sometimes surreal, state of affairs in a South Korea that has seen far more threat than charm out of the North.

Still, it wouldn’t be South Korea if people weren’t asking the perennial question when it comes to North Korea changing gears and showering its rival with apparent affection: What’s in it for Pyongyang?

Past “charm offensives” have been interpreted as North Korea trying to recoup from crippling sanctions on their nuclear program, or trying to drive a wedge between Seoul and its U.S. ally.

A massive military parade in Pyongyang on the eve of the just-opened Pyeongchang Games has been used as Exhibit A by skeptics: In it, Kim Jong Un highlighted several huge intercontinental ballistic missiles, which were successfully flight tested three times last year and could reach deep into the U.S. mainland when perfected.

Even so, there’s also cautious optimism, or curiosity at least. If peace isn’t imminent, a summit in Pyongyang between Moon and Kim Jong Un seems better to most than the threats of recent months.

Moon spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said Saturday that Moon told Kim Yo Jong that the North and South should continue to build conditions for a summit. The U.S. and the North should quickly resume dialogue, he said.

The lunch Saturday at Seoul’s presidential mansion between Moon and Kim Yo Jong is the most significant diplomatic encounter between the rivals in years. The night before, Kim Yo Jong and other North Korean delegates attended the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, watching a “unified” Korean team march under a banner showing an undivided Korean Peninsula.

In a surreal mixture of dignitaries, the Olympic Stadium’s VIP box included Kim Yo Jong and North Korea’s nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam, sitting above and behind U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and fellow hardliner Shinzo Abe, the leader of Japan. Pence and the Kims seemed to go out of their way not to acknowledge each other.

That was not the case with Moon — either at the games, when he enthusiastically reached up to shake Kim Yo Jong’s hand, or at the lunch the next day.

South Korean television showed its smiling president entering a reception room Saturday and shaking hands with the North Koreans.

The public part of the talks was mostly about the weather: Pyeongchang was colder than Seoul, it was agreed.

“You went through a lot of trouble braving the cold until late” last night, Moon told the North Koreans, referring to their attendance at the frigid opening ceremonies.

After sitting at a table, Kim Yo Jong placed a blue document folder in front of her. She later gave that folder to Moon, and Moon’s office it was her brother’s personal letter to Moon; officials didn’t reveal what was written in it. Moon’s office said Kim Jong Un’s invitation to visit was delivered verbally by her sister.

The good times may continue later Saturday, when North Korean delegates could attend the debut of the first-ever inter-Korean Olympic team at the women’s ice hockey tournament. There’s a chance they’ll also watch a performance by a visiting North Korean art troupe in Seoul on Sunday before flying back to Pyongyang.

Moon is eager to use Kim’s presence at the games to restore regular communication with North Korea and eventually pull it into nuclear talks. Many in Seoul, however, while interested in the warming high-level contacts, are also tempering expectations for a real breakthrough.

There’s worry too that the proposed summit Pyongyang may come with preconditions — a North Korean specialty. A big one could be a demand to cease the U.S.-South Korean war games that North Korea claims are preparation for invasion. They start in March, and Washington has so far been adamant that they are crucial.

But Moon, a liberal who has always wanted to engage the North, will also have to convince a good portion of his own people who are deeply wary about North Korean intentions. Throw in there the accusations that South Korea has had to arrange huge payouts for past meetings, and that these earlier encounters, while certainly producing indelible images, have done little to slow North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

After the threats, missile launches and general nastiness from the North over the last year, there is still a lot of anger, fear and skepticism in the South. No amount of handshakes or smiles, or even Korean booze, can remove that.

Even if there are more meetings between the rivals after the games, to discuss the nuclear standoff, to discuss ways their militaries could ease friction, accomplishing something is another matter. South Korea wants a northern neighbor without nukes; North Korea vows to keep its weapons until the United States discards its “hostile” policies against the country.

Hours before Friday’s opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, Japan’s Abe warned Moon not to fall for North Korea’s “smile diplomacy” during the Olympics, according to Moon’s office. Pence carried a similar message.

“Kim Jong Un is clearly serious about reviving talks with the South to improve relations. He sent the country’s nominal head of state and also his sister Kim Yo Jong to Seoul and they would need to have something to show for it when they return home,” Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korean expert at Seoul’s Dongguk University and a security adviser to Moon, said.

“It seems clear,” he said, “that the countries have entered a phase of restoring a regular level of contact.”

Over 150 Toys ‘R’ Us Stores Are About to Have Huge Going-Out-of-Business Sales. Here’s the Full List - TIME Business

Over 150 Toys ‘R’ Us Stores Are About to Have Huge Going-Out-of-Business Sales. Here’s the Full List Posted: 07 Feb 2018 06:13 AM PST Toys “R” Us will soon be hosting going-out-of-business sales at over 150 of its stores across the country. The chain’s CEO David Brandon announced on Tuesday that the toy retailer would be closing a number of its stores after filing for bankruptcy, planning to close a total of some 180 stores across the Toys “R” Us and “Babies “R” Us brands. The closures are slated to start in early February and last through mid-April. As the retailer prepares to shut down about a third of its current portfolio, it will be hosting sales at some 170 stores (some were removed from the original list). Though Toys “R” Us has not yet confirmed when the official date of the sales will be, they could start as early as Wednesday, according to USA Today, and are set to wrap up by April 15. The retailer will be working with two different groups of liquidation specialists for the sale, USA Today reports — including Gordon Brothers Retail Partners and Hilco Merchant Resources on the East Coast, and the Tiger Capital Group and Great American Group on the West Coast. The retailer had requested permission from the federal bankruptcy court in Richmond, Va., to close its stores, citing consumer preferences for online shopping and a “challenging commercial environment” as factors leading to the decision. Brandon, who mentioned the out-of-business-sales when announcing stores closures on Tuesday, promised customers “deep discounts and deals” as the company attempts to reorganize its structure amidst bankruptcy. Here’s the full list of Toys “R” Us stores that were orignally set to close. Alabama 355 Summit Blvd., Birmingham 2600 Mcfarland Blvd., Tuscaloosa Arkansas 2616 S. Shackleford Road, Little Rock 5609 E. Rogers Ave., Fort Smith Arizona 1764 S. Signal Butte Road, Mesa 7000 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix 12801 North Tatum Blvd., Phoenix 9139 E. Talking Stick Way, Scottsdale 4619 N. Oracle Road, Tuscon 801 West 32nd St., Yuma California 2575 East Imperial High, Brea 5461 Lone Tree Way, Brentwood 3665 Grand Oaks, Corona 3939 Horton, Emeryville 1400 Gateway Blvd., Fairfield 2785 E. Bidwell St., Folsom 3520 West Shaw Ave., Fresno 42500 Jackson St., Indio 1600 S. Azusa Ave., City of Industry 1330 Fitzgerald Drive, Pinole 4505 Century Blvd., Pittsburg 2550 Canyon Springs Park, Riverside 8181 Mira Mesa Blvd., San Diego 1240 West Morena Blvd., San Diego 865 Blossom Hill Road, San Jose 2179 Monterey Highway, San Jose 600 Francisco Blvd., San Rafael 3900 Bristol St., Santa Ana 26573 Carl Boyer Drive, Santa Clarita 1189 Simi Town Center Way, Simi Valley 10640 Trinity Parkway, Stockton 20120 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance 31250 Court House Drive, Union City 1990 University Drive, Vista 960 Lakes Drive, West Covina 530 Westminster Mall, Westminster 700 A Onstott Road, Yuba City Colorado 1150 S. Ironton, Aurora Connecticut 169 Hale Road, Manchester 3491 Berlin Turnpike, Newington 376 Universal Drive North, North Haven 275 Union St., Waterbury Delaware 1061 N. Dupont Highway, Dover Florida 708 W. State Road 436, Altamonte Springs 21697 State Road 7, Boca Raton 6001 West Sample Road, Coral Springs 6001 Argyle Forest Blvd., Jacksonville 2601 W. Osceola Parkway, Kissimmee 3214 N John Young Parkway, Kissimmee 3401 N. Miami Ave., Miami 10732 Villiage Parkway Drive, Port Saint Lucie 450 Fl-7, West Palm Beach 1900 Tyrone Blvd., Saint Petersburg 1625 Apalachee Parkway, Tallahassee 3908 W. Hillsborough Ave., Tampa Georgia 2601 H-1 Dawson Road, Albany 6380 North Point Parkway, Alpharetta 2955 Cobb Parkway, Atlanta 6875 Douglas Blvd., Douglasville 1155 Mount Vernon Highway Suite 300, Dunwoody 132 Pavilion Parkway, Fayetteville 8160 Mall Parkway, Lithonia 221 Newnan Xing Byp, East Newnan Hawaii 275 W Ka’ahumanu Ave., Kahului Iowa 8801 University Ave., Clive 1211 East Army Post Road, Des Moines Illinois 7750 South Cicero Ave., Burbank 6420 W. Fullerton Suite A, Chicago 1610 Deerfield Road, Highland Park 5001 Lincoln Highway, Matteson 5660 Touhy Ave., Niles 16 East Golf Road, Schaumburg 295 Center Drive, Vernon Hills Indiana 3928 East 82nd St., Indianapolis 8800 U.S. Route 31 South, Indianapolis 601 Wabash St., Michigan City Kansas 8500 West 135th St., Overland Park 4646 W. Kellogg, Wichita Kentucky 1965 Star Shoot Parkway, Lexington 1155 Buck Creek Road, Simpsonville 4900 Shelbyville Road, Saint Matthews Louisiana 137 Northshore Blvd., Slidell Massachusetts 217 Hartford Ave., Bellingham 302 Providence Highway Route 1, Dedham 1 Worcester Road, Framingham 50 Holyoke St., Holyoke 70 Worcester Providence, Millbury 6110 Shops Way, Northborough Maryland 8401 Mike Shapiro Drive, Clinton Maine 6 Bangor Mall Blvd., Bangor 200 Running Hill Road Suite 6, South Portland Michigan 3725 Washtenaw, Ann Arbor 4923 28th Street Southeast, Grand Rapids 5900 W. Saginaw Highway, Lansing 5363 Harvey St., Muskegon 2620 Crossing Circle, Traverse City 3725 Carpenter Road, Ypsilanti Minnesota 170 89th Ave Northeast, Blaine 14100 Wayzata Blvd., Minnetonka 900 West 78th St. South, Richfield 8236 Tamarack Village, Woodbury Missouri 201 Silver Spgs. Road, Cape Girardeau 220 Thf Blvd., Chesterfield 1901 Bernadette Suite 101, Columbia 5590 Saint Louis Mills Blvd., Hazelwood Mississippi 1003 Bonita Lakes Circle, Meridian 200 Bass Pro Drive, Pearl Nebraska 3505 South 140th Plaza, Omaha New Hampshire 10 Coliseum Ave., Nashua North Carolina 801 Fairview Road, Asheville 7001 Fayettville Road, Durham 3330 Westgate Drive, Durham New Jersey 100 Promenade Blvd., Bridgewater Route 541 & Cadillac Road, Burlington 2137 NJ-38, Cherry Hill 98 NJ-10, East Hanover 137 Route 35 North, Eatontown 900 Ikea Drive, Elizabeth 50 International Drive South, Flanders 909 U.S. Highway 1 South, North Brunswick 545 Highway 17 South, Paramus 1280 U.S. Highway 22, Phillipsburg 2700 Route 22 East, Union 7 Wayne Hills Mall, Wayne New Mexico 45 Hotel Circle, Albuquerque Nevada 2150 N Rainbow Blvd., Las Vegas 7020 Arroyo Crossing, Las Vegas New York 1569 Niagara Falls Blvd., Buffalo 5181 Sunrise Highway, Bohemia 139-19 20th Avenue, College Point 108 Veterans Memorial, King Kullen Plaza, Commack 1530 Ridge Road West, Rochester 100 Value Drive, Kingston 221 Wade Road Extension, Latham 5214 Sunrise Highway, Massapequa 24-30 Union Square East, Manhattan 66-26 Metropolitan Ave., Flushing 708 Upper Glen St., Queensbury 2335 Market Place Drive, Rochester 1350 Corporate Drive, Westbury 2700 Central Park Ave., Yonkers Ohio 6251 Glenway Ave., Cincinnati 3610 W Dublin-Granville Road, Columbus 2661 Miamisburg-Center, Dayton 7841 Mentor Ave., Mentor Oklahoma 560 Ed Noble Parkway, Norman 1119 S. E. 66th St., Oklahoma City Pennsylvania 100 Welsh Road, Horsham 6680 Peach St., Erie 3700 William Penn Highway, Monroeville 104 Bartlett Ave., Exton 2003 Cheryl Drive, Ross Park Mall 301 Oakspring Road, Washington 18/Valley View Drive, Beaver Valley Route Rhode Island 300 Quaker Lane, Warwick South Carolina 254 Harbison Blvd., Columbia South Dakota 450 E. Disk Drive, Rapid City Tennessee 7676 Polo Ground Blvd., Memphis 5731 Nolensville Road, Nashville Texas 801 Mesa Hills Drive, West El Paso 9730 Katy Freeway, Houston 170 E. Stacy Road, Allen 7730 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving 420 E. Round Grove Road, Lewisville 13710 Dallas Parkway, Dallas Galleria 1309 W. Pipeline Road, Hurst 5800 Overton Ridge Blvd., Hulen Utah 4042 Riverdale Road, Ogden 1122 Fort Union Boulevard, Midvale Virginia 14173 Crossing Place, Potomac Mills 12153 Jefferson Ave., Newport News Washington 3567 N.W. Randall Way, Silverdale 1325A S.E. Everett Mall Parkway, Everett 6104 N. Division St., Spokane Wisconsin 18550 W. Bluemound Road, Brookfield 2161 Zeier Road, Madison

Ben & Jerry’s Just Dropped Its Own Version of Halo Top Posted: 07 Feb 2018 04:05 AM PST Last year, the diet-friendly ice cream Halo Top made headlines for surpassing freezer aisle classics to become the top-selling pint of ice cream in the country. Now, Ben & Jerry’s — known for its indulgent, chunk-filled creations — is firing back with a light ice cream of its own. The new line, called Moo-Phoria, is significantly lower in calories, fat and sugar than typical Ben & Jerry’s flavors; is made with organic milk and cream; and is free of sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners. The inaugural flavors include chocolate milk and cookies, peanut butter cookie dough and caramel cookie. True to Ben & Jerry’s form, the flavors are still packed with swirls and add-ins, so the calorie counts aren’t as crazy-low as some other light products on the market. The pints range from 560 to 640 calories in total, or 140 to 160 calories per half-cup serving. For context, a pint of the brand’s top-selling flavor, Half Baked, rings in at 1,080 calories, while Halo Top pints are between 240 and 360 calories in all. Moo-Phoria flavors also contain about a quarter of the fat found in traditional Ben & Jerry’s treats, and about half as much sugar. “Ben & Jerry’s tries to offer a little bit of something for everyone,” Dena Wimette, the company’s senior innovation manager, said in a statement. “We’re excited to have an incredible new option for our fans who say they can’t be trusted with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s in their freezers.” Despite their growing popularity, many nutrition experts have pushed back light ice creams, arguing that they send an unhealthy message that it’s harmless to eat an entire pint of dessert in one sitting. “No one should eat a whole point of ice cream,” New York City registered dietitian Keri Gans told TIME last summer. “We should be sitting down to the recommended serving, which is half a cup. If you want to double it, fine, but you shouldn’t sit down to a pint.” Moo-Phoria will be available in grocery stores across the country starting this week.

The Stock Market Plunged Again Just Days After a Massive Drop - TIME Business

The Stock Market Plunged Again Just Days After a Massive Drop

Posted: 08 Feb 2018 09:46 AM PST

(NEW YORK) — Stocks plunged again Thursday, and for the second time in four days the Dow Jones industrial average sank more than 1,000 points.
The two best-known stock market indexes, the Dow and the Standard & Poor’s 500, have dropped 10 percent from their all-time highs, set Jan. 26. That means they are in what is known on Wall Street as a “correction,” their first in almost two years.
Stocks fell further and further as the day wore on and suffered their fifth loss in the last six days. Many of the companies that led the market’s gains over the last year have struggled badly in the last week. Those included technology companies, banks, and retailers and travel companies and homebuilders.

After huge gains in the first weeks of this year, stocks started to tumble last Friday after the Labor Department said workers’ wages grew at a fast rate in January. That’s good for the economy, but investors worried it will hurt corporate profits and that rising wages are a sign of faster inflation. It could prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at a faster pace, which would act as a brake on the economy.
“Far and away the most important things are the fear that the Fed is going to make a mistake, and higher wages are going to cut into margins,” said Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist for Wells Fargo Investment Institute. The worry, he said, is that the Fed will raise interest rates too quickly.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 1,032.89 points, or 4.1 percent, to 23,860.46. Boeing, Goldman Sachs and Home Depot took some of the worst losses.
The S&P 500, the benchmark for many index funds, shed 100.66 points, or 3.8 percent, to 2,581. It hasn’t been that low since mid-November. The Nasdaq composite fell 274.82 points, or 3.9 percent, to 6,777.16.
Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments, said he didn’t see anything specific moving the market lower today, just a continuation of a shift in investor mindset from fear of missing out in a rising market to worry of clocking big losses in a market that’s turned.
“This is going to take longer to work out than people expect,” he said. “In January we talked about fear of missing out. What we have now is what I call fear of getting caught.”
The losses were broad. Eight stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange and 490 of the companies in the S&P 500 took a loss.
The market didn’t get much help Thursday from company earnings reports, several of which disappointed investors. While U.S. companies mostly did well at the end of 2017, a number of them had a weak finish to the year.
Hanesbrands, which makes underwear, T-shirts and socks, reported a smaller profit than investors expected, and its forecast for the current year didn’t live up to analysts’ estimates either. The company also said it will pay $400 million to buy Australian retailer Bras N Things. The stock dropped $2.39, or 10.9 percent, to $19.57.
IRobot, which makes Roomba vacuums, plummeted 32 percent after projected a smaller annual profit than Wall Street was expecting. The stock dropped $28.24 to $59.80.
Twitter had a banner day, soaring 12 percent after turning in a profit for the first time. Its fourth-quarter revenue was also better than expected. The stock rose $3.27 to $30.18.
Online delivery company GrubHub soared after it announced a partnership with Yum Brands, the parent of Taco Bell and KFC. GrubHub will provide the delivery people and technology to let people order food from those restaurants. GrubHub jumped $19.13, or 27.4 percent, to $89.04.
After a sharp loss Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude lost 64 cents, or 1 percent, to $61.15 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard for oil prices, gave up 70 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $64.81 per barrel in London.
Stocks in Europe declined and bond yields increased after the Bank of England said could raise interest rates in coming months because of the strong global economy. That also sent the pound higher. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 1.5 percent and the French CAC 40 lost 2 percent. Germany’s DAX declined 2.6 percent.
Bond prices wobbled and turned higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.83 percent from 2.84 percent. Rising yields have made bonds more appealing to some investors compared to stocks. The yield on the 10-year note was as low as 2.04 percent as recently as September.
In other commodities trading, wholesale gasoline remained at $1.77 a gallon. Heating oil lost 1 cent to $1.92 a gallon. Natural gas gave up 1 cent to $2.70 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 index rose 1.1 percent. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.5 percent and the Hang Seng of Hong Kong rose 0.4 percent.

David Sorensen becomes second Trump aide to quit over abuse claims - BBC News

10/2/2018

David Sorensen becomes second Trump aide to quit over abuse claims

David Sorensen was a speechwriter who worked at the Council on Environmental Quality

A speechwriter has become the second White House aide this week to resign amid allegations of domestic abuse.

David Sorensen denies his former wife's allegations he was violent and emotionally abusive.

His departure comes just days after another Trump official, Rob Porter, quit over allegations of abuse from two ex-wives, something he denies.

Questions have been raised over how long it took the White House to act on the accusations facing Mr Porter.

White House regret over abuse claims

What are the latest allegations?

Mr Sorensen's ex-wife Jessica Corbett told the Washington Post that he was physically abusive to her while they were married.

She said that on separate occasions her former husband ran a car over her foot, threw her against a wall and extinguished a cigarette on her hand.

In response, Mr Sorensen released a statement in which he said he had "never committed violence of any kind against any woman in my entire life" and that instead it was he who had been physically abused.

He said he was considering legal action, but said he quit because he "didn't want the White House to have to deal with this distraction".

No longer all the president's men

White House officials said they learned of the accusations by Mr Sorensen's wife late on Thursday.

"We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations and he resigned today," deputy press secretary Raj Shah said.

What happened with Mr Porter?

Allegations of domestic abuse against Mr Porter involving two ex-wives surfaced on Tuesday.

It is alleged that the former White House staff secretary gave one ex-wife a black eye while another filed a restraining order. He denies both.

On Friday, Mr Trump paid tribute to Mr Porter, who quit his White House position on Wednesday.

Trump on Porter: 'We absolutely wish him well'

Speaking in the Oval Office Mr Trump said: "We found out about it recently and I was surprised by it, but we certainly wish him well and it's a tough time for him."

But Mr Trump did not refer to Mr Porter's accusers.

His comments sparked criticism from Democrats, with former Vice-President Joe Biden saying Mr Trump had downplayed the allegations against Mr Porter.

"That's like saying: 'That axe murderer out there, he's a great painter'", Mr Biden said.

What's the fallout been?

The case has put pressure on Mr Trump's Chief-of-Staff John Kelly, who has denied reports he offered to resign over his handling of the accusations.

After initially praising Mr Porter as a man of "integrity", Mr Kelly later released a statement saying he was shocked by the claims and stressed domestic violence was unacceptable.

US media report that Mr Kelly and other White House officials were aware for several months of the domestic abuse accusations because they were holding up Mr Porter's security clearance application.

Mr Shah said that Mr Trump was not aware of any security issues before Tuesday and was "disheartened" and "saddened" by the accusations.

White House communications director Hope Hicks' (C) handling of the controversy has reportedly displeased Mr Trump

White House communications director Hope Hicks' handling of the controversy has also reportedly displeased Mr Trump.

The 29-year-old aide has recently been in a relationship with Mr Porter, a Harvard graduate and former Oxford Rhodes Scholar.

Mr Trump was reportedly not consulted when Ms Hicks helped draft an initial statement defending Mr Porter.

Who knew what and when?

According to CBS News, Mr Porter approached White House Counsel Don McGahn in January 2017 to inform him his ex-wives might say unflattering things about him to background check investigators.

In June 2017, Mr Porter's preliminary file was sent from the FBI to the White House security office, containing the abuse allegations.

In November, Mr McGahn received a call from an ex-girlfriend of Mr Porter alleging physical violence by the aide.

Mr McGahn told the White House chief of staff there was an issue with Mr Porter's security clearance, although he was vague, reports CBS.

Mr Porter told Mr Kelly his ex-wives were saying false things about him.

A White House spokesman said on Thursday that Mr Kelly did not realise the extent of the claims until a photo of one of Mr Porter's former wives, Colbie Holderness, suffering a black eye, emerged on Wednesday.

Donald Trump blocks release of Democratic Russia memo - BBC News

10/2/2018

Donald Trump blocks release of Democratic Russia memo

Mr Trump earlier overruled FBI objections to release a Republican document

Donald Trump has blocked the release of a Democratic rebuttal to a Republican memo alleging bias against the US president over the FBI's Russia probe.

The White House said on Friday Mr Trump could not declassify the memo because of "sensitive passages" that create "concerns for national security".

A congressional panel this week voted unanimously to release the document.

Democrats say their memo contains corrections to errors and omissions in the Republican document.

Key parts of Republican memo - and what it means

Last week, Mr Trump defied warnings from the FBI to release a Republican document that alleged the agency had abused its power by investigating a Trump adviser as part of its probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Democrats argued that the memo cherry-picked information and was misleading.

On Monday, the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee voted unanimously to declassify the 10-page Democratic memo, which aimed to counter the Republican document.

Adam Schiff, who wrote the second memo, said at the time that Republicans had "found themselves in an insupportable position when they released a misleading memo and refused to release the Democratic response".

All you need to know about the Trump-Russia investigation

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said it was a matter of "fundamental fairness" the memo be declassified, urging the president to demonstrate he was not trying to undermine the Russia investigation.

But in a letter to the committee's chairman, White House Counsel Don McGahn said Mr Trump had decided against approving public release of the Democratic memo "because the memorandum contains numerous properly classified passages".

A separate letter, from FBI chief Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, also said releasing the memo would create national security concerns.