Bernie Sanders Led Senate Committee To Vote On Most Historic Pro-Union And Worker Reforms In Modern US History

The Bernie Sanders (I-VT) chaired Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee is set to mark up a significant set of labor law reforms that are aimed at addressing the needs of the working class in America. The committee, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, will vote on three bills that are aimed at closing the gender pay gap, providing paid sick days to workers, and making it easier for workers to join unions.

The Paycheck Fairness Act is a significant step towards ending the gender pay gap in America. This legislation will make it easier for women to come together and file lawsuits against employers who commit wage discrimination. This is a crucial step towards ensuring equal pay for equal work.

The Healthy Families Act is another important piece of legislation that will ensure that every worker in America receives up to seven paid sick days from their employers. This is a significant step towards ending the international embarrassment of the United States being the only major country on earth not to guarantee paid sick days to workers.

Finally, the PRO Act is aimed at making it easier for workers to join unions and secure their first union contract. This is a crucial step towards ensuring that large corporate interests do not continue to break the law and deny their employees the constitutional right to organize.

The bills won’t get out of the full Senate and would not pass the Republican-controlled House, but they represent a significant stake in the political ground for what Democratic priorities are likely to be if they win back full control of the federal government.

If these bills are ever sent to the Oval Office, President Biden would sign them before they could hit his desk.

Sen. Sanders has led the charge for decades on the issues of labor organization and income inequality.

Sanders has a like-minded partner in the White House on these issues. All that is preventing real change is four Republican seats in the House.

 

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How is the U.S. managing its relationship with China? Ask Secretary Blinken : NPR

A China Central Television news broadcast shows footage of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday.

Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

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A China Central Television news broadcast shows footage of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday.

Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

The secretary of state has just wrapped his visit to China, having put time and effort into a country of enormous importance to the U.S. Towards the end of his trip, Antony Blinken met with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, with whom he spoke for more than half an hour.

Shortly afterwards, Blinken spoke to NPR. He called the Beijing talks “candid, substantive, and constructive.”

Who is he? Blinken has been by Joe Biden’s side since the president was in the Senate.

• He has a long history in foreign affairs and has spent much of his time as secretary of state meeting with partners and allies, telling them that the U.S. is back after the Donald Trump era. 
• He once joked that he might have to find an apartment near NATO headquarters, because he’s spending so much time there.

Blinken joins Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday.

Leah Millis/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

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What’s the big deal about this trip to China? This is America’s most consequential relationship, both when it comes to trade and geopolitics.

• Blinken was scheduled to go earlier this year, but the trip in February was scuttled as a Chinese spy balloon slowly made its way across the United States. The U.S. ended up shooting it down and it has taken months to get this trip back on track.
• Much of the Biden administration’s approach to the world focuses on the U.S. competition with China. Blinken has just become the highest level administration official to travel to Beijing.
• He’s also been a key figure as the U.S. rebuilds alliances across the globe to counter China and uphold international norms.
• Blinken called the Beijing talks constructive, but he also said China has not agreed to resume military-to-military cooperation with the United States, though he raised that issue repeatedly during meetings with Chinese officials.
• On Taiwan, the thorniest issue between the U.S. and China, Blinken stressed the importance of cooperatively managing the “challenge” of Taiwan, as the two have done “for nearly five decades,” especially given Taiwan’s important role in global trade. 

Want to know more? Listen to NPR’s interview with Blinken by tapping the play button at the top of this article.

What are people saying?

• This trip was closely watched not just by Chinese and American commentators, but also by those from Asian countries such as Singapore. Here’s what Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Friday when meeting with Blinken:

“There are many global, planetary issues – climate, pandemics, even cyber security – which require the United States and China to work off the same page and be key pillars for a global system which will help increase resilience to threats to welfare, health and prosperity for people all over the world.”

• In China, anti-American sentiment is riding high. Beijing blames Washington for causing problems in the bilateral relations. Professor Zhu Feng, a prominent international relations scholar at Nanjing University in China, told NPR he’s “pessimistic” about the trajectory of the relations. He says because the U.S. is “determined to treat China as its biggest competitor,” it’s unlikely to see any fundamental change following such a visit.

• China’s state-backed newspaper, The Global Times, had this to say about the meeting between Xi and Blinken:

“[It] signaled that the talks between Chinese and U.S. senior diplomats from Sunday to Monday reached some consensus, showing that the Chinese government highly values the stable development of China-U.S. relations, underscoring its sincerity and goodwill and paving the way for the next phase of China-U.S. high-level interactions in coming months.”

The meeting between Xi and #Blinken itself signaled that the talks between Chinese and US senior diplomats from Sunday to Monday reached some consensus, showing that the Chinese government highly values the stable development of China-US relations, underscoring its sincerity and… pic.twitter.com/IduLpI7LLs

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) June 19, 2023

So, what now?

• Talks between the world’s two largest economies are set to continue. Over the weekend, Blinken invited China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, to visit Washington to continue the conversation. 
• Whether the two countries will resume their military-military cooperation remains to be seen — and remains to be the area of concern to many China watchers.
• Leaders from the U.S. and China are likely to meet in person in the coming months: G20 this fall in India, and APEC in November in San Francisco. 
• But domestic politics in the U.S. still matter, especially as the 2024 U.S. presidential election approaches. On the Hill, the head of the high-profile House China committee, Mike Gallagher, for example, called the administration’s interaction with Beijing “zombie engagement” (although not everyone on this committee agrees with Gallagher. For example, Rep. Andy Kim.)

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Advice For Navigating The Challenges Of The Business World

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This year was supposed to have been more difficult. Inflation was expected to tank customer spending. A recession was imminent. You wouldn’t have been crazy to think supply chain issues might get between you and your toilet paper again.

With the job market and economy looking a bit better than predicted, some economic observers are beginning to embrace a “soft landing” narrative. The prospect that inflation might slowly be brought under control without sending the economy into recession means that business leaders don’t need to operate in total crisis mode.

But that doesn’t mean everything is smooth sailing, either. Here are some of the major challenges business leaders face today and how to begin tackling them.

1. Coexisting With Economic Uncertainty

While the economy isn’t as bad off as many had forecast, unpredictability has brought unexpected challenges. Consumer behavior isn’t consistent with economists’ projections. People just keep spending, even when the best forecasting tools say they shouldn’t be. When they do spend, they choose low prices over brand loyalty, making demand forecasting even more problematic.

Accordingly, leaders don’t know when to slash prices or raise them. Meanwhile, layoffs are rampant at companies like Spotify and Amazon, even as the healthcare, hospitality and retail sectors continue to suffer a labor shortage. In short, no one really knows what’s going on, and consumers may be losing trust in their favorite companies.

Businesses that thrive in the latter half of 2023 will be the ones that act cautiously yet flexibly. They’ll take cost-cutting seriously and adjust prices accordingly but not drastically. They’ll streamline their organizational structure, ideally while avoiding massive layoffs.

Perhaps most importantly, successful leadership teams will communicate clearly and transparently to employees and customers. The uphill battle for consumer trust will continue in the years to come. Justifying decision-making that may seem erratic will form a big part of every company’s survival strategy.

2. Managing Remote Work and Retaining Top Talent

Working from home is no longer the mess it was in 2020. But WFH and hybrid office arrangements continue to pose workplace challenges.

According to Forrester, 40% of companies will try to put an end to work-from-anywhere policies in 2023. The consulting giant believes the push toward AI surveillance of remote worker productivity will push over half of WFH employees to seek new employment this year.

These new company policies regarding remote and hybrid work will erode workers’ trust in their employers over time. And with ongoing turnover and issues with morale, employees’ perception of their companies’ matters more than ever.

Business leaders will need to find ways to keep employees happy or risk them leaving, as voluntary turnover continues unabated. Talent retention starts with, where possible, better pay and benefits. Improved company culture can also make a difference.

Leadership teams should survey employees to gauge employee engagement—or better yet, schedule one-on-one interviews to gather intel. They should look for more ways to keep employees motivated, particularly in the form of growth and learning opportunities.

3. Warding Off Security Threats

In 2022, the U.S. saw 1,802 data breaches, affecting 422 million individuals. Data breaches will continue to be a significant business concern, especially as remote work is likely to further complicate cybersecurity. Employees will work over less-secure connections or take equipment out of the office, exposing it to outside threats. Many will access sensitive work data from their phones, which are more vulnerable to hacking attempts.

AI will also pose increasing threats to cybersecurity, as hackers use generative AI to create sophisticated scams. But the disease could also be the medicine: AI and machine learning can alert businesses to irregularities like breach attempts.

Companies will need to upgrade their security protocols to avert cyberattacks. This includes everything from installing robust cybersecurity software to training employees on how to avoid phishing scams. They’ll need to invest in the right tools for the job and in educating workers with access to personally identifiable information.

Smart leaders will take cybersecurity extremely seriously and implement response plans before a crisis happens. They’ll observe stringent authentication protocols and carefully restrict employee access to sensitive data. They’ll know what steps to follow in the event of a breach and how to communicate about it to the public.

Reestablishing Reliability

The unpredictability of the last three years has changed the behavior of employers, employees and customers alike. That’s why providing a greater sense of dependability and transparency is imperative for modern businesses.

Customers need to know that companies will provide consistent quality and value. Workers need to believe that their employers will nurture their growth. And everyone—customers, employees and employers—needs to trust that their data is safe from attack.

Businesses that flourish in the months and years to come will be those that offer a feeling of safety and stability. They’ll act in ways that let their employees and customers know they can be counted on, no matter what. And they’ll make a name for themselves by giving people in this uncertain time something to hold onto.

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Twitter to focus on video commerce in business revamp: report

Twitter plans to focus on video, creator and commerce partnerships to revitalize the social media company’s business beyond digital advertising, according to an investor presentation by owner Elon Musk and new Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino that was reviewed by Reuters.

Yaccarino, who started as CEO on June 5, told Twitter investors on Thursday that the company is in early conversations with political and entertainment figures, payments services and news and media publishers, said a source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private investor call.

The presentation was Yaccarino’s first time addressing the company’s investors, the source said.

After Musk acquired Twitter in October, the social media firm faced months of chaos, including layoffs of thousands of employees, criticism over lax content moderation, and an exodus of many advertisers who did not want their ads appearing next to inappropriate content.

Musk’s hiring of Yaccarino, a longtime advertising executive who modernized ad sales at Comcast-owned entertainment and news conglomerate NBCUniversal, was a signal that digital ads remained a priority for Twitter.

Yaccarino reportedly told Twitter investors that the company is in early conversations with political and entertainment figures, payments services and news and media publishers.

Getty Images for The Female Quotient

Some ad-buying firms had recommended their clients pause ad spending on Twitter after Musk’s takeover. Those recommendations have been reversed and none of the major advertising holding companies are currently recommending a pause, according to a slide shown during the presentation.

Well-known brands including Warner Bros, Mondelez, McDonald’s and Walmart have resumed advertising on Twitter after initial pauses, the slide said.

Yaccarino told investors that ad spending in several advertiser categories is now up at least 40% year-over-year, including health, consumer packaged goods and financial services, the source said.

A Twitter executive declined to comment.

After Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October, many advertisers fled the platform.

REUTERS

Video and commerce

Under Musk, Twitter changed its business name to X Corp., reflecting the billionaire’s vision to create a “super app,” like China’s WeChat, that he has said would include digital payments and other services.

Twitter is applying for “money transmitter licenses” in all 50 states, according to a slide from the presentation.

The company has also focused on growing video content on the platform. Vertical video now accounts for more than 10% of time spent on Twitter, another slide said.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson launched a new show earlier this month on the platform called “Tucker on Twitter.”

Twitter envisions that it could sell ads and sponsorships alongside videos from Carlson and other content creators, the source said.

Yaccarino has also told colleagues in recent days that Musk has expressed strong support for her ideas and the working relationship was off to a positive start, the source added.

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Nevada home infested with thousands of Mormon crickets

Colette and Mike Reynolds awoke Sunday morning to find a nightmare scene of thousands of creepy crickets infesting their home in Elko, Nevada — and the city itself.

Known as Mormon crickets, Colette has lived in the city her whole life, and told The Post they’re used to a few of them migrating into their house each year, but never have they seen it this bad before.

“They are foul, vile, stinky, disgusting carnivorous, cannibalistic crickets — huge ones,” she said.

Colette revealed that she first noticed just two crickets on her porch the day prior, on Saturday, thinking they must be coming soon, but not expecting anything of magnitude.

“The next morning is when we woke up to our entire wall covered with crickets,” she said.

The Reynolds purchased their dream family home in 2015.

Made up of four bedrooms and three baths, the home is situated on nearly 3 acres and spans over 2,600 square feet.

“It’s been bad and they devour everything. We have 3 acres. We have 200 trees, we have bushes and rose bushes and they love that stuff. They’ve got an acre of lawn that they can devour.”

Colette, who is one of the top realtors in town, says she has no plans of moving, but adds these bugs have definitely taken a toll on her and her husband’s mental wellbeing.

The Reynolds called an exterminator, but upon their arrival they said there was nothing much they could do except “wait it out.” If one dies, these crickets have no problem eating it.

Their home sits on about 3 acres of land.

MLS

The Mormon crickets landed on their home last Sunday.

Colette Reynolds

“I’m like, wait, no, this is apocalyptic. There isn’t just a stream of them going through my yard. This is taking over my entire home,” Colette said.

So despite their advice, her husband began hosing them down, killing them — that is until they witnessed the crickets who were alive eating the ones that were dead.

“It’s disgusting. We’d killed maybe like 5,000 of them. And the next day it was 10 times worse.”

“This has hit me on another level,” Colette said. “I never expected what this would do to me emotionally or mentally. And my husband, who is the most cool, calm collected guy in the world, even he’s like, ‘this is hitting me hard. I feel weird.’”

The infestation of the home has taken an emotional toll on the family.

Colette Reynolds

The Mormon crickets are carnivorous and will eat each other when dead.

Colette Reynolds

Colette revealed that about 35 crickets have even found a way to enter their home, despite their attempts to keep them out.

The crickets aren’t only targeting their home but all of Elko, with their local hospital Northeastern Nevada Regional being inundated with these creepy crawlers.

“I get anxiety, depression; the first two nights I didn’t sleep at all,” Colette said. “I haven’t really been able to eat — I lost 3 pounds in five days.”

And because of a surgery and slew of health complications, she is unable to leave the house. One bad move could make her quadriplegic, Colette adds.

“I’m a prisoner in my own my home.”

A photo of Colette Reynolds with her husband Mike Reynolds and their two sons, Michael and Logan.

Colette Reynolds

Colette Reynolds.

Colette Reynolds

“Our poor dogs. Our dogs are having nightmares,” she added. “Oh my God, in the night they are crying. Last year they would chase them around. But now they just look out the window and whine and cry.”

Their new puppy, who is house trained, has even urinated in the house several times out of fear for going outside.

Colette revealed that other houses in the neighborhood have been swarmed with crickets but nothing like what their house is currently facing.

“Everybody’s like, ‘this is apocalyptic. It feels Biblical.’ Yeah. And I have to agree,” she said.

The plus side, these insects don’t bite and are not poisonous — but they are disgusting.

Usually these crickets will leave in about five days, but this time they seem to be staying put.

The insects usually migrate to the town once a year, but this time they came by the hundreds of thousands.

Colette Reynolds

The family has attempted to get rid of the crickets by spraying vinegar and hosing them down.

Colette Reynolds

“They will lay eggs … into the ground that sit dormant for a year, and they shoot out thousands of eggs, and then they will hatch the next year. So I’m really freaking out.”

Colette said the bugs have really taken a toll on her life, saying that even she had to cancel her son’s birthday.

Luckily, her two boys are all grown up and staying away from the house at the moment.

What’s worse, the crickets have attracted a load of birds who see endless dinner.

Mormon crickets will not bite humans and are not poisonous — but they sure are gross when an infestation goes wild.

Colette Reynolds

Colette Renolds said they will be more prepared next year if they decide to flood their home again.

Colette Reynolds

“We’ve had hundreds of big crows and hawks and it’s pretty eerie feeling. It is an invading, disheartening feeling. You just feel hopeless. You feel violated. You feel isolated. I am so tired of seeing these things. You can’t eat because everything you look at just looks like crickets,” she said.

“I haven’t stopped crying since it started.”

She’s hoping if they do come back next year, they can be prepared and leave on vacation.

Colette, who has amassed 2 million followers on TikTok and is known as the “cool TikTok auntie” told The Post she is still looking at the bright side of all of this.

“The crickets have gotten me ready for bikini season — I’ve lost a few pounds.”

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The U.K. VC Fund Backing Europes Student Startups

The Creator Fund

Where will we find tomorrow’s pioneering deeptech entrepreneurs? Well many of them will emerge from the world’s best universities, armed not just with PhD degrees but also technologies and business ideas developed during their studies and research projects. For VCs, there is an opportunity to invest early in the work of post-graduate students. If, of course, they can identify founders whose ideas have commercial potential. The Creator Fund thinks it may have found an effective way to do just that.

Earlier this week, the British early-stage VC fund announced plans to expand its student-focused investment operations across Europe, from the Estonian university city of Tartu in the east to Madrid in the west. Nothing unusual about that. You might think. But in a European context, The Creator Fund is doing something a bit different. In a bid to sniff out PhD-level entrepreneurial talent, it is training other post-graduates to think and act like VCs in terms of sourcing prospects and analysing deals.

So what does that mean in practice? Well, Jamie MacFarlane had the idea for The Creator Fund when he was studying for an MBA at Stanford. “While I was there, I saw a category of U.S. VC funds investing in university research. I thought that was a game-changing model,” he says.

He returned to Britain. where he founded The Creator Fund in 2019 with the intention of adopting the Silicon Valley model of investing in students for the U.K. ecosystem. “We spent three years developing this model in the U.K.,” he says. In effect, that meant creating teams who could work within universities to source deals. The aim was to look beyond the usual-suspect universities such as Cambridge and to widen the net to encompass a wide range of institutions.

Team Building

Building a team of PhD-level “student VCs” was crucial to the plan. These were the people who would be in at ground level, mixing with other post-graduates in refectories, labs and bars. Once chosen, they were schooled in the VC way of thinking. “We put everyone through a ten-point program,” MacFarlane says.

And as he sees it, those selected have already acquired all the really difficult knowledge. They are after all educated to a high level in their chosen fields. Learning about the arcana of the investment world – business assessment, cap tables, etc – is relatively easy. In addition, the PhDs are supported centrally by the Creator Fund Team.

To date, the fund has made 27 investments in sectors such as AI, Life sciences and deeptech. These include two in Europe, namely Turing Biosystems based in Lyon and Enlightra from Lausanne. Turing uses AI to identify cancers, while Enlightra has developed laser technology for ultra-fast data transmission.

Now officially launched in Europe, Creator Fund is active in 32 university campuses and aims to provide funding – in its own words – for a new generation of deeptech unicorns. Typically the fund invests between £100,000 and £700,000.

Motivated Teams

But what exactly is The Creator Fund looking for? Well, it’s not just the technology but also committed founders. “The biggest mistake that European investors tend to make is to focus on the technology and then bring in an external management team,” says MacFarlane. “What we’re looking for is massively motivated founder teams.”

Is that a bit too much to ask? A PhD student may be a scientific genius – or at least pretty smart when it comes to his or her subject – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that business acumen will be part of the skillsets package.

MacFarlane says the idea that researchers are not commercially minded is something of a myth. Many, he says, have business ambition in their DNA. “Some return to university after a few years in industry because they see a PhD as a means to start a business,” he says.

Spin-Outs And Student Startups

MacFarlane is keen to make a distinction between Spin-outs and student startups. Spin-outs tend to involve investment by the university, the involvement of a professor and the licensing of the IP by the institution. In the case of a student startup, the founders will be students and the university won’t have the same claim on the IP. Indeed, there may be no IP to negotiate. “We have 27 companies, and 55% have no university IP,” McFarlane says.

But what about timeframes? One of the risks associated with deeptech is the length of time it can take to commercialize research. MacFarlane says that is not always the case. He cites Turing Biosystems, which already has significant revenues working with the pharmaceutical industry.

The truth is that some research can be commercialized quickly, while some will be a long-term bet. In that regard, The Creator Fund is aiming to create a mixed portfolio with different horizons.

So what is the outlook for university-level investment? Well, it has to be acknowledged that commercialization of research is crucial to the development of deeptech and The Creator Fund is not alone in the field. For instance, the Plug and Play Tech Center, invests in university startups, not just in the U.S. where it is based, but also in Europe.

For his part, MacFarlane sees universities in the U.K. and Europe providing a rich source of new and ground-breaking businesses.

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FX Weekly Recap: June 12 16 2023

It was a slow start to the trading week before market players started placing their bets ahead of the major catalysts, particularly the U.S. CPI report and three central bank decisions.

Top-tier U.S. events turned out to be a bit of a surprise, including U.S. CPI falling short of estimates while the FOMC stayed very hawkish despite hitting the pause button with their rate hikes.

Although the Greenback managed to rake in some gains when policymakers dropped tightening hints, the U.S. currency is trailing behind most of its peers, along with the lower-yielding yen.

USD Pairs

Overlay of USD vs. Major Currencies Chart by TV

The U.S. currency was off to a pretty solid start, as dollar bulls were hopeful that the inflation report could come in strong and lift the odds of more Fed tightening.

However, the actual figures fell short of estimates, leading many to doubt that the U.S. central bank could keep up its tightening cycle.

To the surprise of some, the FOMC voted unanimously to keep interest rates on hold at 5.00-5.25% for the time being while still suggesting that two more rate hikes could be on the horizon.

Dollar sentiment quickly turned on Thursday with another weekly jobless claims report signaling employment weakness, overshadowing a generally positive U.S. retail sales update.

Bullish Headline Arguments

FOMC kept the Fed Funds rate range at 5% to 5.25% with a unanimous vote, but did signal further tightening (maybe two more hikes) still needed; no member signaled a cut in 2023

Preliminary U.S. consumer sentiment read for June rose to 63.9 vs. 59.2 in May – University of Michigan; 1-year inflation expectations fell from 4.2% to 3.3%

Bearish Headline Arguments

U.S. CPI for May: 4.0% y/y (4.3% y/y forecast) vs. 4.9% y/y previous; Core CPI lower from 5.5% y/y to 5.3% y/y

U.S. producer prices for May: -0.3% m/m (0.1% m/m forecast; 0.2% m/m previous); Core PPI came in at 0.2% m/m (0.1% m/m forecast; 0.2% m/m previous)

EUR Pairs

Overlay of EUR vs. Major Currencies Chart by TV

The shared currency cruised higher against most of its forex peers since euro traders had been pricing in another interest rate hike from the ECB.

Mid-tier economic data such as the ZEW economic sentiment surveys and the eurozone industrial production report also buoyed hawkish central bank expectations.

Come statement day, not only did ECB head Lagarde deliver on a 0.25% interest rate increase but also hinted that another tightening move could be in the cards for July.

Bullish Headline Arguments

Eurozone’s industrial production rebounded by 1.0% m/m in April after a 2.6% drop in March

German ZEW economic sentiment index up from -10.7 to -8.5 in June vs. -13.4 forecast, eurozone reading down from -9.4 to -10.0 vs. estimated -12.1 reading

ECB hiked interest rates by 0.25% as expected and confirmed that reinvestment of bond purchases through Asset Purchase Program to end next month

ECB head Lagarde hinted that another interest rate hike is likely in July, as inflation estimates were upgraded and that ECB has “more ground to cover”

GBP Pairs

Overlay of GBP vs. Major Currencies Chart by TV

Inflation expectations and BOE tightening hopes got a fresh boost from stronger-than-expected wage data and remarks from Governor Bailey reiterating that policymakers are wary of a wage price spiral.

Upbeat jobs data, along with a slight improvement in monthly GDP, also helped keep the pound afloat for the most part of the week.

Bullish Headline Arguments

U.K. claimant count fell by 13.6K instead of posting the estimated 21.4K rise in joblessness in May, earlier reading revised to show a smaller 23.4K increase in unemployment from initially printed 46.7K

U.K. average earnings index accelerated from 6.1% to 6.5% in the three-month period ending in April, reflecting stronger inflationary pressures

BOE Gov. Bailey said in a speech before the House of Lords Economics Affairs Committee that “we’ve got a very tight labor market” and that the slowdown of inflation is “taking a lot longer than expected.”

U.K. April GDP returns to positive territory with 0.2% m/m growth (from -0.3% in March) thanks to higher consumer spending and fewer labor strikes

Bearish Headline Arguments

U.K. industrial production down by 0.3% m/m in April vs. -0.1% expected, -0.7% in March

CHF Pairs

Overlay of CHF vs. Major Currencies Chart by TV

The franc had a mixed run for the week, as it chalked up significant gains to its lower-yielding rivals like the yen and dollar but gave up some ground to commodity currencies and European peers.

There were a couple of data points out of the Swiss economy, namely the PPI and import prices report, and these reflected weaker inflationary pressures, but it’s more likely the broad positive in risk sentiment was a bigger influence on broad franc movements this week.

Bearish Headline Arguments

Switzerland May producer and import prices -0.3% vs +0.2% m/m prior

State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said Switzerland’s consumer prices will rise 2.3% this year, lower than the 2.8% rate in 2022

AUD Pairs

Overlay of AUD vs. Major Currencies Chart by TV

The Aussie put up a good fight to hold on to its gains from the previous week, despite mostly downbeat data from its main trade partner China.

Stronger consumer sentiment, jobs data, and inflation expectations are likely keeping Aussie bulls hopeful for another RBA hike in their next meeting.  And broad positive risk sentiment likely helped lift the currency significantly against JPY and USD.

Bullish Headline Arguments

Australia’s Westpac consumer sentiment index posted a 0.2% uptick in June, following earlier 7.9% drop

People’s Bank of China cut 7-day reverse repo rate from 2.0% to 1.9% and lowered onshore reference rate by 200 points

Melbourne Institute: Inflation expectations unchanged at 5.2% in June, wages are expected to grow by 1.6% over the next 12 months

Australia’s unemployment rate dipped from 3.7% to 3.6%, net employment +75.9K (vs. 18.6K expected, -4.0K previous) on increased vacancies and high demand for skilled labor

Bearish Headline Arguments

Australian NAB business confidence index fell from 0 to -4 in May to reflect worsening conditions

Chinese industrial output slowed from 5.6% y/y in April to 3.5% y/y in May while retail sales rose by 12.7% y/y in May, lower than the expected 13.6% and April’s 18.4% growth

CAD Pairs

Overlay of CAD vs. Major Currencies Chart by TV

The Loonie is also on track to recording a mixed performance for the week, as it chalked up big gains against the dollar and yen while staying in the red against its fellow commodity currencies.

There wasn’t much on the economic data front for Canada, which was probably why the Canadian dollar took cues from crude oil price action or functioned mostly as a counter currency.

Bullish Headline Arguments

Canada Manufacturing Sales for April: +0.3% m/m to C$72B; -1.6% y/y

Canada’s international transactions in securities for April: C$13.5B vs. -C$19.72B previous

Bearish Headline Arguments

API private crude oil inventories in the U.S. rose by 1.024 million barrels for the June 9 week instead of declining as expected

EIA crude oil inventory jumped by 7.9 million barrels instead of falling by 510K barrels as expected in the week to June 9

Canada Housing Starts for May: -23% m/m to 202.4K units;

Canada Wholesale Sales in April: -1.4% m/m to C$80.9B

NZD Pairs

Overlay of NZD vs. Major Currencies Chart by TV

Not even mostly downbeat mid-tier data from New Zealand was enough to stop the Kiwi from outperforming majority of its forex rivals, except for the Aussie and euro.

Indicators of trade performance and consumer spending pointed to weaker activity, underscoring the already downbeat quarterly GDP that put the economy officially in recession for Q1.

Bearish Headline Arguments

New Zealand May electronic card retail sales slumped 1.7% month-over-month in May versus estimated 0.3% uptick

NZIER downgraded New Zealand GDP forecast to a 0.6% expansion until March 2024, as estimates of household spending have been revised lower

New Zealand visitor arrivals slumped 16.9% month-over-month in April while the number of long-term and permanent migrants fell to its lowest level since October last year

New Zealand annual current account deficit unexpectedly narrows from 9.0% to 8.5% of GDP in Q1 2023

New Zealand is now technically in a recession with a -0.1% GDP q/q print in Q1 2023 after a 0.7% decline in Q4 2022

JPY Pairs

Overlay of JPY vs. Major Currencies Chart by TV

The yen is poised to end the week behind its forex counterparts, thanks to a combination of unimpressive economic data and another dovish monetary policy statement from the Bank of Japan, once again holding the ultra-low policy rate of -0.1%.

Broad risk sentiment was likely a factor as well as traders continue to see rising odds that the global interest rate hike cycle may be nearing its end.

Bullish Headline Arguments

Japanese BSI manufacturing index improved from -10.5 to -0.4 in April-June 2023 quarter versus estimated -4.2 reading, reflecting weaker pessimism

Japan’s exports inched 0.6% y/y higher in May, the slowest pace since February 2021, while imports dropped by 9.9% y/y thanks in part to lower fuel prices

Bearish Headline Arguments

Japanese producer prices rose by 5.1% year-over-year in May, slower than earlier 5.9% gain and expected 5.6% increase

Japan’s preliminary machine tool orders fell by 22.2% year-over-year in May, steeper than earlier 14.4% slide

Japan’s core machinery orders rose by 5.5% m/m in April, the first increase in three months. On an annualized basis, core orders fell by 5.9% (vs. -8.0% expected)

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source https://1steconomic.com/fx-weekly-recap-june-12-16-2023/