Opening Bell: 7.30.18
Global Bond Yields Climb as Anxious Investors Await BOJ Review [Bloomberg]
U.K. gilts led the drop, with 10-year yields touching the highest level in nearly a month, while U.S. Treasuries and German bunds followed suit. Yields on similar-dated Japanese bonds rose to an almost 18-month high during Asian hours before the BOJ offered to buy an unlimited amount of securities for the third time in a week.
Speculation that Governor Haruhiko Kuroda could permit yields to fluctuate more around the BOJ’s zero percent target or remove its current 80-trillion yen ($720 billion) bond-purchase target has rippled across global markets over the past week -- pushing yields higher and steepening yield curves. Any winding back of stimulus would strengthen the yen and undermine efforts to boost domestic inflation that is well below the central bank’s 2 percent target.
Caterpillar says tariffs will cost company up to $200 million in second half so it's raising prices [CNBC]
Caterpillar's announcement comes after the U.S. slapped tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods earlier this month. The U.S. has also implemented tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Mexico, Canada and the European Union. They have retaliated against those levies with tariffs of their own.
"However, the company intends to largely offset these impacts through announced mid-year price increases and using the Operating & Execution Model to further drive operational excellence and structural cost discipline," Caterpillar added in its statement.
Pompeo to announce U.S. economic initiatives in 'Indo-Pacific' [Reuters]
The United States’ first outlined its strategy to develop the Indo-Pacific economy at an Asia-Pacific summit last year.
“Indo-Pacific” has become known in diplomatic circles as shorthand for a broader and democratic-led region in place of “Asia-Pacific”, which from some perspectives had authoritarian China too firmly at its center.
The Chamber of Commerce said on its website that the Indo-Pacific could account for half the world’s economy within decades, but needed investment of nearly $26 trillion in order to fulfill its potential.
Trump Again Threatens to Shut Down Government [WSJ]
“I would be willing to ’shut down’ government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!”
The threat adds a new headache for congressional Republican leaders two months before government funding expires on Sept. 30. It also stands as a rebuff to Republicans who have privately pleaded with the president to avoid triggering a shutdown before the mid-term elections. Republican leaders fear their party would be blamed for shutting down the government, costing them votes during a year in which the party risks losing control of the House and is defending a narrow majority of 51 out of 100 seats in the Senate.
Have a Cryptocurrency Company? Bermuda, Malta or Gibraltar Wants You [NYT]
In small countries and territories including Bermuda, Malta, Gibraltar and Liechtenstein, officials have recently passed laws, or have legislation in the works, to make themselves more welcoming to cryptocurrency companies and projects. In Malta, the government passed three laws on July 4 so companies can easily issue new cryptocurrencies and trade existing ones. In Bermuda this year, the legislature passed a law that lets start-ups doing initial coin offerings apply to the minister of finance for speedy approval.
“We are 65,000 people, and 20 square miles, but we have a very advanced economy,” the premier of Bermuda, E. David Burt, said in an interview at a cryptocurrency conference in May in New York, where he was trying to pitch companies on the island’s charms. “We want to position Bermuda as the incubator for this industry.”
Actress outwits authorities, skips jail by missing Rikers bus [NYPost]
An aspiring actress was sentenced to weekends in jail for a check-cashing scheme — but repeatedly outwitted authorities by signing in for the bus to Rikers Island and simply never getting on, officials said.
Parisse Daves, who had a recurring role in an independent sci-fi web series titled “Body Jumpers,” gamed the system for two months, prosecutors charged.