Author: FX

onurdongel/E+ via Getty Images The European Union has hit its 90% gas storage target more than two months ahead of schedule, but analysts warn a cold winter could still cause volatile prices and a scramble for energy. “Together, we are weaning ourselves off Russian gas, and we keep working in parallel on more diverse energy supplies for the future,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday. The price of European benchmark TTF futures fell 2.5% Friday but have soared nearly 30% this month, much of it on concerns over potential strikes at three major liquefied natural gas facilities…

© Reuters. A tight range usually resolves with a range breakout, and that is what happened in on Aug. 17. Bitcoin (BTC) fell sharply, resulting in $1 billion in liquidations for derivatives traders, the biggest amount since the FTX collapse in 2022. It is difficult to pinpoint any specific reason for the sell-off, but analysts believe that the confusion arising from the alleged write-down of SpaceX’s $373 million i Bitcoin holdings may have been one of the potential triggers. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingViewETH/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingViewBNB/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingViewXRP/USDT daily chart. Source:…

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News With the devastating wildfires sweeping across Maui island last week, property and casualty insurers with exposure to Hawaii are set to incur catastrophe losses in what would be a negative for third-quarter earnings. The physical impact of the fast-moving inferno, exacerbated by tropical wind storms, has been heartbreaking, with thousands of homes obliterated and the death toll reaching at least 110 people. Citi analyst Joshua Shanker said in a recent note that the fires are estimated to have caused some $1.3B in homeowners’ losses from more than 3K homes, citing data from catastrophe modeler CoreLogic. By…

Henrik5000 Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer and President George Yancopoulos likely went to bed Friday night as two very happy individuals. After all, the biopharma they founded garnered not one, but two US FDA approvals the same day. On Friday, the agency approved the company’s Veopoz (pozelimab) for a rare immune disease followed by high-dose (“HD”) Eylea. Veopoz likely won’t hit blockbuster status despite its list price of $34,615.38 per vial, according to Reuters. The news service reported there are fewer than 10 CHAPLE disease patients in the US and less than 100 worldwide. The treatment will become available this quarter.…

Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images News Goldman Sachs Group’s (NYSE:GS) board is expected to discuss internal dissent at the bank concerning CEO David Solomon at a meeting next month. The dissent about the CEO and recent media coverage is expected to be discussed at the board meeting, according to a Financial Times report on Saturday, which cited a person briefed on the matter. Although there has been noise about Solomon’s leadership, the board has been supportive of the CEO and isn’t going to be influenced by “external noise,” the FT said, citing people familiar with the thinking of several board members. Goldman…

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Ecuadorean presidential candidate Otto Sonnenholzner holds a doll depicting him, next to his running mate Erika Paredes, during their closing campaign, in Guayaquil, Ecuador August 17, 2023. REUTERS/Vicente Gaibor del Pino/File Photo By Alexandra Valencia QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador presidential candidate Otto Sonnenholzner said a shoot-out occurred on Saturday outside a restaurant where he and his family were eating, a day before the election and not long after another candidate was assassinated. “We just suffered a shoot-out in front of the place where I was breakfasting with my family,” Sonnenholzner, a pro-market candidate and former vice…

Drew Angerer/Getty Images News In July, Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) CEO Bob Iger made the stunning admission that the storied media and entertainment giant could walk away from parts of its television empire when he said the company would be “open-minded and objective” about the future of the TV business, adding some of it “may not be core to Disney.” While Walt Disney (DIS) is likely to hold onto ESPN, the company is considering “potential strategic partnerships” for the worldwide leader in sports, including in distribution, technology, marketing and content. One analyst believes that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) could be the answer. Wedbush…

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Russian Navy’s Udaloy class destroyer No. 564 sails on waters between the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako, in this undated but recently taken handout photo released by the Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan and By Casey Hall and Ben Blanchard SHANGHAI/TAIPEI (Reuters) -China launched military drills around Taiwan on Saturday as a “serious warning” to separatist forces in an angry but widely expected response to Vice President William Lai’s visit to the United States, drawing condemnation from Taipei. Lai, the front-runner to become Taiwan’s president in elections in January, returned…

Mon: PBoC LPR, German PPI (Jul)Tue: US Richmond Fed Index (Aug), New Zealand Retail Sales (Q2)Wed: EZ/UK/US Flash PMIs (Aug), Canadian Retail Sales (Jun), US New Home Sales (Jul)Thu: Fed’s Jackson Hole Symposium (24-26th Aug), CBRT Announcement, BoI Announcement, BoK Announcement,US Durable Goods (Jul)Fri: Fed’s Jackson Hole Symposium (24-26th Aug), Japan’s Tokyo CPI (Aug), German Ifo Survey (Aug), GermanGDP Detailed (Q2), Uni of Michigan Final (Aug)NOTE: Previews are listed in day orderPBoC LPR (Mon): The PBoC is likely to reduce its Loan Prime Rates next week with the 1-Year LPR and the 5-Year LPRs currently at 3.55% and 4.20%, respectively.…

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flutters at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, February 7, 2023. REUT SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea slammed a recent United Nations meeting about its human rights record, asserting the United States used the international organisation for a “scheme” against Pyongyang, state media KCNA reported on Saturday. The U.N. Security Council discussed human rights abuses in North Korea on Thursday, with the U.S. ambassador criticising leader Kim Jong Un…