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The World
The House approved nearly $40 billion in additional aid for Ukraine. The package of military, economic and humanitarian support, which is $7 billion more than the $33 billion President Biden requested, was approved on a bipartisan vote of 368-to-57, with the Senate expected to follow suit this week. All House Democrats present Tuesday night voted in favor of the measure. They were joined by 149 House Republicans. Fifty-seven House Republicans voted “no.” Congress provided $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine this year, meaning that if the latest package is passed, lawmakers will have approved a total of more than $50 billion in aid. (Washington Post)
China's military said it had monitored and warned a U.S. warship that had sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, a mission that happened shortly after China carried out drills near the island. The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal conducted a "routine" Taiwan Strait transit through international waters "in accordance with international law" on Tuesday, the second such mission in two weeks. (Reuters)
Chinese warplanes have taken off from an aircraft carrier sailing near Okinawa more than 100 times in the past week, Japanese defense officials said. (Nikkei Asia Review)
China risks a “tsunami” of coronavirus infections resulting in 1.6 million deaths if the government abandons its long-held Covid Zero policy and allows the highly-infectious omicron variant to spread unchecked, according to researchers at Shanghai’s Fudan University. The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Nature, found that the level of immunity induced by China’s March vaccination campaign would be “insufficient” to prevent an omicron wave that would swamp intensive care capacity, given low vaccine rates among the elderly and the nation’s reliance on less effective, domestic shots. (Bloomberg)
The WHO head said China's zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy is not sustainable given what is now known of the virus, in rare public comments by the U.N. agency on a government's handling of the pandemic. "We don't think that it is sustainable considering the behavior of the virus and what we now anticipate in the future," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing. (Reuters)
New Zealand to open international borders fully to visitors from end-July. (Reuters)
Rising interest rates dealt a critical blow to mortgage originations in the first quarter. Lenders issued about $859 billion in mortgages in the first quarter, down 25% from the previous year, according to data released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The quarter also marked the first time since early 2020 that originations fell below $1 trillion. The main cause was a sizable drop in refinancings, which fell about 40% from a year ago. Purchase mortgages were roughly flat, a turnaround from two years of double-digit gains. (Wall Street Journal)
BlackRock warned that it will not be supporting most shareholder resolutions on climate this year because they have become too extreme or too prescriptive. The world’s largest money manager, with nearly $10tn in assets, said in a stewardship update that new US rules had allowed a wider range of proposals on to proxy ballots. It added that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had also changed the environment, requiring more short-term investment in traditional fuel production to boost energy security. The group said it was particularly wary of proposals to stop financing fossil fuel companies, force them to decommission assets or set absolute targets for companies on reducing emissions in their supply chains and their customers. (Financial Times)
Despite official calls to increase conservation amid worsening drought, urban water use across California increased by nearly 19% in March, according to the State Water Resources Control Board. (Los Angeles Times)
Economy
The supply of homes for sale is finally showing signs of improvement. In April, inventory was 12% lower than the year-earlier month, the smallest year-over-year decline since the end of 2019. The shift in supply is likely due to a slower sales pace stemming from the recent rapid increase in mortgage rates, which has made expensive homes even pricier. The number of active listings is still down 67% from pre-pandemic levels. (CNBC)
The average price for a gallon of gas nationwide hit $4.37, the highest price AAA has recorded since it started keeping track in 2000. In California, it is $1.47 higher than that. (Washington Post)
Coinbase’s Slide: Long-term believers in crypto can pick up some bargains right now, perhaps none better than shares of Coinbase. The stock fell to around $64 in after-hours trading today, which means it has fallen by half in the past two weeks. The Nasdaq, by comparison, is off by just 6% in the same period. And to hammer home the point, remember that Coinbase went public with its shares around $322 in April of last year. (The Information)
The dollar hovered near a two-decade high against major peers, ahead of a key reading on inflation that should provide clues on how aggressive the Federal Reserve will be in tightening monetary policy. The dollar index , which measures the currency versus six rivals, was around flat at 103.92, not far from the high of 104.49 reached at the start of the week for the first time since December 2002. (Reuters)
Goldman says Yen shows significant value as a recession hedge. (Bloomberg)
Investors are eyeing what could be a pivotal consumer price index report for April, anticipating that the data shows inflation has already reached its height. Economists warn that prices could remain elevated. The issue is how fast inflation could decline when it comes to determining how the Federal Reserve will respond with interest rate hikes. CPI is expected to rise 0.2% in April or 8.1% on an annualized basis. That’s compared with a 1.2% monthly increase or 8.5% gain year-over-year in March. The report is released today at 8:30 a.m. (CNBC)
China inflation: consumer costs rise amid lockdown pressure, but factory-gate prices ease. China’s official consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2.1% in April from a year earlier, up from a rise of 1.5% in March. (South China Morning Post)
Technology
Panasonic weighs building new U.S. battery plant for Tesla Oklahoma among candidate sites; production to start as early as 2024. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Netflix could introduce its lower-priced ad-supported tier by the end of the year, a more accelerated timeline than originally indicated, the company told employees in a recent note. Netflix executives said they were aiming to introduce the ad tier in the final three months of the year, said two people who shared details of the communication on the condition of anonymity to describe internal company discussions. The note also said Netflix planned to begin cracking down on password sharing among its subscriber base around the same time. (New York Times)
The E-Bike effect is transforming New York City: As the next-generation pedal-assist Citi Bike arrives, the surging popularity of electric two-wheelers stands to reshape the city’s transportation future. Capped at 20 miles per hour, this new e-bike can go 60 miles before needing a charge, twice the range of the previous model. It’s 20 pounds heavier, too, with hydraulic brakes and a sturdier frame. (Bloomberg)
Live Event
Today, 11 am ET: China's Prospects for Catching Up: Escaping the Middle-Income Trap in an Era of Massive GVC Repositioning. (Register: George Washington University)
Smart Links
The Senate voted to confirm Lisa Cook to the Federal Reserve, making her the first Black woman to sit on the central bank’s board. (Wall Street Journal)
Major U.S. retailers limit infant formula purchases on shortage. (Reuters)
A strong job market is causing more students to drop out of college. (CNBC)
7 tips to work smarter in Google Docs. (Wired)
Peloton shares slide as losses mount and sales slow. (Wall Street Journal)