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The World
The Biden administration is weighing a plan to release roughly a million barrels of oil a day from U.S. reserves, for several months, to combat rising gasoline prices and supply shortages following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The total release may be as much as 180 million barrels, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official move. The plan is accompanied by a diplomatic push for the International Energy Agency to coordinate a global release by other countries. A final decision hasn’t been reached on the global release, but the White House may make an announcement on the U.S. release as soon as today. (Bloomberg)
EU officials plan to press China’s top leaders over their support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Friday during a long-delayed summit that will be dominated by discussion of the war. EU leaders doubt they can convince China to condemn Moscow’s actions. Nor do they believe they can force Beijing to “drastically and publicly alter their stance” towards the war, a senior EU official said. But there are hopes that a frank discussion about the economic costs of supporting Russia may help convince Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang not to do anything to further damage already strained ties with Europe. (South China Morning Post)
German inflation rose to its highest rate for 40 years as European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde warned that Russia’s war in Ukraine was delivering a “supply shock” to the eurozone economy. A 39.5% jump in energy prices from a year earlier was the main driver behind Germany’s higher than expected increase in harmonized consumer prices to 7.6%. (Financial Times)
Germany's industrial sector has sounded the alarm over a new emergency warning system to manage the country's energy security in case Russia cuts supplies of natural gas. Germany’s Economy Minister announced a three-stage alert system that would ultimately give households and hospitals priority over industrial firms if gas usage had to be rationed. (Deutsche Welle)
BioNTech plans to return nearly €2bn to shareholders through share buybacks and a special dividend following the commercial success of its Covid-19 vaccine. The German biotech, which launched the first Covid-19 vaccine in partnership with Pfizer, said it would also boost research and development spending by 50 per cent to between €1.4bn and €1.5bn, as it seeks to develop a new range of drugs based on mRNA technology. (Financial Times)
More than a month after Russia invaded Ukraine, inflation eclipses the war in Ukraine as the U.S.’s most urgent issue. Americans say inflation (30 percent) is the most urgent issue facing the country today, followed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine (14 percent), and then immigration (9 percent). There are large differences along party lines. Among Republicans, the top issues are inflation (39 percent), immigration (19 percent), and Russia's invasion of Ukraine (13 percent). Among Democrats, the top issues are Russia's invasion of Ukraine (16 percent), inflation (15 percent), and election laws (13 percent). Among independents, the top issues are inflation (37 percent), Russia's invasion of Ukraine (13 percent), followed by climate change (8 percent) and immigration (8 percent). (Quinnipiac Poll)
The 'Holy Grail' of gambling could break American sports betting wide open. Voters in the nation's most populous state will get a chance in November to unleash a massive new industry in California — and provide a jolt to other holdout states. Thirty-three states and Washington, D.C. have authorized sports betting, birthing a sector expected to generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue once those markets are fully operative. The explosive growth follows two-and-a-half decades in which Congress gave Nevada an effective monopoly on athletic wagering in America.
If California legalizes, sports betting is likely to become legal everywhere in the U.S. (Politico)
Some governors up for re-election are proposing to use their budget surplus to give cash directly to residents through stimulus checks and rebates. (Axios)
Economy
A significant increase in Russian oil imports by India could expose New Delhi to a "great risk" as the U.S. prepares to step up enforcement of sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. While the current U.S. sanctions against Russia do not prevent other countries from buying Russian oil, the warning raises expectations that Washington will attempt to restrict other countries' purchases to normal levels. (Reuters)
‘Payment shock’ awaits US home buyers as mortgage rates climb: The US housing market is starting to show signs of stress as a sharp uptick in mortgage rates and high home prices push potential buyers to the sidelines and some investors look elsewhere for higher returns. Average interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in the US swung to 4.42% in the latest Freddie Mac weekly survey after hitting a record low of 2.65% in January 2021. (Financial Times)
German inflation hits 40-year high as ECB president warns of ‘supply shock.’ March rate of 7.6% in eurozone’s largest economy comes as Christine Lagarde warns of ‘difficult phase’ for bloc. (Financial Times)
Jamie Dimon collects $56 million after old incentive snowballs: The bank valued the award at less than half that much just three years ago. Meanwhile, Intel’s stock award to lure Gelsinger as chief was worth $169.5mn. The bonus for taking helm at struggling US chipmaker was far more than company initially calculated. (Bloomberg, Financial Times)
Technology
The last time western sanctions hit Russia after it annexed Crimea, President Vladimir Putin turned to Huawei to rebuild and upgrade the territory’s communication infrastructure. Now the controversial Chinese technology company is positioned to aid the Putin regime on a much larger scale, despite the threat of Washington hitting it with more sanctions. But experts say Chinese tech companies such as Huawei and rival Xiaomi risk violating sanctions if they keep shipping phones and telecoms gear to Russia. They need sign-off from Washington because the electronics often contain high-end semiconductors or are made with US tools, making them subject to new sanctions on Moscow. (Financial Times)
Arm is planning to transfer shares in its unwieldy China joint venture to a SoftBank special purpose vehicle in a bid to speed up the UK chip designer’s path to a New York flotation. The British company has struggled to regain control of its China business for almost two years. Its inability to audit the financials of the unit, which contributed about one-fifth of revenue last year, is a big sticking point for a blockbuster public offering desired by owner SoftBank following the collapse of Arm’s $66bn sale to Nvidia last month. The share transfer, if successfully completed, will leave the China joint venture tied to Arm headquarters through a licensing agreement, instead of the 47.3% equity stake it holds today. (Financial Times)
Consumer electronics demand is showing signs of slowing amid geopolitical uncertainties and COVID-related lockdowns in China, the chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said. (Nikkei Asia Review)
Apple is planning to expand its financial services by adding payment processing, lending risk assessment, credit checks, fraud analysis, and more. (Bloomberg)
YouTube is looking at ingesting podcast RSS feeds directly, with a new podcasts homepage to be at youtube[dot]com/podcasts (a URL that doesn’t work, yet). Podcasts appear to be promoted with familiar, square, artwork thumbnails. YouTube is to feature audio ads: both sold by Google but also by partners too, if they’re large enough. YouTube will also supply analytics, particularly “new metrics for audio-first creators”. (Podnews)
Apple and Meta gave user data to hackers who used forged legal requests. (Bloomberg)
Smart Links
FDA advisory panel concludes Amylyx ALS drug hasn’t proven effectiveness. (STAT News)
One-third of U.S. Netflix subscribers share their passwords. (Deadline)
Team rituals might feel lame, but sorry, office grump — they work. (Harvard Business School)
How to keep EVs from overwhelming the power grid. (Stanford University)
The United States' real and perceived income gap. (Statista)