Kemi Badenoch, business and trade secretary, was on Tuesday locked in a new political row, this time over her contested claim that she was engaged in trade talks with Canada, negotiations Ottawa insists do not exist. Badenoch told MPs “explicitly” on January 29 that talks with Canada were “ongoing” to avoid a March 31 tariff
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The Federal Railroad Administration has proposed 15 daily long-distance Amtrak routes as part of the Biden administration’s effort to create a national passenger rail system. The FRA is seeking feedback on the preferred routes by March 8, and plans to make final recommendations to Congress in the spring. The map of 15 routes, released Friday
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. After two heavy by-election defeats last week, rightwing Conservatives are twisting Rishi Sunak’s arm to shift further to the right on issues such as migration. Absurd as it might seem for a government that has
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. We’re no longer recording the audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible. Here is Monday’s edition. Sectors leading:
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Nikki Haley slammed Donald Trump on Tuesday and rejected calls to suspend her presidential campaign, saying she felt “no need to kiss the ring” and endorse his bid for the White House. “I refuse to
A private university based in Milwaukee will borrow $163.7 million through tax-exempt bonds to finance the construction of new emergency response facilities for the Wisconsin and Milwaukee County governments. The Medical College of Wisconsin is leasing land on the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus to the state and county, and is building a new state
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Lawmakers in Germany’s ruling coalition are set to vote this week on a motion that could finally push Chancellor Olaf Scholz to deliver long-range precision Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. A draft resolution prepared
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Eurozone economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Europe has long looked across the Atlantic at the US economy with a mixture of horror and awe. The EU population would not accept the health and social inequalities in America, but it wishes it
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A tinkle of warning bells is ringing Down Under for investors still waiting for recessions to bite or eagerly anticipating a swift global pivot to interest rate cuts. Earlier this month, Australia’s central bank —
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Walmart said prices for some of its products did not decline as much as it had anticipated during the most recent quarter, reflecting the sticky inflationary environment in the US that is prompting investors to
Issuance of variable rate demand obligations and other floating-rate debt increased in 2023 year-over-year — despite swings in short-term rates — marking the highest total since 2017. However, market participants remain uncertain whether that trend will continue into 2024 as issuers rethink the product amid continued volatility. Variable rate issuance rose 13.8% in 2023, increasing
Total 2023 municipal bond sale volume ticked down slightly year-over-year, but a robust fourth quarter and a late yearend rally saved last year from being the second consecutive year of issuance down double digits. Total volume in 2023 was $384.715 billion in 8,081 deals, down only 1.7% from $391.298 billion in 9,185 deals in 2022,
The amount of debt wrapped by bond insurance rose 5.8% in 2023, leading to the highest market penetration rate since 2008, despite the second year of down issuance. Demand for bond insurance has continued to grow in 2023 as market participants turned to it for investor confidence, increased market liquidity and enhanced credit ratings. All
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has formally withdrawn its 2024 rate card filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, an administrative move that keeps in place the reverted rates from 2023. The board has also initiated a retrospective review of the annual rate card process and said it intends to take a hard look at
Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. Transcription: Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio for the authoritative record. Caitlin Devitt (00:04): Hello and welcome to another Bond Buyer podcast. I’m Caitlin Devitt, senior Infrastructure
Average underwriting spreads for all bonds were stagnant in 2023, continuing a 15-year downward trend, but negotiated and refunding deal spreads rose while competitive spreads fell. Underwriter spread ticked up slightly, rising to $3.66 in 2023 from $3.64 in 2022. Spreads on negotiated bonds rose to $3.76 in 2023 from $3.62 in 2022, while spreads
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Barclays’ ties to Britain date back more than 330 years. Expect it to become even more UK-focused in future. Barclays chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan (Venkat), has recognised he must put more capital towards the bank’s
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The eurozone’s collective wage growth has slowed for the first time in 18 months, but economists said the decline was unlikely to be enough to ease rate-setters’ concerns over high inflation. Data released by the
Kali9 | E+ | Getty Images Black women are outpacing Black men when it comes homebuying. Single female homebuyers are most common among Black women, representing 27% of Black homebuyers, according to the 2023 Snapshot of Race and Home Buying in America report by the National Association of Realtors. To compare, single women represent 24% of
Southwest municipal bond issuance inched higher last year to $83.79 billion with Texas, which accounted for 70% of the debt, taking the top volume crown among states nationwide. The region’s 0.6% gain over 2022 contrasted with the market’s overall 2.8% issuance decline, according to LSEG Data & Analytics, formerly Refinitiv. Market volatility, higher interest rates,
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Barclays has increased the number of its bankers earning more than €1mn a year by 49, even as the lender cut bonuses on the back of a loss in 2023. The bank, which reported a