Russia
Raises Main Rate as Ukraine Crisis Weighs on Ruble - (www.bloomberg.com) Russia’s central bank sprung a surprise by raising
its benchmark interest rate after Standard & Poor’s downgraded the world’s biggest energy
exporter for the first time in six years as capital outflows threaten growth. The
central bank, whose scheduled decisions have been correctly predicted by the
majority of economists every month since September 2012, increased the one-week
auction rate to 7.5 percent from 7 percent today,
according to a website statement. Hours earlier, S&P cut the nation’s
sovereign rating to one level above junk, the lowest investment grade on par
with Morocco and Uruguay which Russia last had in 2005.
Unverified
& exposed: NYT-State Dept 'Russians in Ukraine' image proof collapses - (www.rt.com) Pictures
presented by Washington and Kiev as evidence of Russia's involvement in
Ukraine, and published on Monday by the New York Times, were unverified and in
fact contradicted the claims they were to support. The US State department
acknowledged the error and the New York Times back-tracked on its Monday story,
which claimed “photographs and descriptions from eastern Ukraine endorsed by the
Obama administration … suggest that many of the green men are indeed Russian
military and intelligence forces”. The proof was this particular picture with
an inscription “Group photograph taken in Russia”.
Russia
Debt Rating Cut to Step Above Junk at S&P - (www.bloomberg.com) Russia’s sovereign debt rating was cut to the lowest
investment grade at Standard & Poor’s, which said further downgrades are possible if
economic growth deteriorates and the conflict inUkraine sparks wider sanctions. S&P cut
Russia’s rating one step to BBB-, it said in a statement today. The grade, on
par with Brazil and Azerbaijan, has a negative outlook. S&P last downgraded
Russia in December 2008. Russia’s currency and bonds fell.
United
Airlines posts $609 million loss, citing 'historic severe weather' - (www.dallasnews.com) United
Airlines is the one U.S. carrier that can’t seem to get its act together. While
all the other major airlines made money in the first quarter, United lost $609
million during the first three months of this year. United attributed $200
million of its loss to the “historic severe” winter weather that impacted much
of the U.S. this past winter. But by comparison, Delta Air Lines made $213
million in the same quarter while dealing with the same ice and snow storms. Chicago-based
United is still struggling to combine systems and see financial benefits
following its 2010 merger with Continental Airlines. In the first quarter, its
cost for each mile passengers flew rose 1 percent but its related revenue fell
2 percent. It simply isn’t able to charge high enough airfares.
Can
realtor's credibility fall to less than zero? - (www.ochousingnews.com) Home
listings that tout property characteristics, like granite countertops and
wood-burning fireplaces, in the description sell for a premium, says Bennie
Waller, professor of finance and real estate at Longwood University in
Farmville, Va., who studied the makeup of listings. “The more verifiable
information, the better,” he says. Each property characteristic mentioned in a
listing increases the sale price by just under 1% and its probability of
selling by 9.2%, on average. That means a listing with 15 additional property
characteristics sells for roughly a 13.5% price premium. Prof. Waller excluded
standard features, such as bedrooms, from the analysis. This study is crazy.
Did the properties sell for more because they had more features or
because the realtor said the property had features? I rather doubt it was the
realtor description that made buyers pay more. The study also found that each
additional positive opinion word—like “beautiful” or “fabulous”—boosted the
sale price by 0.9%. That means 10 positive words translate to a 9% bump in the
sale price, on average.
Ukraine
Crisis: 300 German Intellectuals Support Putin, Criticize US-NATO Influence in
Europe and Mainstream Media Propaganda - (www.globalresearch.ca)
El
Nino Risk Increases as Pacific Gets Warmer: Carbon & Climate - (www.bloomberg.com)
China won't swallow 'bitter pill' of ceding sovereign rights: military official - (www.reuters.com)
China won't swallow 'bitter pill' of ceding sovereign rights: military official - (www.reuters.com)
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