16 February 2019
Question: According to MSN: Money, what are three (3) retiree havens where you can stretch your dollar the most?
Fare cutting puts the brakes on Uber’s revenue growth as public listing nears – Pg. 1
– Uber’s revenue growth has slowed sharply in markets around the world after the ride-hailing company cut prices in countries from France to Brazil and invested in new businesses before a planned initial public offering this year
– Slowing revenue growth reflected a lower “take rate” – the amount the company keeps from fares after paying drivers – as the company cut prices in markets including Brazil, France, India and the Middle East but continued to pay the same amount
Walled in Law gives Trump sweeping powers to define ‘emergency’ – Pg. 2
– Donald Trump declared a national emergency yesterday after Congress refused to give him the funds he requested for the construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border
– As a general matter, the constitution places sole authority for appropriating funds in the hands of Congress, which decides how much to spend and what to spend it on when it passes budgets. The National Emergencies Act gives the president some powers to divert funds for other purposes
– The act allows Mr Trump to declare a national emergency and puts no restrictions on what an “emergency” means
– The act gives powers to the president in an emergency under more than 100 statutes, including the ability to repurpose certain funds
– It also gives him the power to shift funds intended for army civil works projects
– A Supreme Court ruling from 1983, however, means that in practice Congress can do little more than express its disapproval
– The ruling required any resolution under the National Emergencies Act to either be signed by the president or be passed with a vetoproof supermajority in Congress to have legal effect
– Property owners along the US-Mexico border on whose land a wall would be built are the most likely individuals to have standing to bring a lawsuit
China roars back after US Fed’s dovish U-turn – Pg. 15
– Chinese stocks have staged a resurgence this year, stoked by stimulus unleashed by China’s central bank and a dovish US Federal Reserve, in a sharp reversal of its performance last year as the world’s worst equity market
– The CSI 300 index of companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen crashed firmly into bear territory in 2018, tumbling 26%….jumping 10.9% year-to-date
– The switch in tone came against a backdrop of global geopolitical tension, with uncertainty hanging over Brexit and the US-China trade war
– Investor sentiment has also been buoyed by recent stimulus measures unveiled by the People’s Bank of China, and expectations that Beijing will step up momentum in the next few months. Chinese authorities have cut taxes and the central bank last year took action to improve liquidity and lending to private enterprises, lowering the amount of cash reserves banks must hold
Answer: (1) Panama; (2) Mexico; (3) Ecuador