Qantas completes 'double sunrise' test flight from London to Sydney - CNBC

The first commercial flight of the Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on December 15, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.

James D. Morgan | Getty Images

Qantas Airways completed a 19 hour 19 minute non-stop test flight from London to Sydney on Friday as it nears a decision on whether to order planes for what would be the world's longest-ever commercial route.

"We saw a double sunrise," Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said after stepping off the flight, which followed a similar one from New York to Sydney last month.

The event included speeches from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Qantas Chairman Richard Goyder.

Qantas has named the project "Project Sunrise" after the airline's double sunrise endurance flights during World War Two, which remained airborne long enough to see two sunrises.

The plane on the London-Sydney research flight, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, carried 50 passengers and had fuel remaining for roughly another 1 hour 45 minutes of flight time when it landed.

The airline needs to get pilots to agree on contract terms and a sign-off from Australia's aviation regulator to launch the flights by 2023.

Qantas has been considering an order for either an ultra-long range version of Airbus SE's A350-1000 or the Boeing Co 777-8, although the latter plane's entry into service has been delayed and so Boeing has put together an alternative offer to deal with that.

Captain Helen Trenerry, who led the test flight, said before takeoff on Wednesday that research data including activity monitoring, sleep diaries, cognitive testing and monitoring of melatonin levels would help determine whether the crew mix of one captain, one first officer and two second officers was appropriate or if more people were needed.

She said she would be happy to fly Sydney-London or Sydney-New York but would prefer regulations that limited the trips to around one a month for pilots because "they will be very, very long flights and fatiguing over the long term".

Mark Sedgwick, the president of the Australian and International Pilots Association representing Qantas pilots, said on Friday the research flights were "a step in the right direction" but the data set was probably too limited to inform broader fatigue management plans.

Citi analysts consider the ultra-long range flights to be a game-changing opportunity for the airline as it looks to capture a premium from travelers in return for cutting out a stop-over.

In a note to clients published in July, they forecast non-stop flights from Sydney to London and New York could add A$180 million annually to the carrier's profit before tax, which was A$A1.3 billion in the financial year ended June 30.

Qantas is due to hold an investor briefing on Tuesday where it could provide guidance on future capital spending plans.

The London-Sydney flight came as the airline on Friday kicked off celebrations for its 100th year of service next year.

The 787-9 with a limited number of passengers used on the research flight had a livery celebrating Qantas' centenary.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/15/qantas-completes-double-sunrise-test-flight-from-london-to-sydney.html

2019-11-15 05:05:00Z
52780436841241

Google set to offer banking current accounts - BBC News

Google has become the latest big tech firm to move into banking by offering current accounts.

The firm said it plans to partner with banks and credit unions in the US to offer the "smart checking" accounts.

It said the service, to be launched via Google Pay, will allow users to add Google's analytic tools to traditional banking products.

The move follows offerings of credit cards, payment systems and loans by Facebook, Uber, Apple and Amazon.

While the products and arrangements differ, the tech giants entering the world of banking share an underlying motive: making themselves indispensable, says Gerard du Toit, a partner at the Bain & Co consulting firm.

"They're all competing for consumer attention and for their ecosystem and platform to win," he says.

Amazon's credit card and business loans are aimed at boosting its e-commerce business, while Uber Money is providing credit cards, debit accounts and money tracking tools to serve the company's taxi operations.

Facebook has said its Facebook Pay service will complement its messaging tools.

And both Google and Apple, which has teamed up with Goldman Sachs' new consumer arm, Marcus, on a credit card as part of its Apple Pay and Wallet service, want to to make iPhones and Androids essential.

Wading into financial services will also provide Google and Facebook information for their advertising business, helping to track what ads lead to purchases, Mr du Toit said.

The moves into banking are likely to add to the debates over the tech giants, which are already facing probes related to competition, data protection and privacy.

Some officials have also expressed worry about gaps in financial oversight as growing activity occurs outside of traditional banking. And in recent days, New York announced it would investigate Apple, after accusations that its credit card relied on "sexist" algorithms.

Mr du Toit said regulatory concerns represent the "fly in the soup" for tech firms.

"They will have to be very careful," he said.

Partnerships

In many cases, the tech firms are working with traditional banks - a sign they are aware of the potential issues, he said.

Google said its US partners, which reportedly include Citigroup, would start to offer the accounts by 2020.

"We believe our partners' regulatory and financial know-how is a great complement to our experience in building helpful tools and technology for our users," it said in a statement.

Lagging China

Amazon has offered small business loans since 2011 and launched its credit card with JP Morgan Chase in 2017.

But in some ways, the flurry of announcements by companies this year, is a sign that the US is late to the party.

In China and some other countries, the tech firms moved quickly into banking, motivated by the need to fill the gaps left by traditional finance industry that created hurdles for their businesses, whether they were e-commerce firms or food delivery companies.

In the US, however, the need was less pressing, thanks in part to the ubiquity of credit cards and other "good enough solutions", Mr du Toit said.

Big tech payment services provided by the likes of Alibaba's Ant Financial and Tencent's WeChat account for roughly 16% of China's GDP, compared to less than 1% in the US, according to the Bank for International Settlements, an organisation backed by 60 of the world's central banks.

• Chat and pay: How social media is beating the banks
• Is old tech putting banks under threat of extinction?

Tech companies "are now increasingly getting into it because they do believe they can offer a materially better solution to customers," he said.

Last month, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg evoked the threat of Chinese competition while defending his firm's interest in developing a cryptocurrency before Congress last month.

"I view the financial infrastructure in the US as outdated," he said.

'Darwinian experiment'

As the tech companies start to make use of their massive reach, close customer relationships and giant data sets, banks "have woken up" to the threat, leading to collaborations and other uneasy "frenemy" arrangements, Mr du Toit said.

With tech firms moving beyond credit cards, regional banks will get left behind, while smaller financial technology firms are forced out or acquired, Mr du Toit said.

"I sometimes describe this as a giant Darwinian experiment of different couplings of the banks and the big techs," he says. "There will be some mutations that succeed and others that fail."

While Google's earlier efforts to build up Google Pay failed to gain much traction in the US, the firm has developed significant payment business in India, where a Bain & Co survey found that more than half of respondents had used the platform in the last 12 months.

"I would not count them out," Mr du Toit said.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50412568

2019-11-14 12:25:01Z
52780435198567

Google set to offer banking current accounts - BBC News

Google has become the latest big tech firm to move into banking by offering current accounts.

The firm said it plans to partner with banks and credit unions in the US to offer the "smart checking" accounts.

It said the service, to be launched via Google Pay, will allow users to add Google's analytic tools to traditional banking products.

The move follows offerings of credit cards, payment systems and loans by Facebook, Uber, Apple and Amazon.

While the products and arrangements differ, the tech giants entering the world of banking share an underlying motive: making themselves indispensable, says Gerard du Toit, a partner at the Bain & Co consulting firm.

"They're all competing for consumer attention and for their ecosystem and platform to win," he says.

Amazon's credit card and business loans are aimed at boosting its e-commerce business, while Uber Money is providing credit cards, debit accounts and money tracking tools to serve the company's taxi operations.

Facebook has said its Facebook Pay service will complement its messaging tools.

And both Google and Apple, which has teamed up with Goldman Sachs' new consumer arm, Marcus, on a credit card as part of its Apple Pay and Wallet service, want to to make iPhones and Androids essential.

Wading into financial services will also provide Google and Facebook information for their advertising business, helping to track what ads lead to purchases, Mr du Toit said.

The moves into banking are likely to add to the debates over the tech giants, which are already facing probes related to competition, data protection and privacy.

Some officials have also expressed worry about gaps in financial oversight as growing activity occurs outside of traditional banking. And in recent days, New York announced it would investigate Apple, after accusations that its credit card relied on "sexist" algorithms.

Mr du Toit said regulatory concerns represent the "fly in the soup" for tech firms.

"They will have to be very careful," he said.

Partnerships

In many cases, the tech firms are working with traditional banks - a sign they are aware of the potential issues, he said.

Google said its US partners, which reportedly include Citigroup, would start to offer the accounts by 2020.

"We believe our partners' regulatory and financial know-how is a great complement to our experience in building helpful tools and technology for our users," it said in a statement.

Lagging China

Amazon has offered small business loans since 2011 and launched its credit card with JP Morgan Chase in 2017.

But in some ways, the flurry of announcements by companies this year, is a sign that the US is late to the party.

In China and some other countries, the tech firms moved quickly into banking, motivated by the need to fill the gaps left by traditional finance industry that created hurdles for their businesses, whether they were e-commerce firms or food delivery companies.

In the US, however, the need was less pressing, thanks in part to the ubiquity of credit cards and other "good enough solutions", Mr du Toit said.

Big tech payment services provided by the likes of Alibaba's Ant Financial and Tencent's WeChat account for roughly 16% of China's GDP, compared to less than 1% in the US, according to the Bank for International Settlements, an organisation backed by 60 of the world's central banks.

• Chat and pay: How social media is beating the banks
• Is old tech putting banks under threat of extinction?

Tech companies "are now increasingly getting into it because they do believe they can offer a materially better solution to customers," he said.

Last month, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg evoked the threat of Chinese competition while defending his firm's interest in developing a cryptocurrency before Congress last month.

"I view the financial infrastructure in the US as outdated," he said.

'Darwinian experiment'

As the tech companies start to make use of their massive reach, close customer relationships and giant data sets, banks "have woken up" to the threat, leading to collaborations and other uneasy "frenemy" arrangements, Mr du Toit said.

With tech firms moving beyond credit cards, regional banks will get left behind, while smaller financial technology firms are forced out or acquired, Mr du Toit said.

"I sometimes describe this as a giant Darwinian experiment of different couplings of the banks and the big techs," he says. "There will be some mutations that succeed and others that fail."

While Google's earlier efforts to build up Google Pay failed to gain much traction in the US, the firm has developed significant payment business in India, where a Bain & Co survey found that more than half of respondents had used the platform in the last 12 months.

"I would not count them out," Mr du Toit said.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50412568

2019-11-14 11:47:48Z
52780435198567

European stocks edge lower on China trade concerns and ‘worst of all worlds’ German economic data - MarketWatch

European stocks slipped on Thursday on concern over the state of U.S.-China trade talks, as data showed a stagnating economy in Germany.

The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.11%  dropped 0.08% to 405.52, which still is near to its record close of 414.06.

“European equities appear modestly cheap on an absolute basis and extremely cheap relative to government and corporate bonds,” said strategists at Citi, who forecast the Stoxx 600 will reach 420 by the end of 2020.

The German DAX DAX, -0.32%  declined 0.34% to 13184.51, the French CAC 40 PX1, +0.01%  weakened 0.04% to 5904.98 and the U.K. FTSE 100 UKX, -0.47%  fell 0.18% to 7338.01,

Trade talks between the U.S. and China have hit a snag over farm purchases, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, Germany reported its economy grew 0.1% in the third quarter, which was slightly better than forecast but from a downwardly revised second quarter.

#GrossDomesticProduct in the 3rd quarter of 2019 up 0.1% on the previous quarter. Further information at: https://t.co/fsJheFassL #GDP pic.twitter.com/beiHOKjJQh

— Destatis news (@destatis_news) November 14, 2019

“In some sense, this is the ‘worst’ of both worlds for markets. Today’s data confirm that the German economy has now stalled, but the headlines are probably not dire enough to prompt an immediate and aggressive fiscal response from Berlin,” said Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at research consulting firm Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Also on the economics front, U.K. retail sales grew 0.2% in the three months ending October, which is the worst showing in 16 months.

Of stocks on the move, Qiagen QIA, +10.38%  jumped 13.6% after Bloomberg News reported biotechnology developer Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO, +1.37% has approached the German-listed genetic testing company with an offer. Neither Thermo Fisher nor Qiagen has commented.

Burberry Group BRBY, +4.22%  rallied 4.5% as the luxury-goods company reported a stronger-than-forecast profit in its fiscal first half. It did cut its outlook for gross margin because of the disruptions in Hong Kong.

Daimler DAI, -2.90%  as the Mercedes-Benz automaker said profits in 2020 and 2021 will be negatively affected by efforts to meet carbon targets. Daimler said it will cut an unspecified number of jobs.

3i Group III, -5.73%  declined 4.4% after the private-equity firm reported a 10% return in the six months to September 30. The stock is nonetheless up 39% this year.

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2019-11-14 10:22:00Z
52780436153080

Google set to offer banking current accounts - BBC News

Google has become the latest big tech firm to move into banking by offering current accounts.

The firm said it plans to partner with banks and credit unions in the US to offer the "smart checking" accounts.

It said the service, to be launched via Google Pay, will allow users to add Google's analytic tools to traditional banking products.

The move follows offerings of credit cards, payment systems and loans by Facebook, Uber, Apple and Amazon.

While the products and arrangements differ, the tech giants entering the world of banking share an underlying motive: making themselves indispensable, says Gerard du Toit, a partner at the Bain & Co consulting firm.

"They're all competing for consumer attention and for their ecosystem and platform to win," he says.

Amazon's credit card and business loans are aimed at boosting its e-commerce business, while Uber Money is providing credit cards, debit accounts and money tracking tools to serve the company's taxi operations.

Facebook has said its Facebook Pay service will complement its messaging tools.

And both Google and Apple, which has teamed up with Goldman Sachs' new consumer arm, Marcus, on a credit card as part of its Apple Pay and Wallet service, want to to make iPhones and Androids essential.

Wading into financial services will also provide Google and Facebook information for their advertising business, helping to track what ads lead to purchases, Mr du Toit said.

The moves into banking are likely to add to the debates over the tech giants, which are already facing probes related to competition, data protection and privacy.

Some officials have also expressed worry about gaps in financial oversight as growing activity occurs outside of traditional banking. And in recent days, New York announced it would investigate Apple, after accusations that its credit card relied on "sexist" algorithms.

Mr du Toit said regulatory concerns represent the "fly in the soup" for tech firms.

"They will have to be very careful," he said.

Partnerships

In many cases, the tech firms are working with traditional banks - a sign they are aware of the potential issues, he said.

Google said its US partners, which reportedly include Citigroup, would start to offer the accounts by 2020.

"We believe our partners' regulatory and financial know-how is a great complement to our experience in building helpful tools and technology for our users," it said in a statement.

Lagging China

Amazon has offered small business loans since 2011 and launched its credit card with JP Morgan Chase in 2017.

But in some ways, the flurry of announcements by companies this year, is a sign that the US is late to the party.

In China and some other countries, the tech firms moved quickly into banking, motivated by the need to fill the gaps left by traditional finance industry that created hurdles for their businesses, whether they were e-commerce firms or food delivery companies.

In the US, however, the need was less pressing, thanks in part to the ubiquity of credit cards and other "good enough solutions", Mr du Toit said.

Big tech payment services provided by the likes of Alibaba's Ant Financial and Tencent's WeChat account for roughly 16% of China's GDP, compared to less than 1% in the US, according to the Bank for International Settlements, an organisation backed by 60 of the world's central banks.

• Chat and pay: How social media is beating the banks
• Is old tech putting banks under threat of extinction?

Tech companies "are now increasingly getting into it because they do believe they can offer a materially better solution to customers," he said.

Last month, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg evoked the threat of Chinese competition while defending his firm's interest in developing a cryptocurrency before Congress last month.

"I view the financial infrastructure in the US as outdated," he said.

'Darwinian experiment'

As the tech companies start to make use of their massive reach, close customer relationships and giant data sets, banks "have woken up" to the threat, leading to collaborations and other uneasy "frenemy" arrangements, Mr du Toit said.

With tech firms moving beyond credit cards, regional banks will get left behind, while smaller financial technology firms are forced out or acquired, Mr du Toit said.

"I sometimes describe this as a giant Darwinian experiment of different couplings of the banks and the big techs," he says. "There will be some mutations that succeed and others that fail."

While Google's earlier efforts to build up Google Pay failed to gain much traction in the US, the firm has developed significant payment business in India, where a Bain & Co survey found that more than half of respondents had used the platform in the last 12 months.

"I would not count them out," Mr du Toit said.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50412568

2019-11-14 10:15:46Z
52780435198567

Google set to offer banking current accounts - BBC News

Google has become the latest big tech firm to move into banking by offering current accounts.

The firm said it plans to partner with banks and credit unions in the US to offer the "smart checking" accounts.

It said the service, to be launched via Google Pay, will allow users to add Google's analytic tools to traditional banking products.

The move follows offerings of credit cards, payment systems and loans by Facebook, Uber, Apple and Amazon.

While the products and arrangements differ, the tech giants entering the world of banking share an underlying motive: making themselves indispensable, says Gerard du Toit, a partner at the Bain & Co consulting firm.

"They're all competing for consumer attention and for their ecosystem and platform to win," he says.

Amazon's credit card and business loans are aimed at boosting its e-commerce business, while Uber Money is providing credit cards, debit accounts and money tracking tools to serve the company's taxi operations.

Facebook has said its Facebook Pay service will complement its messaging tools.

And both Google and Apple, which has teamed up with Goldman Sachs' new consumer arm, Marcus, on a credit card as part of its Apple Pay and Wallet service, want to to make iPhones and Androids essential.

Wading into financial services will also provide Google and Facebook information for their advertising business, helping to track what ads lead to purchases, Mr du Toit said.

The moves into banking are likely to add to the debates over the tech giants, which are already facing probes related to competition, data protection and privacy.

Some officials have also expressed worry about gaps in financial oversight as growing activity occurs outside of traditional banking. And in recent days, New York announced it would investigate Apple, after accusations that its credit card relied on "sexist" algorithms.

Mr du Toit said regulatory concerns represent the "fly in the soup" for tech firms.

"They will have to be very careful," he said.

Partnerships

In many cases, the tech firms are working with traditional banks - a sign they are aware of the potential issues, he said.

Google said its US partners, which reportedly include Citigroup, would start to offer the accounts by 2020.

"We believe our partners' regulatory and financial know-how is a great complement to our experience in building helpful tools and technology for our users," it said in a statement.

Lagging China

Amazon has offered small business loans since 2011 and launched its credit card with JP Morgan Chase in 2017.

But in some ways, the flurry of announcements by companies this year, is a sign that the US is late to the party.

In China and some other countries, the tech firms moved quickly into banking, motivated by the need to fill the gaps left by traditional finance industry that created hurdles for their businesses, whether they were e-commerce firms or food delivery companies.

In the US, however, the need was less pressing, thanks in part to the ubiquity of credit cards and other "good enough solutions", Mr du Toit said.

Big tech payment services provided by the likes of Alibaba's Ant Financial and Tencent's WeChat account for roughly 16% of China's GDP, compared to less than 1% in the US, according to the Bank for International Settlements, an organisation backed by 60 of the world's central banks.

• Chat and pay: How social media is beating the banks
• Is old tech putting banks under threat of extinction?

Tech companies "are now increasingly getting into it because they do believe they can offer a materially better solution to customers," he said.

Last month, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg evoked the threat of Chinese competition while defending his firm's interest in developing a cryptocurrency before Congress last month.

"I view the financial infrastructure in the US as outdated," he said.

'Darwinian experiment'

As the tech companies start to make use of their massive reach, close customer relationships and giant data sets, banks "have woken up" to the threat, leading to collaborations and other uneasy "frenemy" arrangements, Mr du Toit said.

With tech firms moving beyond credit cards, regional banks will get left behind, while smaller financial technology firms are forced out or acquired, Mr du Toit said.

"I sometimes describe this as a giant Darwinian experiment of different couplings of the banks and the big techs," he says. "There will be some mutations that succeed and others that fail."

While Google's earlier efforts to build up Google Pay failed to gain much traction in the US, the firm has developed significant payment business in India, where a Bain & Co survey found that more than half of respondents had used the platform in the last 12 months.

"I would not count them out," Mr du Toit said.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50412568

2019-11-14 09:01:44Z
52780435198567

Fed's Powell says interest rates unlikely to change as long as growth continues - CNBC

The Federal Reserve is unlikely to adjust interest rates anytime soon so long as the economy remains on its present path, central bank Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress on Wednesday.

In commentary he provided to the Joint Economic Committee, Powell reiterated a stance he outlined a few weeks ago that the Fed's moves this year toward more accommodative monetary policy have helped support an economy that continues to grow. He noted that Fed moves tend to have a lagged effect, meaning that it will take time to assess what impact they are having.

"We see the current stance of monetary policy as likely to remain appropriate as long as incoming information about the economy remains broadly consistent with our outlook of moderate economic growth, a strong labor market, and inflation near our symmetric 2 percent objective," he said in prepared remarks.

The Fed has cut its benchmark rate three times this year to its current target range of 1.5% to 1.75%. While the fed funds rate specifically sets the rate banks charge each other for very short-term lending, it also is tied to multiple forms of consumer debt.

Following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting late last month, Powell said he sees the economy as "being in a good place" and unlikely to need more stimulus if the data stays consistent.

"Looking ahead, my colleagues and I see a sustained expansion of economic activity, a strong labor market, and inflation near our symmetric 2 percent objective as most likely," he said in his remarks Wednesday. "This favorable baseline partly reflects the policy adjustments that we have made to provide support for the economy."

Inflation warnings

As he has multiple times before, Powell cautioned that challenges remain, such as weakness abroad, trade tensions and low inflation.

Several officials recently have placed particular emphasis on inflation that remains below the Fed's 2% target. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, for instance, has said the Fed should state publicly that it won't raise until inflation is firmly at the target. Chicago's Charles Evans went even further, saying the Fed should articulate that it would be OK if the level ran a little hotter than 2%. Both officials made the remarks in CNBC interviews.

For his part, Powell also has said that inflation would have to rise substantially before he would consider a rate hike. He said Wednesday that policymakers will continue to assess what needs to be done.

Powell said the labor market remains strong, incomes are rising and consumer confidence continues to grow.

"We will be monitoring the effects of our policy actions, along with other information bearing on the outlook, as we assess the appropriate path of the target range for the federal funds rate," he said. "Of course, if developments emerge that cause a material reassessment of our outlook, we would respond accordingly. Policy is not on a preset course."

On other topics, Powell addressed the mid-September flare-up in the repo market, where banks go to exchange ultra-safe assets for reserves. The Fed responded to a cash crunch by opening up a series of temporary and longer-term market operations that have pumped billions into the system.

Powell called the operations "technical measures" that do not reflect a change in monetary policy, though the moves have led to a $270 billion expansion in the Fed balance sheet.

He also repeated that fiscal policy is on an unsustainable path and could limit the ability to respond to an economic downturn.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/13/feds-powell-says-rates-unlikely-to-change-as-long-as-growth-continues.html

2019-11-13 14:30:00Z
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