OPEC and Russia seek to ratify deeper oil production cuts - CNBC

Energy ministers from some of the world's largest oil producers will attempt to ratify a deeper round of output cuts on Friday.

OPEC and non-OPEC partners, sometimes referred to as OPEC+, have gathered in Vienna, Austria to decide the next phase of their oil production policy.

Led by Saudi Arabia, the 14-member group agreed in principle on Thursday to cut production by an additional 500,000 barrels per day (b/d) through to the end of March 2020, according to CNBC sources. This level of output curbs is much larger than many had expected.

OPEC will now request the approval of non-OPEC allies, including Russia, in a bid to prop up oil prices.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at $63.53 on Friday morning, up around 0.2%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $58.47, little changed from the previous session.

Oil prices have rallied in recent trading sessions, amid intensifying speculation of deeper-than-anticipated production cuts. However, Brent crude futures remain around 15% lower when compared to an April peak, with WTI down almost 12% over the same period.

"It is fair to say that this agreement has left market players with mixed feelings," Stephen Brennock, oil analyst at PVM Oil Associates, said in a research note published Friday.

"On the one hand, the extent of these extra supply curbs surprised to the upside. On the other hand, there is concern that there was no mention of an extension to cuts beyond the current March 2020 deadline."

As OPEC+ prepares to meet on Friday, sources told CNBC'S Brian Sullivan that the energy alliance still had multiple issues to resolve.

Contentious meeting

It was initially unclear whether a preliminary meeting of OPEC members had secured a deal.

The group announced it had canceled its customary press conference on Thursday, following an acrimonious meeting that ran late into the evening.

"I think it sets us up for a tough day of negotiations," Cornelia Meyer, CEO of Meyer Resources, told CNBC's Dan Murphy in Vienna on Friday.

"Now, the question is: How much OPEC (and) how much non-OPEC?" Meyer said, referring to how OPEC+ might try to split the cuts between each producer.

Saudi Arabia, which has been producing less than it agreed to, has been adamant that those overproducing — such as Iraq and Nigeria — must comply with their quota.

OPEC+ has reduced output by 1.2 million b/d since the beginning of the year. The current deal, which runs through to March 2020, replaced a previous round of production cuts that began in January 2017.

The energy alliance was prompted to act after global oil prices tumbled in mid-2014 due to an oversupply, but U.S. shale producers are not a part of the deal and shale oil supply has grown exponentially.

The U.S. is now the world's largest oil producer hitting 12.3 million b/d in 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, up from 11 million b/d in 2018. It produces more oil than Saudi Arabia and Russia now, although there are signs that production growth is slowing in the States.

Along with rampant shale supply, faltering demand due to a global economic slowdown, exacerbated by the Sino-U.S. trade war, has once again threatened to unbalance oil supply and demand dynamics.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiamh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNuYmMuY29tLzIwMTkvMTIvMDYvb3BlYy1zYXVkaS1hcmFiaWEtYW5kLXJ1c3NpYS1zZXQtdG8taW1wb3NlLWRlZXBlci1vaWwtcHJvZHVjdGlvbi1jdXRzLmh0bWzSAW5odHRwczovL3d3dy5jbmJjLmNvbS9hbXAvMjAxOS8xMi8wNi9vcGVjLXNhdWRpLWFyYWJpYS1hbmQtcnVzc2lhLXNldC10by1pbXBvc2UtZGVlcGVyLW9pbC1wcm9kdWN0aW9uLWN1dHMuaHRtbA?oc=5

2019-12-06 09:19:00Z
52780456555621

Uber Safety Study Finds More Than 3,000 Reports of Sexual Assaults in U.S. Rides Last Year - Gizmodo

Photo: Alastair Pike (Getty)

In addition to recent news of its bizarre issue with segregating bathrooms, Uber has long struggled with keeping its passengers safe, though we only now know the extent of the problem (in the U.S., at least) courtesy of the company’s first study on unsafe incidents involving the ridesharing service.

According to Thursday’s report, which only covered U.S. rides between 2017 and 2018, last year alone Uber received 3,045 reports of sexual assaults during trips with another nine people murdered and 58 killed in crashes. The numbers from 2017 tell a nearly identical story. Uber said it used an intentionally broad definition of sexual assault that ranges from nonconsensual kissing of any “nonsexual body part” to attempted rape and rape, with the majority of documented incidents involving unwanted touching of a “sexual body part,” i.e. a person’s mouth or genitalia.

Though previous investigations have already shed plenty of light on how pervasive reports of sexual assault and other violent acts involving the service are, Uber’s transparency marks some of the first official numbers on the subject, as no police department or government body currently tracks crimes specifically related to ridesharing services. Competitors like Lyft haven’t shared comparable figures either.

“We don’t believe corporate secrecy will make anyone safer,” Uber states in the report’s executive summary.

In reminders diligently peppered throughout the study, the company reiterates that these incidents represent a small fraction of the total 2.3 billion Uber rides completed in the U.S. during that same period, and that of the nearly 4 million trips taken every day using the service, 99.9 percent end with no reported safety incidents.

Even still, Uber’s chief legal officer and a leading force behind the report, Tony West, called the findings “jarring and hard to digest” in an interview with the New York Times. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also expressed his sentiments on Twitter for the victims of these thousands of documented incidents.

Advertisement

“My heart is with every survivor of this all-too-pervasive crime. Our work will never be done, but we take an important step forward today,” he tweeted Thursday.

Advertisement

And apparently people booking a ride aren’t the only ones at risk. “Drivers are victims, too,” the company wrote in its executive summary. While 92 percent of reported rape victims were passengers, drivers and riders both reported other types of sexual assaults such as unwanted kissing and touching at similar rates, Uber said. And of the 19 murders Uber documented during that two-year period, seven of the victims were drivers while eight were passengers (the company refers to the remaining four as “third-parties” such as nearby bystanders).

With this report (and a promise to keep releasing these stats every two years from now on), Uber appears to be making good on last year’s promise that the company’s “getting serious about safety”. Since then, Uber’s implemented several new security features such as an in-app emergency button that silently shares your location and trip details with 911, an option to share your ride information with a trusted third-party so they can know you’ve arrived safely, and an ID check feature that makes drivers prove with a selfie that they are who their account says they are. The company’s also purportedly tripled the size of its safety team to 300 employees since 2017, which I can assume was in part made possible by its several recent rounds of lay-offs that gutted other departments such as marketing and engineering.

Advertisement

Uber’s also apparently been beefing up its screening requirements for who’s allowed to drive for the company in the first place. According to Uber, more than 40,000 drivers have been kicked from the service after it implemented a system that continuously screens drivers for any possible recent criminal offenses. Uber’s background checks disqualify anyone with a felony conviction in the last seven years, though in the case of certain violent felonies like sexual assault, kidnapping, and murder, there’s no such time period limit. During the two-year period studied in Uber’s safety report, the company said its screening process filtered out more than a million prospective drivers who failed to pass these checks.

Advertisement

Along with today’s report, the company noted its currently researching ways to create a black-list of banned drivers in addition to several other new safety measures planned for 2020. According to the Times’ report, West also said Uber plans to share information with competing ridesharing companies about possibly dangerous drivers that passengers have reported, though he didn’t go into detail.

Admittedly, the bar is ridiculously low for any safety features Uber comes up with. After all, this is the company that marketed a phony “Safe Rides Fee” to scam passengers out of billions. All Uber has to do is avoid shamelessly profiting off its shady reputation.

Advertisement

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiVmh0dHBzOi8vZ2l6bW9kby5jb20vdWJlci1zYWZldHktc3R1ZHktZmluZHMtbW9yZS10aGFuLTMtMDAwLXJlcG9ydHMtb2Ytc2V4dS0xODQwMjU3MjE20gFaaHR0cHM6Ly9naXptb2RvLmNvbS91YmVyLXNhZmV0eS1zdHVkeS1maW5kcy1tb3JlLXRoYW4tMy0wMDAtcmVwb3J0cy1vZi1zZXh1LTE4NDAyNTcyMTYvYW1w?oc=5

2019-12-06 07:10:54Z
52780465769913

Uber had 6,000 US sexual assault reports in two years - BBC News

Uber said it received almost 6,000 reports of sexual assault in the United States in 2017 and 2018.

While the number of cases rose in 2018, the rate of incidents dropped by 16%, as the number of journeys was higher.

The data was published in a report which Uber said showed its commitment to "improving safety for Uber and the entire industry".

Uber is facing growing scrutiny around the world, and recently lost its licence to operate in London.

The report showed 5,981 sexual assault incidents were reported out of the 2.3bn US trips over the two-year period.

Some 99.9% of the total journeys were concluded without safety issues, it said.

Passengers - as opposed to drivers - accounted for nearly half of those accused of sexual assault, the report added.

Uber said the report was the first comprehensive safety review of its ride-hailing business.

"Voluntarily publishing a report that discusses these difficult safety issues is not easy," said Tony West, chief legal officer at Uber.

"Most companies don't talk about issues like sexual violence because doing so risks inviting negative headlines and public criticism. But we feel it's time for a new approach."

The company told the BBC there were currently no concrete plans to release safety reports for any non-US markets.

This is a hugely significant document that for the first time details the extent to which the gig economy puts people in harm's way.

Uber described it as a complex project that was two years in the making, with much of that time spent auditing the data ensure to accuracy.

It should be noted that, knowing it would provoke grim headlines, the firm opted to release this data voluntarily.

The firm has committed to releasing the report every two years.

Now that Uber has proven it can produce this data in a digestible form, it must keep doing so at regular intervals and, eventually, for all its markets around the world.

That's not an easy undertaking, but the company can afford it.

Continual publication of the report would bring focus and urgency: is Uber's record on safety getting better or worse? Why might that be? Are certain regions safer than others? What can we learn from that?

Attention must also turn to the other gig economy firms out there. Lyft - which is facing a lawsuit over sexual assault filed just this week - has no excuses now that its bigger rival has acted.

Uber said 3,045 sexual assault reports were made in 2018 compared with 2,936 in 2017.

Last year, 1.3 billion trips were completed in the US, up from one billion in 2017.

The head of the US National Sexual Violence Resource Center, Karen Baker, welcomed the report, saying it "provides an opportunity to shed light on how this information-sharing emboldens our work for a safer future".

Passenger safety, in particular sexual violence, have been major challenges for Uber and its US rival Lyft, as well as China's Didi.

In November, London's transport regulator announced that Uber would not be granted a new licence to operate after repeated safety issues.

The firm has appealed against the ruling and continues to operate during the process.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiKmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy9idXNpbmVzcy01MDY4MjE3NdIBLmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy9hbXAvYnVzaW5lc3MtNTA2ODIxNzU?oc=5

2019-12-06 05:50:53Z
52780465769913

Saudi Aramco raises $25.6 billion in the world's biggest IPO - CNN

Saudi Aramco sold 3 billion shares at 32 riyals ($8.53) each in its IPO, the company said Thursday. That means the deal raised more than China's Alibaba (BABA) in its 2014 public debut.

The IPO values Aramco at roughly $1.7 trillion, making it the most valuable publicly traded company in the world ahead of Apple (AAPL), which is worth about $1.15 trillion.

Saudi Aramco said last month that it was aiming to sell about 1.5% of its 200 billion shares. The size of the deal could yet rise to $29.4 billion, if an option to sell more shares is exercised.

While setting a new record, the IPO still falls well short of Saudi Arabia's initial lofty expectations.

First touted in 2016, the company's partial privatization was supposed to usher in a new era of economic liberalization in Saudi Arabia.

The massive stock exchange debut would fund Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan to wean the kingdom off oil and develop other sectors of its economy, while signaling to multinational companies and foreign investors that Saudi Arabia was open for business.

The Saudi government initially discussed floating 5% of the company in 2018 in a deal that would raise as much as $100 billion. It was looking at international markets such as New York or London, as well as Riyadh.

Yet the project was shelved amid concerns about legal complications in the United States, doubts about the $2 trillion valuation reportedly sought by bin Salman, and international outrage triggered by the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

The deal was revived earlier this year after Aramco pulled off a successful international bond sale. But international investors were far less convinced about buying Aramco stock. Among their concerns: Low oil prices, the climate crisis and geopolitical risks.

The kingdom is expected to have relied heavily on rich Saudis, sympathetic sovereign wealth funds and even major customers such as China signing up for shares.

It helps that Aramco has promised to pay an annual dividend of $75 billion through 2024. To some investors, this could make the listing look more like a bond offering with promised payouts and lower risk. Aramco's stock is expected to begin trading on Tadawul exchange in Riyadh later this month.

In the meantime, the cost of oil remains in focus. OPEC, which is meeting Thursday in Vienna, is expected to extend supply cuts that have been in place since 2017, part of a bid by Saudi Arabia to prop up prices.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiSmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNubi5jb20vMjAxOS8xMi8wNS9pbnZlc3Rpbmcvc2F1ZGktYXJhbWNvLWlwby1wcmljZS9pbmRleC5odG1s0gFOaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuY25uLmNvbS9jbm4vMjAxOS8xMi8wNS9pbnZlc3Rpbmcvc2F1ZGktYXJhbWNvLWlwby1wcmljZS9pbmRleC5odG1s?oc=5

2019-12-05 17:57:00Z
52780456379323

Biogen's stock rises 4% after company releases new data on late-stage Alzheimer's drug - CNBC

The exterior of the headquarters of biotechnology company Biogen in Cambridge, MA is pictured on March 21, 2019.

John Tlumacki | Boston Globe | Getty Images

Biogen shares rose Thursday after the biotech firm offered more data on its late-stage Alzheimer's drug, aducanumab.

The data, presented at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease conference, offered almost no new results from what the company previously released in October. However, analysts who parsed through it said the lack of any new negatives in the report means they expect the company will take the data to the Food and Drug Administration.

"The data is so confusing," said Jared Holz, a health-care strategist at Jefferies, adding the report did show a slightly better response to the drug at higher doses.

Dr. Eric Siemers, an Alzheimer's expert who previously led Alzheimer's research at Eli Lilly, also noted the company offered a more detailed look but "almost the same as they showed" previously.

Shares of Biogen were up more than 4% after falling 3% immediately on the news. Prior to the announcement, Biogen shares were halted at $286.83. The stock, which had a market value of nearly $52 billion at the time, is down nearly 5% since the start of the year.

The drug targets a compound in the brain known as beta-amyloid, which is thought to play a role in the devastating disease.

In March, Biogen pulled the plug on its drug after an analysis from an independent audit revealed the experimental medicine was unlikely to work. The news sent its stock tumbling. However, shares of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company soared on Oct. 22 after the drugmaker shocked investors by announcing it was seeking regulatory approval for the drug after all.

Biogen said at the time that a new analysis of a larger data set showed that aducanumab "reduced clinical decline in patients with early Alzheimer's disease" and patients who received the drug "experienced significant benefits on measures of cognition and function such as memory, orientation, and language."

The findings in October were met with skepticism from investors and analysts who said the results may have just been by chance. Some analysts remained skeptical after Thursday's results from the two late-stage studies, saying it raised more questions.

Salim Syed, a senior biotech analyst at Mizuho Securities, said in a note to clients that the new data is "not impressive," adding it "represents a highly selected patients population that may not be representative of a real world."

Experts discussing the results on a panel Thursday were largely positive.

Sharon Cohen, a primary investigator on Biogen's trial, said the data is "is exhilarating not just to the scientific community but to our patients as well."

There are currently no drugs approved that can reverse the mental decline from Alzheimer's, which is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. The FDA has approved Alzheimer's drugs aimed at helping symptoms, not actually reversing or slowing the disease itself.

— CNBC's Meg Tirrell contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMieGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNuYmMuY29tLzIwMTkvMTIvMDUvYmlvZ2Vucy1zdG9jay1yaXNlcy00cGVyY2VudC1hZnRlci1yZWxlYXNpbmctbmV3LWRhdGEtb24tbGF0ZS1zdGFnZS1hbHpoZWltZXJzLWRydWcuaHRtbNIBfGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNuYmMuY29tL2FtcC8yMDE5LzEyLzA1L2Jpb2dlbnMtc3RvY2stcmlzZXMtNHBlcmNlbnQtYWZ0ZXItcmVsZWFzaW5nLW5ldy1kYXRhLW9uLWxhdGUtc3RhZ2UtYWx6aGVpbWVycy1kcnVnLmh0bWw?oc=5

2019-12-05 17:16:00Z
52780460415739

This stock bear is waiting for one clear signal to jump back into markets - MarketWatch

A previous version of this column misspelled the name of pro-basketball player LeBron James. The story has been corrected.

Getty Images

The water’s fine?

Stock market bears have had few breaks this year.

The S&P 500 SPX, +0.07%  has nabbed 26 record closes this year, while the Dow DJIA, +0.04%  counts 15, and pullbacks have often been quickly met by investors ready to buy. The pendulum swinging back toward more optimistic U.S.-China trade talk means a few more records could be reached in 2019.

Our call of the day comes from JonesTrading’s chief market strategist Michael O’Rourke, an unrepentant bear who sees little reason to dive in now, even if he has missed gains this year.

“We have been in an environment of deteriorating stock fundamentals, a weak global economy and a decelerating U.S. economy, against a backdrop of a historically expensive market,” he tells MarketWatch. Despite strong gains, the S&P 500 is just under 10% above its 2018 high, while the Russell 2000 RUT, +0.70%  is below its 2018 high.”

As for his call: “I will turn positive on the equity market when valuations are more attractive and aligned with economic and earnings growth.”

What has happened in the past couple of years is that company earnings growth has been “artificial,” driven by the administration’s tax cuts, he argues. That should mean that investors should assign a lower valuation, but they aren’t doing that, which is “dangerous.”

“I will become more constructive on the equity market as it begins to approach that historic 15x to 16x earnings multiple within a stable economic environment,” says O’Rourke. And right now, the forward price/earnings ratio—a popular method of valuing a stock’s worth—for the S&P 500 is right around 20.

Does he regret missing out on the stock’s gains? “I have a long-term process that is intended to be bullish when there is tremendous long-term opportunity and bearish when there is notable long-term risk,” O’Rourke said. He believes the Federal Reserve’s lengthy accommodative monetary policy has skewed business and investment cycles.

The market

Dow YM00, +0.28%, S&P 500 ES00, +0.25% and Nasdaq NQ00, +0.34%  futures are climbing, and European stocks SXXP, +0.21% are up, while Asian equities ADOW, +0.42% rose as well. Oil CLF20, +0.87%  is up as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries gets underway.

The chart

Look for the S&P 500 to rally to 3,200 and up in the first half of next year, say JP Morgan strategists Jason Hunter and Alix Tepper Floman, who provide our chart of the day.

JP Morgan

They don’t think bears have a grip on this stock market, despite the pullbacks triggered by geopolitical headlines this year. Investors will likely get tempted into the market around the support level of 3,020 to 3,055, says the team.

The buzz

In the latest on trade, China says Washington must roll back tariffs if the two sides want to reach a deal.

The Federal Trade Commission is widening an Amazon AMZN, -0.51%  probe to include its cloud services unit, reports Bloomberg. Neither side would comment on the article.

Saudi Aramco may become the world’s biggest IPO, if the energy group prices shares at the top end of an expected range.

Shares of Slack WORK, -0.92%  are climbing after the online communications service earnings disappointed, but its outlook didn’t. Dollar General DG, +0.91%  shares are up after the cut-price retailer topped estimates and raised guidance.

The economy

A day ahead of U.S. payrolls data, jobless claims came in below expectations and the trade deficit fell on weak Chinese imports. Still to come are factory orders.

Random reads

A U.S. sailor kills two people and himself at Pearl Harbor shipyard.

Dying teen has one wish—to shake hands with basketball superstar LeBron James.

Air New Zealand is experimenting with edible coffee cups.

Strikes and protests over the government’s retirement reforms paralyze France.

This art sale is literally bananas.

Need to Know starts early and is updated until the opening bell, but sign up here to get it delivered once to your email box. Be sure to check the Need to Know item. The emailed version will be sent out at about 7:30 a.m. Eastern.

Follow MarketWatch on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMidmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm1hcmtldHdhdGNoLmNvbS9zdG9yeS90aGlzLXN0b2NrLWJlYXItaXMtd2FpdGluZy1mb3Itb25lLWNsZWFyLXNpZ25hbC10by1qdW1wLWJhY2staW50by1tYXJrZXRzLTIwMTktMTItMDXSAU9odHRwczovL3d3dy5tYXJrZXR3YXRjaC5jb20vYW1wL3N0b3J5L2d1aWQvRTBGOEMyMzgtMTcyMy0xMUVBLTlEQTktNkU4NjYzNTUyOEJE?oc=5

2019-12-05 14:22:00Z
CAIiEOZxmyEIPdiVvbRRv5i8p1sqGAgEKg8IACoHCAowjujJATDXzBUwiJS0AQ

GM, LG Chem to create $2.3 billion battery cell venture for electric vehicles, to create 1,100 jobs in Ohio - CNBC

Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO of General Motors.

Bill Pugliano | Getty Images

DETROIT – General Motors and LG Chem will invest up to $2.3 billion by 2023 to form a joint venture for production of battery cells for electric vehicles in Ohio.

The companies plan to build a battery cell factory in the Lordstown-area of northeast Ohio. Construction of the plant, which is expected to be among the largest in the world, is expected to begin in mid-2020.

The facility, according to GM, is expected to create 1,100 new jobs for the area, which lost thousands of jobs when the automaker shuttered its Lordstown assembly plant and sold it to an all-electric vehicle startup earlier this year.

The joint venture at this time plans to exclusively supply batteries for GM's next-generation of EVs, which GM has said is expected to arrive in 2021. The joint venture could supply other companies in the future.

GM CEO and Chairman Mary Barra, in a statement, said the new plant "will play a key role" in GM's plans for "a world with zero emissions," which includes at least 20 new all-electric vehicles by 2023.

The plant, according to GM, is expected to drive cost per kilowatt hours, a key metric for making electric vehicles more affordable, to "industry-leading levels."

The plant's annual capacity is expected to be more than 30 gigawatt hours "with flexibility for expansion," according to GM.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNuYmMuY29tLzIwMTkvMTIvMDUvZ20tbGctdG8tZm9ybS0ycG9pbnQzLWJpbGxpb24tam9pbnQtdmVudHVyZS1mb3ItYmF0dGVyeS1jZWxsLXByb2R1Y3Rpb24uaHRtbNIBcGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNuYmMuY29tL2FtcC8yMDE5LzEyLzA1L2dtLWxnLXRvLWZvcm0tMnBvaW50My1iaWxsaW9uLWpvaW50LXZlbnR1cmUtZm9yLWJhdHRlcnktY2VsbC1wcm9kdWN0aW9uLmh0bWw?oc=5

2019-12-05 14:00:00Z
52780462748158