BETWEEN THE HEDGES: Today's Headlines

Saturday, September 09, 2017

Today's Headlines

Posted by Gary .....at 8:52 PM

Bloomberg:

Florida's West Coast in Irma's Crosshairs as Track Shifts. Hurricane Irma shifted track and took aim at southwestern Florida, raising the risk of severe damage in Tampa and other cities facing the Gulf of Mexico, in what could end up being the most expensive storm in U.S. history. President Donald Trump discussed round-the-clock preparations now under way with his Cabinet, calling Irma “a storm of enormous destructive power.” With top winds of 125 miles (201 kilometers) an hour, the deadly storm is expected to strike the Florida Keys Sunday morning then follow the state’s Gulf Coast north, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory around 5 p.m. New York time. At Category 3, Irma is expected to regain strength later Saturday.
China’s Factory, Consumer Inflation Pick Up, Exceeding Estimates. The producer price index rose 6.3 percent in August from a year earlier, versus an estimated 5.7 percent in a Bloomberg survey and a 5.5 percent July reading. PPI exceeded all but one of 38 estimates in Bloomberg’s survey of economists. The consumer price index climbed 1.8 percent, compared with 1.4 percent a month earlier, the statistics bureau said Saturday.
China to Ban Sale of Fossil Fuel Cars in Electric Vehicle Push. China will set a deadline for automakers to end sales of fossil-fuel powered vehicles, a move aimed at pushing companies to speed efforts in developing electric vehicles for the world’s biggest auto market. Xin Guobin, the vice minister of industry and information technology, said the government is working with other regulators on a timetable to end production and sales. The move will have a profound impact on the environment and growth of China’s auto industry, Xin said at an auto forum in Tianjin on Saturday.
Hurricane Fallout Could Cloud Picture for Data-Dependent Fed. Harvey and Irma probably aren’t going to dent U.S. growth in any lasting way, but back-to-back hurricanes could make it tough for Federal Reserve officials to take the economy’s pulse as they ponder the timing of their next interest-rate hike. “When we think about the impact of these storms, first of all it’s going to make it very difficult to read the economic data over the next few months because it’s going to be hard to know exactly what the data would have been ex the hurricanes,” William Dudley, president of the New York Fed, told CNBC in an interview Friday.
Equifax’s Hacking Nightmare Gets Even Worse For Victims. (video) First one of the biggest hacks ever. Then a delay in revealing who was affected. Now consumers are infuriated about fine print that may bar lawsuits.
Equifax's(EFX) Insurance Is Likely Inadequate for Breach. Equifax Inc.’s insurance against cyber breaches is likely inadequate to cover the credit-reporting company’s costs tied to one of the biggest hacks in history, according to people familiar with the coverage. The company holds a policy that would probably cover about $100 million to $150 million, with costs shared by carriers in the London market and elsewhere, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private contract. Though Equifax’s eventual expense may not be known for years, it could be multiples higher than the insurance payout, given what the company has disclosed and the costs at hacking victims like Yahoo and Target Corp., they said.
Apple's(AAPL) Top New Phone to Be Called ‘iPhone X,’ Code Leaks Show. (video) Apple Inc.’s most important new phone for years will be called the iPhone X, according to a leak of the company’s latest mobile operating system on Saturday. Strings of software code inside of the leaked operating system, first detailed by Apple news website 9to5Mac, show the expected three new phones will be called the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X. App and game developer Steven Troughton-Smith discovered the names in the software and tweeted about it on Saturday.

Wall Street Journal:

Hurricane Irma: Live Updates.
Why Entitlements Keep Growing, and Growing, and . . . Once granted, benefits always multiply and are nearly impossible to repeal, John Cogan says. Only three presidents have been able to rein them in.
Bridgewater to Launch Big Investment Fund in China, Three Decades in the Making. Founder Ray Dalio’s fascination with China evolves into plans to raise billions of dollars, amass clout that has largely eluded outside hedge funds and banks.