Media Navel Gaze: March 16, 2015
The Week Unpeeled
The markets were clearly one of the leading headlines last week with the Dow and other stock barometers in full-on volatile mode (but mostly down); Euro markets seem to attract renewed attention (mostly relieved), the dollar roared higher (mostly hurting exports) and oil poised to go still lower (mostly at the expense of corporate profits). The blue chips ended down 0.6% last week with a big slump on Friday to end at 17,749.
Elsewhere:
- Apple unveiled its iWatch amid a resounding "meh";
- Circa, the news app, now has a Web site (headline junkies rejoice in odd reverse e-migration from mobile to Web);
- Blurred Lines Made Blurrier?: A judge ruled that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams' hit single stole from Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give it Up," which will now happen to the tune of $7.3 million;
- The UO SAEs seem to lawyering up;
- Putin appears to have replaced Waldo in the new game, Where's Putin?
- The Dalai Lamai is suggesting that he may not be reincarnated and the Chinese government is reportedly fighting for his afterlife;
- The major US banks passed the recent Fed stress tests with some conditions, meaning paybacks to investors are now possible;
- The Ex-Im Bank continued to be under fire from some Republicans for claims its financial support is not balanced to all companies; and
- This weekend (on Saturday 3.14) math geeks worldwide Tweeted Pi Day and got super excited at 3.14.15 @9:26:53 when it became the "number date/time of the century" for a rare full digits!
LATAM GAZE
News/Politics
- Chile on Saturday declared a national state of emergency after a forest fire spread through Valparaíso, a city of about 1.5 million residents located 120 kilometers from the national capital of Santiago.
- Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will meet with US President Barack Obama in Panama next month to discuss collaborative opportunities in security, energy, commerce and global collaboration. Meanwhile thousands of Brazilians took to the streets Sunday in a nationwide protest calling for President Rousseff's impeachment.
- Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa lobbied South American nations to support Venezuela by rejecting sanctions the US has imposed on the nation under the premise of national security
- Colombian newspaper El Tiempo has named a new president, Juan Guillermo Amaya
Finance
- Brazil's new Central Bank regime is serious about lowering current inflation levels, which stand at 7.7%. The group reiterated its guarantee that by 2016 it'll have lowered inflation to 4.5%. And should the 2015 goal of lowering inflation to 6.5% not be reached, Central Bank Governor Alexandre Tombini has promised a formal letter to Brazil's Economic Ministry explaining the reasons why.
- Despite Brazil's recent national drought, electric company Neoenergia has maintained its plan to invest R$5.75 billion (about $2 billion in USD) in Brazil by 2016
Legal
State-owned Mexican oil company PEMEX reached a settlement with Siemens regarding 2012 allegations that the German firm bribed PEMEX officials to send them crude refinement projects in the region. 