Day: April 30, 2023

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(C) Reuters. A vehicle drives past an electoral banner, a day before presidential elections, in Lambare, Paraguay April 29, 2023. REUTERS/Cesar Olmedo
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By Lucinda Elliott and Daniela Desantis

ASUNCION (Reuters) -Paraguayans began voting on Sunday in what could be the biggest electoral challenge to the ruling conservative Colorado Party in over a decade and with the country’s long ties with Taiwan potentially at stake.

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (1100 GMT) in what is expected to be a close contest between Colorado Party presidential candidate Santiago Pena, a 44-year-old economist, and 60-year-old political veteran Efrain Alegre, who is leading a broad center-left coalition and who promises a foreign policy shake-up.

In addition to the single-round winner-take-all presidential race, voters are also electing members of Congress and governors in the country of fewer than 7 million people. The first results are expected from around 7 p.m. (2300 GMT).

At the Mariscal Francisco Solano L?pez school in the capital Asuncion, Ramona Oddone was one of the first in line to cast her ballot: “Look at all the young people taking part – that shows people want change,” the 79-year-old retired schoolteacher told Reuters. “They need jobs and I need a better pension.”

Eugenio Senturion, 65, said his loyalty was firmly with the continuity candidate, Pena. “Once a Colorado always a Colorado,” he said, speaking outside his local polling station in the area of Jara, Asuncion, where dry weather conditions could favour a high turnout, analysts said. “You cannot betray someone of your own (party) color,” he said.

A 34-year-old mother of three, Maria Jose Rodas, was undecided. “I’m worried about crime. All the candidates are the same for me … nothing will change,” she said as a busload of voters arrived at the inner-city polling station.

The Colorado Party has dominated politics in the landlocked South American country since the 1950s and has ruled for all but five of the last 75 years. But its popularity has been hit by a slowing economy and graft allegations.

Ahead of casting his own ballot in the capital, Pena reiterated that the party would recognize a defeat. “No one can question our democratic credentials, not me as a candidate or the party,” he told journalists on Sunday. “We are convinced that we are the best option … we have full confidence in electoral justice.”

The build-up to the election has been dominated by the economy, corruption allegations and the candidates’ views on Taiwan. Paraguay is one of only 13 nations to maintain formal diplomatic ties with the democratically governed island that China views as its territory.

Alegre has criticized those ties, which have made it hard to sell soy and beef to China, a major global buyer, and has said the country’s farm-driven economy does not get enough in return from Taipei.

Pena has said he would maintain ties with Taiwan.

Alegre on Sunday warned of reports of voter obstruction in the north of the country and said he would not “give in” to attempts to prevent citizen participation.

“Up until now all reports are positive, the process is being carried out without any difficulties,” he told local media.

In final campaign events, Alegre took aim at corruption allegations that have dogged Colorado Party leader Horacio Cartes, a former president who was placed under U.S. sanctions in January. Alegre called him the “Pablo Escobar of Paraguay,” referring to the notorious Colombian drug trafficker who was killed in 1993.

Cartes denies the allegations.

Pena acknowledged party divisions in his closing campaign speech and promised to be “a symbol of party unity.”

Fiorella Moreno, 23, who sells ice cream, felt that none of the candidates offered hope to her generation.

“I didn’t want to vote, I feel everything is in decline,” she said. “But not voting makes me part of the problem.”

(C) Reuters.

Investing.com — Here is your weekly Pro Recap of the past week’s biggest headlines in the electric vehicle space: Tesla’s lofty capex and labor law violations; the end of the Chevy Bolt at GM; a muddy lawsuit for Rivian; layoffs at Stellantis; and Mullen’s probe into “improper trading” in its shares.

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Tesla: You gotta spend money to make money

Shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell over 3.5% in early trading Monday morning after the electric automaker said it had raised its capital expenditure forecast to between $7 billion and $9 billion this year, higher than its previous outlook of $6 billion to $8 billion.

CEO Elon Musk has set a goal for Tesla to sell 20 million EVs in 2030, and the company is ramping up output at its factories in Berlin and Austin. It also has plans to open a gigafactory in Mexico as it pushes to expand global output.

Part of Tesla’s expansion goal involves exporting the Model Y from Shanghai to Canada, as the company announced over the weekend.

In Canada, the new version of the Model Y – and the more expensive long-range variant – both qualify for incentives of C$5,000 on purchase or a four-year lease, per a recent update to the Canadian government’s website.

Labor law violations at a Tesla service center

On the downside, on Tuesday supervisors at Tesla’s Florida service center were found guilty of violating labor laws, according to reports.

In 2021, the Orlando repair shop’s management illegally silenced workers after some of them complained that new hires were being paid more, a U.S. labor board found.

Tesla was ordered to cease and desist from violating workers’ rights, and to post a notice of the violations in the service center and email it to employees.

TSLA shares ended trading on Friday at $164.31. Almost even on a rollercoaster week that saw a harsh 4.76% drop on Wednesday.

InvestingPro subscribers get Tesla headlines like these in real-time. Never miss another market-moving opportunity.

Things get muddy at Rivian

Tesla EV rival, Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN), also found itself in hot water this week: The company is being sued by a Georgia resident claiming muddy runoff from the construction site of Rivian’s future factory has choked streams and ponds downstream in violation of federal environmental law, per a lawsuit filed in federal court this past week.

The filing presents another potential legal hurdle for the EV startup.

The Georgia resident said, “I do not have a problem with electric vehicles or economic development in appropriate places if done in a good way. However, Rivian and the contractors working on this project have shown disregard for the environment of our rural area, including our fields, forests, and streams.”

Despite these developments, shares added some 4% for the week.

Mullen concerned about concerns

Elsewhere in the EV space, on Friday Mullen (NASDAQ:MULN) told shareholders that it will undertake a comprehensive analysis to tackle potential market manipulation and illegal short selling in its shares.

The move, for which Mullen is tapping outside council and Shareholder Intelligence Services LLC, addresses shareholder concerns regarding the automaker’s extraordinary trading volume and evidence of unusually high levels of failure to deliver on short sales, as reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

“As a fiduciary to its shareholders, the Company will do everything in its power to address any evidence of improper trading in Mullen securities,” said Mullen in the press release, which InvestingPro subscribers got in real-time.

Shares of MULN ended trading Friday at $0.0769. Down 28.7% for the week.

GM bolts away

General Motors (NYSE:GM) announced the end of an era Tuesday, saying it will end production of its Chevrolet Bolt EV “at the very end of the year.”

The Bolt, GM’s first mass-market EV, still accounts for more than 90% of all U.S. GM EV sales.

The American automaker plans to invest $4 billion in its Orion Township Assembly plant, which is planned for production of its Chevrolet Silverado EV and electric GMC Sierra. GM said this facility, together with its Detroit-Hamtramck plant, will be able to build more than 600,000 electric trucks a year by late 2024.

CEO Mary Barra added that when the Orion plant reopens in 2024, and reaches full production, “employment will nearly triple.”

Shares of GM ended trading Friday at $33.04. 3.65% off of its weekly high of $34.29 achieved on Monday.

Streamlining Stellantis

Finally, Stellantis (NYSE:STLA), said Wednesday that it is offering voluntary exit packages to 33,500 U.S. employees in an effort to streamline operations. The automaker did not say how many total jobs it is looking to eliminate. However, the offer covers 31,000 U.S. hourly workers and about 2,500 salaried workers.

Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers union, called the move “a slap in the face to our members, their families, their communities and the American people who saved this company 15 years ago,” during the country’s 2008 economic crisis.

Shares of STLA ended trading on Friday at $16.63. Up 1% for the week.

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(C) Reuters

Investing.com — Wednesday’s Federal Reserve decision is set to be the highlight of the week, with the central bank expected to announce another quarter point rate hike. A barrage of earnings are also on deck, including results from Apple. The U.S. jobs report and central bank meetings in the Eurozone and Australia round out the week.

Fed decision

The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points on Wednesday against a background of still persistent inflation and growing concerns over the economic outlook.

It would be the tenth straight rate hike in a row, bringing the benchmark to between 5% and 5.25%, its highest level since 2007. While price pressures are cooling inflation is still well above the Fed’s annual target of 2%.

Fed officials and markets remain at odds over the future path of interest rates with the central bank expecting interest rates to remain around current levels through 2023 and investors betting on rate cuts before the year’s end.

Given renewed signs of stress in the banking sector in recent days, with problems at First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC), Fed officials may signal a pause in June.

Fed policymakers have indicated that the tighter credit conditions could act like an additional rate hike, possibly reducing the number of hikes necessary to bring inflation back down to its target.

U.S. jobs report

The U.S. is to release the April employment report on Friday, which is expected to show the economy added 180,000 jobs. While still a solid number it would mark a third consecutive month of moderating jobs growth.

The unemployment rate is expected to tick up to 3.6% while average hourly earnings are expected to remain steady.

Data last week showed that first-quarter growth slowed more than expected, so the jobs report will be closely watched for indications of how well demand in the labor market is holding up.

The economic calendar also features March data on job openings, initial jobless claims (which are starting to edge higher) and ISM surveys of purchasing managers in the manufacturing and services sectors for April.

Earnings

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the largest U.S. company by market value at $2.6 trillion is set to report earnings on Thursday, with analysts forecasting revenue for its fiscal second quarter to decline to $93 billion with earnings per share expected to come in at $1.43.

The report from Apple is a bellwether for global consumer demand and its results stand to ripple through markets given its importance to several industries.

Overall, earnings have come in better than feared for the first quarter. With just over half of the S&P 500 having reported, earnings are on pace to have declined 1.9% for the first quarter from the year-earlier period, according to Refinitiv. That is a smaller decline than the 5.1% drop expected at the start of April.

Some other big-name companies set to report in the coming week include Ford (NYSE:F), Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC), Marriott International (NASDAQ:MAR), Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER).

ECB rate hike

The European Central Bank is set to hike rates again on Thursday with both a 25-basis point and a 50-basis point hike on the table. Tuesday’s data on Eurozone inflation and bank lending will tip the scales.

Consumer price inflation figures for April are likely to confirm underlying price pressures – running above 5% – remain uncomfortably high. This would underline the argument in favor of a larger rate hike.

But if bank lending data shows credit conditions have tightened substantially, the case for a smaller rate hike would be bolstered.

RBA likely to remain on hold

The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to keep interest rates on hold at its meeting on Tuesday after recent consumer price data added to evidence that inflation peaked at the end of last year.

The RBA paused a year-long rate hike cycle in April but had warned that any signs of sticky inflation could attract more rate hikes. The minutes of the bank’s April meeting showed a hike was hotly debated.

The bank has hiked interest rates by a cumulative 350 basis points over the past year, as it moved against a post-COVID surge in inflation.

–Reuters contributed to this report