LyrArc Article Gist
Choosing Glaxo's next CEO from 3 candidates.

LyrArc Article Gist
Nikki Haley of South Carolina decides to run for the Republican nomination for president. She joins Trump and Rod de Santis of Florida in the race for the Republican nomination.

LyrArc Article Gist
Pricing of hotels in Rome Italy where $100 is a hostel, $200 a budget hotel, luxury $700 a night an up. Dynamic pricing means a hotel can cost $400 in the summer and $60 or $100 in September. This is true of mjor toruist destinations and  major cities in Europe. Staying away from the city in a leafy suburb can get you a normally priced room on Booking.com as shown here in the range of $100-$200 and it is a good idea to stay away from the bustle and crowds. Rome's average nightly rate April 19 is $300 a night up about 15% over 2025.  This tells you the first rule in travel in European Union is to choose destinations which are not the big cities, and away from the seasonal rush and crowds. The advice here is to look for residential neighborhoods (less costly and more peaceful), plan 6 months  for peak season  to get a decent price and a better shot at getting a decent hotel in Europe.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Fed's Jerome Powell makes a half percentage point rate cut that takes the federal funds rate to between 4.75% and 5.00%.  11 of 12 Fed governors supported the decision for a half percentage point rate cut.

Powell said:

"We are committed to maintaining our economy’s strength. This decision reflects our growing confidence that with an appropriate recalibration of our policy stance, strength in the labor market can be maintained.”

This is the US central bank's, the Fed's response to high cost of living concerns in the US. It provides relief to households with credit card balances, and business with variable rate debt. Rates for corporate debt and mortgages had started declining in anticipation of rate cuts.

LyrArc Article Gist
Senator John Thune of South Dakota who had the support of Senators Daines and Mullin, and of retiring Republican Minority Leader won in a 3 way race against John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida. Scott of Florida had support of the MAGA allies of DJT. His liability was the way he had run the party as head of the Congressional campaign of 2022 with poor results. DJT stayed aloof from the race only saying he expected the Senate leader to defer to his policy for Ukraine.

Thune won 29 votes to 24 for Cornyn. His way of running the senate will be more open than Mitch McConnell's, getting more feedback from Senators, and more open to amendments. Priorities are securing the border and reauthorizing the tax cuts.

Thune seems a good choice so that the president gets to hear views of all members in the Senate and is well informed to make decisions.

LyrArc Article Gist
The logjam continues between the French and German banks- represented by the Institute of International Finance and its negotiator Charles Dallara- and the governments of Germany and Greece, supported by the IMF. The position of the Greek government is that the interest rate on new bonds stretching out over a long time period that woud be exchanged at 50% face value of existing bonds should be set at rates well below 4%, because Greece faces a growing deficit and rapidly worsening economy. The German government which is faced with the prospect of providing additional funds to Greece supports this. The IIF position is for an interest rate of between 4-5%.

LyrArc Article Gist
With continued job growth the US Fed is planning to continue its sequential interest rate increases. The Fed raised interest rates 0.75% at each of the last 3 Fed meetings and a fourth 0.75 rate increase is expected when it meets on November 1-2, 2022. This is the most rapid rate of increases since the 1980's and it is designed to bring inflation under control.