Finance
Elders Arrested Protesting Citibank Funding of Planet's Destruction | Common Dreams
![Elders Arrested Protesting Citibank Funding of Planet's Destruction | Common Dreams Elders Arrested Protesting Citibank Funding of Planet's Destruction | Common Dreams](https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/bill-mckibben-and-climate-activists-are-arrested-in-nyc.jpg?id=52553352&width=1200&height=600&coordinates=0%2C129%2C0%2C130)
As Earth sizzles during what’s likely to be its hottest summer on record amid a worsening planetary emergency, dozens of elder climate campaigners including 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben were arrested Monday in New York while protesting Wall Street giant Citigroup’s continued fossil fuel financing.
Members of the group Third Act—who are mostly aged 60 and older—led a “funeral procession” near Citigroup’s Manhattan headquarters in remembrance of the senior citizens who have died during recent dangerous heatwaves and to call out the bank “for being the number one funder of fossil fuel expansion in the world,” according to Summer of Heat, which is organizing a series of ongoing climate protests.
Summer of Heat said McKibben was one of 46 demonstrators arrested Monday, and that “with today’s protest, there have now been 305 total arrests in this summer’s historic campaign of relentless, disruptive protests to stop Wall Street funding the oil, coal, and gas projects that are making our planet unlivable.”
According to Summer of Heat:
Older Americans are worried about growing climate extremes and how Wall Street is using their savings to harm the planet and their grandchildren’s future. Third Act supporters are retired teachers, healthcare professionals, lawyers, union members, parents, grandparents, great aunts, uncles, and now activists. They are taking action—together with youth and families—to make a difference! They are calling on banks like Citi to invest in a peaceful and livable world for all.
“It might feel very hot to us, but it was 122 degrees (Fahrenheit) in New Delhi two weeks ago. Lots and lots and lots of people died,” McKibben told protest participants before his arrest. “Things like this now happen every day around the world, and they happen worst [and] first in the places that have done the least to cause this crisis.”
“This is the deepest question of justice the world has ever come across,” McKibben added. “And the bank that we’re outside has done more than almost any institution on Earth to make it worse. Given full warning by scientists of all kinds for the last 30 years, they have decided instead to try to make profit off the end of the world.”
Margaret Bullit-Jonas, an Episcopalian priest and author who took part in Monday’s protest, said that “Citibank is destroying the world that God loved into being and entrusted to our care.”
“At this decisive moment in history, we teeter on the brink of climate chaos,” she added. “Now is the time for Citibank to choose life and to stop financing fossil fuels.”
Third Act members were joined by activists from various climate, environmental, and social justice groups. Summer of Heat organizer Liv Senghor said that the campaign “is an intergenerational and intersectional movement.”
“We know that there is no climate justice without social justice,” Senghor said. “And we know that if we do not stop financial institutions like Citibank right now, we will all feel the deadly consequences today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.”
HipHop Caucus president and CEO Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. asserted that “to limit ongoing damage, and ensure a bright future for the next generations, we need bold action now to curb emissions, transition to clean energy, and to help households and communities mitigate current and future risks.”
Gus Speth, a former U.S. Council on Environmental Quality chair, warned that “we are on the cusp of a ruined planet, and the big banks like Citi are funding it, to the tune of trillions.”
“It’s time for the Citigroup board of directors to wake up to their responsibility,” he added. “Citi talks about environmental sustainability but practices environmental destruction.”
Citigroup contends that it is “supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy through our net zero commitments and our $1 trillion sustainable finance goal,” and that its “approach reflects the need to transition while also continuing to meet global energy needs.”
However, since the 2015 signing of the Paris agreement, Citi has provided $204.46 billion in financing for new fossil fuel projects, according to Stop the Money Pipeline, a Summer of Heat co-organizer.
“From the Bronx to the Gulf South, Black, Latine, Asian, Indigenous, and low-income communities living on the frontlines of the climate crisis—and the ones least responsible for it—face the highest asthma rates and staggering cancer rates while an unprecedented number of people are dying from heat waves,” Summer of Heat said.
“Instead of staying home and hiding from the heat, organizers are calling on all New Yorkers and climate defenders from across the globe to take to the streets and demand that Wall Street stop destroying our future,” the group added.
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Finance
Stock market today: Asian shares rally, encouraged by Wall Street storming back from an early slide
TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly rose on Thursday, encouraged by gains on Wall Street led by a handful of influential Big Tech companies.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 soared in early trading, adding 2.8% to 36,605.62, although the sharp gains were partly a reflection of earlier sharp drops.
The cheap yen was a boon for some issues, as it boosts the value of overseas earnings when converted into yen. Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 2.8%, while Nintendo Co. edged up 1.2%.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 142.53 Japanese yen from 142.28. The euro cost $1.1016, inching down from $1.1017.
Shares in Nippon Steel Corp. were little changed after Keidanren, a group of Japan’s top businesses, expressed in a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen concerns about “political interference” in Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel Corp. U.S. Steel issues finished nearly 7% higher a day earlier.
“America’s investment climate will be severely tarnished if such political interference prevails,” according to the letter, which was also signed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Global Business Alliance, Alliance for Automotive Innovation and other groups.
Yellen oversees the government committee reviewing the takeover, while the White House recently signaled an openness to blocking the acquisition.
In the rest of the region, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7% to 8,041.10. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.0% to 17,283.46, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed at 2,720.40.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rallied 1.1% after erasing a morning wipeout of 1.6%. A majority of the index’s stocks still finished lower for the day, but the performances by Nvidia and other tech stocks were enough to drive it to a third straight gain and back within 2% of its all-time high set in July.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 124 points, or 0.3%, after rallying back from a drop of 743 points. The Nasdaq composite jumped 2.2%.
In the latest government report on U.S. inflation, overall inflation slowed to 2.5% in August from 2.9% in July, a touch better than expected. But prices rose more than expected from July into August when ignoring food and energy, and economists say that can be a better predictor of where inflation is heading.
The data seemed to confirm the U.S. Federal Reserve will likely cut its main interest rate at its meeting next week, which would be the first such cut in more than four years. A worry is that it may prove too late, with U.S. shoppers already struggling under the weight of high prices.
Big Tech also once again lifted Wall Street. A handful of these behemoths accounted for most of the S&P 500’s return through the early part of this year, in large part on excitement about the artificial-intelligence boom.
Besides the 8.1% jump for Nvidia, gains of 2.8% for Amazon, 2.1% for Microsoft and 6.8% for Broadcom were the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 58.61 points to 5,554.13. The Dow rose 124.75 to 40,861.71, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 369.65 to 17,395.53.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.66% from 3.64% late Tuesday. The two-year yield, which more closely follows expectations for Fed action, rose more, to 3.65% from 3.59%.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained 19 cents to $67.50 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard added 26 cents to $70.87 a barrel.
___
AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
Finance
Tidal Financial Group Announces Name Changes and Enhanced Options Strategies for Defiance ETFs
NEW YORK, Sept. 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tidal Financial Group is pleased to announce upcoming changes effective September 26, 2024, to enhance the offerings of three Defiance ETFs:
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The Defiance Nasdaq 100 Enhanced Options Income ETF will be renamed the Defiance Nasdaq 100 Enhanced Options & 0DTE Income ETF.
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The Defiance S&P 500 Enhanced Options Income ETF will be renamed the Defiance S&P 500 Enhanced Options & 0DTE Income ETF, with a new ticker symbol WDTE.
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The Defiance R2000 Enhanced Options Income ETF will be renamed the Defiance R2000 Enhanced Options & 0DTE Income ETF.
These changes reflect each Fund’s adoption of options expiring on the same day (0DTE). Additionally, effective immediately, each Fund’s principal investment strategy is revised to seek to provide weekly distributions. As a result, all references in the prospectus and SAI to monthly distributions are hereby changed to weekly distributions. Additionally, each Fund will seek a minimum daily income of 0.15%, with all references in the prospectus to seeking a minimum daily income revised accordingly. As part of these updates:
About Defiance ETFs
Founded in 2018, Defiance is a leading ETF sponsor specializing in income and thematic investments. Defiance offers pioneering thematic ETFs that empower investors to capitalize on disruptive innovations across sectors such as AI, machine learning, quantum computing, 5G, and hydrogen energy.
About Tidal Investments LLC
Formed by ETF industry pioneers and thought leaders, Tidal Investments LLC sets out to revolutionize the way ETFs have historically been developed, launched, marketed, and sold. With a focus on growing AUM, Tidal offers a comprehensive suite of services, proprietary tools, and methodologies designed to bring lasting ideas to market. Tidal is an advocate for ETF innovation. The firm is on a mission to provide issuers with the intelligence and tools needed to efficiently and to effectively launch ETFs and to optimize growth potential in a highly competitive space. For more information, visit https://www.tidalfinancialgroup.com/.
Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other information about the Fund, please visit our website at www.daysadvisors.com. Read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.
Investments involve risk.
The Fund is distributed by Foreside Fund Services LLC.
CONTACT: Contact Gavin Filmore at gfilmore@tidalfg.com for more information.
Finance
Brazil Finance Chief Says Severe Weather Risks Fanning Inflation
(Bloomberg) — Brazil Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said the government is worried a resurgence in extreme weather will spur inflation as central bankers are expected to lift the interest rate starting next week.
Most Read from Bloomberg
The nation’s persistent dry spell can stoke food and energy price increases, Haddad told reporters in Brasilia on Wednesday. At the same time, such cost rises are not easily controlled with borrowing cost hikes, he said.
“The central bank has the technical framework to make the best decision,” Haddad said. “We’ll wait for next week’s monetary policy decision.”
Latin America’s largest economy is on alert as the worst drought in 40 years keeps wildfires burning and puts crops and energy supply at risk. Those woes complicate the outlook for the central bank, which is under pressure to start rate hikes Sept. 18 in response to above-target consumer price gains. The government has consistently decried high borrowing costs as an impediment to faster growth.
From May through August, some key agriculture areas faced the driest weather since 1981, according to natural disaster monitoring center Cemaden. The lack of rainfall poses risks for crop supplies in a world that’s become increasingly dependent on Brazil for everything from sugar to coffee and soybeans.
Brazil’s government will raise its 2024 economic growth projection, Haddad said, adding that gross domestic product should expand above 3% this year.
Analysts surveyed by the central bank expect policymakers to lift the benchmark Selic to 11.25% in December from its current level of 10.5%.
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