People walk past "Lukoil" (L)
and "Statoil" fuel stations displaying prices 1,125 USD and 1,136 USD
per litre of basic unleaded petrol during falling global oil price at a
foggy winter day in Limbazii, Latvia, January 25, 2016. REUTERS/Ints
Kalnins
By Keith Wallis
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Crude futures
rose in Asian trade on Friday, buoyed by renewed optimism prices may
have bottomed out after official U.S. data showed oil production fell to
its lowest level since November 2014.
Brent futures
had risen 21 cents to $37.28 a barrel as of 0627 GMT, after settling 14
cents higher in the previous session. The crude benchmark is set to end
the week with a gain of more than 5 percent.
U.S. crude futures had climbed 20 cents to $34.77 a barrel, having settled down 9 cents in the previous session.
While
U.S. crude inventories rose to a new record of 517.98 million barrels
last week, output fell for a sixth straight week to 9.08 million barrels
a day, according to data from the U.S. government's Energy Information
Administration.
Cuts in U.S. production are
providing price support, but investors are also waiting for key U.S.
economic data later on Friday to give further direction, said Ben Le
Brun, market analyst at Sydney's OptionsXpress.
"A
lot of traders are keeping their powder dry in front of non-farm
payroll data - it's the No.1 (indicator) in terms of crude consumers,"
he said.
"Investors are a little more confident
we've seen a bottom in oil (prices)," he added. Le Brun is forecasting
oil prices will hover around $40 by the middle of this year.
Positive
numbers for both February payrolls and U.S. jobs data, both due at 1330
GMT on Friday, could maintain the momentum of higher oil prices, Le
Brun said.
"With the recent strong US economic
data, it is very unlikely that non-farm payrolls would underperform. We
expect this to give markets more confidence in the U.S. economy,"
Singapore's Phillip Futures said in a note on Friday.
Rising
oil prices this week are helping steer Asian shares towards what will
likely be their strongest week in five months, with the MSCI index of
Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan on track to climb 5.4 percent for the
week.
Japan's Nikkei (.N225) is poised for a weekly gain of 4.7 percent.
Further cuts in U.S. output are possible in the coming months.
"The
tight credit market will make it difficult for U.S. shale producers to
refinance upcoming debt and we may see an accelerated decline in U.S.
oil production in 2016-17," ANZ said in a note on Friday.
The
decline in U.S. production will fuel a 1.5-percent drop in oil supply
by non-members of oil producers' cartel OPEC this year, the first year
of non-OPEC negative supply growth since 2008, Paul Bloxham, chief
Australia economist at HSBC said in a report on Friday.
Non-OPEC
supply is forecast to fall by 850,000 barrels a day this year, of which
760,000 barrels will be cut from U.S. production.
HSBC,
which kept its price forecasts unchanged, assumed an average Brent
price of $45 a barrel this year, rising to $60 in 2017 and $75
thereafter.
(Reporting by Keith Wallis; Editing by Richard Pullin and Biju Dwarakanath)
Jesse Matthew Jr was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences for
killing the Reading-born student and Morgan Harrington, 20.
Getty
Jekyll and Hyde: Jesse Matthew Jr He called Matthew projected an
image as a gentle giant while hiding his life as a violent sexual
predator
A man has been jailed for life after admitting abducting and murdering a British-born student and another young woman.
Jesse
Matthew, 34, pleaded guilty to murdering University of Virginia student
Hannah Graham - who was born in Reading - and Virginia Tech student
Morgan Harrington, 20.
During a hearing at Albemarle County
Circuit Court, Matthew, who is from Virginia, apologised for his actions
through his attorney, the BBC reported.
He was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences.
Matthew had already been sentenced to life in prison for a sexual assault on a woman a decade ago.
Matthew,
of Charlottesville, Virginia, was officially sentenced to three
consecutive life terms for attempted capital murder, abduction, and
sexual assault of a woman in 2005. READ MORE:
Man charged with murder of British-born student Hannah Graham in US sentenced to life for sexual assault
Reuters
Hannah Graham, who was born in Reading, was killed by Jesse Matthew
Both Hannah and Morgan were college students who were found dead in the Charlottesville area after going missing.
The
disappearance of Hannah, a University of Virginia student, in 2014
prompted a national search for Matthew after police publicly identified
him as the person last seen with her.
Matthew was eventually arrested in Texas and charged with Hannah's murder.
Reuters
Morgan Harrington
Morgan's death had gone unsolved since
2009, when the Virginia Tech student disappeared after attending a
Metallica concert in Charlottesville.
Matthew's family had previously told a judge hearing his sexual assault case that he was raped as a child.
During
that case, Matthew was called a "modern day Jekyll and Hyde" who
projected an image as a gentle giant to friends and family while hiding
his life as a violent sexual predator.
Many Americans are taking the right steps to improve their retirement security -- and many aren't. That's one conclusion of a recent study about IRA usage from the Investment Company Institute (ICI).
The
mistakes and omissions people make fall into two time periods -- while
you're working and while you're retired. See how the steps you're taking
compare to other Americans. Many Americans aren't saving for retirement
The
biggest mistake you can make while working is not saving anything for
retirement. The second-biggest mistake is not saving enough.
One
of the best ways to save is through an employer-sponsored retirement
plan, in which you put money away via automatic payroll deductions and
reap substantial tax advantages. Your employer also does the shopping
for investments and administrative services so you don't have to.
According to the ICI survey, only about 55 percent of U.S. households
participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan.
The
remaining 45 percent are eligible to save for retirement through an IRA,
which have many of the same substantial tax advantages as an
employer-sponsored plan. But the ICI survey reveals that not many of
these households actually have an IRA. Of the households that don't
participate in a savings plan at work, just 5 percent own an IRA. This
leaves 40 percent of American households that have no retirement savings
plan at all.
Simply put, if you aren't eligible for an
employer-sponsored retirement plan, you should open an IRA and
contribute as much as you can each year. If you don't have enough money
to meet minimum thresholds established by many financial institutions,
the new myRA account sponsored by the U.S. government gives you a simple, safe way to get started with no minimum amount.
The
ICI survey also found that just 14 percent of U.S. households made
contributions to IRAs in 2014, including households that were also
eligible to participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. For
those who contributed to an IRA, the median amount to traditional
(tax-deductible) IRAs was $5,000; the median contribution to Roth IRAs
(nondeductible) was $4,500.
Since the maximum contribution
allowed in 2014 for either type of IRA for workers under age 50 was
$5,500, it appears that the Americans who make contributions to an IRA
are contributing almost as much as they can -- good move!
If
you're 50 or older, you're eligible to make catch-up contributions of
$1,000 per year. But only about 6 percent of U.S. households with
workers in that age group are doing so, leaving lots of room for
improvement. Retirees and near-retirees need a plan
According
to the ICI study, 70 percent of IRA owners have a strategy for managing
income and assets in retirement. Most retirees use the money they
withdraw from a traditional IRA to meet such typical retirement costs as
living expenses (48 percent), health care (36 percent) and emergencies
(23 percent). Withdrawals to purchase a car or boat are low -- just 12
percent do that.
The overwhelming majority of withdrawals from
traditional IRAs appear to be calculated carefully -- another good move.
Sixty-one percent withdraw the IRS required minimum distribution, 9
percent withdraw a regular dollar amount and 3 percent withdraw a fixed
percentage of the account balance or an amount based on life expectancy.
All three are reasonable methods.
These results are much better than methods reported by the general population
for withdrawing from savings -- many don't have a plan or just "wing
it." One possible reason is that IRA owners are much more likely to work
with a financial advisor when creating a retirement strategy: 68
percent of IRA owners consult with a professional advisor, and 60
percent consider advisors their primary source of information.
According
to the ICI study, IRA owners tend to be older, are more likely to be
married and employed, and have college or postgraduate degrees compared
to households that don't own IRAs. As a result, IRA owners are better
able to take steps on their own to prepare for retirement, compared to
the rest of the population, which includes younger workers, workers with
lower income or low educational attainment and the unemployed or
underemployed.
Many in those groups who don't own IRAs often spend
most of their income to meet daily needs, and they may not have ready
access to qualified advisors. As a result, they'll be vulnerable to
financial insecurity in retirement.
It's likely that the
retirement "haves" and "have nots" will correspond to the "dids" and
"did nots": Those who did take steps to prepare for retirement are more
likely to have a financially secure retirement, and those who did not,
won't. At least the ICI study reports good news for Americans who do
have the wherewithal to set up an IRA.
Hillary Clinton laughs as U.S. Secretary of Labor
Tom Perez endorses her during a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa, Dec.
4, 2015. (Photo: Nati Harnik/AP)
U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez likes to bring up
the exact number of days left to take action in Barack Obama’s
presidency. Perez even keeps a countdown calendar on his desk identifying Jan. 20, 2017 — the next president’s first day in office — as the day his “weekend” begins.
But Perez might have to wait for his weekend, as
there’s growing buzz he could be an ideal vice presidential pick for
Hillary Clinton if she wins the Democratic presidential primary.
Clinton is still in the midst of a tough fight
against Sen. Bernie Sanders. While her campaign remains focused on that
race, her huge victory in South Carolina’s Democratic primary on Saturday
vaulted Clinton back into frontrunner status and polls indicate she’s
set to widen that lead on Super Tuesday this week. So now Democrats are
beginning to speculate about who she might tap as a running mate. Perez,
according to some in the party, could singularly help Clinton appeal to
progressives energized by Sanders’ campaign and help unify the party
once he bows out.
Most of the early Clinton “veepstakes” chatter has focused on another member of Obama’s Cabinet, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has also generated considerable vice presidential speculation,
as has Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., both of whom have been campaigning for
her. Yahoo News has heard three other names when inquiries were made
about who might be in the mix: Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., Secretary of
Transportation Anthony Foxx, and Perez.
Of these men, it is Perez who seems to have the most
potential to appeal to the left flank of the party that has rallied
around Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Already, one influential liberal Democratic
senator was heard speaking privately on the Senate floor about what a
“great pick” Perez would be for Clinton, according to two Democratic
sources familiar with the conversation. A longtime Democratic Hill aide
described Perez as a choice that would “satisfy the Warren wing of the
party.”
Perez has emerged as a high profile and active surrogate for Clinton. Since endorsing her last December,
Perez traveled to all four early-voting states to campaign for Clinton.
He also hit the spin room for Clinton after the Democratic debate in
Wisconsin on Feb. 11.
Both Perez’s office and the Clinton campaign declined to comment on this story.
The son of immigrants from the Dominican
Republic, Perez grew up in Buffalo, New York. His father passed away
when he was 12 years old, and Perez later put himself through Brown
University by working in the school’s dining hall, at a warehouse, and
as a garbage collector. From there he went on to Harvard University,
where he obtained graduate degrees in law and public policy. President Obama listens as Labor Secretary
Thomas Perez, right, speaks during a conversation at the White House
Summit on Worker Voice in 2015. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)
Perez began his career working as a
prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s civil rights division. In the
1990s, he served as the principal adviser to the late Sen. Edward
Kennedy on civil rights issues. Perez also served in the administration
of Pres. Bill Clinton, as director of the Office for Civil Rights at the
United States Department of Health and Human Services. After a stint
teaching law during the administration of Pres. George W. Bush, Perez
got involved in Maryland politics and served on the Montgomery County
council. He went on to lead Maryland’s Department of Labor licensing and
regulation before returning to the DOJ in 2009 as the assistant
attorney general heading up the civil rights division. Obama nominated
Perez to become labor secretary in 2013, and he was confirmed by the
U.S. Senate in a bipartisan 72-22 vote.
Picking Perez would have “great value” for
Clinton, one former Obama adviser told Yahoo News. The adviser, who
requested anonymity to candidly discuss the strengths and weaknesses of
various potential picks, cited Perez’s inspirational biography, Latino
heritage, Spanish fluency, and relative youth. Perez is 54 years old,
while Clinton is 68.
“He’s got a great personal story. I think he
certainly was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth,” the adviser
said. “In addition to being a bridge to the Latino community, I think
he’s seen as a true progressive … kind of a new generation of rising
Democratic stars.”
The former Obama adviser met Perez late last year and came away impressed.
“I was prepared to think that he would be a
standard-issue Cabinet secretary, kind of message points and very
careful and cautious, and I found him to be unbelievably genuine and
shooting from the hip,” the adviser said.
Leading progressive lobbyist Robert Raben has
known Perez for over 20 years, having met him during Perez’s time as a
senate aide. While Raben said he would be “excited” to see a Latino on
the ticket, he described Perez’s experience working on civil rights and
labor issues as the most important thing he would bring to the table.
Raben described these areas of expertise as an ideal complement to
Clinton’s foreign policy experience.
“I think he’s, on the merits, an awesome, awesome pick,” Raben said of Perez.
Perez has spent his career working on issues
that have exploded into the national conversation in recent years and
are now among the top domestic issues this election. While leading the
DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, Perez increased focus on prosecuting hate
crimes. Under Perez, the division also did more work investigating
police misconduct and voting rights issues than at any other time in its
history. Perez’s work on civil rights issues also included obtaining
some of the first convictions for hate crimes based on sexual
orientation and gender identity. All of which would sit well with
Clinton’s focus on breaking barriers and tackling “systemic racism.” U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez greets
head cashier Christinia White at an Ace Hardware store in Washington,
D.C., 2014. Perez visited the store to push for the raising of the
federal minimum wage. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Bakari Sellers, a Clinton supporter, CNN
commentator, and former legislator in South Carolina, told Yahoo News
he’s a “big Perez fan.” As a “young black millennial,” Sellers said he
finds the prospect of Perez joining a ticket with Clinton
“invigorating,” particularly due to Perez’s expertise on civil rights.
“I haven’t met anybody that’s nearly as smart
or nearly as articulate that can speak to the issues so prevalently on
civil rights and civil justice, and speak directly to the hearts of many
persons of color in this country,” Sellers said.
Perez, who is the first Cabinet member of
Dominican descent, also emerged as a strong advocate for Latinos during
his time at the DOJ. He investigated Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa
County, Ariz., a high profile opponent of immigration reform and now a
supporter of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, for discrimination
against Latinos. The DOJ filed suit against Arpaio’s office for
allegedly declining to cooperate with the administration in 2012. Last
July, the county voted to settle as
Arpaio’s office agreed to change its policies. Perez also fought
Arizona’s SB1070 immigration law, the most sweeping and tough
anti-illegal immigration that received nationwide attention when it was
signed in 2010. Perez had the DOJ file a legal challenge to the law that
went all the way to the Supreme Court in 2012 and resulted in some
portions of the law being struck down.
And perhaps most importantly to the so-called
Warren wing of the Democratic Party, Perez has strong liberal
credentials on economic issues. At the Department of Labor, Perez has pushed for workers rights — including minimum wage increases, union organization, and paid sick leave. National labor leaders have praised Perez’s performance and suggested he enjoys strong support among their membership. Perez has also worked directly with Warren
to push a conflict of interest rule that would mandate financial
advisers working on retirement accounts sign a legally binding agreement
that requires them to act in clients’ best interests and make greater
disclosures of any third party commissions they receive. This so-called
fiduciary rule has been a bête noire of the Wall Street lobby.
Raben, the lobbyist, said that, in spite of
having developed a reputation for being an aggressive defender of
workers’ rights and Wall Street regulation, Perez “has figured out how
to be a progressive candidate and get along with people who disagree
with him.”
“What makes him very compelling to me —
because I’m sort of in the business of public policy, I’m not in the
business of banging my shoe on the table and hoping that my friends are
excited by my leadership — he gets along really, really well with
conservatives and with businesspeople,” said Raben. “He learned that
from Senator Kennedy. Well, it may be natural — but that’s how Senator
Kennedy trained people.”
While Raben didn’t reject the idea that Perez
could help Clinton win over Sanders supporters and the “Warren wing,”
he suggested that’s not the main reason he thinks Perez would be “a
fantastic candidate.” Pi Pizzeria kitchen manager Freddie
Melgar, left, shows U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez how they make
pizzas during a tour of the kitchen, Miami Beach, 2015. (Photo: Wilfredo
Lee/AP)
“I know and I understand that narrative and I
don’t quibble with it. I think everything is relative, and when Mrs.
Clinton is paired up against the Republican nominee, whether it’s Cruz,
Rubio, or Trump, her progressive bona fides will be unflinching,” Raben
said. “I’m just not in the business of saying she needs to do that
because she needs to lock up a progressive wing. I don’t think Mrs.
Clinton needs to do anything. I think he’s a great choice. He may well
do that and be very, very attractive — but he’d also be really, really
attractive to Latino conservatives. You know, he’s a religious guy.”
While he may attract other constituencies,
Perez’s appeal to progressives —an appeal that has largely eluded
Clinton in the primary — is evident.
The former Obama adviser said having Perez on the ticket would be a “big plus” for Clinton.
“I think
he does represent the future and he’s not going to back down on his
progressive principles,” the adviser said. “Sometimes there are
progressives who might get picked kind of early and say, like, ‘Well,
s***, now I’m on the fast track, so I’ll do whatever I have to do.’ I
don’t think Perez would be like that.”
