FINANCIAL MARKETS
Asian stocks mixed ahead of next round of US-China talks
SINGAPORE (AP) — Asian stocks were mixed on Monday as traders watched for developments on a fresh round of trade talks with the United States this week in Beijing. Markets in China and Taiwan, reopening after a weeklong Lunar New Year break, edged higher on hopes that American and Chinese officials will make progress on a wide-ranging dispute that has weighed on the global economy.
Gains by technology and consumer goods companies led most U.S. indexes higher on Friday. They more than balanced out losses by financial stocks and retailers after a mixed bag of quarterly earnings. The broad S&P 500 index climbed 0.1 percent to 2,707.88 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.1 percent to 7,298.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3 percent to 25,106.33. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks advanced 0.1 percent to 1,506.39.
Officials from the U.S. and China will gather in Beijing for trade talks on Thursday and Friday. U.S. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin and trade representative Robert Lighthizer will lead the American delegation at the talks, which are aimed at bringing both sides closer to resolving deep-seated issues such as unhappiness over Beijing's technology policy. Lower-level negotiations are set to begin Monday, but a resolution isn't expected before a truce on tariffs expires in early March.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell to just above $52 per barrel.
The dollar rose against the yen and was flat against the euro.
FOREVER CHEMICALS-EMERGING THREAT
EPA decision soon on chemical compounds tied to health risks
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is looking at how to respond to a public push for stricter regulation of chemicals found on many fabrics, rugs and carpets, cooking pots and pans, outdoor gear, shampoo, shaving cream, makeup and even dental floss.
Increasing numbers of states have found them seeping into water supplies and there's growing evidence that long-term exposure to the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, or PFAS, can be dangerous, even in tiny amounts.
The Environmental Protection Agency is looking at how to respond to a public push for stricter regulation of the chemicals, in production since the 1940s.
A decision is expected soon.
At hearings around the country last year, local and state officials asked the agency to set a maximum level for PFAS in drinking water nationwide. It will take that, officials said, to stop contamination and hold polluting parties responsible.
In Europe, Australia, Asia and elsewhere, regulators and consumers are confronting discoveries of PFAS contamination, especially around U.S. military bases, where they're used in firefighting foam.
VENEZUELA-CURRENCY CRISIS
Socialist Maduro seeks to raise dollars with appeal to greed
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's currency controls for years have made exchanging money a stressful ordeal of searching for illegal currency dealers, logging into banned websites, and sending wire transfers to foreign banks.
But as President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government runs out of hard currency amid mounting international pressure and economic punishments, it has begun encouraging Venezuelans to sell their greenbacks to the official financial system by offering a better exchange rate than the black market.
Little noticed amid the turmoil unleashed by the opposition's renewed push to oust President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's central bank devalued the country's currency on Jan. 28 by 50 percent, eclipsing the parallel black market rate.
The government now buys $1 for 3,303 bolivars, while the informal market buys them at 3,120 bolivars, according to the website DolarToday. It is the first time the official exchange rate has been higher than that of the black market since currency controls were put in place more than a decade ago, analysts said.
Analysts called it a desperate gambit to raise hard cash in a country now beset by severe U.S. oil sanctions that could cost the government up to $11 billion in revenue over the next 12 months. Without one of its most important sources of income, Venezuela will be hard-pressed to purchase food and other imports, potentially worsening shortages and deepening its economic collapse.
Maduro's opponents argue that selling dollars to the government is tantamount to funding repression. Others say the move will not eliminate the longstanding spread between the two rates, which has often allowed richer Venezuelans to take advantage of the distortion and pocket juicy profits.
TAIWAN-AIRLINE STRIKE
Pilot strike at Taiwan's China Airlines drags into 3rd day
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A strike among pilots at Taiwan's flag carrier China Airlines dragged into a third day Sunday, resulting in further flight cancellations.
There was no immediate word of a settlement as the pilots' union remained firm in its demands for an additional backup pilot on flights lasting eight hours or more, a more transparent system of promotion, a year-end bonus and other concessions.
The official Central News Agency said a total of 47 flights will have been canceled by Sunday.
The strike came in the middle of the Lunar New Year travel rush. About 70 percent of the carrier's 1,300 pilots belong to the union, which has accused management of insincerity and mistreating its workforce to keep costs down.
CAL crews went on strike for 24 hours in 2016 for better conditions.
The airline has said it is willing to continue negotiations but that the union's demands in talks are different from those it makes in public.
Flights canceled included those bound for Hong Kong, Bangkok, Los Angeles, Manila and Tokyo. Most of those were departing from Taiwan's main international airport at Taoyuan, just south of the capital Taipei.
Founded in 1959, China Airlines is one of the island's two largest carriers with a fleet of 88 aircraft.
CONGRESS-CLIMATE PANEL
Leader of new climate panel talks of need for 'bold action'
WASHINGTON (AP) — It does not yet have office space, staff or even Republican members, but Florida Rep. Kathy Castor is confident that a special House committee on climate change will play a leading role on one of the most daunting challenges facing the planet.
Castor, who chairs the new panel, says those early obstacles can be overcome as lawmakers move to reduce carbon pollution and create clean-energy jobs.
She said that while that can take many forms, the transition to renewable energy such as wind and solar power is "job one."
Castor, who's in her seventh term representing the Tampa Bay area, said Congress has a "moral obligation" to protect future generations from the costly effects of climate change, including more severe hurricanes, a longer wildfire season and a dangerous sea-level rise.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi named Castor to lead the panel in December, saying she brings experience, energy and urgency to what Pelosi called "the existential threat of the climate crisis" facing the United States and the world.
The climate panel is similar to one Pelosi created when Democrats last controlled the House from 2007 to 2010. The panel was eliminated when Republicans took the majority in 2011.
While the previous panel played a key role in House approval of a landmark 2009 bill to address global warming, Castor said the new panel is likely to focus on a variety of actions rather than a single piece of legislation.
ECONOMY-THE DAY AHEAD
Business and economic reports scheduled for early this week:
WASHINGTON (AP) — There are no major economic reports scheduled for release today.
But on Tuesday, the Labor Department releases its survey on job openings and labor turnover in December,
Also tomorrow, the Treasury Department releases the federal budget for January.
On Wednesday, the Labor Department releases the Consumer Price Index for January.
GAS PRICES
Average US price of gas jumps a penny per gallon, to $2.34
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) —The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline is up a penny a gallon over the past two weeks, to $2.34.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey says Sunday that she expects gas prices to keep rising slightly as retailers pass on increases in wholesale costs to consumers.
Lundberg says the price at the pump is 32 cents lower than it was a year ago.
The highest average price in the nation is $3.38 a gallon in the San Francisco Bay Area. The lowest average is $1.91 in Houston.
The average price of diesel fell a penny over the past two weeks, to $3.
FILM-BOX OFFICE
'The Lego Movie 2' opens No.1 but everything is not awesome
NEW YORK (AP) —"The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part" was easily the weekend's top ticket-seller in theaters over the weekend, but the film's estimated $35 million haul came well shy of expectations.
The animated sequel had been forecast to open with around $50 million. Instead, it debuted with about half the $69 million the 2014 original did, despite good reviews and an A-minus CinemaScore.
In second was "What Men What," starring Taraji P. Henson in a loose remake of the 2000 Mel Gibson comedy. It opened with $19 million.
The Liam Neeson thriller "Cold Pursuit" debuted with $10.8 million. Earlier in the week, Neeson drew heavy criticism after he acknowledged wanting to kill a random black person when a close friend told him she had been raped by a black man.
JEFF BEZOS-NATIONAL ENQUIRER
Tabloid CEO's lawyer denies Enquirer tried to extort Bezos
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Enquirer committed neither extortion nor blackmail by threatening to publish intimate photos of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. That's according t( an attorney for the head of the tabloid's parent company.
Elkan Abromowitz, an attorney for American Media Inc. chief executive David Pecker, said on Sunday a "reliable source" well-known to Bezos and his mistress provided the story about the billionaire's extramarital affair.
Bezos has said AMI threatened to publish the explicit photos of him unless he stopped investigating how the Enquirer obtained his private exchanges with his mistress, former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez.
Investigators for Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, have suggested the Enquirer's coverage of his affair was driven by dirty politics.
Pecker is a strong backer of President Donald Trump.
CYBERSECURITY-PRIVATE SPYING OPERATIVES
AP Exclusive: Undercover spy exposed in NYC was 1 of many
LONDON (AP) — When mysterious operatives lured two cybersecurity researchers to meetings at luxury hotels over the past two months, it was an apparent bid to discredit their research about an Israeli company that makes smartphone hacking technology used by some governments to spy on their citizens.
The Associated Press has now learned of similar undercover efforts targeting at least four other individuals who have raised questions about the use of the Israeli firm's spyware.
The four others targeted by operatives include three lawyers involved in related lawsuits in Israel and Cyprus alleging that the company, the NSO Group, sold its spyware to governments with questionable human rights records. The fourth is a London-based journalist who has covered the litigation. Two of them — the journalist and a Cyprus-based lawyer — were secretly recorded meeting the undercover operatives.
DUBAI-GOVERNMENT SUMMIT
At Dubai summit, Pakistan premier warns of 'painful' reforms
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan said Sunday his nation needed "painful" economic reforms to cut back on its massive debt, just after meeting the head of the International Monetary Fund, signaling the former cricketer may be willing to slash government spending for a bailout.
Khan made the comments at the World Government Summit in Dubai, which also saw Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri make his own investment pitch for his small country, now struggling through a major economic crisis as one of the world's most-indebted nations.
Before taking the stage, Khan met with IMF chief Christine Lagarde. Pakistan has been seeking an $8 billion bailout from the IMF. Pakistan has around $100 billion in external debts and liabilities, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.
