OPEC set for oil cut extension if Iran endorses pact - Investing.com

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is seen inside their headquarters in Vienna

By Rania El Gamal and Ahmad Ghaddar

VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC and its allies look set to extend oil supply cuts next week at least until the end of 2019 as Iraq joined top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia on Sunday in endorsing a policy aimed at propping up the price of crude amid a weakening global economy.

Iran is the only major OPEC nation yet to have spoken publicly about a need to extend production cuts. Tehran has in the past objected to policies put forward by arch-rival Saudi Arabia, saying Riyadh was too close to Washington.

The United States is not a member of OPEC, nor is it participating in the supply pact. Washington has demanded Riyadh pump more oil to compensate for lower exports from Iran after slapping fresh sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program.

OPEC and its allies led by Russia have been reducing oil output since 2017 to prevent prices from sliding amid soaring production from the United States, which has become the world's top producer this year ahead of Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Fears about weaker global demand as a result of a U.S.-China trade spat have added to the challenges faced by the 14-nation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in recent months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he had agreed with Saudi Arabia to extend existing output cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day, or 1.2% of global demand, by six to nine months - until December 2019 or March 2020.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the deal would most likely be extended by nine months and no deeper reductions were needed.

"It’s a rollover and it’s happening,” Falih, whose country is the de facto leader of OPEC, told reporters.

Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at Dutch bank ING, said OPEC had more to lose by not extending the deal.

"It comes down largely to fiscal breakeven oil prices - the Saudis have a breakeven price of around $85 per barrel, and so they will be concerned about potentially a widening gap between this level and where the market trades," he said.

Benchmark has climbed more than 25% since the start of 2019 to $65 per barrel. But prices could stall as a slowing global economy squeezes demand and U.S. oil floods the market, a Reuters poll of analysts found.

WORSENING GEOPOLITICAL RISK

The output-cutting pact expires on Sunday. OPEC meets in Vienna on Monday followed by talks with Russia and other allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, on Tuesday.

Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban said on Sunday he expected the deal to be extended by six to nine months.

"Iraq’s position is positive, deals with the reality of the challenges of the oil market and supports all (efforts) related to balancing oil supply and demand,” Ghadhban said.

Iraq has overtaken Iran as OPEC's second-largest oil producer and its exports have been rising due to investments by Western majors.

Iran's exports, in contrast, have plummeted to 0.3 million barrels per day in June from as much as 2.5 million bpd in April 2018 due to Washington's fresh sanctions.

The sanctions are putting Iran under unprecedented pressure. Even in 2012, when the European Union joined U.S. sanctions on Tehran, the country's exports stood at around 1 million bpd. Oil represents the lion's share of Iran's budget revenues.

Washington has said it wants to change what it calls a “corrupt” regime in Tehran. Iran has denounced the sanctions as illegal and says the White House is run by “mentally retarded” people.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has not spoken in recent days about the OPEC meeting. He is due in Vienna on Monday.

"Worsening tensions between the U.S. and Iran add potential for oil price volatility that could be tricky for OPEC members to manage," said Ann-Louise Hittle, vice president, macro oils, at consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

"Geopolitical risk means the supply outlook is tightening, offsetting the moderate weakening in oil demand growth thus far this year,” she added.

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2019-06-30 16:40:00Z
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3 Ways Being Single Impacts Your Retirement Planning - The Motley Fool

Planning for retirement is a good way to avoid financial struggles later in life. But retirement planning is very different for single folks than it is for those who are married. If you fall into the former camp, here are a few things you should know.

1. You won't benefit from a spouse's savings

Married couples have an advantage on the retirement savings front in that they get to pool resources once their careers end and benefit from each other's good habits. When you're single, you only have your own savings to rely on, so if you're at all behind in this regard, it's critical that you ramp up while you can.

At present, you can contribute up to $19,000 annually to a 401(k) or $6,000 to an IRA if you're under 50. If you're 50 or older, you can capitalize on a catch-up provision that raises these limits to $25,000 and $7,000, respectively. Even if you can't max out your retirement plan, adjusting your savings rate upward could make a big difference in the long run.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

Imagine you're 57 and want to retire in 10 years. Let's also assume you're sitting on $200,000 in savings and are currently contributing $400 a month to a retirement plan. If your savings generate an average annual 7% return, you'll have $460,000 by the time you retire. But if you're able to sock away $600 a month over the next 10 years instead, you'll get to retire with $493,000, assuming that same return. And that extra $33,000 could easily translate into an additional $100 per month in retirement income over a 30-year period.

2. You'll only have to consider your own needs when filing for Social Security

When you're married, it's important to consider your spouse's needs when filing for Social Security. For example, spousal and survivor benefits are based on eligible recipients' benefits, so those needing to look out for a spouse may have no choice but to delay benefits in order to increase them.

When you're single, however, you only have your personal needs to account for, so you're free to claim Social Security when it suits you. For example, if you've saved nicely in your IRA or 401(k) and want to file for benefits a little early (meaning before full retirement age), you can feel free to do so without having to worry that by reducing your benefits, you're also reducing a spouse's benefits.

Furthermore, when you're single, you can base your Social Security filing decision on your own health. Generally speaking, the better your health going into retirement, the more it pays to delay benefits and boost them in the process, since you're likely to come out with a larger payout in your lifetime. On the other hand, if your health isn't great, filing early generally makes sense. And as a single person approaching retirement, you don't have to factor a spouse's health into that decision.

3. You may have a greater need for long-term care insurance

Married seniors who retire can often fall back on each other to provide care when one gets injured or falls ill. When you're single, you may not have that same built-in caregiver, so your need for long-term care insurance is amplified.

Long-term care insurance can help defray the often-astronomical cost of assisted living or nursing home care, and it can cover in-home care if you need it. The best time to apply for a policy is during your 50s, and the good news is that if you're applying alone, you won't run the risk that a spouse's bad health will drive your premium costs up or, worse yet, put you at risk of seeing your coverage request denied.

Retiring single means getting to call your own shots throughout your golden years. Just be sure to plan appropriately so you're able to enjoy retirement the way you've always wanted to.

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2019-06-30 12:48:00Z
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Central bank plans to create digital currencies receive backing - Financial Times

Global central banks may have to issue their own digital currencies sooner than expected, the general manager of the Bank for International Settlements has said, after Facebook recently unveiled plans to create its own stablecoin.

Agustín Carstens, who heads the BIS, known as the central bankers’ bank, told the Financial Times that the organisation supported the efforts of the world’s central banks in creating digital versions of state currencies.

“Many central banks are working on it; we are working on it, supporting them,” Mr Carstens told the Financial Times. “And it might be that it is sooner than we think that there is a market and we have to create our own digital currencies.

“And it might be that it is sooner than we think that there is a market and we have to provide central bank digital currencies.”

A number of central banks, including Sweden’s Riksbank, are working on their own versions of digital currencies, which would work by offering the public direct access to central bank money. At present, only private sector lenders can borrow directly from monetary authorities.

Central bankers, including Mr Carstens, have been dismissive of the first wave of cryptocurrencies, viewing the likes of bitcoin and ethereum as speculative instruments that cannot be described as money due to the volatility of their value against the most widely used state currencies, such as the US dollar and the euro.

However Facebook’s plans to create Libra — a stablecoin with its value pegged to a basket of as yet unspecified currencies backed by as yet unspecified assets — have attracted attention from officials, including at the Basel-based BIS.

The BIS said in an extract on digital currencies, taken from its annual report, that coins backed by tech giants could “rapidly establish a dominant position” in global finance and pose a potential threat to competition, stability and social welfare.

“The issue is how will the currency be used? Will there be discovery of information, or data that can be used in credit provision and how will data privacy be protected?” Mr Carstens said. “A very simple way to regulate this is to start with anti-money laundering rules. That is a very immediate and very obvious concern.”

However, Mr Carstens acknowledged that developments in the rest of the currency market would influence the extent to which central banks pursued their stablecoin projects.

“There needs to be evidence for demand for central bank digital currencies and it is not clear that the demand is there yet,” he said. “Perhaps people can do what they want by using electronic wallets provided by banks or fintech companies. It depends on the development of payment systems.”

The BIS used its annual report, published on Sunday, to call on governments to take some of the weight off central banks in supporting the economy by unveiling more fiscal policies and structural reforms.

“The effectiveness of very aggressive monetary policy dwindles through time. It will always have some impact, it is effective to combat downturns — but it is not a pillar for higher sustainable growth,” Mr Carstens said. He added that keeping monetary policy ultra-loose for longer created greater financial risks.

A number of central banks that are BIS members — including the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank — are considering launching a fresh round of additional monetary easing to boost flagging confidence in the global economy.

The Fed looks set to cut interest rates and ECB president Mario Draghi has hinted that his governing council could cut rates or restart the expansion of its €2.6tn quantitative easing programme of bond buying in response to investors’ fears that growth is set to slow sharply.

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Tuesday, 25 June, 2019

But Mr Carstens said: “The slowdown is mostly generated by trade tensions. Monetary policy is neither adequate, nor the best policy to counteract this.”

The fears are based on geopolitical uncertainty — primarily over the consequences of US president Donald Trump’s anti-globalisation “America First” policies.

Mr Trump has attacked both Mr Draghi and Fed chair Jay Powell in recent weeks — the former over his desire to loosen monetary policy, the latter for not cutting rates quickly enough.

Mr Carstens said he thought there was still broad public support for central bankers to set monetary policies as they see fit.

“My own very personal view is that there is support in the population for central banks to protect the value of the currency and have the capacity to support growth,” he said.

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2019-06-30 11:53:00Z
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3 Tips for Living Comfortably on Social Security Benefits Alone - The Motley Fool

For a good chunk of American retirees, Social Security benefits are a major source of income. Roughly half of married beneficiaries rely on Social Security for at least 50% of their income according to the Social Security Administration, and around one in five couples depends on their benefits for more than 90% of their retirement income.

Despite the fact that so many people rely on their benefits to make ends meet, not saving anything on your own and expecting Social Security to cover all your retirement expenses isn't the best idea. The average beneficiary only receives around $1,400 per month, and most people will need to pinch pennies to get by on that amount.

That said, sometimes people have no choice but to make the most of Social Security in retirement because they don't have much in savings to fall back on. While it's never too late to start saving, if your savings run dry a few years into retirement, finding ways to live comfortably on Social Security alone may be your best bet. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to ensure you're living your best life on a tight budget.

Image source: Getty Images

1. Delay claiming benefits to earn bigger checks

Exactly how much you receive in Social Security benefits depends on when you claim them. The only way you'll receive the full amount you're theoretically entitled to is to claim at your full retirement age (FRA), which is 66, 67, or somewhere in between, depending on when you were born. You can claim earlier than your FRA (as early as age 62), but by doing so your benefits will be reduced by up to 30%. On the other side of the coin, if you wait until after your FRA to claim (until age 70), you'll receive extra money on top of the full amount you're entitled to -- up to 32% more, in fact.

Once you start claiming benefits, you can technically change your mind. But you only have a year to do so, and you have to repay the benefits you've already received. Once your decision has been locked in, you're stuck with your benefit amount for the rest of your life (although yearly cost of living adjustments will affect exactly how much you receive). That means if you claim early and receive smaller checks, you'll receive those smaller checks for life. But if you delay benefits to earn those fatter checks, you'll receive more money every month for the rest of your life.

Those bigger checks can go a long way if Social Security is your only source of income in retirement. Even an extra few hundred dollars per month can be the difference between just getting by and being comfortable.

2. Pay off as much debt as possible before you retire

The fewer debt repayments you have to make each month, the more money you have to spend on fun retirement activities. This is especially important if you're going to be living on Social Security alone, since every dollar counts.

If you can't pay off all your debt before retirement, focus first on the debt with the highest interest rates. The longer it takes to pay off high-interest debt, the more your interest payments will snowball over time. Depending on how much debt you have, you may end up paying thousands of dollars in interest alone. Even if you're making more than the minimum payment every month, if the majority of that money goes toward interest, it could take years to pay off your debt completely.

Once your highest-interest debt has been repaid, then tackle the debt with the next-highest interest rate, and so on until you're debt-free.

If you're struggling to pay down debt and save for retirement at the same time, establish your priorities by looking at the type of debt you have and what you're paying in interest. While it's always a good idea to set at least a little money aside for retirement, if you're carrying thousands of dollars in debt and paying, say, 18% in interest per year, putting money in a retirement account earning annual returns of 7% may not do as much good as paying off your debt.

3. Rethink your retirement expectations

You may dream of spending your retirement traveling across the country or lounging on the beach every day. But if you're going to be living on Social Security benefits, you may need to scale back your expectations.

That's not to say you can't live a perfectly enjoyable retirement on a budget. No matter where your interests lie, there are plenty of free and inexpensive activities to enjoy in retirement. You may not be able to travel the world and splurge on expensive hobbies, but that doesn't mean you have to spend retirement stuck at home in front of the TV. Find a cause you care about and start volunteering at a local non-profit organization, write that novel you always said you never had time for, or grab a few friends and explore your city's parks and museums. There are plenty of ways to enjoy retirement without spending a lot of money if you know where to look.

Spending retirement on a tight budget is a great opportunity to stretch your creative muscles and find ways to cut costs without sacrificing your quality of life. For example, when you want to take the occasional vacation, try traveling during the off season when airline tickets and hotel rooms are cheaper. Or if you've always wanted to learn a new hobby, research online to find some free tutorials and practice your skills at home before you sign up for expensive classes.

While living on Social Security benefits alone isn't ideal, if it's your only option you can still make the most of it. By being creative with your retirement lifestyle and making strategic financial decisions, you can still enjoy a comfortable retirement even on a tight budget.

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2019-06-30 10:15:00Z
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China's factory activity shrinks as U.S. tariffs, slowdown hit orders - Investing.com

© Reuters. Workers direct a crane lifting steel pipes for export at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity shrank more than expected in June, an official manufacturing survey showed, highlighting the need for more economic stimulus as U.S. tariffs and weaker domestic demand ramped up pressure on new orders for goods.

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 49.4 in June, China's National Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday, unchanged from the previous month and below the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. Analysts polled by Reuters predicted a reading of 49.5.

The weak manufacturing readings are likely to cast a shadow over the apparent progress U.S. and Chinese leaders made at the G20 summit in Japan over the weekend in restarting their troubled talks over tariffs amid a costly trade war.

They will also spark concerns about stalling growth in China and the risk of a global recession, despite slightly better-than-expected export and industrial profits data in May.

Many economists still expect the economy to face strong headwinds in coming months as domestic demand falters and external risks rise.

"Although the outcome of the G20 summit (in Osaka) might boost confidence for some entities, organic growth in the economy is still insufficient, and counter-cyclical stimulus policies need to be maintained," researchers at Huatai Securities wrote in a research note on Sunday.

"The PMI index continued to fall across the board this month, and only the raw material inventory sub-index was up due to weak demand," the research note read.

In June, China's factory output growth slowed, with the subindex falling to 51.3 from 51.7 in May while the contraction in total new orders accelerated to 49.6 from 49.8.

Export orders extended their decline with the sub-index falling to 46.3 from May's 46.5, suggesting a further weakening in global demand.

Import orders also worsened, reflecting softening demand at home despite a flurry of growth-supporting measures rolled out earlier this year.

Southwest Securities said weak new export orders reflected a fading of the front-loading effect, which had temporarily boosted exports as Chinese companies rushed to place orders before more tariffs took effect.

Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping held ice-breaking talks at the G20 summit on Saturday. However, Chinese state media warned on Sunday Beijing and Washington will likely face a long road before the two countries could reach a deal.

Analysts at Nomura expect any gains achieved on a temporary trade deal between China and the United States would prove fleeting with a renewed escalation likely further down the road.

Trump has already imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods and is threatening to extend those to another $300 billion, which would effectively cover all of China's exports to the United States. China has retaliated with tariffs on U.S. imports.

To deal with the economic challenges, policymakers have released a range of measures and are expected to launch more. Premier Li Keqiang last week pledged to cut real interest rates on financing for small and micro firms.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:) said the lack of any substantive progress in Sino-U.S. trade talks at the G20 over the weekend suggested stimulus, including cuts to banks' reserve requirements, was likely to be needed.

"We expect more policy easing (two more reserve requirement ratio cuts in 2H this year, more fiscal measures to support infrastructure investment) to come in the next few months," Goldman Sachs said in a note.

    Manufacturers continued to cut jobs in June, with the employment sub-index falling to 46.9, compared with 47.0 in May, when it hit the lowest level seen since March 2009.

An official business survey showed activity in China's services sector held firm in June despite growing pressure on the broader economy from U.S. trade measures, with the official reading at 54.2 in June from 54.3 in May.

Beijing has been counting on a strong services sector to pick up the slack as it tries to shift the economy away from a dependence on heavy industry and manufacturing exports.

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2019-06-30 08:47:00Z
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Disgraced Tech CEO Plans Unusual Legal Strategy - Newser

(Newser) – Elizabeth Holmes goes on trial next year on charges of criminal fraud, and Bloomberg reports that her legal team is working on an unexpected legal strategy. They're going after reporter John Carreyrou, whose investigative pieces in the Wall Street Journal led to the unraveling of Holmes' blood-testing company, Theranos. Holmes plans to argue that Carreyrou didn't just report on Theranos, but urged sources to file formal complaints against the company and exerted influence "on the regulatory process in a way that appears to have warped the agencies' focus on the company and possibly biased the agencies' findings against it," according to a court filing obtained by Bloomberg's Josh Rosenblatt.

The legal team is essentially saying that Carreyrou became a part of the story he was reporting on, and swayed regulators to come down harder on the company then they would have otherwise. The Journal, however, stands by Carreyrou's reporting. Meanwhile, a formal federal prosecutor tells Bloomberg the strategy could be dismissed in court as irrelevant—because the case is about Theranos' allegedly bogus biotech claims, not about Carreyrou. The trial is to start in July 2020, with Holmes and former Theranos exec Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani facing up to 20 years in prison and fines of $2 million, per the Journal. They also might have to pay restitution to those who invested in the company. (Read more Elizabeth Holmes stories.)

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2019-06-29 20:17:00Z
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Bargain hunters for stocks, gold and bonds face one simple fact: a synchronized rally means nothing is cheap - MarketWatch

Stocks are pricey but so are bonds and gold. Even bitcoin has caught a bid after a months long fallow period recently, giving way to a powerful burst higher.

That dynamic has left many investors, strategists and other Wall Street watchers wrestling with some tough questions: What to buy if everything is trading at a relative premium to historic averages and the swiftly changing narrative on trade or the economy could ignite stomach-churning price swings?

And if it feels like the recent tandem asset run-up has the markets on a knives edge, it may be for a good reason. “Things can quickly change on a dime from a [Federal Reserve] perspective, from a trade perspective,” Lindsey Bell, investment strategist at CFRA, told MarketWatch in a recent interview.

The S&P 500 price-to-earnings — a popular way of valuing stocks — on a trailing 12-month basis is at 21.83, compared with a 10-year average of 17.87, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That means the combined price of the constituents of the index was almost 22 times the net earnings produced over the past year. The historical mean is 15.75.

If investors find those valuations rich, so-called haven investments also are pricey. Gold prices GCQ19, -0.08% for example, which don’t normally rally alongside assets perceived as risky like stocks, finished not far from their highest level in six-years on Friday at $1,413.70 an ounce, based on the most-active futures contract. That is higher than the one-year ($1,264.87/oz.), five-year ($1,243.19/oz.) and 10-year averages ($1,324.85).

The 10-year Treasury note yield TMUBMUSD10Y, +0.00% finished last week’s trade at 2%, about half-a-percentage point below the 10-year average for the benchmark bond at 2.482% — briefly dipping beneath that level to mark a nearly three-year nadir.

Outside of those widely followed instruments, bitcoin BTCUSD, -2.12%  is trading at around $12,000, despite an end-of-the-week stumble, well above its average over the past three years at $5,253.56.

And a measure of the stock-market turbulence also is relatively richly priced. The Cboe Volatility Index VIX, -4.68% also known by its ticker symbol VIX, typically rises when stocks fall and for that reason is a common way to hedge against market slumps, stands at 15.08, not far from its five-year average at 15.08 or the 10-year average at 17.34.

The curious state of affairs in the investing landscape is one that some strategists argue is the byproduct of global central bankers who are struggling to sustain a decades-old recovery.

The Federal Reserve is considering easing monetary policy after a series of interest-rate increases that began at the end of 2015. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said “cross currents” from a dispute over trade policy and import tariffs between China and the U.S. is at least partly the justification for lowering borrowing costs again. The European Central Bank is similarly considering restarting measures to stimulate the eurozone’s economy.

One possible consequence of this monetary easing is some $13 trillion in government debt that offers yields below zero, meaning that lenders can expect to recover less than their original investments from sovereign borrowers.

“I think one of the unintended, yet in hindsight predictable, outcomes of ZIRP [zero interest-rate policy] was to force investors into looking for returns anywhere they can find it,” Michael Antonelli, a market strategist at Baird, told MarketWatch.

“Stocks, gold, real estate, even the burgeoning world of crypto-currencies, if you offer zero or negative interest rates on an ever increasing amount of ‘safe’ government debt then investing behavior will be altered,” he said.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.28% put in its best June return since 1938, the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.58%  notched the best such gain since 1955, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.48% marked its best June since 2000, even as those benchmarks logged weekly losses amid uncertainties over trade policy ahead of the closely watched G-20 meeting in Osaka, Japan on Saturday.

Antonelli said a “great many assets” are “rich” compared against historical valuations, adding that “whether that unravels at some point only time will tell but the behavior of it seems very human to me.”

Still, investors are clearly uneasy. Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts led by Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist, say that investors have never been so negative on a market that is rallying so briskly (see chart below):

Perhaps, the biggest risk of the rally in assets across the board is, as CFRA’s Bell says, the narrative can change swiftly and assets that don’t tend usually move in lockstep can revert to their normal levels and correlations, potentially bruising investors’ wallets.

On Saturday overnight, U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping agreed to a cease-fire in their yearlong trade war, averting an escalation in potentially market-rattling tensions, but a substantive deal is far from certaint and volatility is the likely reality in the near-term even as talks resume.

Read: Kyle Bass says Wall Street investors should ignore G-20 and brace for a fresh round of Trump tariffs

Check out: Investors awaiting the G-20 meeting miss a key point: The damage from U.S.-China trade war may be done already

So what’s an investor to do against that backdrop?

Bell says a balanced, diversified investment portfolio is the answer. The strategist recommends an allocation of 55% in stocks (15% of that in foreign equities) 25% in bonds, 15% in cash, and a 5% allocation to gold. “You have to a carefully crafted portfolio,” she said.

Looking ahead:

It’s a holiday-shortened week, with U.S. markets closed in observance of Independence Day on Thursday, July 4.

JOBS, JOBS JOBS: Investors will watch for the most important labor-market report since the last one. The Labor Department’s nonfarm-payroll report for June comes after job growth of 75,000 in May, well below estimates of 185,000. Economists’ consensus estimates for June is for the creation of 170,000 jobs and an unemployment rate holding at 3.6%. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

Monday

A gauge of manufacturing activity for June is due at 9:45 a.m., with the more closely watched read from ISM at 10 a.m. Data on construction spending also is due on that day at the same time.

Wednesday

A read on private-sector employment from ADP is due at 8:15 a.m. ET, with a reading of weekly jobless claims to follow at 8:30 a.m., a day earlier than usual because of the Fourth of July holiday, along with a trade-deficit report. At 9:45 a.m., IHS Markit services service-sector report, followed by ISM’s non-manufacturing gauge at 10 a.m., as well as a report on factory orders at the same time.

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2019-06-29 18:56:00Z
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Delta Air Lines' Oil Refinery Just Became Way More Valuable - Motley Fool

Philadelphia Energy Solutions' refinery suffered a massive explosion and fire in the early morning of June 21. (Fortunately, there were only a handful of minor injuries.) Last week, the company -- which filed for bankruptcy last year and has continued to face financial difficulties -- announced that it will not repair and reopen the South Philadelphia facility.

This marks a sudden end for the largest oil refinery in the Northeast. But it's good news for Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL), which owns one of the few remaining refineries in the region. (Several others have closed over the past decade.) While other airlines could face higher jet fuel prices due to the loss of refinery capacity, Delta's Monroe Energy subsidiary could see a nice uptick in profits from higher refining margins.

Delta's unusual investment

Seven years ago, Delta shocked observers by buying a refinery in Trainer, Pennsylvania, that had recently been shuttered by Phillips 66. Delta's total investment was around $250 million: $150 million after government incentives to buy the refinery, plus $100 million for upgrades.

Many pundits doubted that an airline could successfully operate a refinery that struggled as part of a major refining company. However, Delta's management saw the deal as a cheap, relatively low-risk way to protect itself against swings in refining margins that can drive up the price of jet fuel at times.

Delta bought a refinery in 2012 to hedge against volatile refining margins. Image source: Delta Air Lines.

The Trainer refinery has had a mixed track record under Delta's ownership. Changes in the structure of the oil market and rising environmental compliance costs have made the refinery less profitable than the airline had projected. (Back in 2012, Delta said the refinery would earn $300 million annually. It nearly hit that figure in 2015, but hasn't come close since.)

On the other hand, owning the refinery has insulated Delta from elevated refining margins during periods of disruption, such as after Hurricane Harvey in late 2017. The refinery posted operating income of $110 million in 2017 and $58 million in 2018, before swinging to a $34 million loss in the first quarter of 2019.

The refinery's economics just improved

East Coast refining margins jumped by several cents following the explosion at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery. While there is plenty of infrastructure to move more refined products to the Northeast by pipeline and ship, the uptick in refining margins in the region is unlikely to disappear completely anytime soon.

Furthermore, Philadelphia Energy Solutions' refinery lacked the capability to blend biofuels into its products, forcing it to buy renewable credits instead. Delta's Trainer facility is in the same position. With Philadelphia Energy Solutions shutting down, Delta's Monroe Energy unit will face less competition for buying these renewable credits, which should reduce its costs.

The Trainer refinery processes about 185,000 barrels of oil per day. That works out to nearly 3 billion gallons annually. Thus, an increase in refining margins of as little as $0.04 per gallon would boost the refinery's annual operating profit by more than $100 million, a significant sum.

Will this help Delta find a partner?

Since last fall, Delta has been looking for a strategic partner to buy a stake in the Trainer refinery. Given that it only needs jet fuel for its airline business -- not all of the other products the refinery produces -- finding a partner to deal with the rest of the refinery's output would make sense.

So far, Delta hasn't been able to close a deal. The company has even explored selling the refinery entirely, according to Reuters -- although executives have disputed that report.

Regardless of whether a sale or a joint venture is the ultimate goal, the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery closure will help Delta. Potential partners (or buyers) that may have been nervous about the Trainer facility's economics may be willing to take another look now, due to the more favorable competitive landscape. Despite the refinery's ups and downs over the years, Delta's bold move to enter the refining business is still on track to pay off in the long run.

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2019-06-29 16:14:00Z
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Newark airport reopens after 'emergency' shutdown over diverted United Airlines flight - Fox News

Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) reopened on Saturday morning after an "airport emergency” shut down all air traffic at the New Jersey air hub for almost one hour.

It has since been revealed that the shutdown followed the emergency landing of United Airlines flight 2098 from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Houston, a rep for the carrier confirmed to Fox News.

According to the spokesperson, "United flight 2098 experienced a mechanical issue upon takeoff and diverted to Newark Liberty International Airport. Our pilots reacted quickly to ensure the safety of the aircraft and our customers, who deplaned using deployed slides after landing."

"There are no reported injuries and we’re making alternate arrangements to get our customers to their final destination as soon as possible," the official told Fox News.

Reps for EWR announced the shutdown on Twitter at 8:46 a.m., urging travelers to “check with your carrier before coming to the airport.”

CHRISSY TEIGEN TAKES GRAVY THROUGH AIRPORT SECURITY, REVEALING ODD TSA LOOPHOLE

About an hour later, officials said that the airport was reopened, though passengers should “expect delays” and continue to check with their carriers for any updates, Fox 5 DC reports.

Witnesses tweeted that a United aircraft was seen on the tarmac surrounded by emergency vehicles, according to NJ.com.

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United flight 2098 departed New York’s LaGuardia Airport at 7:57 a.m. on Saturday and was soon diverted to EWR, as per LaGuardia’s website.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

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2019-06-29 15:40:52Z
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Newark airport reopens after 'emergency' shutdown over diverted United Airlines flight - Fox News

Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) reopened on Saturday morning after an "airport emergency” shut down all air traffic at the New Jersey air hub for almost one hour.

It has since been revealed that the shutdown followed the emergency landing of United Airlines flight 2098 from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Houston, a rep for the carrier confirmed to Fox News.

According to the spokesperson, "United flight 2098 experienced a mechanical issue upon takeoff and diverted to Newark Liberty International Airport. Our pilots reacted quickly to ensure the safety of the aircraft and our customers, who deplaned using deployed slides after landing."

"There are no reported injuries and we’re making alternate arrangements to get our customers to their final destination as soon as possible," the official told Fox News.

Reps for EWR announced the shutdown on Twitter at 8:46 a.m., urging travelers to “check with your carrier before coming to the airport.”

CHRISSY TEIGEN TAKES GRAVY THROUGH AIRPORT SECURITY, REVEALING ODD TSA LOOPHOLE

About an hour later, officials said that the airport was reopened, though passengers should “expect delays” and continue to check with their carriers for any updates, Fox 5 DC reports.

Witnesses tweeted that a United aircraft was seen on the tarmac surrounded by emergency vehicles, according to NJ.com.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

United flight 2098 departed New York’s LaGuardia Airport at 7:57 a.m. on Saturday and was soon diverted to EWR, as per LaGuardia’s website.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

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2019-06-29 15:10:57Z
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Newark Airport reopens after 'emergency' shutdown - Fox News

Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) reopened on Saturday morning after an "airport emergency” shut down all air traffic at New Jersey air hub for almost one hour.

Reps for EWR announced the news on Twitter at 8:46 a.m., urging travelers to “check with your carrier before coming to the airport.”

CHRISSY TEIGEN TAKES GRAVY THROUGH AIRPORT SECURITY, REVEALING ODD TSA LOOPHOLE

About an hour later, officials said that the airport was reopened, though passengers should “expect delays” and continue to check with their carrier for any updates, Fox 5 DC reports.

It remains unclear at this time why EWR was shutdown.

Witnesses tweeted that an aircraft, perhaps making an emergency landing, was seen on the tarmac surrounded by emergency vehicles, according to NJ.com.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

United Airlines flight 2098 reportedly departed New York’s LaGuardia Airport at 7:57 a.m. on Saturday and was soon diverted to EWR, as per LaGuardia’s website.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

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2019-06-29 14:48:53Z
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Newark Airport reopens after 'emergency' shutdown - Fox News

Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) reopened on Saturday morning after an "airport emergency” shut down all air traffic at New Jersey air hub for almost one hour.

Reps for EWR announced the news on Twitter at 8:46 a.m., urging travelers to “check with your carrier before coming to the airport.”

CHRISSY TEIGEN TAKES GRAVY THROUGH AIRPORT SECURITY, REVEALING ODD TSA LOOPHOLE

About an hour later, officials said that the airport was reopened, though passengers should “expect delays” and continue to check with their carrier for any updates, Fox 5 DC reports.

It remains unclear at this time why EWR was shutdown.

Witnesses tweeted that an aircraft, perhaps making an emergency landing, was seen on the tarmac surrounded by emergency vehicles, according to NJ.com.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

United Airlines flight 2098 reportedly departed New York’s LaGuardia Airport at 7:57 a.m. on Saturday and was soon diverted to EWR, as per LaGuardia’s website.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

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2019-06-29 14:25:34Z
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Honda recalls 1.6 million vehicles over Takata airbags - CNN

The recall affects Honda and Acura automobiles in the United States.

Honda urged owners of affected vehicles to seek free replacements immediately at authorized dealers.

Honda is ahead of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's schedule for replacing the Takata airbag inflators, the carmaker said in a statement. Honda said it has made "significant progress with existing recall repairs," with an 83 percent completion rate. The company has enough replacement parts, all from alternative suppliers, to repair affected Acura and Honda models, it said.

The airbag issue led Takata to file for bankruptcy in June 2017.

Honda in March confirmed 14 deaths and more than 200 injuries in the US related to Takata airbag driver's front inflator ruptures. Another company's vehicles were involved in two other US fatalities, Honda said.

A chemical drying agent used in the inflators could cause airbags to rupture, Takata said. Upon bursting, some Takata airbags caused shrapnel to explode forward into passengers and drivers, injuring or killing some.

The faulty inflators resulted in the recall of tens of millions of vehicles worldwide. It was the largest automotive recall in US history, with some 37 million cars in the US from 19 automakers affected.

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2019-06-29 14:02:00Z
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Opinion: Jony Ive leaves Apple, but it's not on design a high - Notebookcheck.net

We probably won't be seeing photos of Cook and Ive together like this in future. (Source: Apple)

Apple fans were shocked by news that legendary design guru Jony Ive is leaving the company. While Ive has undoubtedly contributed significantly to numerous iconic Apple designs in the past, he is not, however, leaving Apple on a design high.

Jony Ive will always be an Apple icon. Behind co-founders Steve Jobs and Steven Wozniak, Ive is perhaps the most significant figure in the company's history. His partnership with Steve Jobs during Jobs' second coming as Apple CEO took Apple out of the doldrums and helped position it to become the largest and most successful technology company in history. Who can forget the iconic Bondi Blue iMac G3 (1998-2003) that helped to turn the company's fortunes? It was the first of a succession of iconic designs including several iPods and then of course the 2007 iPhone which initiated the second Apple-triggered computing revolution after the original Apple II.

However, Ive leaves Apple not on a product design high. Arguably the last properly iconic design to come from directly under his tenure was the iPhone 5 (which was then rehashed for the iPhone SE). Over the past few years, however, rehashed designs have become the hallmark of Apple flagship products. Apple is no longer the design leader on the market with plenty of other smartphone makers and even PC makers stepping in to take away Apple's mantle. As I wrote recently for Notebookcheck, Apple is becoming synonymous with boring as a result, even if it continues to be spectacularly successful on the whole.

Steve Jobs once said, "There's an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been. And we've always tried to do that at Apple." This is not Apple today under CEO Tim Cook. Its MacBooks are very conventional, save, for the questionable Touch Bar and its flaghship iPhone is headed for a third year fundamentally unchanged, unsightly display notch included. In fact, the competition is doing a better job of skating to where the puck is going to be. 

Vivo's APEX Concept Phone 2019 is a perfect example. It is fashioned from a single unibody glass structure that is both buttonless and portless -- it is the kind of stunning and perhaps controversial design that we used to expect Apple to deliver first. Same too for the Asus Zenbook Pro Duo, which features an advanced dual touch screen design that leaves Apple MacBooks eating its dust for innovative design. There are many other examples of both smartphone and notebook designs from Android and PC makers that eclipse Apple's offerings for things like display resolution and other design features that we used to expect it to deliver first -- Oppo's breakthrough in-display selfie camera is but another example of this.

The past few years have seen Jony Ive focused primarily on bringing Jobs' vision for the Apple Park campus to life and it is undoubtedly an iconic building design; but that is not what will, or has, defined Apple - this is has always been its hardware. Under Tim Cook (who has been content to penny pinch by the said rehashing of product designs knowing they will sell to the Apple faithful anyway), Apple is pivoting to offset declining iPhone sales by focusing more on software and services. Little wonder that Ive is just the latest of several Apple product designers to leave the company. Notably, he is also taking the highly regarded Australian-born designer Marc Newson with him to form LoveFrom, Ive's new design studio.

Although Apple and Ive have been at pains to point out that Ive's relationship with Apple will continue as the first design client for LoveFrom, it will focus on the only Apple product in recent times that has held interest for Ive - the Apple Watch. This is where both Ive and Newson expended most of their energies. Perhaps only the new Mac Pro design also bares significant input of the two designers and the timing of Ive's departure following its recent launch suggests that this in fact the case. While everyone can see that the new Mac Pro will be a more effective product solution than the circular "trash can" Mac Pro it replaces, the 2013 design is arguably more iconic, if not simply more adventurous.

So, Ive leaves Apple not on a design high, but at a time where much of its product line is comprised of rehashed designs. While nice enough, none are the kind of cutting-edge industrial designs that made Apple the envy of the consumer technology market. Given this scenario, it is not like Apple is going to especially miss him. In his role as Chief Design Officer (effectively akin to an emeritus professor title in an academic institution), Ive hasn't been central to the design of Apple's products for the past few years. And it probably shows. His interests have been elsewhere and starting up his own design firm is a natural evolution of where things have been heading. Five or ten years ago, losing Ive would have been a massive blow. Losing him now isn't going to dramatically shift day-to-day operations at Cupertino, even if the market has reacted with some shock at his departure.

 

 

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2019-06-29 10:05:51Z
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He designed the iPhone. Now Jony Ive is leaving Apple - CNN Business

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2019-06-28 15:27:17Z
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Apple will be fine without Jony Ive - Engadget

You could smell the hysteria at the news. Where will Apple, a company famous for its commitment to design and its famous designer, go from here? Sir Jonathan Ive's departure, however, may be less of a catastrophe than some think. What if, actually, this isn't just a good thing, but a sign of an even more positive future for Apple?

Apple has always prided itself on its culture, rather than its personnel. Tim Cook once said that Steve Jobs' greatest contribution to the company was its culture and work to nurture new talent within it. But Apple also lionized Ive as an embodiment of its design skill, as evidenced by his regular (much-parodied) appearances in product videos.

But Ive was never a single figure in Apple's design team, just the most famous -- and the most powerful. Apple may have avoided the PR shock if it had other designers who were similarly visible outside of the company. Some longstanding rumors suggest any potential successors to the Ive mantle were pushed out of the company by the designer himself.

Ive's departure may not hurt too much because Apple's hardware division isn't going to be the only thing the company is focusing on in future. The smartphone and tablet markets won't see the sort of explosive growth that they have done in the past. And, as the company pushes into services as a key vehicle for profit, there's less need for a superstar hardware designer hanging around.

It's not as if the iPhone and iPad, among other products, are going to see radical innovation now, anyway. Their forms are pretty settled at this point, and it must have been a challenge for Ive to come up with a new tweak on a design he (arguably) perfected in 2012. And even inside Apple, Ive has always sought to design other products, like a limited-edition Leica, Diamond Ring and a watch. Not to mention Ive giving notes on how Kylo Ren's lightsaber should work.

In fact, some of Ive's obsessions saw him butting up against the laws of physics in a way that he must have found frustrating. For someone who wanted his designs to be unobtrusive, the lens humps on the iPhone and iPad cameras must have rankled. Similarly, Intel chips have lagged sufficiently that a laptop redesign would be tough, these days. And Ive's desire to make thinner and lighter products sometimes made them less usable.

Take his infamous line from 2015, when Ive said that people were essentially using their phones in the wrong way. Rather than admit that his obsession with size and weight meant the iPhone battery was far too small, he blamed the user for their overuse. Similarly, the new MacBook Pro keyboard, built to shave precious millimeters from the laptop's body, has met plenty of derision.

On the other hand, his philosophy achieved the impossible feat of shrinking a phone into a device as small as the Apple Watch. It's a product that, for all its flaws, every one at Apple deserves praise for creating in an era of clunky wearables. But it wouldn't be a bad thing if Ive's successors, Evans Hankey and Alan Dye, loosen up on some of his more famous hangups. A gram of weight, here, for a bigger battery; a less elegant design for a more functional keyboard, there.

Neither figure has been in the spotlight much until now, but we can expect to see more of them in the near future. Both handled Ive's responsibilities for software (Dye) and hardware (Hankey) while he was working to finish Apple Park. So they're both used to the day-to-day parts of the job, without the increased scrutiny their new titles will involve.

In many ways, Ive leaves Apple with the most settled product line it has had in years, with the Mac Pro rounding out the set. The iPhone and iPad are both in rude health, and there's little more that can be done with the iMac these days. If Apple does make an ARM laptop in the near future, then it's likely Ive and his team have already designed and built the chassis for it.

We'll still be living in Jonathan Ive's world, it's just that he'll be off in his office, building a new toilet, or standard lamp... or something.

In this article: Alan Dye, apple, Design, Evans Hankey, gear, Jonathan Ive, mobile, personal computing, personalcomputing, Sir Jonathan Ive, Tim Cook

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

By Daniel Cooper @danielwcooper

After training to be an intellectual property lawyer, Dan abandoned a promising career in financial services to sit at home and play with gadgets. He lives in Norwich, U.K., with his wife, his books and far too many opinions on British TV comedy. One day, if he's very, very lucky, he'll live out his dream to become the executive producer of Doctor Who before retiring to Radio 4.

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2019-06-28 15:00:40Z
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Vergecast: Jony Ive leaving Apple and public betas arriving - The Verge

What a topical show we’ve got this week on The Vergecast. I’m going to be honest, there’s a little bit more editing than usual here.

Initially, we began the episode with some overviews of the public beta software for Apple’s iPadOS, iOS 13, and macOS Catalina. The Verge’s Nilay Patel, Dieter Bohn, and Paul Miller discussed what’s different with the updates and how the iPad feels now compared to using an iPhone. My favorite part is when Dieter questions what it even means to be an iPhone.

But halfway through the show, Apple put out a press release announcing that Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer and one of the most influential people in Apple history, will be leaving the company later this year to start his own design firm.

It’s great to have the crew reacting to this organically on tape (check out the cold open), but I don’t think we could have done the show without starting off with this breaking news in the tech world, so we went back and started over.

We also didn’t want to lose all that great tape about these betas, so we kept all that stuff in and just added it later in the show. So this is me letting you know that we recorded the software chat before knowing Jony Ive was leaving Apple. The timeline is moved all around, but it’s fine. You’ll get it.

After that, it is back to the original timeline (“where actions have real consequences,” says Paul Miller), and we’ve got our usual updates on Foxconn’s factory in Wisconsin (happy anniversary!), Paul’s weekly segment “The sweetest pis,” and some analysis on Bill Gates saying Microsoft losing to Android is his “greatest mistake”

I’m sure there’s a lot more that happened during this episode that I don’t remember (another disclosure, I was watching the Democratic debate while editing), so I guess you’re going to have to listen to it all to stay informed.

Stories discussed this week:

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2019-06-28 14:44:06Z
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Americans still love Mexican beers Corona and Modelo - CNN

Shares of Constellation soared 7% in early trading Friday after the company reported earnings and sales that topped forecasts and also issued a solid outlook for the rest of this fiscal year.

Constellation, which imports the Corona and Modelo brands from Mexico, posted a more than 7% jump in beer sales and nearly 12% increase in operating profits from its beer unit compared to a year ago.

"Our iconic beer portfolio continues to be a cornerstone of growth in the U.S. beer industry," said Constellation CEO Bill Newlands in a statement.

The solid beer performance helped offset a decline in revenue and earnings from its wine and spirits business, which owns the Kim Crawford wine and Svedka vodka brands. Constellation reached a deal earlier in April to sell some struggling wine brands.

Constellation shares are now up about 25% this year. The stock briefly plunged in May due to concerns that President Donald Trump would impose higher tariffs on products from Mexico unless the country took a harder stance on illegal immigration to the United States.

But Trump dropped the threat earlier this month after the two countries came to an agreement on border enforcement.

Constellation is also poised to benefit from the boom in legal marijuana sales in Canada and some US states as well as increased demand for products derived from CBD -- the non-psychoactive component of cannabis -- following the passage of the Farm Bill. That's because Constellation owns about a 37% stake in Canadian cannabis firm Canopy Growth (CGC).

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2019-06-28 13:34:00Z
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