These factors are constraining builders' ability to construct homes in the lower price segment of the market, which continues to experience a shortage of homes for sale. The housing market hit a soft patch last year, with investment in homebuilding contracting 0.3 percent, the weakest performance since 2010.

But more than the election results themselves, it is the substance of an economic reform package that is needed to calm markets, experts say. That effort has so far not gone well.

Of note, an investor discussion with Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak during the IMF Spring Meetings in Washington DC last week received decidedly negative reviews.

Investors described Turkish officials as unprepared and lacking details, and a J.P. Morgan survey carried out during the event revealed that more than 80% of investors did not have confidence in Ankara's ability to turn things around.

...

Some make the case that the dearth in trading activity reflects a lack of participation in the market by a broad swath of investors.

This is 100% what we expected; if you don't make tax cuts economically significant for most people, duh, they won't notice. It never mattered if peanuts were being thrown to the proles while large cuts were being given to the wealthy and major corporations. Why would it? You can stoke fake hysteria about immigrants and muslim terrorists all you want, and certain people will buy into that -- precisely because it's imaginary -- but you can't fake what's in people's wallets. Trump told his fans he'd make them "so rich", and that clearly didn't happen. Of course, one could only have believed that if one fell for the con of a seasoned con artist...

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The bank cut compensation and benefits set aside for employees in the first quarter by 20% to $3.26 billion, or about $90,780 for each of the bank's 35,900 workers. A year ago, that figure was $119,323 for each of the bank's 34,000 workers.

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Compensation has been sliding on Wall Street ever since post-financial crisis rules crimped risk taking and as automation and electronic trading take over more flows from clients. Under CEO David Solomon, who took over in October, the firm is reevaluating all of its businesses and has already started to pull back resources from parts of underperforming areas like commodities trading. ''

Four other executives are being charged, the prosecutors office said in a statement, without giving their names.

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Prosecutors said Winterkorn was accused of a particularly serious case of fraud, breach of trust and breaching competition laws because he had not acted -- despite having a special responsibility to do so as the company's CEO -- after it became clear on May 25, 2014, that diesel engines had been manipulated.

He neglected to inform authorities in Europe and the United States as well as customers of the illegal software and he also did not prevent the continued installation of such software, the prosecutors said.

...

In a related case, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Winterkorn last month, saying U.S. investors were informed too late about the German automaker's diesel emissions scandal, alleging a "massive fraud".

The outcome of such a debate, though arcane, is important. Some outside critics contend the Fed balance-sheet process contributed to the stock-market meltdown in December. Senior Fed officials want to make sure whatever they do reduces instability in the U.S. financial system.

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The deal is expected to close later this quarter and means Newmont will bypass Barrick Gold Corp. and take the triple crown as biggest gold company in the world by market value, production and reserves.

The deal announced in January was eventful from the start. About a month after it was announced, Barrick made a hostile takeover bid for Newmont and urged Newmont to drop its quest for Goldcorp. Even later, when Barrick dropped its effort to acquire Newmont, more uncertainty arose when Goldcorp announced it had agreed to almost triple the retirement package of Ian Telfer, its chairman, to US$12-million. The payout angered some shareholders at Goldcorp, especially considering Mr. Telfer agreed to sell the company with its stock near a historical low.

...

Much of the drama evaporated when Newmont sweetened the pot by agreeing to pay a special dividend to its shareholders worth US$470-million if a yes vote was achieved. That dividend will now be paid out on May 1 to people who hold shares as of April 17.

The court inquiry stemmed from complaints filed last October, after an investigation by The New York Times found that the Trumps had engaged in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that greatly increased the inherited wealth of Mr. Trump and his siblings. Judge Barry not only benefited financially from most of those tax schemes, The Times found; she was also in a position to influence the actions taken by her family.

Judge Barry, now 82, has not heard cases in more than two years but was still listed as an inactive senior judge, one step short of full retirement. In a letter dated Feb. 1, a court official notified the four individuals who had filed the complaints that the investigation was "receiving the full attention" of a judicial conduct council. Ten days later, Judge Barry filed her retirement papers.

Nothing to see here...

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There are a number of possible causes of this sales plunge. The partial phase-out of federal tax credits in the U.S. may have pulled forward some demand into 2018. Better availability of the Model 3 is another factor that could be weighing on demand for pricier Teslas. Trade tensions may be impacting sales in China. Growing competition in the electric vehicle market certainly can't be overlooked. And the recent Model Y reveal could be causing some potential buyers to consider waiting for that model.

Yet one thing is certain. There aren't any meaningful production constraints to blame for the sales decline -- it's all about demand. The only question is how much Tesla is willing to cut prices (at the cost of lower gross margin) to prop up Model S and Model X sales volume going forward.

Capitalism must be reformed because it's not producing enough opportunities for most Americans, creating an income gap that threatens to spark conflict, Ray Dalio, the Bridgewater Associates co-chairman, said in an interview airing Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes."

...

Dalio, expressed similar sentiments in an essay posted April 4 on LinkedIn. He pointed to statistics including that the bottom 60 percent of income-earners in the U.S. keep falling further behind the top 40 percent -- and that the percentage of children who grow up to earn more than their parents has fallen to 50 percent today from 90 percent in 1970.

The income gap is about as high as ever, and the wealth gap is the highest since the late 1930s because the wealth of the top 1 percent of the population is more than that of the bottom 90 percent combined, Dalio said.

The digital pin board company is preparing to put out a filing on Monday with the price range for its I.P.O., said the person, who declined to be identified because the details are confidential. Pinterest, which was valued at $12 billion in 2017 by venture capitalists and other private investors, is part of a horde of high-profile but unprofitable tech start-ups that are now moving toward the public market.

A stock market valuation of less than $12 billion for Pinterest raises questions about investor demand for these companies. Lyft, the ride-hailing company that is deeply unprofitable, went public last month amid a great deal of hype -- until its shares promptly fell below its offering price on its second day of trading. The stock has since recovered.

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Governments worldwide added 651.5 tons of bullion in 2018, the second-highest total on record, according to the World Gold Council. ... Spot gold fell for a second month in March even after the Federal Reserve signaled it would pause rate hikes, which led to a surge in equities instead.

...

China has previously gone long periods without revealing increases in gold holdings. When the central bank announced a 57 percent jump in reserves to 53.3 million ounces in mid-2015, it was the first update in six years. The latest pause was from October 2016 until December last year.