Kimberly McIntosh: Why I Took A Break From Dating White Men

Kimberly McIntosh is a young writer and campaigner on race and racism.

:: Listen to the Divided podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Spreaker

Her work has included a series of magazine articles about her search for a ‘woke’ man.

Niall Paterson asks her about dating, cultural appropriation and white privilege.

British pound slides as Carney highlights Bank of England space to act if needed

The British pound GBPUSD, -0.5574% was lower following a speech from Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney, in which he said there was the equivalent of 250 basis points worth of cuts the central bank could make if needed through traditional cuts as well as quantitative easing and forward guidance. The pound traded at $1.3038 from $1.3096 on Wednesday. Earlier in the week, Carney gave an interview in which he warned central banks were running out of ammunition.

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Edge Down To 222,000

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged slightly lower from an upwardly revised level in the week ended December 28th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 222,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 224,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 225,000 from the 222,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 233,250, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 228,500.

With the uptick, the four-week moving average reached its highest level since hitting 235,750 in the week ended January 27, 2018.

The report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also rose by 5,000 to 1.728 million in the week ended December 21st.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims climbed to 1,711,750, an increase of 7,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,704,500.

Next Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly employment report for December.

L Brands 9-week Comps. Down 3%; Lowers Earnings Guidance – Quick Facts

L Brands, Inc. (LB) reported net sales of $3.91 billion for the nine weeks ended Jan. 4, 2020, compared to $4.07 billion for the nine weeks ended Jan. 5, 2019. Comparable sales decreased 3 percent for the nine weeks ended Jan. 4, 2020.

For the fourth-quarter, L Brands now projects earnings per share of about $1.85, revised from its previous guidance of about $2.00. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report profit per share of $1.97. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Shares of L Brands, Inc. were down more than 4% in pre-market trade on Thursday.

Protesters Withdraw From US Embassy In Baghdad

After two days of angry demonstrations over the U.S. air strikes targeting Iranian-backed militia in Iraq and Syria, protesters have withdrawn from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

On Tuesday, slogan-chanting crowd had entered the embassy compound in the highly-fortified zone and set the wall on fire. Demonstrators hurled stones at the diplomatic mission office on Wednesday and broke its windows. U.S. forces retaliated by firing tear gas on the Iran-backed militiamen.

The Iraqi government and senior leaders of the militia had called on the protesters to calm down.

Tensions mounted in the Middle East Monday as U.S. forces conducted air strikes against five facilities of Kataib Hizbollah (KH) in Iraq and Syria in response to last week’s rocket attacks by the Iranian-backed militia on an Iraqi base near Kirkuk that killed a U.S. civilian contractor.

Iran and Iraq warned that the United States will have to face consequences for the air strikes, while protesters attacked the U.S. Embassy.

Tensions escalated with Trump warning that Iran “will pay a very big price” for the attack.

“Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very Big Price! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat,” Trump tweeted.

The US ambassador and embassy staff were evacuated.

AH-64 Apaches and more U.S. troops were deployed to protect the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

European Economics Preview: Germany Industrial Output, Foreign Trade Data Due

Industrial production and foreign trade from Germany and unemployment from euro area are due on Thursday, headlining a busy day for the European economic news.

At 2.00 am ET, Destatis is scheduled to issue Germany’s industrial production and foreign trade figures. Economists forecast industrial output to grow 0.8 percent on month, in contrast to a 1.7 percent fall in October.

Germany’s exports are forecast to drop 0.9 percent on month, while imports are expected to rise 0.2 percent in November.

In the meantime, GDP figures from Norway are due.

At 2.30 am ET, the Federal Statistical Office is slated to release Swiss retail sales for November.

At 3.00 am ET, the Czech Statistical Office publishes foreign trade figures for November. The trade surplus is expected to rise to CZK 15.8 billion from CZK 7.2 billion in October.

At 4.00 am ET, Italy’s unemployment and retail sales figures are due. The jobless rate is seen at 9.8 percent in November versus 9.7 percent in October.

At 4.30 am ET, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney speaks at the Future of Inflation Targeting Conference, in London.

At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat releases euro area unemployment data. The jobless rate is forecast to remain unchanged at 7.5 percent in November.