Pete Buttigieg Says He Raised Almost $25 Million in Fourth Quarter

Pete Buttigieg’s campaign said the presidential candidate raised more than $24.7 million in the fourth quarter, giving the South Bend, Indiana mayor one of the largest war chests among those fighting for the Democratic nomination.

Buttigieg’s money came from 326,000 donors who gave an average of $33, the campaign said in a statement on Wednesday. His was the first campaign to release fourth-quarter fundraising totals.

Relying on a mix of in-person fundraisers and grassroots contributors, Buttigieg took in more than $76 million in 2019. He raised $19.2 million in the third quarter.

“These figures are even more astounding considering that Pete started this race less then a year ago as an unknown candidate, with just a few staffers and zero dollars in the bank,” campaign manager Mike Schmuhl said in a memo.

The campaign said its financial haul allowed it to increase its staff nationwide to 500 people. It’s opened 65 field offices in early caucus and primary states, including 35 in Iowa, where Buttigieg is narrowly leading in polls, according to an average compiled by RealClearPolitics. He also has 100 organizers in the state.

The presidential campaigns are due to file detailed, year-end reports with the Federal Election Commission on Jan. 31. But they often release fund-raising totals early to signal the strength of their support. Buttigieg has been the first candidate to release his numbers in each quarter.

Jeff Bezos is the richest person in the world

(CNN)Jeff Bezos is still the richest person in the world, even after losing $10 billion in one year.

The Amazon founder held onto the top spot in the final day of the 2019 Bloomberg Billionaire Index with an estimated net worth of $115 billion. He’s trailed closely by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose estimated worth is $113 billion.
Bezos, Gates and French business magnate Bernard Arnault are the only three billionaires on the list whose net worths exceed $100 billion.

Bezos was expected to lose the top spot in the billionaire index after a choppy year for his finances. As part of his divorce settlement with ex-wife Mackenzie Bezos, he held onto 75% of the couple’s Amazon stock.

The rest went to his former wife, who also received a 4% stake in the company. That amounted to around $37 billion, making her the 25th-richest person in the world.

Gates briefly toppled Bezos in November after Amazon profits fell nearly 28% from the previous year while Microsoft shares soared 48%. But his time at the top was short-lived.

Familiar faces round out the current top 10. Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg clock in fourth and fifth. The Facebook founder added a staggering $26.3 billion to his personal wealth this year.
Julia Flesher Koch, widow of conservative businessman David Koch and the only woman in the top 10, is worth $62 billion.

China’s Manufacturing Sector Expands For Second Straight Month

China’s manufacturing sector expanded for the second straight month in December, official survey data showed on Tuesday.

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index held steady at 50.2 in December, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The score was forecast to fall to 50.0.

A score above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 suggests contraction in the sector. The factory PMI has stayed above 50 for the second consecutive month.

Suggesting acceleration in manufacturing output, the production sub-index gained 0.6 points to 53.2 in December. Meanwhile, the new order index dropped 0.1 point to 51.2. Nonetheless, the score stayed above 50.

The export order indicator expanded for the first time since mid-2018. The index came in at 50.3 compared to 48.8 a month ago. At 49.9, the index for imports remained below 50.

The employment indicator remained unchanged at 47.3 and the supplier delivery time index advanced 0.6 points to 51.1.

China’s private PMI survey data is due on January 2. Economists forecast the factory PMI to remain stable at 51.8 in December.

The official non-manufacturing PMI dropped to 53.5 from 54.4 in the previous month, data showed today. This was also below the forecast of 54.2.

Likewise, the composite output index came in at 53.4 in December, down from 53.7 in November.

₹700-cr. investment on hold, says Hero Electric

FAME II failed to deliver: MD Munjal

Electric two-wheeler maker Hero Electric has put on hold investment of up to ₹700 crore for a year with the sector taking a nosedive as FAME II, the scheme aimed at promoting electric vehicles (EVs), has failed to deliver, according to a top company official.

Calling for a complete revamp of policy, the firm wants the Centre to include low speed two-wheelers for subsidy, arguing that for mass adoption of EVs in India, these cost-effective vehicles were critical.

“From an industry standpoint, there was a certain trajectory which was going on when we had FAME I… the manner in which FAME II was introduced, the whole industry took a downturn and [is] now recovering from that,” said Hero Electric MD Naveen Munjal.

As per Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles, sales of FAME II qualified electric two-wheelers fell 93.84% to 3,000 units in the April-December 2019 period as against 48,671 units a year earlier.

GST revenue mop-up rises to Rs 1.03 lakh cr in Dec

During the month, the GST revenue from domestic transactions witnessed a growth of 16 per cent as compared to the year-ago period.

GST revenue collection remained above the Rs 1 lakh crore mark for the second month in a row with December mop-up rising to Rs 1.03 lakh crore as compared to the year-ago period.

In December 2018, the GST collection was Rs 97,276 crore.

The GST collection in November 2019 stood at Rs 1,03,492 crore.

Of the gross Rs 1,03,184 crore last month, CGST is Rs 19,962 crore, SGST is Rs 26,792 crore, IGST is Rs 48,099 crore (including Rs 21,295 crore collected on imports) and Cess is Rs 8,331 crore (including Rs 847 crore collected on imports), an official statement said.

During the month, the GST revenue from domestic transactions witnessed a growth of 16 per cent as compared to the year-ago period, it added.