Watch | 2020 TVS Apache RTR 160 & 200 BS6 first ride and review

Video review of 2020 TVS Apache RTR 160 & 200 BS6

As the automobile industry in the country gears up to comply with the new mandated BS6 norms by April 2020, manufacturers are pulling out all the stops to make the machines road-ready. With updates both inside and outside, watch to find out how the TVS Apache RTR 160 & 200 BS6 feel like…

Bitcoin prices collapse during holiday season

There are some serious things I want to cover without ruining the holiday season.

The price of bitcoin collapsed down to around $6,700 a coin this week. Why? Because bitcoin and other digital currencies are a confidence game. And confidence in its value is eroding.

Also, Boston Federal Reserve head Eric Rosengren was yapping Tuesday after a speech to the Forecasters Club in New York, expressing concerns that the Fed’s interest rate cuts were causing high asset prices and excessive risk-taking.

Back in the late 1990s, people couldn’t understand why Fed head Alan Greenspan was so worried about inflation because they weren’t looking — as he was — at “asset inflation.” Then the stock market collapsed after the dot.com bubble and they understood.

I promise to dig deeper into these rich veins — after I lose the holiday spirit.

BOJ to begin lending ETFs to investors, unveils details

TOKYO, Dec 19 (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan on Thursday announced details of a new scheme to lend exchange-traded funds (ETF) to investors by up to one year, as part of moves to enhance market liquidity for the instrument.

Under the scheme, the BOJ will lend ETFs it selects from its holdings to investors chosen by the central bank from among those who are major participants in the ETF market.

The duration of lending will be within one year, the central bank said in a statement. (Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

‘Don The Con, You’re Fired!’ Trump Gets A Blunt Message At His Own Rally

President Donald Trump got an unexpected message at his own rally on Wednesday night after protesters unfurled a banner as he was speaking.  

“Don the Con, you’re fired!” said the banner unfurled at the event in Battle Creek, Michigan, as the House voted to impeach the president. 

Trump demanded that the protesters be removed, although he seemed to notice only one of them ― perhaps because she was giving him the double bird as she was escorted out.

Or, as Trump later called it, “a horrible gesture with the wrong finger.” 

A second protester waved his hat as he left, but Trump appeared fixated on the woman.

“Get her out,” he said. “Get her out of here.”  

The crowd booed and chanted “USA!” as the protesters were escorted out. 

Trump called the woman “a real slob” and “a disgusting person,” and he said, “She’ll get hell when she gets back home with Mom.” 

Then he complained that security officers at the event were “so politically correct” and didn’t grab her by the wrists as they took her out. 

“You gotta get a little bit stronger than that, folks,” he griped as the crowd cheered. 

Trump also complained of “politically correct” security at an event last week when a woman entered a pen near the stage with a banner reading “Grabbing power back.”

She also gave him the finger. 

Facebook will run a Super Bowl commercial for the first time

Facebook Inc. will run its first commercial in the Super Bowl, buying time for a 60-second ad featuring Chris Rock and Sylvester Stallone to promote its Groups feature, a company spokeswoman said.

Fox Corp. FOX, -0.66%  last month said it had sold out of ad time in the coming Super Bowl LIV, earlier than TV networks had completed Super Bowl sales in recent years. The game will take place in Miami on Feb 2.

Advertisers are paying up to $5.6 million for 30 seconds of commercial time during the Super Bowl. Prices during the 2019 game reached as high as $5.3 million.

Facebook FB, +2.07%  has been seeking to improve the appeal of its social-media network, partly through a campaign themed “More Together” that positions Groups as a way for people to connect with like-minded users. That effort is part of a larger increase in global ad spending by Facebook in a bid to rebuild trust and positive consumer sentiment after a series of controversies over privacy practices and misinformation on its platform. Facebook marketing chief Antonio Lucio said last summer that the drive could more than double the company’s advertising spending.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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Rupee slips 5 paise to 71.02 against U.S. dollar

The rupee opened on a weak note and fell 5 paise to 71.02 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Thursday tracking cautious opening in domestic equities.

Forex traders said rupee is trading in a narrow range amid lack of cues on the domestic front.

Sustained foreign fund inflows and weakening of the U.S. dollar vis-a-vis other currencies overseas supported the rupee, while muted opening in domestic equities weighed on the local unit.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened weak at 71.01 then fell to 71.02 against the U.S. dollar, showing a decline of 5 paise over its previous closing.

The Indian rupee on Wednesday had closed at 70.97 against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.02% to $66.16 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital markets, as they purchased shares worth ₹1,836.81 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell by 0.07% to 97.33.

Domestic bourses opened on a cautious note on Thursday with benchmark indices Sensex trading 53.46 points down at 41,505.11 and Nifty down by 16.15 points at 12,205.50.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.74% in morning trade.