2025-09-16 20:29
Sept 16 (Reuters) - The PGA Tour's season-opening event will have to find a new home for 2026 as drought conditions on the Hawaiian island of Maui forced organizers to abandon plans to stage the January tournament at Kapalua Resort's Plantation Course. According to the PGA Tour, more than 90% of Maui County is experiencing significant drought that has affected over 140,000 residents and triggered water conservation mandates that have left the golf course in no shape to host The Sentry. Sign up here. Additional details about the tournament, which features the top 50 players from the previous year's FedExCup standings as well as winners of PGA Tour events from the preceding calendar year, will be shared when available. The PGA Tour said its agronomy team made a site visit in early September and concluded that the Plantation Course had been "significantly compromised" by both the drought and water limitations. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/pga-tour-says-drought-hit-kapalua-unable-host-2026-season-opener-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 19:58
BARRANQUILLA, Colombia, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Colombia's oil and gas reserves will likely grow this year compared to the previous one, the head of the nation's hydrocarbons agency told Reuters on Tuesday. In 2024, Colombia's proven oil reserves - the amount of crude that is profitable to extract - reached 2.04 billion barrels, or enough to last 7.2 years of consumption. Sign up here. Orlando Velandia, the head of the agency, said that it was forecasting crude prices to close the year at around $70 per barrel. With that being the case, the agency would not need to trim its reserves estimates, he said. Brent crude prices closed at $68.47 per barrel on Tuesday. Colombia's reserve estimates could come up even more, according to Velandia. "We could see further improvement," he said, by using better technology and new techniques to extract more oil from existing fields. However, oil production has been hit an estimated 6% by social conflicts and security issues, Velandia said. Pipelines are frequently damaged by guerrilla groups looking to undermine the government's authority. In July, production fell 4.8% year-on-year to an average 746,249 barrels per day (bpd). Velandia also said that the agency expects to assign more than one area in an upcoming offshore wind project auction, with the first round to be held on October 14. "We hope for a number of companies to participate in the process... and that we award several areas," Velandia said. "There are companies, very big players, that remain confident." Some firms do have "some reservations, are being cautious, asking us for more information, and are still evaluating," he said. A preliminary list of qualified bidders includes firms such as Ecopetrol (ECO.CN) , opens new tab, Celsia (CEL.CN) , opens new tab, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Jan De Nul, DEME (DEME.BR) , opens new tab, Powerchina, China Three Gorges (600905.SS) , opens new tab and Britain's Dyna Energy. The government's goal is to award at least 1 gigawatt (GW) of installed capacity in the round. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/colombias-oil-gas-reserves-seen-climbing-this-year-agency-head-says-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 19:57
Yield curve steepening due to fiscal and political risks Long-term Treasuries pressured by deficits and bond issuance Private credit seen as alternative to Treasuries Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Treasury yield curve could steepen as investors demand higher compensation for perceived fiscal and political risk amid rising pressure from the Trump administration on the U.S. Federal Reserve, bond fund managers said on Tuesday. President Donald Trump's persistent criticism of the Fed board and Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates, and his attempts to change the voting board's composition are chipping away at investor confidence in the institution's authority. Sign up here. Yield curves steepen when long-term rates rise faster than short-term, reflecting concerns about a resurgence in inflation and bigger U.S. deficits. A popular trade this year, especially in the 5-year/30-year yield curve, has been for investors to buy the shorter end and sell the 30-year bond. "If politics bends policy, I'd fade rallies in the dollar and stay nimble on duration," Gareth Nicholson, chief investment officer at Nomura International Wealth Management, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum , opens new tab. "Treat dollar and long bonds as the first shock absorbers." Skepticism over the Fed's independence is beginning to weigh on long-end yields, even as markets continue to conditionally trust the central bank, he said. Persistent U.S. deficits and heavy bond issuance have kept long-term Treasuries pressured even as short-end yields price in more aggressive Fed rate cuts. The two-year yield , which typically moves in step with Fed rate expectations, fell to 3.51% on Tuesday after climbing to 3.578%, while the 10-year was at 4.03%, down in recent weeks as softer labor data spurred bets on policy easing. Nicholson expects front-end yields to fall toward the high-2% range if labor market softness persists, with the long-end staying broadly anchored in the 3%-4% band. He sees a modest curve-steepening in early-2026 as monetary easing is weighed against supply dynamics. Stephen Parker, co-head of global investment strategy at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, said investors were not being adequately compensated for inflation and fiscal worries, with "the long end of the Treasury curve (being) most sensitive to those risks." Mike Wilson, Morgan Stanley's chief investment officer, said policymakers will likely seek to repress yields even at the risk of reigniting inflation. "That is why people are abandoning sovereign debt and choosing to buy stocks and other assets," Wilson said, adding, however, that he expects back-end yields to decline in the near-term as bill issuance, Treasury buybacks and Fed rhetoric pressure rates lower. As Treasuries lose some appeal, bond fund managers expect private credit will increasingly fill the yield and diversification gap. "Private credit still pays for patience," Nomura's Nicholson said, highlighting opportunities in secondaries, infrastructure, renewables, and logistics-focused real estate. J.P. Morgan's Parker noted corporate sector fundamentals remain strong, with spreads only appearing tight due to distorted Treasury market dynamics. "Our preference is to focus on carry over long duration," he said. (Join GMF , opens new tab, a chat room hosted on LSEG Messenger: https://lseg.group/3KFHrhe , opens new tab) https://www.reuters.com/business/corrected-trump-pressure-fed-may-steepen-us-yield-curve-fund-managers-say-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 19:47
SAO PAULO, Sept 16 (Reuters) - JBS , , the world's largest meat company, sees the European meat market as "fragmented" and therefore full of acquisition opportunities, Wesley Batista, controlling shareholder of the company now listed in New York, said on Tuesday during an event broadcast live. Speaking alongside Marcos Molina, controlling shareholder of rival companies Marfrig (MRFG3.SA) , opens new tab and BRF (BRFS3.SA) , opens new tab, Batista and Molina answered questions from the event's host regarding the dominant role of certain Brazilian companies in the global meat trade. Sign up here. "No doubt," said Batista when asked about the prospect of pursuing acquisitions worldwide. "There are lots of opportunities in Europe and in other countries," he added. JBS's listing in New York earlier this year gives the company access to a wider pool of investors, helping it lower the cost of capital and compete against peers like Tyson (TSN.N) , opens new tab in the U.S. and large listed rivals in Brazil, including Minerva (BEEF3.SA) , opens new tab. But while in Europe the company can still expand via takeovers, in the United States and Brazil that would not be the case, given competition concerns that would be raised by antitrust authorities. "I can't acquire any more beef, pork, and chicken (processors) because we have around 20% to 25% of the North American market for these three proteins," Batista said. He noted the situation is similar in Brazil, making it unlikely for JBS to pursue acquisitions in the local processed foods segment, for example. Batista also said during the panel discussion that the use of drugs like Mounjaro and Ozempic is boosting demand for protein around the world, which is positive for food companies in general. Batista said 15 million Americans make frequent use of such weight-loss drugs, adding that no data is yet available to quantify the rise in meat demand tied to the use of these drugs. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/jbs-sees-european-acquisition-opportunities-major-shareholder-says-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 19:43
WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. traffic deaths fell 8.2% in the first half of the year, the lowest number since 2020, officials said on Tuesday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said 17,140 people were killed in vehicle crashes through June 30, down from 18,680 deaths during the year-ago period. Sign up here. U.S. road deaths jumped dramatically during the 2020 COVID pandemic and remained elevated for years, sparking calls to address the public health crisis. The fatality rate in the first six months of the year is the lowest since 2014. "These preliminary figures are encouraging," NHTSA Chief Counsel Peter Simshauser said in a statement. "But even as we see progress, these numbers are far too high, and we remain focused on reducing traffic fatalities even further." Traffic deaths fell 3.8% in 2024 to below 40,000 for the first time since 2020. As U.S. roads became less crowded during the pandemic, some motorists perceived police as less likely to issue tickets, experts said, resulting in riskier driving. Some drivers were also more likely to drive while being impaired by alcohol or drugs consumed at home during the pandemic. The U.S. fatality rate rose much higher than for other developed nations during the pandemic. Congress approved $5 billion over five years as part of a $1 trillion 2021 infrastructure law to address road safety. U.S. traffic deaths jumped 10.8% in 2021 to 43,230, the most in a single year since 2005. Pedestrians and cyclists killed on American roads rose to the highest number in more than four decades. A 2023 NHTSA study found crashes directly cost taxpayers $30 billion, and society as a whole $340 billion. When quality-of-life valuations were included, the total cost to society ran to $1.37 trillion - equivalent to 1.6% of U.S. economic output. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-traffic-deaths-fell-82-first-half-2025-lowest-number-since-2020-2025-09-16/
2025-09-16 19:41
WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to appoint an emergency board to conduct mediation to avert a work stoppage at the Long Island Rail Road, which serves nearly 300,000 passengers daily. On Monday, a group of five unions said they had asked Trump to intervene. Previously, the unions had threatened to launch a strike this week at the railroad serving New York commuters. Sign up here. A White House spokesperson said Trump had acted at the unions' request "to bring both sides back to the negotiating table and prevent a strike that could have crippled the New York City area and disrupted the upcoming Ryder Cup on Long Island." Union leaders said the appointment of a White House board would trigger a 120-day period during which the board would make a recommendation, and no work stoppage could occur in that time. If no deal is reached, the White House could then name a second board with a cooling-off period until May 2026. The White House noted the three-member National Mediation Board - with two Democrats and a Republican -- voted to release the MTA and LIRR worker unions from negotiations in August, opening the door to a potential strike. "This action does not mean a strike won't happen. But it does mean it won't happen now," said Gil Lang, general chairman for the BLET's LIRR engineers. The LIRR is one of the largest commuter railroads in the U.S. On Monday, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority criticized the unions. "If these unions wanted to put riders first, they would either settle or agree to binding arbitration... This cynical delay serves no one." New York Governor Kathy Hochul said both sides must get back to talks. "There is a fair offer on the table, and I have directed the MTA to be ready to negotiate anytime, anywhere," she said. "Both sides must return to negotiations and keep working around the clock until this is resolved." https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/trump-appointing-board-mediate-new-york-rail-labor-dispute-2025-09-16/
