The Impossible Whopper is coming to every Burger King in America next week - CNN

The burger chain has been selling the Impossible Whopper, featuring a meatless patty made by Impossible Foods, in a few markets in the United States since April. It first tested the product in St. Louis before announcing in May that it would offer the Impossible Whopper nationally this year.

Interest in plant-based protein has surged as many people try to reduce their meat intake for health or environmental reasons. US retail sales of plant-based foods have grown 11% in the past year, according to a July report from trade group Plant Based Foods Association and the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that supports plant-based businesses.

The Impossible Whopper has been performing well, Chris Finazzo, Burger King's president for the Americas, told CNN Business.

"It's driven new guests into the restaurant," he said, noting that most of those customers either haven't been to a Burger King in a long time or haven't visited one at all. "We're really excited to be able to attract that customer."

For Burger King, the product is mainly a way to reach flexitarian carnivores rather than strict vegans or vegetarians. The Impossible Whopper is supposed to taste just like Burger King's regular Whopper.

A "taste test" promotion encourages customers to try both the original and Impossible Whopper, so they can compare the two products themselves. The deal will be available from August 8 through September 1 through DoorDash and the Burger King app.

Burger King hasn't yet decided whether to make the Impossible Whopper a permanent part of its menu. Instead, the chain is billing it as a limited-time offer, telling customers that the meatless Whopper will be available as long as supplies last. The sandwich is priced at $5.59, about a dollar more than the regular Whopper.

The chain will evaluate the Impossible Whopper's performance for roughly a few months before making a decision, Finazzo said, as it does before adding any new item. But he noted that the brand has been "really encouraged" by the results so far. "We very much believe in the category," he said.

Barclays predicts the alternative meat sector could reach about $140 billion over the next decade, capturing about 10% of the global meat industry.

Impossible President Dennis Woodside said he's "confident" in the Whopper, noting that Burger King has made a "meaningful commitment" to the Impossible Whopper with its marketing efforts and by training its employees to talk about the new product.

The plant-based protein company currently serves its product in about 10,000 restaurants. Burger King has more than 7,000 US restaurants.

In the past, Impossible has struggled to meet demand. A recent deal with a major meat processor will help Impossible increase its capacity.

A number of other restaurant chains, including White Castle, Qdoba and Little Caesars, serve Impossible's product. Other chains, such as Dunkin' and Tim Hortons, sell meat substitutes made by Impossible's main competitor, Beyond Meat.

Beyond's sales have also been soaring. Revenues reached $67.3 million in the second quarter, up from $17.4 million during the same period last year, a 287% spike.

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2019-08-01 10:34:00Z
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Impossible Foods' 'Whopper' goes nationwide at Burger King - Yahoo Finance

FILE- This Jan. 11, 2019, file photo shows the Impossible Burger in Bellevue, Neb. After months of shortages, Impossible Foods is partnering with a veteran food production company to ramp up supplies of its popular plant-based burgers. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

Impossible Foods’ plant-based burgers will soon no longer be so impossible to get your hands on.

Starting Aug. 5, all 7,300 Burger King locations across the country will sell the meatless Whopper – but only while supplies last – for $5.59.

In April, Burger King became the first fast-food chain to sell the Impossible burger, but it was only available at select locations. Burger King is owned by Restaurant Brands International (QSR), which also owns Tim Horton’s.

Headed to grocery stores

Impossible Foods also plans to start selling its products in grocery stores beginning this fall, now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved its key color ingredient, soy leghemoglobin. The color additive is what makes the meatless patty “bleed” like a real meat burger, giving it the look and taste of real beef.

Impossible has been able to distribute its product only by selling it in restaurants including fast food chains White Castle and Qdoba.

Growth spurt

The nationwide rollout at Burger King and its entry onto grocery shelves marks a huge growth spurt for the food startup that struggled with meeting demand just weeks ago.

Fast food chains including Red Robin complained that the company couldn’t supply them with enough product to keep up with soaring demand.

On Monday, the Redwood City, Calif.-based company announced to its distributors that a cap on ordering had been lifted and that the product was now “fully stocked.”

In order to ramp up supply, Impossible Foods has doubled the headcount in its plants in the last two months. It also entered into a manufacturing deal with the meat supplier OSI Group to expand its production capabilities.

Alexis Christoforous is co-anchor of Yahoo Finance’s “The First Trade.” Follow her on Twitter @AlexisTVNews.

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2019-08-01 10:00:00Z
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LSE deal creates global data business to rival Bloomberg - The Times

London Stock Exchange has agreed a $27 billion all-share takeover of the financial data provider Refinitiv to create a major global market data and infrastructure company that could rival Bloomberg.

The deal combines the world’s oldest bourse with the provider of Eikon terminals, which offer live data feeds and news to trading floors across the City.

Don Robert, the LSE chairman, said that the acquisition was a “defining moment” for the exchange in terms of its strategic importance. It is the biggest acquisition by a UK-listed company this year by far.

The exchange, which traces its roots to the 17th century, is behind the FTSE and the Borsa Italiana in Milan and also owns the clearing house LCH.

David Schwimmer, the former Goldman Sachs banker…

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2019-08-01 08:00:00Z
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London Stock Exchange buys data provider Refinitiv in $27 billion deal - CNN

Refinitiv shareholders will end up owning a 37% stake in the London Stock Exchange. The all-share deal values Refinitiv at $27 billion, including its debt.

The purchase comes less than a year after news and information provider Thomson Reuters (TRI) sold a majority stake in Refinitiv to a group of investors led by private equity group Blackstone.

The London Stock Exchange (LDNXF) and Refinitiv had combined revenue of £6 billion ($7.3 billion) in 2018. Together, the companies will be the world's largest financial markets infrastructure provider.

The deal could give London Stock Exchange the scale needed to compete with industry heavyweight Bloomberg by combining the data generated by the exchange with Refinitiv's distribution and analytics. It will also bolster the British company's position in foreign exchange and fixed income trading through Refinitiv's FXall and Tradeweb platforms.

Shares in the London Stock Exchange rose by 6% after the deal was announced.

Bloomberg, which was founded by billionaire former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, provides data feeds and messaging services used by traders, regulators and central bankers.

Refinitiv sells a rival product called Eikon.

The London Stock Exchange said it expects the deal to close in the second half of next year. Regulators are likely to scrutinize the takeover and its potential impact on market data costs.

Investors have objected to paying higher prices for market data, some of which they say is needed to comply with stricter regulations.

"Many trading venues have continued to increase market data fees," five investor groups wrote in a letter last year to EU regulators.

"This reflects a marked and ongoing shift in the revenue model of trading venues, with market data now constituting a significant and increasing share of their income," they added.

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2019-08-01 07:41:00Z
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Federal Reserve Cuts Rate for the First Time in a Decade - Kitco News

Editor's Note: Get caught up in minutes with our speedy summary of today's must-read news stories and expert opinions that moved the precious metals and financial markets. Sign up here!

In a fast market, traders reacted to the news that the Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates by ¼%. Immediately following the announcement of the ¼% rate cut gold prices sold off briskly and within the first 10 minutes of trading traded down by approximately $10. This is the first time the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates since 2008. They also ended their balance sheet reductions two months early.

As quick as the market sold off it quickly recovered temporarily and actually traded with positive gains for a brief instant. However, as traders absorbed the statement that was released just prior to the press conference held by Jerome Powell gold prices reversed again with increased downside pressure. Gold futures traded to the lowest price of the day at $1422 per ounce, this basis the October futures contract.

Chairman Powell’s press conference did not change the overall demeanor of market sentiment as he attempted thread the needle. The Fed Chairman said that Fed members focused on a “mid cycle adjustment” and focused on the fact that over this last year the monetary policy has pivoted from a series of interest rate hikes, to a neutral stance, and finally a key reversal in which they cut rates rather than raised them. When asked if there will be more rate cuts this year Powell said that the Fed also leaves the door open to future cuts saying that they will “Act as appropriate to sustain the expansion”.

Midway through the press conference Chairman Powell said that the Fed was not embarking on a long rate cutting cycle as in a recession. However, he backed off of that statement later in the press conference when he said, “Let me be clear: what I said was it’s not the beginning of a long series of rate cuts. I didn’t say it’s just one or anything like that. When you think about rate-cutting cycles, they go on for a long time and the committee’s not seeing that.”

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 478 points at its low, and as of 4:10 PM EDT is currently trading down 333.75 points and fixed at 26,864.27. Gold is also trading off of the intraday lows, but current pricing has kept October futures under pressure and are currently trading down by $16.00 at $1425.70.

Given that the Federal Reserve cut rates as anticipated by ¼% rather than a ½% sent U.S. equities as well as gold and silver strongly lower however they did hint at the fact that they might cut rates again this year to insulate and continue the U.S. economic expansion by stimulating the economy with further rate cuts this year.

“As the committee contemplates the future path of the target range for the federal funds rate, it will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook and will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion,” he said.

While it is clear that today’s action by the Federal Reserve was not as accommodating as hoped for by traders, it must not be overlooked that this is the first time in over a decade that the Federal Reserve has reversed its stance of quantitative tightening or normalization. Chairman Powell focused on the fact that there has been a slow and methodical reversal in their monetary policy which began this year when they first stopped raising rates, to today’s action of actually cutting rates.

This key reversal in monetary policy cannot be overlooked and taken lightly. Today’s rate cut certainly confirms that the Federal Reserve has and will continue to take action to support the economic expansion in the United States. That being said it is highly likely that the Fed will cut rates at least one more time this year either in September or December.

For those who would like more information, simply use this link.

Wishing you as always, good trading,

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August 01, 2019 at 05:38AM

Opinion: The moral hazard the Federal Reserve has wrought with its interest rate cut - The Globe and Mail

By deciding to cut interest rates, the Federal Reserve has positioned itself as a shield, protecting the U.S. economy from its own government’s worst instincts. But it may have also set itself up to be President Donald Trump’s enabler.

The Fed’s quarter-percentage-point rate cut announced Wednesday – lowering the federal funds rate to a range of 2 per cent to 2.25 per cent, its first easing since the financial crisis in 2008 – is decidedly not something the U.S. economy is screaming for right now. It’s not even whispering for it. Not when the economy is already operating at full capacity (if not over capacity), with growth in the second quarter, at 2.1 per cent, high enough to squeeze that capacity a little more and unemployment near 50-year lows.

Sure, Fed chairman Jerome Powell talked in his news conference about the Fed’s worries that inflation is slightly below its target. But against that economic backdrop, it wasn’t very convincing. Inflation may be part of the Fed’s justification for this move, but it’s not the motivation.

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No, this rate cut is chiefly about playing defence against the mounting fears that Mr. Trump’s self-inflicted trade war with China could blow up in his face, taking the U.S. economy down with it. Given the damage to global growth already inflicted by the U.S.-China dispute, the Trump administration’s protectionist policies and the lack of visibility on any resolution, the Fed decided to take out some “insurance,” as many Fed watchers have described this, against the risk that the trade dispute could go spinning seriously off the rails. (Mr. Powell adopted the word himself Wednesday, acknowledging that, “there is an insurance aspect” to the rate cut.)

When you’re dealing with one of the most unpredictable, impulsive presidents in history, “better safe than sorry” seems like a reasonable way to go.

But the danger in turning pre-emptive on trade-policy risks is the message it sends to that same mercurial President. The Fed has handed Mr. Trump a licence to walk his trade-policy tightrope even more recklessly – assured, now, the Fed is there with the safety net.

“It might introduce a bigger moral hazard problem, if it emboldens the Trump administration to pursue a little more unstable trade and other policies,” Bank of Nova Scotia economist Derek Holt said in a recent interview. “He feels like he has a security blanket over him provided by the Fed."

With the precedent now set, The Trump administration, as well as the financial markets, might expect the Fed to meet any escalation of the trade war with further rate cuts.

“Are we going down a dangerous spiral of easing, emboldening trade policy, further easing? [There’s] a risk of being quite destabilizing to the outlook if we keep going down that path.”

One important consideration in interpreting the Fed cut is whether this is a small dose of preventive medicine or the start of a much deeper easing phase. The latter would suggest the Fed had bigger fish to fry than hedging the economy against rogue trade policies – that it felt a recession coming on.

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But Mr. Powell was crystal clear this isn’t what the Fed has on its mind. He described the cut as a “mid-cycle adjustment,” stressing “it’s not the beginning of a long series of rate cuts.” He left little doubt this is just a brief rewind in an otherwise upward-moving rate trend – not an all-out reversal of course.

It’s notable the Fed itself is split on how to deal with Mr. Trump’s policies. (Join the club.) Two of the 10 voting members on its rate-setting committee (Kansas City Fed president Esther George and Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren) voted against cutting. The lack of unanimity suggests there may not be enough support within the Fed to cut much deeper.

That doesn’t mean the Fed will stop at a single rate cut. But the last time the members of the committee were asked, in mid-June, their rate outlook suggested one or two quarter-point cuts would be the extent of it. And nothing the Fed said Wednesday suggested it believes the downside risks to its outlook have increased since then. Perhaps, then, one more cut – likely in the fall – should give the Fed all the insurance it needs.

Until, that is, Mr. Trump turns up the heat on China or whomever else gets in his protectionist sights – and moves the yardsticks again for the Fed. It has shown it is willing to change its stand in the face of policy risk. The danger now is how often it will be forced to do so.

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August 01, 2019 at 05:27AM

Bank of Canada unlikely to follow any Fed rate cut, experts say - BNNBloomberg.ca

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its interest rate Wednesday for the first time in over a decade -- a big step, though one unlikely to pull Canada's central bank out of its holding pattern any time soon.

The Bank of Canada sent signals earlier this month that the Canadian economy is very much on its own path and, at least in the short term, has no reason to follow any move by the Fed to lower rates.

One thing appears certain -- Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz and his team will dissect the Fed's explanation behind the decision.

"What's going to matter most to markets, to economists, to global central banks is not what the Fed does on Wednesday -- but why the Fed moves," said Frances Donald, managing director and chief economist for Manulife Investment Management.

When Canadians look south of the border, Donald said, they should care deeply about whether the Fed is cutting rates to deal with weak inflationary pressures or because it predicts the economy is heading into a recession.

"The reason for that is because if the U.S. economy suffers a recession, so too will Canada -- with an approximate six to 12 month lag," Donald said.

"So, governor Poloz will be watching very carefully."

Earlier this month, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signalled a U.S. rate cut was likely due to slowing global growth and trade wars.

A rate reduction by the Fed would be the first since the Great Recession of 2008. It would come at a time when the U.S. economy is still in decent shape -- unemployment numbers are as low as they've been in decades and American consumer confidence has looked strong.

The U.S. is facing external challenges related to the global economy and trade conflicts. At home, inflation has been running below target and central banks can drop interest rates as a way to lift consumer prices.

Craig Alexander, chief economist for Deloitte, said the expected rate cut should be viewed as "taking out insurance on the economic expansion" and not a sign Powell sees a larger downturn on the way.

"I don't think the economic indicators, at this point, are flashing that a recession is upon us," Alexander said.

He doesn't see any urgency for the Bank of Canada to follow the Fed's lead.

"The two central banks didn't move in lockstep with rates going up, so they don't need to move in lockstep with rates coming down," Alexander said.

"One could argue that the Fed went farther faster and now it's going reverse some of that, so there isn't the pressure on the Bank of Canada to respond."

The Bank of Canada should also be careful about "expending ammunition" that could be used later to deal with a downturn, he said.

Alexander added that a rate cut by the Fed could bring benefits to trade-dependent Canada by bolstering U.S. and foreign demand. It could also put additional upward pressure on the Canadian dollar.

Earlier this month, the Bank of Canada kept its interest rate at 1.75 per cent for a sixth-straight policy meeting. Canadian economic growth has shown signs of re-emerging after it nearly stalled in late 2018 and early 2019.

The bank, however, showed no urgency at the July meeting to make a policy change even though the Fed had already signalled its intention to lower the U.S. rate.

Carolyn Wilkins, the Bank of Canada's senior deputy governor, explained at the time that the U.S. and Canada were at different points in the economic cycle.

"The fact that Canada is picking up while the U.S. economy is slowing sounds like a divergence. In fact, it's a process of convergence," said Wilkins, noting Canada's interest rate was already lower than the Fed's.

"The United States is slowing to a more sustainable pace, while Canada is moving back up to its trend growth... By the second half of this year, growth should be similar in both economies as they converge on their respective potential level of activity."
 

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July 31, 2019 at 05:23PM