Money Talks

Oil prices are up slightly as the European Union prepares to ban Russian oil imports. That's part of a sixth package of sanctions on Moscow over the military operation in Ukraine. Europe's largest economy, Germany, says it's already trimmed its imports, and would not stand in the way of a continent-wide embargo.

For more on the story, AvaTrade chief market analyst Naeem Aslam joined us from London.

#OilEmbargo #EuropeanUnion #OilPrices

Saudi Arabia's economy is in its best shape in more than a decade, thanks to its most important industry, the extraction and sale of oil. The world's largest exporter of the commodity says its GDP grew 9.6% in the first quarter. That's the biggest expansion since 2011, and much better than forecast.

Chief market analyst at the Exinity Group Han Tan joined us from Abu Dhabi. He gave us his take on where oil prices are going.

#SaudiArabia #EconomicGrowth #OilPrices

Apple workers in the US have filed a petition to form a labour union, a first for the tech giant. Momentum has been building since similar efforts began at other major corporations like Amazon and Starbucks. And it comes at a time when worker shortages are giving labour organisers more leverage. Tayyibe Aydin reports.

#TechFirms #LabourUnion #Unionization

The cruise industry was among the earliest victims of the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Large operators like Carnival and Princess Cruises cut staff and scrapped vessels. But now, as social restrictions ease, new players are sailing in. UK-based Ambassador Cruise Line is one such company. It's launched the country's first new cruise line in more than a decade. We asked chief executive Christian Verhounig about the course ahead.

#CruiseVacation #TravelIndustry #GlobalTourism

Russia stops the supply of natural gas to Poland and Bulgaria, after both countries rejected Moscow's demand for payment in roubles. State-owned energy major, Gazprom has halted flows from the Yamal pipeline which funnels natural gas from Western Siberia to the Polish-German border. The move could trigger an energy crisis in Bulgaria because it depends on Russia for 73% of its gas supplies. Poland could also struggle as it had expected to meet half of its needs this year, through these shipments. Both Warsaw and Sofia have protested the move and say they will seek legal recourse.

For more on the energy crisis, we were joined by independent analyst, Neil Atkinson in Paris.

#NaturalGas #Bulgaria #Poland

A slew of tech earnings moved markets this week - in the US and Europe. Microsoft posted stellar results, beating analysts' expectations for its revenue and profits. But the future isn't as bright for Facebook's parent company, Meta. Its net income plunged by 21%, marking its worst performance in 10 years. Apple shares dipped after the company warned of a possible $8B hit from supply constraints. Amazon recorded its slowest ever revenue growth in the first quarter amid a drop in online retail sales and rising costs.

#TechEarnings #TechnologyCompanies #EarningSeason

Elon Musk has been toying with the idea of buying Twitter for a long time, and now it's finally happening. The social media giant's board has accepted a bid for around $44B from the tech billionaire. Musk says he wants to take the company private and make it 'better than ever'. But there are a lot of unanswered questions.

We were joined by Bob O'Donnell, who is the president and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research in California.

#Twitter #ElonMusk #TwitterTakeover

Another commodity that's in short supply is cooking oil. Ukraine is a leading exporter of vegetable oil. But its output has ground to a halt as a result of Russia's incursion. Now Indonesia, Asia's top producer, is suspending its exports to ensure domestic supplies don't run dry. Adama Munu reports.

#PalmOil #VegetableOil #CookingOil

US stocks are set to open lower on Friday after a string of disappointing earnings reports by some of the world's largest companies. The biggest surprise was retail giant Amazon, which said it lost $3.8B in the three months to March. Apple said sales rose 9% in the same period.

But the iPhone maker is warning investors that earnings may take a dive in the coming months.

We spoke to Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell in the UK. She talked about why kinks in the supply chain have been so difficult to straighten out.

#TechEarnings #Amazon #Apple

The US dollar shot to a two-decade high against the Japanese yen after the Bank of Japan pledged to buy endless amounts of bonds, in a monetary policy response many investors are calling 'uber-dovish'. That's driven down the value of the yen to the psychological barrier of 130 against the dollar, levels not seen since 2002.

For the details in currency market, we had Susannah Streeter, who's an investment analyst at Hargreaves Landsdown in Bristol, UK.

#JapanYen #Dollar #CurrencyMarket