Daily business briefing

Investors await Yellen speech for clues on interest rates, Swiss voters reject guaranteed income proposal, and more Daily business briefing 1. [Investors looking for clues from Yellen on interest rates] Stock futures edged up on Monday ahead of a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Investors will be looking for indications from Yellen on whether Friday's disappointing jobs report will cause the Fed to delay raising interest rates. U.S. stocks closed down, but only slightly, at the end of last week after the Labor Department reported that the economy added just 38,000 jobs in May, far below expectations. The market now sees only a 4 percent chance the Fed will raise rates in June instead of waiting for further data to judge the strength of the recovery. Source: [MarketWatch] 2. [Switzerland rejects proposal for guaranteed basic income] Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a proposal to [provide a guaranteed basic income] for all adults. Nearly 77 percent of voters opposed the plan, while just 23 percent supported it. None of the country's main political parties endorsed the proposal, which called for giving everyone a monthly income of about $2,500, plus about $625 for each child. Luzi Stamm, a member of parliament from the right-wing Swiss People's Party, said if the country guaranteed income for all "you would have billions of people who would try to move into Switzerland." Source: [BBC News] 3. [Survey projects slowest U.S. economic growth in four years] Economic growth decline in 2016 to its slowest pace in four years, according to a survey of experts by the National Association for Business Economics. One reason for the slowdown is uncertainty due to the looming November presidential election. The forecast is for 1.9 percent growth from the fourth quarter of 2015 to the fourth quarter of 2016, down from the 2.5 percent gain projected in the last quarterly survey, which was released in March. The growth rate last year was 2 percent. Source: [Bloomberg] 4. [British pound falls as Brexit backers gain momentum] The British pound dropped to a three-week low on Monday after new polls indicated that support for exiting the European Union had risen, with the "Leave" campaign now leading. The shift in public opinion revived concerns that the June 23 referendum will favor leaving the E.U., undermining confidence in the 28-nation trading bloc. The Bank of England has said the uncertainty is restricting U.K. growth, and the International Monetary Fund, among other organizations, has warned a Brexit would have severe economic consequences. Source: [Bloomberg] 5. [Zootopia hits $1 billion in global box office take] Zootopia reached the $1 billion global box office milestone over the weekend, its 17th weekend in theaters. The Disney film has grossed $337.2 million in the U.S. and $662.8 million internationally. It is only the second film this year to pass the $1 billion mark, and just the fourth animated movie ever to accomplish the feat, following Disney Animation's Frozen ($1.277 billion), Illumination Entertainment's Minions ($1.159 billion), and Pixar's Toy Story 3 ($1.063 billion). Source: [The Hollywood Reporter] MOST POPULAR [Why immigrants can't save the West] Michael Brendan Dougherty [He said he was leaving. She ignored him.] Laura Munson [Diagnosing the Avengers' injuries: Medical professionals weigh in] Katie Ingram [66 TV shows to watch in 2016] Scott Meslow [Trump, Clinton, and the end of the Snowden era] Bonnie Kristian CAPTURED: A PHOTO BLOG Jackie Friedman [Cecil the lion, remembered by the human who knew him best] [Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.] [Unsubscribe from this list] | [Update subscription preferences] | [Privacy Policy © 2015 THE WEEK PUBLICATIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE WEEK ® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OWNED BY FELIX DENNIS.] Get 4 Risk-Free [issues of The Week] [TRY IT OUT] [Subscribe] [Subscriber login] [Give a gift] [Back issues] [Classroom subscriptions] [Newsletters] [Privacy policy] [Terms & conditions] [The Week UK] [Contact Us] [Ad info] [RSS] Daily business briefing 1.[Investors looking for clues from Yellen on interest rates] Stock futures edged up on Monday ahead of a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Investors will be looking for indications from Yellen on whether Friday's disappointing jobs report will cause the Fed to delay raising interest rates. U.S. stocks closed down, but only slightly, at the end of last week after the Labor Department reported that the economy added just 38,000 jobs in May, far below expectations. The market now sees only a 4 percent chance the Fed will raise rates in June instead of waiting for further data to judge the strength of the recovery. Source: [MarketWatch] 2.[Switzerland rejects proposal for guaranteed basic income] Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a proposal to [provide a guaranteed basic income] for all adults. Nearly 77 percent of voters opposed the plan, while just 23 percent supported it. None of the country's main political parties endorsed the proposal, which called for giving everyone a monthly income of about $2,500, plus about $625 for each child. Luzi Stamm, a member of parliament from the right-wing Swiss People's Party, said if the country guaranteed income for all "you would have billions of people who would try to move into Switzerland." Source: [BBC News] 3.[Survey projects slowest U.S. economic growth in four years] Economic growth decline in 2016 to its slowest pace in four years, according to a survey of experts by the National Association for Business Economics. One reason for the slowdown is uncertainty due to the looming November presidential election. The forecast is for 1.9 percent growth from the fourth quarter of 2015 to the fourth quarter of 2016, down from the 2.5 percent gain projected in the last quarterly survey, which was released in March. The growth rate last year was 2 percent. Source: [Bloomberg] 4.[British pound falls as Brexit backers gain momentum] The British pound dropped to a three-week low on Monday after new polls indicated that support for exiting the European Union had risen, with the "Leave" campaign now leading. The shift in public opinion revived concerns that the June 23 referendum will favor leaving the E.U., undermining confidence in the 28-nation trading bloc. The Bank of England has said the uncertainty is restricting U.K. growth, and the International Monetary Fund, among other organizations, has warned a Brexit would have severe economic consequences. Source: [Bloomberg] 5.[Zootopia hits $1 billion in global box office take] Zootopia reached the $1 billion global box office milestone over the weekend, its 17th weekend in theaters. The Disney film has grossed $337.2 million in the U.S. and $662.8 million internationally. It is only the second film this year to pass the $1 billion mark, and just the fourth animated movie ever to accomplish the feat, following Disney Animation's Frozen ($1.277 billion), Illumination Entertainment's Minions ($1.159 billion), and Pixar's Toy Story 3 ($1.063 billion). Source: [The Hollywood Reporter] MOST POPULAR [Why immigrants can't save the West] Michael Brendan Dougherty [He said he was leaving. She ignored him.] Laura Munson [Diagnosing the Avengers' injuries: Medical professionals weigh in] Katie Ingram [66 TV shows to watch in 2016] Scott Meslow [Trump, Clinton, and the end of the Snowden era] Bonnie Kristian CAPTURED: A PHOTO BLOG Jackie Friedman [Cecil the lion, remembered by the human who knew him best] [Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.] [Unsubscribe from this list] | [Update subscription preferences] | [Privacy Policy] © 2015 THE WEEK PUBLICATIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE WEEK ® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OWNED BY FELIX DENNIS. Get 4 Risk-Free [issues of The Week] [TRY IT OUT]