Aurelia Butler

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Wednesday the central bank must pay more attention to the risk of failing to meet its 2% inflation target with premature monetary tightening, rather than being behind the curve in combating too-high price growth.While other countries are experiencing elevated inflation, the situation is “quite different” in Japan, Ueda said in Japan’s G7 chair briefing with Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki.”I don’t deny it as a possibility,” Ueda said when asked by a reporter whether Japan could risk being behind the curve in addressing the risk of too-high inflation by keeping monetary policy ultra-loose for a prolonged period.”But the BOJ must pay more attention to (the risk of) failing to achieve 2% inflation” with a premature end to easy policy, rather than that of a delay in raising interest rates, said Ueda, who is in Washington for his debut international meeting since assuming the post on Sunday.Ueda said he explained to his counterparts at the Group of Seven (G7) meeting that the BOJ will continue its monetary easing until its 2% inflation target was met in a stable and sustainable fashion.Japan remains an outlier among a global wave of central banks tightening monetary policy to combat soaring prices, as the BOJ focuses on supporting a fragile economy until durable increases in inflation and wages come into sight.Markets, however, have been simmering with speculation the BOJ will phase out or end its controversial bond yield control policy under Ueda, due to the rising side-effects of prolonged easing such as the hit to bank profits.Ueda’s latest remarks, which follow reassurances he made on Monday to maintain yield curve control for now, suggest the BOJ may not overhaul the policy at this month’s meeting.At Wednesday’s briefing, Ueda said G7 policymakers have taken appropriate steps to prevent contagion from recent U.S. and European banking-sector woes, though they needed to be vigilant to “elevated uncertainties.””The Basel 3 (bank regulations) have not necessarily been implemented completely,” he said. “We need to make sure these regulations are fully implemented.” More

BURBANK, Calif. -Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Inc on Wednesday said it will launch on May 23 its long-awaited new streaming service, christened “Max”, combining HBO Max’s scripted entertainment with Discovery’s reality shows.The service will seek to expand its reach beyond devotees of HBO’s acclaimed and edgy shows by incorporating unscripted fare and children’s programming. It also will mine the studio’s rich content library to produce high-profile programming, including a new series based on the Harry Potter books by author J.K. Rowling, and another prequel to popular fantasy series “Game of Thrones.”Warner Bros, Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) Co and other media companies are seeking to strike the right balance between spending on fresh programming to attract and retain subscribers and turning a profit. Shares in Warner Bros Discovery closed down nearly 6%, part of a broader decline in streaming stocks after critical remarks from renowned investor Warren Buffett. “It’s not really a very good business,” Buffett said on CNBC television. While people working in entertainment “make lots of money, the shareholders really haven’t done that great over time”.Buffett is an investor in Paramount Global, which dropped 3% on Wednesday. Disney fell 2.5% and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was down 2%.The new “Max” service will serve as a test of CEO David Zaslav’s ambition to create one of the world’s leading streaming services by assembling a collection of disparate assets, from the Barefoot Contessa cooking show to Batman.”This is our time, this is our chance,” Zaslav said during a presentation held on the Warner studio lot in Burbank, California. “I feel like for our company, this is our rendezvous with destiny.” Prices for Max would range $9.99 a month for the ad-supported version to $19.99 a month for “Max Ultimate” for the ad-free tier with four concurrent streams. One tier would retain the current HBO Max pricing of $15.99 a month – a strategy that won praise from one media analyst.”By keeping the pricing the same, except for the new premium tier, there’s no reason for anybody to churn off,” said Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) media analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich. “For the same price you’re getting multiples of content.”Zaslav said HBO’s “one-of-a-kind storytelling” would bring subscribers to the service while Discovery’s unscripted programming would keep them.Warner Bros Discovery eliminated “HBO” from the name of the streaming service, which for some viewers connotes bespoke series but repels others. Global streaming chief J.B. Perrette said, “HBO is HBO” and it “should not be pushed to the breaking point” by taking on a wide variety of content offered by HBO and Discovery.”We look to go broader,” Perrette said, “And we think we can compete with the biggest players in the space.”    The service will feature HBO content including multiple Emmy award-winning drama series “Succession” and hit video-game adaptation “The Last of Us.”NEW TITLESIt will also have several new titles based on popular franchises, including “The Penguin,” a series based on the DC Comics villain, a new comedy series derived from the hit CBS show “The Big Bang Theory,” and a new installment in the “Fixer Upper” home improvement franchise, “Fixer Upper: The Hotel.”CEO Zaslav has said Warner Bros films would enjoy a traditional theatrical release and reap box office proceeds before becoming available on the streaming service.The opportunity to better capitalize on the streaming video revolution was one of the justifications for the merger of Discovery and WarnerMedia in 2022.      But by the time the deal closed in April last year, Wall Street’s enthusiasm for streaming had begun to wane, as Netflix reported its first loss of subscribers in more than a decade. Investors began prioritizing profits over subscriber gains, ushering in a new frugality across Hollywood.    Like other media companies, Warner Bros Discovery has yet to turn a profit on its HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming services, though the company has reduced losses from them.     It has set a subscriber goal of 130 million by 2025, well below Netflix’s 231 million subscribers. More

(Reuters) -The software that underpins the second-biggest crypto coin ether was upgraded on Wednesday and is online, cryptocurrency exchange Binance said in a tweet.The move will give investors access to more than $30 billion of the digital tokens.Known as Shapella, the latest upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain since its Merge upgrade will enable investors to redeem an offshoot of ether tokens that they have deposited in return for interest on the blockchain network over the past three years. Such so-called “staked ether” tokens currently account for about 15% of all ether tokens, according to data firm Dune Analytics, and are worth some $31 billion.”The Shanghai/Shapella Upgrade is complete. Deposits & withdrawals for ETH, OP, ARB and ERC-20 tokens via the Ethereum, Optimism, and Arbitrum networks are now back online,” Binance said in a tweet.The changes will likely lead to heightened volatility for ether, investors have predicted. Some believe that widespread redemptions could lead to a wave of selling, in turn weighing on the price of ether, whose market value of about $230 billion is topped only by bitcoin. “The release of this previously unrealised investment may lead to significant downward price pressure if it is immediately liquidated,” Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) analysts said in a note. In its last significant upgrade, Ethereum in September drastically reduced its energy usage – a move proponents said would give Ethereum an advantage as it seeks to surpass bitcoin.But ether has continued to lag its larger rival, gaining just under 60% this year versus a more than 80% jump for bitcoin. After trillions of dollars were wiped from the crypto market in a bruising 2022, the sector has rallied in 2023 on expectations that central bank interest rate hikes are slowing.Ethereum has grown popular in so-called decentralised finance applications, which offer financial services while avoiding traditional industry gatekeepers such as banks. It remains, however, little used in mainstream commerce or finance. More