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Good afternoon. Here's what you should know today, May 14: | |
- Investors face a debt-ceiling catch-22
- Retail data come under the microscope this week
- Expect more Ukraine-war diplomacy over the next few days
Thanks for reading What's News! Look for the 🔐 to enjoy a free article on us—and share the link with a friend (or forward the whole newsletter!). | |
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 | | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been in power since 2003. PHOTO: JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY | | |
1. Turks await the results of one of the most crucial elections in their country's history. | |
| Longtime leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has towered over Turkish politics for two decades, tightening his grip over the country and eroding democratic institutions at home, while also raising the country's profile on the international stage. Now, he faces the tightest election of his political career, trailing in the polls behind his opponent, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Today's vote could end Erdogan's rule and have far-reaching geopolitical consequences (🔐read for free). Polling stations are closed and the result is expected later today. If neither candidate wins an outright majority, a runoff would be held in two week's time. Elsewhere, Thai voters also headed to the polls today, while Greece is set to hold national elections next Sunday. | |
| 🎥Turkey's General Election: What You Need to Know (Watch) Thailand Pro-Democracy Candidates Push to Break Military Grip in Election (Read) Once Europe's Headache, Greece Finds Its Feet (Read) | |
2. Investors are nervous. That could be good news for U.S. stocks. | |
| Institutions have pulled a net $333.9 billion from stocks over the past 12 months, while individual investors have yanked another $28 billion. Analysts say extremely defensive positioning and high levels of cash mean market returns could snap back quickly from any selloff as investors seek to put cash back to work. This week, investors will get a fresh look at the health of the economy with the release of April retail-sales data and earnings reports from retailers Walmart, Home Depot and Target. | |
| Companies Keep Raising Prices—Some Even Brag About It (Read) | |
3. The market seems confident that the debt-ceiling standoff will be resolved in time—but that's a dangerous assumption. | |
| Nothing focuses politicians' minds on cutting deals like cratering financial markets. And nothing stays investors' hands from hitting the sell button like a belief that an 11th hour deal will be struck. This paradox is part of what makes the debt-ceiling negotiations so precarious. President Biden and top congressional leaders are set to continue talks to raise the borrowing limit this week as the June 1 deadline draws closer. | |
| Republicans, Democrats Making Progress in Debt-Limit Talks, Yellen Says (Read) The Outlook: Plunging Tax Revenue Accelerates Debt-Ceiling Deadline (Read) | |
5. Zelensky wants to oust Russia from all of occupied Ukraine. | |
| During a trip to Germany, the Ukrainian president said Kyiv wouldn't attack Russian territory, but pledged to recapture all occupied areas, including Crimea, the peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014. The comments come ahead of an expected offensive by Ukraine that Western officials have said should lead to talks between Kyiv and Moscow. Meanwhile, China is dispatching special representative Li Hui to Europe this week, in Beijing's most concrete step yet to insert itself into diplomacy aimed at ending the war. The topic is also likely to be on the agenda when leaders from the Group of Seven largest advanced economies gather in Hiroshima, Japan, on Friday. | |
| Four Russian Military Aircraft Crash Near Border With Ukraine (Read) How Sanctioned Western Goods Are Still Flowing Into Russia (Read) | |
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