BlastBiz

New York (AP) -- Adult film star Stormy Daniels, in the midst of a publicity tour fueled by past allegations of a 2006 sexual relationship with a then-married Donald Trump, said in a statement on Tuesday the alleged affair never occurred. Just hours later, however, she cast doubt on that same denial during an appearance on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," saying she did not know where the statement had come from and questioning whether the signature on it was hers. Both Daniels's lawyer Keith Davidson and spokeswoman Gina Rodriguez said on Wednesday that she stands by the written denial, however. "Stormy signed the letter in front of myself and Keith Davidson yesterday morning," Rodriguez wrote in a statement to the AP. On Kimmel, Rodriguez said, "She didn't deny nor confirm anything that references Trump." The confusion comes at a curious time for Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. She appeared on ABC af

Amazon.com Inc. is expanding a service launched to make more groceries, cleaning supplies and other products available for quick delivery directly from merchants without overwhelming the e-commerce giant’s warehouses with additional inventory, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg. The trial pushes Amazon’s logistical reach beyond its own facilities and into those of its merchants, encroaching on services of long-time delivery partners United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. Amazon is enticing the sellers who use the company’s online marketplace with lower delivery costs, logistics software, warehouse inspections and recommendations. Bloomberg first reported on the trial in October, which was called “seller flex.” Amazon will oversee pickup of packages from warehouses of third-party merchants selling goods on Amazon.com and the delivery to customers’ homes, work that is now often handled by UPS and FedEx. Amazon could still use these couriers for delivery, b

Wealthy Londoners are leaving the city as new taxes make it expensive to inherit and invest, and as Brexit prompts rich Europeans living in the U.K. capital to return home. This puts the British financial hub in the same category as Lagos and Istanbul, which are also seeing net outflows of rich people, according to the Global Wealth Migration Review published this month. About 5,000 high net-worth individuals left the U.K. during 2017 and only about 1,000 arrived, the report shows. “Over the past 30 years, the United Kingdom has been one of the biggest recipients of migrating HNWIs,” the report said. “However, this trend changed in 2017 when the country experienced its first major HNWI net outflow.” Losing wealthy individuals is normally a sign of trouble in the political economy of a country. Rich people are often the first people to leave, because they can -- unlike the middle class or the poor. Cities that saw large inflows of HNWIs include Auckland, Dubai,

Advice Note: Invest in it. But don't try to shop with it. I get angry to say I told you so, but … well,  I told you so . Bitcoin, while still a popular financial asset, is looking less like a currency. Online payments company Stripe  is ending  Bitcoin support. It cites so many several reasons for doing so. [Bitcoin] transaction confirmation times have risen substantially; this, in turn, has led to an increase in the failure rate of transactions. … By the time the transaction is confirmed, fluctuations in Bitcoin price mean that it’s for the “wrong” amount. ... Furthermore, fees have risen a great deal … making Bitcoin transactions about as expensive as bank wires. A steady trickle of companies and businesses is no longer  accepting  Bitcoin as payment for goods and services. Such transactions never became very widespread in the first place. Even a Bitcoin conference in Miami  refused  to accept Bitcoin for its attendance fees! There are essentially three reas

The U.S. Treasury Department will lift longer-term debt issuance to $66 billion, marking the first boost since 2009 amid expectations of growing deficits and the Federal Reserve balance-sheet roll-off. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s debt management team will sell next week $26 billion of 3-year notes versus $24 billion in November, it said Wednesday in its refunding announcement. The department also lifted to $24 billion the sale of 10-year notes from $23 billion and the 30-year bonds to $16 billion from $15 billion, also to be  auctioned  next week. Total offering rose to $66 billion from $62 billion in November. Treasury also said it expects to lift sales of 2- and 3-year note auctions by $2 billion per month over the quarter. It will also boost 5-, 7- and 10-year notes and 30-year bond auction by $1 billion each month starting in February. Sale of 2-year floating-rate notes will also be increased by $2 billion beginning next month. Additional borrowing needs w

Zimbabwe’s government will allow white farmers to apply for 99-year leases on land, rescinding a policy implemented under former President Robert Mugabe that limited them to five-year contracts. About 3,500 white Zimbabweans owned close to 4,500 farms until 2000 when government-backed militants began seizing their properties, a move that decimated agricultural production. The southern African nation currently has about 200 active white farmers, according to Ben Giplin, director of the Commercial Farmers’ Union. White farmers will be included in the 99-year lease program that was previously restricted to black citizens, Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. The  policy shift  comes two months after Mugabe was toppled as president following 37 years in power and replaced by his former deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has been on a drive to revive the economy and attract investment. The new administra

The global stock rejects that have shaped the week showed signs of easing on Wednesday, with U.S. futures climbing and European equities edging higher. The dollar slump deepened in the wake of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, and the euro rose after  inflation  data. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index pared an advance but stayed in the green amid a flurry of corporate results. The dollar fell against almost every major peer after Trump offered  few new clues on U.S. policy in his speech, and most bonds gained as the Bank of Japan  increased asset purchases . The yield on the benchmark U.S. Treasury fell, fluctuating around 2.7 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined for a third session as a slump in Japanese shares weighed on the broader gauge. The British pound rose for a second day. It’s been a big month for stock markets, with stellar gains across most major gauges that were followed this week by the MSCI All-Country World Index’s biggest two-day slid