*By Brian Henry*
Even as British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered an embarrassing defeat as her Brexit vote was voted down in Parliament, and then only narrowly survived a no-confidence vote, investors remained relatively unrattled.
According to Chris Demetriou, the U.S. CEO at Aberdeen Standard Investments, the mild response to the vote was not a surprise.
"There are two elements to it," he told Cheddar Wednesday.
"The vote \[Tuesday\] and the no confidence vote \[Wednesday\] weren't really a surprise to anybody. It's long been speculated Theresa May didn't have the votes to carry the deal through Parliament."
Demetriou said that the decision by British lawmakers to reject the Brexit deal by such a historic margin ー 432 to 202 ーearlier this week actually has investors feeling confident.
"The resounding defeat, the size of the defeat, really suggests that a tweak to the deal probably isn't going to help get it through either. I think that, perhaps, is giving investors confidence that the can will be kicked down the road or potentially even a more formal withdrawal of Article 15."
"Investors want as a little change as possible in the current arrangement," he added.
Demetriou says productive trade talks between the U.S. and China as well as the Federal Reserve displaying patience on future rate hikes have led to less market volatility.
"A lot of the uncertainty we saw in the back end of the year, the escalation of trade discussions, perhaps concern around fed policy coming into 2019 ー a lot of that has reversed in the beginning of January."
But will the relative market peace last?
"There's a lot of positive news or certainly constructive news out there to offset some of the uncertainty that exists," Demetriou said.
"We do expect continued uncertainty, which breeds volatility in the markets and that will continue throughout the year."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-uk-government-survives-no-confidence-vote-after-brexit-defeat).
As negotiations drag on in Washington, DC over President Biden's social spending bills, Senate Democrats have introduced a new idea to fund Biden's plans: taxing the unrealized capital gains held by billionaires. Barron's reporter Sabrina Escobar joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she explains what's in the billionaire tax proposal, who it will impact, and why it's on the table.
Hunter Walker joins Cheddar News to talk about his report in Rolling Stone that revealed how members of Congress and the White House helped plan the protest that turned violent on January 6.
Jill and Carlo discuss the pending approval for Pfizer's vaccine for kids, the state of anti-Semitism three years after Tree of Life, potential criminal charges in the 'Rust' prop gun shooting and more.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed a bill into law on Tuesday that restricts transgender students from playing on sports teams that correspond with their gender identity. Democratic State Representative Mary E. Gonzalez joined Cheddar to discuss the ramifications for transgender youth the new law represents. She also disputed the bill's proponents who argue that the measure is a matter of fairness for girls in sports, noting that various medical groups have affirmed that transgender athletes do not inherently hold an advantage over cisgender ones.
COP26 been dealt a blow as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose countries are responsible for a third of the world's annual greenhouse gas emissions, will not be in attendance. Bertrand Piccard, Chairman and Founder of the Solar Impulse Foundation, joins Cheddar Climate, where he discusses what he expects to see when the summit commences in Glasgow.
Social media platforms TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube are facing questions in DC about consumer protections, data security, and product safety for young users. Emily Birnbaum, tech lobbying and influence reporter at Politico, joined Cheddar to provide some background into what led to the congressional hearing and the potential outcome. Birnbaum noted that social media platforms have been attempting to distance themselves from Facebook and the ongoing bad press it garnered in recent months.
