*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).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed an application for Ukraine's membership in the European Union, pleading with the bloc to accept this request. It comes as Russian forces push further into Ukraine, forcing at least half a million refugees to flee. Benjamin Schmitt, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University and Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, breaks down the latest in Ukraine.
A growing wave of major U.S. companies have taken steps to cut ties with Russia or offer support to Ukraine, as tensions escalate in the region. Exxon, Apple and Boeing are just the latest companies to make the move, following the likes of Google, Meta and BP who have all announced plans to exit the region in response to the conflict. Courtney Vinopal, Breaking News Reporter, Quartz joined Cheddar's Opening Bell for more.
A hospital basement in Ukraine’s coastal city of Mariupol has transformed into a bomb shelter and maternity ward amid shelling during Russia’s invasion.
World leaders are currently dealing with a handful of pressing issues, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inflation, and not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic; but it could be argued that the most pressing issue is one that has experienced its fair share of neglect in the past -- climate change. As tensions escalate between Russia and Ukraine, there is fear the focus on climate will once again be pushed aside. However, the White House appears to be making some effort to prevent that from happening. The White House Office of Science and Technology held a first-of-its-kind roundtable discussion with some of the nation's leading climate scientists on Thursday. Michael Mann, Director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and author of the book 'The New Climate War' joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as one of the climate scientists at the White House event.
Scott Clemons, Partner and Chief Investment Strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses the factors leading to the sell-off on Wall Street today and explains why uncertainty is worse than bad news for the investors.
U.S. stocks rebounded to end higher on Thursday after President Biden announced new sanctions against Russia following the country's attack on Ukraine. The Dow was down 859 points at its lowest point of the session, before ultimately finishing the day in the green. Melissa Armo, founder and owner of the Stock Swoosh, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
People of African and Middle Eastern descent fleeing from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are facing the double trauma of racism at the borders. Professor of law and migration studies at the University of San Francisco, Bill Hing, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss what some are describing as a double standard for other refugees escaping the war. "Those that are from the Middle East and from Africa who just happen to be in Ukraine, for example on a student visa, they are not going to be able to get into Poland or another area of the Schengen area because they are not natural Ukrainian," he said.
Add FIFA to the list of organizations announcing a break with Russia. The world soccer authority has suspended the nation from competing in the 2022 World Cup tournament, while the NHL also announced suspending business relations with Russia. Executive editor and senior writer at Sports Illustrated, Jon Wertheim, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rebukes. "I think a big element of this is, this is a way to really hit at Putin because we know how much this appearance of strength and the victory… often portrayed through sports, how much that means to him," he said. "This will bother him in a way that it might not bother other world leaders."
