*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).
Why do we pretend Supreme Court Justices aren't political appointees? Why are they still given lifetime appointments? John Iadarola, co-host of The Young Turks, and Nick Givas, reporter for the Daily Caller, looked at the court landscape after one of the most partisan confirmation battles in history.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
The Maine Republican, a key swing vote in Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation process, said she would support the nominee in the final vote expected Saturday. Collins, along with Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) who indicated he too would vote along party lines, could be the deciding factors that give Kavanaugh the votes he needs.
Sharyn Tejani, director of the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, which represents victims of sexual harassment, said the effort in the year since Harvey Weinstein's accusers came forward is unprecedented. "If you had told me at any point in that time that we would have an organization like this one that's focused on low-wage workers and focused on sexual harassment, I would have told you that's simply impossible," she said.
The California Congresswoman sponsored a bill along with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand shortly after the dawn of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements. While some steps have been enacted in the House, Speier says there's been little movement in the Senate. When you watch the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, she said, "you can understand why we're still negotiating on the Senate side."
The Senate had a procedural vote on Friday morning on the Supreme Court nominee and everyone voted along party lines, except two key Senators. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia voted 'Yes' while Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted 'No.' That sets up a final vote to confirm Kavanaugh's nomination as early as Saturday.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
The FBI's investigation into Prof. Christine Blasey Ford's allegations against Brett Kavanaugh has been completed, reportedly without any major bombshells. And while there is still no real indication on how big swing votes will decide, Reason's Eric Boehm says chances are the Supreme Court nominee will get confirmed. "But I don't think it's a done deal yet," he said.
The actress's mother, Leslie Cockburn, is an award-winning journalist who is turning her focus to the people of Virginia's fifth district. Wilde is hosting a rally at UVA with her fiancé Jason Sudeikis on Oct. 14.
