The US Commerce Department announced that consumer spending fell 0.4% in February from January after adjusting for inflation. This may not seem like much, but real spending has dropped in three of the last four months. Without strength in household outlays, the economic expansion is doomed. Capital spending provided a minor boost to the economy but didn’t recover the losses ...

  Elon Musk bought a $3 billion stake in Twitter Inc, because when you’re the world’s richest human you can toss billions around just like that. This may be just another piece of performance art from Musk, who has alternately endorsed and pooh-poohed Bitcoin to great effect. He’s also taken to Twitter to hype altcoins such as Dogecoin and Shiba ...

  De-globalisation looks as though it’s happening. Calls for yet more sanctions on Russia after the horrifying images of dead bodies strewn across Ukrainian streets seem now to have every chance of success, with European nations possibly even prepared to inflict upon themselves the pain of an embargo on Russian energy imports. As the pandemic continues to disrupt supply chains, ...

  Bloomberg Investigators trying to figure out why a Boeing Co 737-800 plunged to the ground in China last month could gain key clues within days from the jet’s black boxes, which were sent to the US. “I’d expect within a week the investigation team would have the information,” said Neil Campbell, a retired air-safety investigator at the Australian Transport ...

  Bloomberg Virgin Australia is offering a raft of discounts and extra air miles to business customers, traditionally a stronghold of Qantas Airways Ltd, as part of a longer-term bid to lock in one third of the domestic air-travel market. The Bain Capital-owned airline rolled out a loyalty program specifically targeting Australian businesses. New members can get cheaper fares, and ...

  Bloomberg Vietnam police detained the aide to Bamboo Airways former Chairman Trinh Van Quyet as part of a widening probe in alleged stock manipulation at real estate developer FLC Group, which he founded. FLC accountant Trinh Thi Minh Hue, reportedly Quyet’s sister, will be detained for three months, the public security ministry said. Police detained Quyet as part of ...

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc is underwriting a $1.2 billion bond sale for the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the largest deal it has managed since reentering the Texas municipal-bond market after being temporarily sidelined last year over the bank’s firearms policy. The transaction would be a major win for the bank’s public finance business, which has seen its standing in ...

Bloomberg WM Morrison Supermarkets warned that a deterioration in the geopolitical environment in Europe, rising inflation and waning consumer sentiment could hurt its sales and profit this year. Britain’s fourth largest grocer, recently acquired by US private equity group Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC, said “increasing inflationary pressure” has affected the wider grocery market and its own performance since February, ...

  Bloomberg Airbus SE is weighing a further delay in its production plan for A350 widebody jets after sanctions on Russia weakened the outlook for deliveries, according to people familiar with the matter. A goal of building six A350s a month by early 2023, which had been reiterated as recently as February, may now slide to the end of that ...

Bloomberg A call between top diplomats from China and Ukraine sends a fresh signal that President Xi Jinping could soon speak with Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time since Russia’s invasion more than a month ago. Foreign Minster Wang Yi reiterated China’s desire for a ceasefire in talks with Ukraine counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, their first such exchange since March 1, ...