“It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future” —Statement often attributed to Yankees baseball star Yogi Berra We are at that time of year when economic columnists (and all manner of other commentators, too) are expected to make wise and insightful judgments about the next 12 months. You should be wary of these predictions, which are highly ritualistic and ...

As a web developer, I remembered when I read Alistair Barr’s account of his attempt to delete his user data, under the auspices of California’s new Consumer Privacy Act. The process is so cumbersome — it takes more than two hours and requires uploading selfies and a photo ID — that it ends up having the opposite of the intended ...

Barely a year has passed since Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc listed shares in London and persuaded investors it deserved a premium valuation similar to that of Ferrari NV. The luxury carmaker’s preliminary yearly results were a reminder that its management badly misjudged both the strength of the brand and the resilience of its balance sheet. In reality Aston ...

Renault SA pledged back in February to make its 20-year-old Alliance with Nissan Motor Co. “irreversible,” after the shocking arrest of the French carmaker’s boss Carlos Ghosn on charges of financial misconduct exposed deep rifts on both sides. That goal now looks further away than ever, with Ghosn’s dramatic escape to Lebanon and his repeated denials of the charges reopening ...

For the first time in years, the government of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is playing defense. Protests have sprung up across the country against an amendment to India’s laws — which came into effect— that makes it easier for members of some religions to become citizens of India. The government claims this is simply an attempt to protect religious ...

Managing your financial life requires following three rules: No. 1. Spend less than you earn; No. 2. Prioritise investing for your future; No. 3. Figure out what matters and spend accordingly. If you follow these simple rules, you can ignore the rest of this column. Heck, follow just the first one and you can pretty much ignore everything else. The ...

The Bank of England’s outgoing boss, Mark Carney, has long come under fire from pro-Brexit politicians for his grim predictions for the British economy outside the European Union, including the possibility of a recession. It got to the point that it looked like one of the biggest tasks for his successor, Andrew Bailey, would be to un-ruffle feathers. Yet Carney ...

Bloomberg US stocks rose to all-time highs as America and China prepared to sign their initial trade accord. The dollar weakened against most major peers and Treasuries gained. The benchmark S&P 500 set an intraday record for the sixth consecutive trading session, largely ignoring disappointing quarterly results from Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Bank of America Corp. Healthcare and utilities ...

Bloomberg The pound slid and gilts rallied after inflation data backed up Bank of England (BOE) policy maker Michael Saunders’ call for urgent stimulus to boost the UK economy. Sterling dipped below $1.30 and 10-year government bond yields dropped to the lowest in seven weeks the data fuelled bets that the central bank will lower interest rates this year. Money ...

Bloomberg A handful of Bitcoin exchanges are key to setting prices, allowing traders to largely ignore the myriad of other bourses without the risk of missing major moves, according to a new study. Only 10 markets — among them Binance, Liquid, Huobi, Coinbase and HitBTC — are where most price discovery takes place, and moves that originate there later migrate ...