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Gucci is having a full-circle moment

Andrea Felsted Only three months after it emerged that Estee Lauder Cos. was in talks to buy Tom Ford for $3 billion, it’s now being reported that Gucci-owner Kering SA is in advanced discussions to acquire the American designer’s eponymous brand. Kering’s challenge with the label, known for its pricey fragrances and mini-dresses, would be almost the inverse of Estee ...

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Biden’s Venezuelan migrant deal won’t fix the border

Eduardo Porter Has the Biden administration figured out how to stanch the flood of desperate migrants overflowing across the southwestern border? These are early days, but the deal last month whereby Mexico would take back Venezuelans nabbed trying to enter the US illegally while the US would allow 24,000 Venezuelans into the country for up to two years – as ...

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Banks buy gold for zombie apocalypse

David Fickling The instruction manual for surviving a zombie apocalypse is pretty straightforward. Once you’ve kitted out your bunker with canned goods and firearms, get a supply of bullion. You’ll need it to buy bullets and bribe your way out of a death fight in Thunderdome. That’s a line of thinking you might associate with cranky gold bugs, but it’s ...

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‘Sufficiently restrictive’ is the Fed’s new buzzword

Jonathan Levin When it comes to communicating its outlook for monetary policy, the Federal Reserve is famous for using overly vague language that can be interpreted any number of ways. The latest example came last week in the central bank’s statement explaining its decision to again raise interest rates by 0.75 percentage point. And if you can decipher the meaning ...

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Biden’s economy is second only to one at US midterm

Matthew A. Winkler As Americans cast their votes near the end of Democrat Joe Biden’s second year in the White House, his 42% approval rating and the outcome of such midterm elections historically favoring the party not currently in charge gives the edge to Republicans. But the history of more than a dozen measures of relative prosperity shows Biden outperformed ...

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Billions in bank buybacks if winter is mild

Paul J. Davies If you want to forecast the fates of banks in the UK and Europe, the one thing you should watch is gas prices. If the winter is warm and stored gas goes unburned, the region’s unloved lenders are going to look significantly undervalued. Third-quarter results have highlighted that many sit on billions of pounds or euros of ...

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Hong Kong bankers fear for their careers

Shuli Ren It was supposed to be a big celebration for Hong Kong. This week’s Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit, organized by the city’s central bank, was meant to showcase the revival of Hong Kong as Asia’s financial hub, after years of isolation that resulted from stringent Covid controls. But the mood is all gloom and doom. Since China’s Communist ...

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It’s not just about the economy, stupid

Stephen Mihm The midterms are here, and with it predictions that the nation’s economic woes will cost Democrats control of Congress. As one pundit on Fox News recently declared, political consultant James Carville’s 1992 adage, “It’s the economy, stupid,” still applies. Polling data seems to support this point of view. But applying a 30-year-old rule of thumb for a presidential ...

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Fed slowdown isn’t getting much help from Big Tech

Conor Sen All the tightening moves by the Federal Reserve this year to rein in inflation are supposed to lead to less hiring and spending by companies. But there is no law that says the biggest, most profitable companies have to cut back if they don’t feel like it. And the cuts showing up in this quarter’s earnings reports from ...

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Can you protect your pension from inflation?

Stuart Trow The cost-of-living crisis has prompted more young workers to opt out of their workplace pensions, forgoing contributions from both their employers and the government. According to investment platform AJ Bell, 34% of workers have opted out or are considering doing so, a figure that rises to 47% for 18- to 34-year-olds. This is the opposite of what this ...

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