Opinion

  In the days since Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s largest mobilization since World War II, some 400,000 Russians have fled the country, with many more attempting to follow. Some neighbors, including European Union states, are fretting about the consequences. The reluctance of front-line countries to absorb new waves of Russian exiles is understandable — but closing the doors to them ...

  Credit Suisse Group AG is in a tight spot, but it isn’t “on the brink,” as the fevered typists of social media imagined over the weekend. The Swiss bank, however, is going through its darkest hours at exactly the worst time, when markets are volatile and everyone is nervous about what’s around the corner. Disappointment is still more likely ...

  The world’s largest beef producer joined a chorus of Cassandras this week signaling the end of alternative meats. Meat giant JBS SA killed its Planterra business in the US and shut down a 190,000 square-foot Colorado facility producing plant-based products. Yet the closure was gravely shortsighted. It reflects a crisis of confidence at a time when investors should be ...

  What’s a profit? A recent ill-tempered television appearance by the co-founder of home-flipper Opendoor Technologies Inc., Keith Rabois, showed just how far we have drifted from a common understanding of earnings. Rabois, a Miami venture capitalist, was irritated by his interlocutor’s (not unreasonable) suggestion that Opendoor is loss-making. Net losses total $1.7 billion since inception, according to the latest ...

  Pension funds are supposed to be among the least exciting financial institutions. Their job is to make long-term investments to meet the predictable needs of future retirees. They should be immune to short-term shocks. Yet last week in the UK, they were the center of an incipient financial crisis. What led to this was a novel variation on a ...

Officially, leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the first round of Brazil’s tense presidential race on Sunday, with 48% of votes. In fact, current leader Jair Bolsonaro was the one who emerged victorious, beating the predictions of pollsters and boosted by the success of several key congressional and gubernatorial allies, who demonstrated the resilient support for his ...

  Say it quietly: Inflation isn’t all bad for supermarkets. Amid predictions of the cost-of-living crisis devastating the consumer industries, Britain’s biggest retailer, Tesco Plc, reported better-than-expected first-half sales, as higher prices and Brits enjoying themselves during the summer heatwave boosted revenue. Tesco said UK like-for-like sales rose 0.7% in the six months to Aug. 27, compared with expectations of ...

  The one-two punch of rising US interest rates and a strengthening dollar is making investors crave spicy yields. Markets were in turmoil last week when 10-year UK gilts struggled to find takers even at 4.5% — and only calmed down when the Bank of England stepped in as a buyer. However, it isn’t just British fare that’s getting passed ...

  The political outlook heading into the final month of the campaign is muddled, to say the least. Inflation is near record highs, which is bad news for incumbent Democrats. On the other hand, abortion rights are under siege across the country, which is an issue that works in Democrats’ favor. Meanwhile, a former president who is the subject of ...

Now we know: Even in a country as tightly controlled as Russia, a string of military defeats will be followed by public squabbling and personal attacks. But then again, perhaps Russia is less tightly controlled as a battlefield loser than as the fearsome, almost unbeatable military superpower it was before invading Ukraine. As he prepares to celebrate his 70th birthday ...