Tech stocks have surged to start 2020, lifting the entire market to record highs. But one place you won’t find much enthusiasm for the rally is on Twitter. There, you’re more likely to read accounts spreading fake news about the coronavirus outbreak or mocking the valuation of Tesla Inc.’s meteoric stock. I have a theory about this: Many of Twitter’s ...
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The reemergence of moderate Democrat
For all the thunder on the Bernie Sanders left, the most interesting trend in the Democratic campaign this year may be the reemergence of the moderate wing of the party, led by charismatic new voices, “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar. In our barbell view of politics, where all the weight seems to be at the two ends, this ...
Read More »Lagarde’s $186bn coronavirus fear
An infection typically hits the vulnerable hardest — and in the new coronavirus outbreak this might apply economically too. For all the geographical distance between Europe and China, the euro zone has much to fear from its spread. The disease is another challenge to the export-driven model of the monetary union, which was already struggling with the global lurch towards ...
Read More »UK bond vigilantes grab your saddles with Sunak in charge
Last week’s shock resignation of Sajid Javid from his perch as UK chancellor of the exchequer is widely expected to facilitate a more profligate fiscal stance by the government. If the well-flagged increase in spending isn’t accompanied by higher taxes, bond yields could well head higher — especially if the Bank of England responds by adopting a more hawkish stance ...
Read More »French giant is looking at Tesla with burning envy
On one side of the Atlantic, Tesla Inc. is capitalising on its soaring share price by selling $2 billion in stock so it can build more electric vehicles. On the other, French manufacturer Renault SA has been forced to cut its dividend by 70% and announce a big reduction in fixed costs so it can afford to do the same. ...
Read More »Our decadent energy system needs renewal
Like many of you, I’m sure, I read Ross Douthat’s essay on “The Age of Decadence†in Sunday’s New York Times while sprawled on a chaise, picking at my smashed avo and laudanum. Stirring from the languor, I wondered: How does energy fit with this thesis? Our energy system is decadent at a fundamental level. Roughly four fifths of what ...
Read More »Alibaba’s China disconnect cuts Hong Kong dead
The decision to exclude shares of China’s biggest e-commerce company from a cross-border trading link is a blow to Hong Kong. Is it a punishment, or simple self-interest at work? The answer matters, both for the city’s exchange and for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Alibaba can’t be included in the stock connect program linking Hong Kong with the Shanghai and ...
Read More »Three risks for banking in the time of coronavirus
When bankers fret about contagion, it’s usually the financial kind. DBS Group Holdings Ltd. is battling a different outbreak. The full-year results of Singapore’s largest lender are pre-coronavirus. Still, they offer clues to what investors in banks with pan-Asian heft — including HSBC Holdings Plc, Standard Chartered Plc and Citigroup Inc. — should be watching. A day before its earnings ...
Read More »Trump’s rosy economic growth forecast isn’t crazy
President Donald Trump’s new budget proposal makes some heady economic projections — 3% annual real economic growth for the first half of the decade — to justify his policies and make the budget deficit look smaller than it might otherwise be. That’s a lot higher than mainstream economists at the Federal Reserve and Congressional Budget Office believe is likely based ...
Read More »Thiel’s fintech banking app flees Britain
Defying the gloom around the financial services industry in post-Brexit Britain, the UK has maintained its edge in fostering the industry’s digital revolution. Lured by friendly regulators, fintechs have proliferated and investors have poured billions into companies that have rattled centuries old, high-street lenders. The battleground is becoming so fierce, however, that it’s proving too much for some of the ...
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