Opinion

While the sharp drop in bitcoin — 25 percent, or nearly $4,000, overnight (and 33 percent from the beginning of the week) — has some predicting the bubble is starting to burst, it may also provide evidence of the cryptocurrency’s longevity. The critical issue is transactions. And if you are looking for where the bottom could be to bitcoin’s plunge, ...

Xiaomi Corp. is set to pull in revenue of $17 billion to $18 billion this year, ahead of its own target, Reuters reported, citing the company’s comments to bankers. That’s impressive, but believable. Xiaomi has had a great year. Stretching the credibility scale, though, are estimates that net income could hit $1 billion. They’re banker projections, Reuters notes, not necessarily ...

Over the past few weeks, people here in Beijing have been riveted by the so-called migrant ‘clean-out’ — the government’s attempt to evict tens of thousands of migrant workers from their homes in the poorer parts of the city. What’s not being discussed, however, is how the crackdown could threaten one of the government’s other main priorities: managing debt. In ...

Large bank failures in recent years have led to reforms that strengthen crisis prevention and give regulators and banks the tools for dealing with crises that do occur. Similar policy measures can be helpful in dealing with sovereign crises — when governments run out of money and credit. Unfortunately, the European Commission misses the mark in its recent proposals to ...

There’s no better way to cap a storied business career than a stint atop one of the world’s largest banks. That’s more or less the future that was mapped out for Catherine Livingstone when she was appointed chairman of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) in January. The former state-owned lender was then world’s 10th largest by market capitalization, and most ...

It’s that time again, when we scan the stars for clues about the year ahead in mergers. What follows is our second annual Gadfly compilation of dealmaker horoscopes: 12 CEOs and top executives across a variety of industries—matched with their zodiac signs—who appear destined for mergers and acquisitions in 2018. Capricorn: Jeff Bezos, chairman and CEO of Amazon.com Inc. Capricorn, ...

It’s possible that more than half of the US’s trade deficit is a mirage — an artifact of corporate shenanigans designed to avoid taxes. Official statistics say that the US trade deficit is about 3 percent of gross domestic product — smaller than in the 2000s, but still historically large. But a recent Goldman Sachs note about tax reform makes ...

For all the hype about the decline of the West, it still largely controls whether emerging markets thrive or suffer. The broad global pick-up in growth this year propelled emerging markets toward the biggest gains in stocks and currencies in almost a decade. China’s debt binge did add ballast to the global expansion, and the country’s neighbors are vulnerable to ...

With the crisis deepening at Steinhoff International Holdings NV, a January sale of its assets looks increasingly likely. But this is not the time to be offloading retail businesses. The company was putting a brave face on its operating performance at a presentation to creditors on Tuesday. That does not alter the fact that for some of its large assets, ...

Italy’s Five Star Movement, which is on track to win the most votes in next year’s election, likes to portray itself as the party of transparency and honesty, in contrast with the opportunism of the mainstream political forces. When it comes to Italy’s membership of the euro, however, Five Star are showing the same kind of reckless expediency they attack ...