Opinion

Running a money-management firm provides a window into the psyches of all kinds of people: long-term investors, real estate speculators, institutional traders, tech entrepreneurs and everyone in between. During any given week, I speak with all sorts of people who have capital at risk in markets. Most understand what they are investing in and why. Then there are the folks ...

Boeing Co.’s latest salvo in the escalating battle with its planemaking rivals could wind up piercing its own foot. The $175 billion company, it was revealed, is in talks to acquire Brazilian regional-jet maker Embraer SA. The deal would give Boeing products that compete with the Bombardier Inc. C-Series planes in which its rival Airbus SE just agreed to acquire ...

It is protected by Washington state’s lopsidedly Democratic political class, which knows who butters its bread. It has been provided with bespoke law, tailored for its comfort. Nevertheless, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been so avaricious in its objectives and so thuggish in its methods that it has been bested by the Freedom Foundation. This small conservative outfit, ...

What I most dislike about the Trump/ Republican tax plan is the shameless cynicism with which it has been peddled. Recall how it works: The government borrows $1.5 trillion over a decade and instantly uses that money to cut taxes for major constituencies — workers, families, small businesses and big companies. The handouts aim to buy votes. This is borrowing ...

For retailers, December isn’t just the holiday shopping season. It’s also holiday return season, when consumers decide to send back all the stuff that didn’t fit, work or meet expectations. It’s an expensive ritual. According to the National Retail Federation, returns account for around 8 percent of total annual retail sales. Online retailers face an even heavier burden, with returns ...

Chuck Norris didn’t dial the wrong number; you answered the wrong phone. So the old joke goes about the paragon of omnipotence in the Walker, Texas Ranger television show. As the year draws to a close, it’s time to check in and see what Chuck might make of the current world of business and finance. Here goes: Chuck’s global macro ...

For all the flaws of the Jones Act — the 1920 legislation requiring that all maritime commerce between US ports take place on ships owned, built and crewed by Americans — there’s no faulting its professed goal. The US needs a thriving maritime sector, for both economic and military reasons. The best way to achieve this is to lift the ...

I’m a recovering smartphone addict, so you might expect me to welcome the French government’s decision to ban the devices in primary and middle schools. Actually, I don’t: The problem is the software, not the phones themselves. At best, banning smartphones would require kids to learn antiquated skills, something they arguably do too much of in school already. The modern ...

Everything comes at a cost. To ensure steady economic growth, China is considering softening its focus on cutting debt in 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported. “Let’s face it. It’s not realistic to reduce leverage when the whole economy relies on banks for financing,” an official told the Journal’s Lingling Wei. For emerging-market bulls, that’s the best news this holiday ...

Blockchain technology, which has already been adopted by gold traders, is starting to show the potential to transform other sectors of the global physical commodities markets. While it wouldn’t necessarily boost commodity prices, the innovation could offer a secure means of exchange of raw materials, open up channels of trade among buyers and sellers that had until now have been ...