Bloomberg China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. said its half-year earnings jumped to the highest level on record as refining profits climbed and a rebound in crude prices brought its oil and gas exploration unit closer to breaking even. Net income gained to 42.4 billion yuan ($6.2 billion) in the first six months from 27.9 billion a year earlier, the world’s …

Bloomberg US stocks are vaulting back to all-time highs. But the smart money isn’t celebrating. Instead, they’re nursing pain. Hedge funds have seen returns dwindling even as the S&P 500 Index marches forward in what has become, by some measures, the longest bull market ever. An index tracking the performance of funds focusing on equities has fallen in five of …

Bloomberg Don’t hold your breath for a US exchange-traded fund that invests in Bitcoin. Prospects for such a fund took a nosedive when the Securities and Exchange Commission rejected requests to list nine cryptocurrency funds, citing continuing concerns about manipulation and market surveillance. Hester Peirce — one of four commissioners currently at the SEC — has since said the agency …