Say “equities trading,” and HSBC Holdings Plc won’t be the first bank to come to mind. Or the second or third. It doesn’t even reach the top 10. Yet its recent efforts to bulk up in this area make a lot of sense. Never mind that investment banks globally are struggling in equities as automation and regulation eat into wafer-thin ...

An auction of two is one drop-out from being no auction at all. Just look at Sky Plc. The British satellite broadcaster has rival suitors in Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. and Comcast Corp., with a potential backup in the form of Walt Disney Co. But there’s still no guarantee that a bidding war will ensure Sky fetches a full price. ...

The European Union faces another existential crisis, and the European Central Bank (ECB) will need to do whatever it takes to staunch it again. So far, it’s showed little inclination. By letting the turmoil continue, it risks creating a full-blown conflagration. Investors are taking fright at the threat that Italy could leave the euro. Yields on the country’ two-year bonds ...