Investors are used to hearing company executives on earnings calls and in presentations sugarcoat the performance of their business. So it’s surprising when there’s a straight-up admission that “despite our best efforts, the moats that protect this company are not particularly deep.” When the speaker is JPMorgan Chase & Co Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon in his ...

  As negotiators from the International Monetary Fund try to hash out a bailout for Sri Lanka at talks in Washington this week, they’ll no doubt press the need for stringent economic reforms. Any such rescue will fail unless political changes are made, too. Politics helped bring about the country’s current crisis. An earlier government led by then-president Mahinda Rajapaksa ...

Bloomberg The reports of retail sales and consumer sentiment offered a glimmer of optimism that Americans aren’t ready to pull back on spending en masse in the face of decades-high inflation. Granted, the 0.5% rise in March sales was dwarfed by an even bigger increase in inflation that shows real spending is softening after a stronger start to the year. ...