It wasn’t a dream or an exaggeration by cautious Facebook Inc. executives. The company’s financial results are weakening, just as executives warned they would a few months ago. Everyone knew that at some point Facebook wouldn’t be able to continue posting eye-popping revenue growth and profit margins. What was surprising was how quickly the brakes came on. Early in 2018, ...

Italy may have dodged one blow, but its fight is far from over. After escaping a ratings downgrade from S&P Global Ratings last week, the government bond auction was the next test of investor appetite. October 30 saw 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) of five-year and 2.5 billion euros of 10-year bonds offered. With the country enmeshed in a budget ...

As it does each year, the European Commission is digging into the budgets of euro-zone member states to see if they comply with the bloc’s fiscal rules. The recent slowing of the European economy complicates this work — or ought to. It suggests that Brussels should not be overly strict. The commission needs to sanction serious violations, but it can ...