One frequent criticism of conglomerates is that their complex structures can make it more difficult to get proper credit from investors for all of their good assets and growth opportunities. But the axiom can also work in the reverse, apparently. 3M Co has so many problems at the moment — a potentially mammoth liability tied to legacy manufacturing of per- ...

  Container-shipping companies have found lots of ways to spend their enormous pandemic profits. They’re lifting staff pay, making acquisitions and returning heaps of cash to shareholders. One person who won’t benefit much is you, the taxpayer. Based on their recent financial filings, I calculate big European container lines AP Moller-Maersk A/S, CMA CGM SA and Hapag-Lloyd AG owe just ...

  Out of all the actions the Biden Administration could have taken on Afghanistan, commandeering the nation’s foreign currency reserves is, to put it mildly, unhelpful. In an executive order, President Joe Biden began the process of releasing the $7 billion in Afghan Central Bank funds held in the Federal Reserve. It froze those assets last August when the Taliban ...