Profit margins will be more art than science this earnings season. Let’s see if investors like Picasso. In industries from consumer goods to manufacturing, virtually every line on the income statement is experiencing a degree of stress. In recent months, raw materials, labour and freight have become significantly more expensive and hard to come by. Struggling to keep up with ...

It’s almost enough to make you nostalgic for the early months of the pandemic. There was clarity of economic purpose: dramatic cuts in interest rates and big fiscal commitments. The outlook was so dire there were few plausible alternatives. Conditions are much more favourable now, and ironically, that makes the choices tougher. The economic recovery is looking a little shopworn. ...

Bloomberg Taiwan’s top military leadership warned China that the closer its aircraft and ships get to the island the harder Taipei will respond, raising the stakes for further escalation with Beijing. Taiwan will take tougher measures to fend off Chinese military sorties should they get too close to the Taiwanese mainland, according to a report by the island’s defense ministry ...