Bloomberg SoftBank Group is considering revamping a controversial strategy of using derivatives to invest in tech companies, and its executives have met with investors in recent days to assure them that the bets are relatively conservative. The Japanese conglomerate has stressed to investors that its billion-dollar positions have been concentrated in a handful of blue-chip tech companies, including Microsoft Corp. …

Bloomberg Some of the world’s biggest oil traders are gearing up for a possible resurgence of a coronavirus-induced glut of crude and fuels, snapping up giant tankers for months-long charters so that they can be ready to store excess barrels if necessary. The chartering spree is likely to alarm producers and their allies as it indicates that the oil traders …

Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG plans to eliminate its biggest passenger jets as it deepens fleet cuts, creating a knock-on in additional job losses, people with knowledge of the proposals said. Lufthansa is looking at retiring remaining Airbus SE A380 double-deckers, the bulk of smaller A340s, and all of its older Boeing Co 747-400 jumbos, according to the people, who asked …

Bloomberg Century 21 Stores, an iconic New York off-price department store chain, filed for bankruptcy with plans to shut down, becoming the latest victim of the retail industry carnage that’s accelerated during the pandemic. Nearly 1,400 jobs are at risk. The retailer will hold going out of business sales at its 13 stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and …

Bloomberg JC Penney Co sales plunged 45% in the second quarter as the department-store chain entered bankruptcy and struggled with an accelerated shift away from physical stores and the Covid-19 outbreak. Net sales fell to $1.39 billion in the period ended on August 1 from $2.51 billion a year earlier, the company reported in a regulatory filing. The retailer’s lenders …

Bloomberg The UK’s fluctuating quarantine restrictions are again leading to punishing airfares for vacationers forced to rush home on short notice. Travellers scrambling to return from Portugal before a rule requiring self-isolation kicks in on Saturday faced paying more than $640 for a one-way ticket, based on fares from both British Airways Plc and Jet2holidays Ltd. Airlines have been vocal …

Bloomberg Boeing Co’s grounded 737 Max jetliner completed a round of test flights with European air-safety regulators, taking another step towards a return to the skies. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will now evaluate data from the trips, it said in a statement. The agency, based in Cologne, Germany, performed the flights from Vancouver, near Boeing’s Seattle-area operations, …

Bloomberg The Philippines has eased distancing rules in public transport, allowing trains and planes to have more passengers amid the region’s worst coronavirus outbreak, the Department of Transportation said. The agency and economic managers’ proposal to increase public transport ridership and accommodate more people going back to work was approved by the government’s coronavirus task force, Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade …

Bloomberg A good decade after Nokia Oyj’s mobile-phone business suffered a fatal blow at the hands of the iPhone, the Finnish company is still feeding off a lucrative asset that it salvaged from the wreckage. Nokia retained a catalogue of thousands of wireless communications patents that is steadily growing thanks to a thriving research operation. Now an attempt to change …

Bloomberg Tesla Inc. plans to ship cars made at its Shanghai factory to other countries in Asia and Europe, according to people familiar with the matter, shifting its strategy for the plant to largely focus on supplying the local market. China-built Model 3s for delivery outside the country likely will start mass production in the fourth quarter, the people said, …