The mooted record-breaking leveraged buyout of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. is a reminder of the powerful role of private capital in modern finance. But the fact that a private equity owner has a chance at making decent returns even after paying a premium for the US pharmacist raises difficult questions. Might the public markets be missing something yet again? A ...

Investors and institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are fretting over the risk of a potential global recession caused by the US-China trade war. Their concern is misplaced. The true danger to global growth is the weakness of China’s domestic economy. Total US trade isn’t declining. On the contrary, it’s growing at or just beneath its decade-long rate. ...

Bloomberg Stocks in Europe slid on Monday along with US equity-index futures as traders awaited further developments on the trade front, while turmoil in Hong Kong added to the risk-off mood. Gold and the yen climbed. Banks and miners led the Stoxx Europe 600 index lower, and futures on the S&P 500 gauge also fell after President Donald Trump said ...

Bloomberg When it comes to adverse conditions for stock-market trading, Zimbabwe’s bourse belongs in a special category for extreme cases. Consider the challenges confronting Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Chief Executive Officer Justin Bgoni: a local currency that has crashed more than 80% since a peg to the US dollar was ended in February and annual inflation that the International Monetary Fund ...

Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd logged more than 268 billion yuan ($38.3 billion) of purchases during its Singles’ Day bonanza, exceeding last year’s record haul after a 24-hour shopping marathon. An estimated half-billion shoppers from China to Russia and Argentina swarmed the e-commerce giant’s sites to scoop up everything from Apple Inc and Xiaomi Corp gadgets to Ugandan mangoes. The ...

Bloomberg Boeing Co said one of the first revamped General Electric Co engines intended to power its 777X flight-test aircraft was damaged during a freak shipping accident last month. While the incident isn’t expected to create a new delay for the 777X, it does add to a string of mishaps to confound Boeing’s newest model. The 777X is already behind ...

Bloomberg New Jersey Transit issued an urgent appeal for private industry to help transport millions of people annually to a newly opened mega-mall just west of Manhattan. “It can’t take 10 years,” Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, New Jersey’s transportation commissioner and NJ Transit board chairwoman, told a meeting of potential private partners in East Rutherford. “Frankly it can’t take five.” American Dream, ...

Bloomberg The owner of Sears and Kmart is closing almost a third of its remaining stores just months after buying the struggling retailer out of bankruptcy. Transform Holdco LLC’s shutdown of 96 locations will leave just 182 outlets for the company, which was once America’s biggest department store chain. The merchant “has faced a difficult retail environment and other challenges” ...

ABU DHABi / WAM Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, addressed the sixth annual Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate, hosted by the Emirates Policy Centre. In his speech, Dr Gargash reviewed regional developments and expressed optimism regarding the potential for significant progress over the next year, noting, “We have reached critical junctures in major conflicts ...

DUBAI / Emirates Business Emaar Properties recorded a revenue of AED17.644 billion and net profit of AED4.442 billion in the first nine months of 2019, led by resilient performance of the property, malls and hospitality business. Emaar recorded robust increase in net profit by 20 percent during the third quarter (July to September) of 2019 to AED1.331 billion ($362 million), ...