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Trump opened door for an IS resurgence in Syria

By acquiescing to Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria, President Trump has opened the door to what could become a genuine nightmare for the United States and its allies: the revival of the deadly terrorist organisation that called itself the IS. The danger lies not simply in the group’s sleeper cells that are still active — and that detonated three suicide ...

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A test of Walmart’s momentum

And now for a major test of the well-oiled retailing machine that is Walmart Inc. The big-box giant announced that Greg Foran, the CEO of its US division — which makes up the bulk of its sales and operating income — is leaving to become CEO at Air New Zealand Ltd. He will be replaced by John Furner, who has ...

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UK’s Libor refuses to die

The finance community in the UK has a conflicted relationship with Libor, the reference interest rates for everything from mortgages to car loans to corporate debt. This makes it likely that the benchmarks will survive beyond their planned termination date. The current plan is for Libor to wink out of existence by the end of 2021. Changes in the wholesale ...

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Deutsche Bank is only part of Germany’s misery

Attempts to accelerate the shakeup of German banking haven’t had much success in the past year. First, talks to combine two state-owned regional lenders fell apart; then Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG tried but (for good reason) were unable to find a way to make a merger work. Now a third combination is on the table. This time too, ...

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Greece and Italy join party with successful bond sales

If you want a snapshot of how far the euro zone has come, look no further than Greece and Italy. Until recently, the two Mediterranean countries have been considered the sick men of Europe, as investors demanded hefty premiums to hold their sovereign bonds. These extra charges were all the more striking given the steep fall in the yields of ...

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Bed Bath & Beyond pinning its hopes to the magic of target

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.’s sales have withered in recent years for a variety of internal reasons, but it has also suffered because of punishing competition from Target Corp. Now the beleaguered home-goods chain will try to get some of that Target magic for itself. Bed Bath & Beyond announced its new CEO: Mark Tritton, chief merchandising officer at Target ...

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Starbucks stores that only accept mobile orders

How worried should we be about Starbucks’s recent announcement that it plans to begin testing a new type of store that only takes orders via mobile app — no cashiers? At first glance the image seems vaguely dystopian: person after person filing through, inevitably wearing AirPods, to pick up caffeine-and-sugar infusions they ordered by pressing a few buttons on their ...

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Stocks drop amid Hong Kong unrest, Treasuries advance

Bloomberg American equity-index futures slipped on Wednesday while European shares struggled for traction as tensions over Hong Kong mounted and earnings season rolled on. Treasuries gained and the dollar was steady. Contracts on all three major US gauges stayed lower even after Bank of America reported upbeat earnings. The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed after paring a decline as ...

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India Sensex posts best run in 3 months

Bloomberg India’s benchmark stock index posted its longest winning streak in more than three months after Wipro Ltd boosted investor optimism with earnings that beat all estimates. In a volatile trading session that saw it pare gains multiple times, the S&P BSE Sensex Index rose 0.2% to 38,598.99 in Mumbai. That marked a fourth day of gains and its longest ...

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Bank of Korea warns of weaker growth after cutting rates again

Bloomberg South Korea’s central bank warned that economic growth would be weaker than forecast after cutting its policy rate for the second time this year as a global downturn pummels exports and weighs on prices. The move comes amid a wave of rate cutting by central banks around the world to shore up growth and highlights the sense of urgency ...

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