Every president since Jimmy Carter has dreamed of signing a peace agreement at Camp David. That’s a forgivable vanity, even for our current narcissist-in-chief. But it nearly led President Trump to make an unwise deal on Afghanistan with a Taliban that continues to use terror as its chief weapon. Trump’s closest Republican allies, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have ...
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UK banks face a Corbyn battering
Lloyds Banking Group Plc is within touching distance of putting behind it a scandal that has cost a breathtaking 21.8 billion pounds ($27 billion). But any celebration would be premature: The lender is, in effect, one of the biggest bets on Brexit Britain. On September 9, Lloyds said it would suspend a share buyback after setting aside an additional 1.8 ...
Read More »SoftBank, WeWork are as bad as each other
SoftBank Group Corp. is having second thoughts about whether WeWork Cos Inc. should go public just yet. Having valued the heavily loss-making office space provider at up to $47 billion, Masayoshi Son’s affiliates are doubtless reluctant to write down their more than $10 billion investment – something they’d have to consider once there’s an observable price for the shares. WeWork, ...
Read More »Fed is set to cut interest rates multiple times
The Federal Reserve is set to lower its target for the federal funds rate by another 25 basis points while leaving the door open for further reductions. When does this cycle end? When the Fed either stabilizes the economy with something on the order of 75 basis points of rate cuts or the economy slips into recession and rates head ...
Read More »India’s big lenders: Going subprime isn’t the answer
Any financing that’s secured by collateral — steel mills, textile factories, power plants, roads or land — is in trouble in India. A multiyear investment slowdown has decimated credit quality. Now, the problem is spreading. The near-recession in the consumer economy means unsecured lending could be the next domino to fall. With business collateral losing its sheen, India’s top three ...
Read More »This phone isn’t just about the folding stuff
With Samsung Electronics Co. finally launching its troubled Galaxy Fold, success for the $1,980 luxury handset may be measured not in how many it ships, but how many competitors decide to develop their own. Pre-release enthusiasm for the device turned to exasperation in April when review units were found to have a severe defect related to the folding screen design. ...
Read More »Hold your tears at T-Mobile’s Sprint pity party
T-Mobile US Inc. is trying to make the case that Sprint Corp. is on its deathbed, and that T-Mobile alone can save it. That’s rich coming from the company that happily helped put Sprint there. It’s also a misleading prognosis for Sprint. A Sprint pity party is one way T-Mobile is defending against a multi-state lawsuit that seeks to prevent ...
Read More »Stock bulls betting on rate cuts are a long way from sure thing
Bloomberg Another rate cut from the Federal Reserve is all but certain. Its impact on the stock market, however, is the topic of frantic debate. In the bear camp are Bank of America Corp and Morgan Stanley, whose strategists warned against relying too much on lower rates to boost stocks. In separate research, they reached the same conclusion after studying ...
Read More »Pound rally to face test of Johnson’s Brexit-deal talks
Bloomberg The pound’s best run against the euro since 2016 will be tested next week as leaders from Britain and the European Union seek to make progress in breaking the Brexit deadlock. Sterling has climbed for five weeks against the common currency, rallying on the slightest hints of Brexit compromise. With British Prime Minister Boris Johnson now scheduled to meet ...
Read More »Embraer sees lifeline beyond US for new small jet E175-E2
Bloomberg As Embraer SA prepares to complete the first assembly of its revised regional jet, the plane will enter the market with a disadvantage: It’s too heavy to be flown under the terms of US pilot contracts. But the Brazilian manufacturer still expects to find eager buyers for its new E175-E2 elsewhere in the Americas, Southeast Asia and Europe. “My ...
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