Bloomberg Minnesota leaders are starting work on a $2 billion light rail project, the state’s largest infrastructure project — and the kind of spending that may help keep recession risk at bay. Spending by cities and states is a bright spot that could help to extend the expansion, now in its 10th year and within months of becoming the longest ...

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome (‘Jay’) Powell didn’t waste much time getting to the point at last week’s press conference. “My colleagues and I have one overarching goal: to sustain the economic expansion, with a strong job market and stable prices, for the benefit of the American people,” he said. It was a statement purged of ambiguity, with the Fed deciding ...

The biggest thing underpinning Tesla Inc.’s valuation is the promise of growth. And the biggest head-scratcher to emerge over the course of January concerns how that growth is being funded. Bonus: On an earnings call, the company managed to not so much bury the lead as entomb it. Almost two weeks after the electric-vehicle maker announced it was laying off ...

Wirecard AG has strongly denied fraud allegations reported by the Financial Times last week. But that hasn’t stopped about $5.7 billion being wiped from the German fintech darling’s market value in a matter of days. Even if the allegations are as unfounded as the company says, there are valid questions about whether the payments processing specialist justifies its generous valuation. ...

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is an experienced central banker and won’t be surprised at the rough reception he’s been getting lately from analysts and commentators. This kind of treatment is traditional, almost mandatory, for a recently appointed Fed chief. Nonetheless, it shows he’ll have his work cut out in nudging the Fed towards the approach to monetary policy he ...

The Chinese economy is sputtering, deflation looms and businesses are downbeat. Trade tensions with the US portend an even scarier growth outlook. The Federal Reserve, too, has given China more room to ease. So where are the outright rate cuts? Beijing has pulled out many other weapons from its vast arsenal. Most recently it introduced a new tool that extends ...

Exxon Mobil Corp. wants you to know it is serious. On February 1, Darren Woods became the first CEO of the famously aloof oil major to grace an earnings call in 15 years. Fortunately for him, he had some decent results to talk about. After several quarters of decline, year over year, Exxon’s production finally ticked up in the last ...

About three years ago, Anup Kuruvilla left his corporate banking job in Hong Kong to return to Bangalore and assemble a group of wealthy individuals willing to place small, early-stage bets on fledgling founders. 1Crowd, the platform Kuruvilla and his partners helped set up, has 500 investors. Members co-invest with 1Crowd Fund, sharing the risks in mentoring young ventures: Some ...

Bloomberg Germany’s NordLB will be bailed out by public-sector savings banks and the state of Lower Saxony at a cost of as much as 3.7 billion euros ($4.2 billion), thwarting a bid by Cerberus Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners for a stake in the struggling lender. The restructuring package, which Lower Saxony Premier Stephan Weil called “the best of all ...

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve’s change in tone may mean investors should reconsider the timing of the investment cycle, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. That means investors shouldn’t be driven by fears of recession for now, JP Morgan analysts said. The Fed signalled last week that it’s done raising rates for at least a little while, and that it’ll be ...