Bloomberg BMW AG sought to defuse concerns about possible collusion with other German automakers by rejecting allegations of cheating on diesel emissions and downplaying talks with rivals as being focused on promoting exhaust-treatment technology in Europe. With uncertainty clouding the German auto industry, BMW said it has gone farther than competitors to ensure its diesel cars meet regulatory guidelines while ...
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Trump’s steel curbs pose trade war risks
Bloomberg There’s a risk of a global trade war should President Donald Trump decide to restrict imports of steel, according to Japan’s leading mills group, which warns any new US curbs on the metal may provoke a tit-for-tat response that could drag in other products. Concern would deepen about the potential spread of protectionism if Trump acts, Kosei Shindo, chairman ...
Read More »Anglo Platinum sees weak demand for metals this year on auto shift
Bloomberg Anglo American Platinum Ltd. sees a surplus of platinum-group metals this year as demand from makers of jewelry and car catalytic converters drops, weighing on prices and adding to pressure on miners. Lower demand follows falling sales of diesel vehicles in Europe, which use platinum to cut pollution, and a slowing Chinese jewelry market, the Johannesburg-based company said in ...
Read More »Euro region grows at slowest pace in 6 months as manufacturing cools
Bloomberg Growth in the euro-region economy started the third quarter at the weakest pace in six months as manufacturing cooled. A composite Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 55.8 in July from 56.3 in June, IHS Markit said on Monday. The figures indicate that gross domestic product is expanding at a 0.6 percent quarterly pace, compared with 0.7 percent in the ...
Read More »The wild blue yonder ain’t what it used to be
The aircraft arrayed around the spacious lawn of Maxwell Air Force Base, home of the Air University, mostly represent long-retired types. The largest, however, is a glistening B-52 bomber, which represents a still-employed component of the Air Force’s aging fleet: The youngest B-52 entered service in 1962. Sons have flown the same plane their fathers and grandfathers flew. But, then, ...
Read More »Why RIL bonus issue syncs with its effectively free JioPhone!
Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL’s) unexpected 1-for-1 bonus issue, which chairman Mukesh Ambani unveiled at the company’s 40th annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday, gave a further boost to shares that are already the second-best performing this year on India’s benchmark index. What’s interesting about the announcement, however, is the timing. The last time India’s most-valuable company gave one free share ...
Read More »Two wrongs don’t make a right on ‘hearings’
Why is Chuck Schumer doing Donald Trump a favor? The Senate minority leader’s delaying tactics for the president’s nominees are not only uncalled for, but they also distract from the White House’s historic ineptitude at filling the senior ranks of government. So far, the Trump administration has made 163 fewer nominations than former President Barack Obama at the same point, ...
Read More »How to win online war against IS
On the ground in Iraq and Syria, IS is on the brink of military defeat. Online, however, the group continues to incite its followers to violence, and victory there will take the same kind of sustained effort that anti-terrorist forces brought to the battlefield. The foremost challenge is to identify individuals susceptible to the terrorists’ messages and intervene before they’re ...
Read More »Trump learns how durable Obama’s policies are…
Donald Trump may not like it, but he can’t—so far— reverse two of Barack Obama’s signature accomplishments: the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Iran nuclear deal. In one emblematic, frustrating day, Trump both saw the failure of the Senate Bill to repeal and replace the ACA and was forced by his advisers to certify that Iran is in compliance ...
Read More »Bond investors seeing taper party this time for India, Indonesia
As local-currency bonds in Indonesia joined the recent global debt selloff, Aberdeen Asset Management Plc and Western Asset Management Co. had a simple strategy: buy more. The money managers see the nation’s securities, along with India’s, as the best bets to weather any selloff in emerging Asia as the European Central Bank prepares to join the Federal Reserve in paring ...
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