If the market performance of Samsung Electronics Co. is anything to go by, the hedge-fund Davids appear to be winning against the Goliaths of South Korea’s chaebol. Samsung shares rose 2.8 percent Monday to close at 1.86 million won, the highest since listing 42 years ago. Since a surprise $10 billion stock buyback in October 2015 that was widely …

  So far the new Republican Congress has proved better at identifying things it doesn’t like — Obamacare, for example, or an independent ethics office — than actually getting rid of them. On one issue, however, Congress may yet get its way: abortion. Last week a House panel issued a report recommending that the federal government restrict or end medical …

  India’s note ban saga continues. And so the common man’s sufferings. Indian Prime Narendra Modi’s shock note ban sparked cash chaos. And it is only obvious in a country where 90% transactions are done in cash. Modi said that the suffering of his compatriot is for the better cause. He asked citizens to give him 50 days to make …

  At a recent forum, China’s Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao warned that a ‘zero-sum’ mentality in economic relations between the US and China hurts both countries. He’s right: Rising protectionism, of the kind favored by President-elect Donald Trump, is a danger to the still-sputtering global economy. What China doesn’t yet accept is that much of the ire against free …

  The UK government is no longer the largest shareholder of Lloyds Banking Group Plc, the recipient of a 20 billion-pound ($24 billion) bailout at the height of the financial crisis. That’s good news for the British taxpayer, which wants its money back, and for the bank, which wants independence. But it’s only an incremental step in a very long …

  Lots of economic policy debates end up going like this: First, one economist or policy wonk will propose a government intervention — a minimum wage increase, a tax on sugar or subsidies for solar electricity. Another person, usually someone of a more free-market bent, will demand to know exactly which market failure justifies the intervention. A market failure, in …

  DUBAI / Reuters Egypt’s stock market rose strongly on Tuesday but foreign funds were net sellers for a second time since the Egyptian pound was floated on Nov. 3. Gulf markets diverged with Saudi petrochemical shares hit by weak oil prices. The Egyptian blue chip index added 1.8 percent to 13,015 points, a fresh all-time closing high, but trading …

  Bloomberg Asian stocks rose as gains in a gauge of health-care shares offset declines in energy companies after oil sank. Japan equities fell as as a stronger yen dimmed prospects for exporters. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.2% as of 4:40 p.m. in Hong Kong as 7 of 11 industry groups rose. The measure’s advance has been muted …

  Bloomberg VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Co., the Vietnam carrier known for its bikini-clad flight attendants, expects profit to surge 30 percent this year on rising passengers as it prepares for its Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange listing debut in February. A total of 23 overseas investors bought 66.5 million shares — equivalent to about 14 percent of VietJet …

  Bloomberg British Airways owner IAG SA’s passenger count jumped 14 percent to 100.7 million last year, propelling it past Air France-KLM Group by that measure for the first time. Customer numbers were boosted by a full year of figures from Ireland’s Aer Lingus, which IAG purchased in 2015, together with gains at Spanish arm Iberia and the Vueling discount …