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Social Finance reports second-quarter loss of $200mn

Bloomberg Writedowns of underperforming loans drove Social Finance Inc. (SoFi) to a second-quarter adjusted loss of about $200 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The student-loan refinancer, which has been trying to transform itself into a broader online financial-services company, took a one-time charge on loans originated before the second quarter, one of the people said. The company ...

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Power prices slip below zero as green energy floods grid

Bloomberg Bright and breezy days are becoming a deeper nightmare for utilities struggling to earn a return on traditional power plants. With wind and solar farms sprouting up in more areas — and their power getting priority to feed into the grid in many places — the amount of electricity being generated is outstripping demand during certain hours of the ...

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GCL-poly shares tumble as $1.9bn unit sale collapses

Bloomberg China’s GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd. sank to the lowest level in more than nine years as a deal for the company to sell a controlling stake in its polysilicon unit worth $1.9 billion to Shanghai Electric Group Co. fell apart. Shares of GCL-Poly in Hong Kong fell 7.6 percent to close at HK$0.61, the lowest since March 2009, paring ...

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US considers oil sanction waivers as new Iran penalties start

Bloomberg The Trump administration will consider partial exemptions from oil sanctions against Iran for some countries as a first wave of non-oil penalties against the Islamic Republic snap back into effect on Tuesday, US officials said. President Donald Trump is still willing to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at any time, without preconditions, as the US ramps up economic ...

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Beijing meets Trump’s tariff hardball with pledge to endure

Bloomberg After a weekend of claims by US President Donald Trump that he has the upper hand in the trade war with China, Beijing responded through state media by saying the nation is ready to endure the economic fallout. China is prepared for a “protracted war” and doesn’t fear sacrificing short-term economic interests, according to an editorial in the nationalist ...

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Subaru joins Toyota in expecting ‘big impact’ from US auto levies

Bloomberg Subaru Corp. reported a sales slide in the US, its largest market, and predicted a “big impact” from President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on imported vehicles following the escalation of a global trade war. Unit sales in the US dropped about 14 percent to 149,800 vehicles in the three months through June 30, the company said in a presentation. ...

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TSMC blames WannaCry variant for plant closures

Bloomberg Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. blamed a crippling cyber-virus outbreak on a variant of the 2017 WannaCry ransomware, outlining how it shut several plants just as the company ramps up chipmaking for Apple Inc.’s next iPhones. Chief Executive Officer C. C. Wei said full operations have resumed and that the malware would reduce revenue this quarter by no more than ...

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Japan mulls daylight savings to save Olympics from summers

Bloomberg Japan is considering implementing daylight savings time in 2019 and 2020 to cope with the intense summer heat, after soaring temperatures this year cast doubt over the ability of the country to safely host the 2020 Olympics, the Sankei newspaper reported. The government and ruling parties are seeking to pass a bill this autumn, according to the report, which ...

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Path from Pyongyang to Washington is via Seoul

Koreans have a saying that helps explain the recent upbeat exchanges between Washington, Seoul and Pyongyang: “Say pretty things to hear pretty things.” Beyond the Trump White House, there remains much skepticism that North Korea will ever give up its nuclear weapons. Recent leaks about North Korea’s continuing efforts to build its nuclear and missile arsenal underline this concern that ...

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