June, 2022

• 18 June

  Australia’s electricity grid is being cornered

    In commodity markets, there are few phenomena more feared than a corner. If a few traders become too dominant, they can at times set prices at will by withholding supply, driving values to ridiculous levels. That’s what happened when the Hunt brothers cornered the market in silver in 1980, sending it to prices that are still a record. In ...

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• 18 June

  Fed’s path between inflation and recession

    Last week’s surprisingly bad news on inflation — prices rose 8.6% in the year to May, the highest for 40 years — and the financial markets’ anxious reaction have seriously complicated the Federal Reserve’s job. With policy makers set to announce their latest interest rate decision along with projections for the rest of this year, the Fed’s prospects for ...

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• 18 June

  Cathay continues to see pilot exodus as it tries to hire more

  

    Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd continues to experience a very high rate of pilot resignations, and may improve allowances and benefits to appease crew who took deep pay cuts to help Hong Kong’s flag carrier navigate its way through the city’s Covid-19 crisis. “We still have resignation rates at much higher levels than we’ve historically had,” Chief Operations and ...

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• 18 June

  Boohoo mulls charging UK shoppers for returns

  

    Bloomberg Boohoo Group Plc is considering charging customers to send back garments as an increasing rate of returns crimps sales at the fast-fashion retailer. The British firm, whose business is purely online, is looking at returns across all markets, Chief Executive Officer John Lyttle said, at a time when many retailers are trying to manage logistics costs. While Boohoo ...

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• 18 June

  London’s Gatwick to cut flights in summer over staffing woes

  

  Bloomberg London Gatwick airport said it will scrap hundreds of flights over the peak summer travel period, hours after Amsterdam’s Schiphol hub took a similar step, as the aviation industry’s staffing crisis deepened. Gatwick, Britain’s second-busiest airport, will limit airlines to 825 flights a day in July and 850 a day in August, from a pre-pandemic peak of around 950 ...

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• 18 June

  Tesco UK sales drop as cost of living weighs on shoppers

  

  Bloomberg Tesco Plc said shoppers are buying fewer items and trading down to cheaper own-brand versions of staples in an “incredibly challenging” market hit by the worst inflation in 40 years. Britain’s biggest supermarket chain reported a greater-than-expected 1.5% decline in comparable UK sales in the first quarter, in fresh evidence of how rising prices are changing shopping behaviour. “Inflation ...

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• 18 June

  Inflation is pushing shoppers to cheaper store brands: Kroger

    Bloomberg Kroger Co said grocery shoppers are “aggressively” turning to cheaper store brands as they wrestle with the highest inflation in four decades. Same-store sales for Kroger-branded products rose 6.3% in the first quarter, faster than the overall sales growth, the company said Thursday on its earnings call. Customers who are facing higher prices everywhere from the gas pump ...

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• 18 June

  Amsterdam Airport to limit its capacity

    Bloomberg Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport will limit capacity this summer as long lines caused by a shortage of security staff are expected to persist through the busy holiday months. Hub operator Royal Schiphol Group NV said the maximum number of passengers it’s able to handle will vary, reaching 67,500 on the busiest days in July and 72,500 in August, with ...

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• 18 June

  China’s newest aircraft carrier shows Xi catching up with US

  

    Bloomberg China launched its third and most modern aircraft carrier, a watershed moment for President Xi Jinping’s efforts to modernize the armed forces and narrow his country’s military gap with the US. The new carrier, christened the Fujian, was launched from Jiangnan Shipyard near Shanghai on Friday at ceremony attended by military and civilian leaders, state broadcaster China Central ...

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• 18 June

  Biden-Xi call is under consideration amid US-China tensions

  

  Bloomberg US officials are working to arrange a possible call this summer between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to two people in Washington familiar with the plans, with tensions high between the world’s two biggest economies. The people didn’t have more details on what the US would want to be the focus of the call, but ...

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