December, 2021

• 9 December

  Is massive US Treasury market too big to trade?

  

  When panic strikes financial markets and everyone runs for the exits, someone has to put up the cash — usually it’s governments and central banks. Indeed, the US Federal Reserve has again and again intervened to calm nerves and keep markets moving by buying up Treasury bonds and injecting liquidity. But as regulators move to fix more problems and reduce ...

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• 9 December

  American CEO switch shows optimism

  

  Another big US airline is replacing its chief executive officer in a sign that the pandemic recovery is broadly still on track even as new Covid variants loom. American Airlines Group Inc announced that CEO Doug Parker would step down in March and be succeeded by President Robert Isom. Parker is the longest-serving current CEO of a major US airline; ...

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• 9 December

  Was investing in the investors a bad idea?

  As Leo Tolstoy taught us at the beginning of Anna Karenina, “Happy families are all alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” It’s a lesson being relearned by investors in European asset managers, whose shareholdings have woefully missed out on the gains enjoyed across the broader equity market this year. The environment for the fund-management industry continues ...

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• 9 December

  Germans see Smurf in Scholz. Putin might, too

  Earlier this year, Olaf Scholz, the former finance minister being sworn in as German chancellor, was sitting in on one of many coronavirus crisis meetings. He was looking inscrutable as he often does, which can come across as smug. He could have been thinking about anything, but a Bavarian colleague reprimanded him for “grinning like a Smurf.” By something close ...

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• 9 December

  Omicron’s high-speed spread shreds recovery in air travel

  

  Bloomberg Rapid and still-evolving border restrictions in response to the omicron variant have submerged air-travel demand yet again, throwing a long-awaited recovery into uncertainty. The emerging coronavirus wave has put airlines under even more pressure as they navigate rules that vary by country and are being revised daily as more information about the strain comes to light. Carriers slashed 151,000 ...

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• 9 December

  HNA cedes control of core airline operations

  

  Bloomberg HNA Group Co has officially handed over control of its core airline operations to Liaoning Fangda Group Industrial Co, marking the end of an era for the Chinese conglomerate as it continues to restructure one of the country’s biggest piles of corporate debt. Gu Gang, head of a government taskforce in charge of HNA’s restructuring, will no longer serve ...

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• 9 December

  Tata to hire new management for Air India as sale proceeds

  

  Bloomberg Tata Sons Pvt is considering hiring several key executives for Air India, according to people familiar with the matter, as the nation’s biggest conglomerate works to finalise a turnaround plan for the indebted carrier it’s in the process of taking over from the state. The group, which in October won a bid to regain control of the airline it ...

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• 9 December

  Rising food prices yet to change shopping habits in Britain

  

  Bloomberg Grocery price increases in the UK aren’t yet denting shoppers’ festive spirit, according to data-tracking firm Kantar. Christmas dinner staples are becoming pricier as grocery inflation reached 3.2% in the past month, the highest rate since June 2020. Still, Kantar said it has not noticed a shift in consumer habits yet, such as swapping branded products for own label ...

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• 9 December

  Labour shortage spreads to Santa Claus economy in US

  Bloomberg America’s labour shortage has spread to the Santa Claus economy. Like other industries, demand for workers in this sector has surged as Americans try to return to pre-pandemic life. There are about 3,000 open positions across the country for Kris Kringle look-a-likes at malls, homes and corporate events, according to Mitch Allen, founder of Dallas-based talent agency HireSanta. The ...

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• 9 December

  Kroger raises its profit forecast again

  Bloomberg Kroger Co raised its profit forecast for the third straight quarter, propelling shares back near the record heights they attained in September. Adjusted earnings in the current fiscal year will be in the range of $3.40 to $3.50 a share, Kroger said in a statement as it reported earnings. That followed increases to the grocer’s outlook in June and ...

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