November, 2021

• 10 November

  Tesla investors vote with their tweets

  

  Who needs a metaverse when you have Elon Musk’s Twitter feed? In the latest installment, the bad boy billionaire conducted a poll via Tesla Inc’s ersatz communications department, asking real people on the internet whether he should sell roughly $20 billion worth of his shares in the company. The majority verdict: Yes. So there you have it. The masses have ...

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• 10 November

  Sterling is down, worst may be yet to come

  “When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?” That’s the first witch setting the opening scene in Macbeth but it might as well be any commentator on the current state of the UK or outlook for the pound. The lows for sterling this year versus the dollar at $1.34 look set to be tested again soon. ...

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• 10 November

  Will Biden give Jerome Powell a second term?

  In 2009, President Barack Obama took a short break from his summer holiday on Martha’s Vineyard to tap then-Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke for a second term. Joe Biden, by contrast, is more likely to interrupt his Thanksgiving dinner to perform the same duty. The White House has been prevaricating for months over whether to give Jerome Powell, the current ...

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• 10 November

  UK drug industry must secure post-Brexit future, says report

  

  Bloomberg Britain must work with other countries to prevent friction on medicine rules post-Brexit to avoid being sidelined by the global drug industry, according to a report from the UK’s biggest pharmaceutical lobby group. The country must collaborate with ‘science allies’ such as the US, Canada and Australia in developing its post-Brexit medicines regulation or risk being left behind, the ...

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• 9 November

  Biden plans flagship projects to challenge China’s Belt and Road

  

  Bloomberg The Biden administration looks to launch a global infrastructure financing program, intended to counter China’s Belt and Road initiative, with between five and 10 flagship projects announced as soon as January, a senior US official said. The “Build Back Better World” program will look to counter Chinese influence by offering funding for projects with higher labour standards, a focus ...

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• 9 November

  German VAT cut unleashed $39 billion spending spree

  Bloomberg Countries looking to perk up their economies when interest rates are already at rock bottom might learn something from Germany. Last year’s surprise value-added tax cut by the government in Berlin unleashed about 34 billion euros ($39.4 billion) of household spending while only resulting in about 7 billion euros of lost budget revenue, a working paper published by the ...

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• 9 November

  Norway’s new government to cut power levies, up wealth tax

  

  Bloomberg Norway’s new government is proposing to cut electricity charges to protect households from the effects of the energy crisis, while raising taxes on the wealthy, as it makes changes to a 2022 budget drafted by its predecessors. The Labour-Center minority coalition’s proposal includes a new, lower electricity tax rate for the winter months, it said. The budget, which the ...

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• 9 November

  EU steel deal to slow US inflation

  

  Bloomberg The US’s decision to remove tariffs on steel and aluminum from the European Union (EU) in a weekend deal with the bloc will help slow inflation for American consumers, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said. Prices paid by US shoppers rise 5.4% in September, matching the fastest pace of increase since 2008. Unprecedented shipping challenges due in part to the Covid-19 ...

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• 9 November

  SoftBank shares soar on plans for buyback of up to $9 billion

  

  Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp. shares surged as much as 10% after the company said it would buy back as much as 1 trillion yen ($8.8 billion) of its own stock, reverting to a strategy that founder Masayoshi Son has used in the past to benefit investors. The Tokyo-based company made the announcement as it reported financial results for the September ...

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• 9 November

  Mark Mobius bets on ‘50-year rally’ in Indian stocks as China slows

  

  Bloomberg Veteran investor Mark Mobius has allocated almost half of his emerging-markets fund to India and Taiwan to help offset a slide in China shares that has dragged down returns from developing nations as a whole. “India is on a 50-year rally,” even if there are short bouts of bear markets, Mobius said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “India ...

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