July, 2021

• 12 July

  Americans must reclaim their right to repair now

  

  When the Apple II personal computer was shipped in 1977, it came with a detailed manual for upgrading and repairing the device. Parts were readily available from Apple Inc. (and, later, other manufacturers), and if Apple owners didn’t want to fix or upgrade at home, they could find plenty of small, competitive repair businesses to do the work for them. ...

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• 12 July

  Bitcoin can’t play with the unicorns

  

  Bitcoin lovers, cry foul! Accounting firms are restricting corporations from holding the cryptocurrency as assets even as they give free rein to venture capital firms — such as SoftBank Group Corp — to invest in equally risky and volatile unicorns. MicroStrategy Inc and Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc own Bitcoin but they are exceptions. One survey found that only 5% of ...

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• 12 July

  Nord Stream 2 is a stain on Merkel’s legacy

  Just months before she retires from politics, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is jetting to Washington to meet US President Joe Biden. The event will be staged to show a return to transatlantic harmony after four years of acrimony under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump. But to keep up those appearances, the Americans will be hiding a crushing sense of disappointment, and ...

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• 12 July

  Has the Fed boxed itself out of a smooth taper?

  Wise old market heads often remark that the bond market rarely lies and it often leads the stock market. This is particularly apposite at the moment, with too much cash kicking about and forcing bond, house and equity prices ever higher — infinite money chasing finite assets. It is putting the Federal Reserve in something of a dilemma: It has ...

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• 12 July

  Yellen to press Europe on digital tax plan following G-20 accord

  

  Bloomberg US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will press European Union (EU) officials in Brussels to reconsider their plan to propose a digital levy after securing the Group of Twenty’s endorsement for the principles of a global corporate-tax agreement. Yellen is in Brussels following the gathering of G-20 finance ministers and central bankers in Venice, which concluded with the group’s call ...

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• 12 July

  UK’s $1.3trn Covid wealth gain went mostly to the rich

  Bloomberg Britain’s household wealth surged 900 billion pounds ($1.3 trillion) during the pandemic, and much of that went to the richest people, a study by the Resolution Foundation showed. The figure is well above the Bank of England’s estimate for how much money consumers accumulated during lockdowns that shut most stores and prevented people from traveling. It adds to evidence ...

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• 12 July

  Toronto home sales hit lowest point in a year

  

  Bloomberg Toronto saw the lowest number of homes trade hands in a year in June as the pandemic-fueled demand that drove the market to record highs starts to fade with immigration still muted. Home sales in Canada’s largest city fall 9.1% in June from the month before to 8,885 transactions, the third consecutive monthly decline, according to data released by ...

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• 12 July

  Wall Street’s $6bn bonanza chilled by China IPO curbs

  

  Bloomberg Just months after bankers celebrated a record haul from taking Chinese companies public in New York and Hong Kong, they’ve had a rude awakening. Deals are being shelved and investors are nursing heavy losses. A chill has settled over global finance after a fortnight in which China first cracked down on its Uber-like Didi Global Inc. within days of ...

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• 12 July

  US futures mixed as investors turn focus to earnings season

  

  Bloomberg US futures were mixed as investors turn their attention to the second-quarter earnings season starting this week in order to gauge whether corporate profitability can support equity valuations. Treasury yields dropped. The Stoxx Europe 600 fluctuated, with declines for banks and travel companies offsetting gains for real-estate and utilities. Atos SE plunged more than 15% after the French IT-services ...

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• 12 July

  UAE grants golden visas to 100,000 global coders

  

  DUBAI / WAM In executing the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to grant golden visas to 100,000 entrepreneurs, owners of enterprises, and start-ups specialised in coding, the National Program for Coders announced the start of the golden visa application process. This initiative is ...

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