August, 2018

• 26 August

  CenterPoint turning to cows, landfills for gas alternative

  Bloomberg CenterPoint Energy Inc. wants to introduce a pilot programme in Minnesota offering customers access to a renewable form of natural gas recovered from dairy farms and landfills. It’s the first such programme in the Midwest, mirroring the push by utilities to offer electricity powered by wind or solar. Methane produced by everything from manure to rotting garbage is the …

  Read More »
• 26 August

  AMLO favours cutting red tape on Pemex partnerships

  

  Bloomberg Petroleos Mexicanos will be free to choose its own partners if Mexico’s next government has its way. President-Elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador may seek to change a part of the 2014 energy reforms requiring Pemex receive regulatory approval when choosing partners in oil blocks, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Previously, Lopez Obrador has said that he …

  Read More »
• 26 August

  Airbus A320 engine fix won’t come for months: Lufthansa

  

  Bloomberg Engine glitches that have disrupted Airbus SE A320neo jet operations around the world may take at least three more months to resolve amid a scarcity of upgraded turbines, according to comments from one of the planemaker’s biggest customers, Deutsche Lufthansa. Fixes for the snags afflicting the geared turbofan, or GTF, powerplant made by United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney …

  Read More »
• 26 August

  Air France-KLM, BA pull out of Iran amid US sanctions

  

  Bloomberg Two of Europe’s biggest carriers, Air France-KLM Group and British Airways, said they’ll suspend services to Iran, citing the reduced commercial viability of the route in the wake of the latest US sanctions. Air France and Dutch sibling KLM will halt flights by the end of September due to “weak commercial results,” the group said. British Airways, IAG SA’s …

  Read More »
• 26 August

  Sears plans to close 46 more unprofitable stores in November

  

  Bloomberg Sears Holdings Corp. continues to clean house, announcing plans to shutter an additional 46 unprofitable stores in November. The struggling chain informed workers at the impacted stores this week, and liquidation sales will begin as early as August 30. The move is “part of our ongoing efforts to streamline Sears Holdings’ operations, strengthen our capital position and focus on …

  Read More »
• 26 August

  United sees fare gains as cheap tickets reduce

  Bloomberg United Continental Holdings Inc. is seeing improved average airfares as US rivals offer fewer bargain-basement ticket prices. “It’s not really that fares have gone up much, it’s that the $25, $30 fares that were prevalent a year ago are much more narrow today,’’ United President Scott Kirby said. The improvement is helping United weather higher fuel costs, Kirby said. …

  Read More »
• 26 August

  Ryanair bans ‘wheelies’ in cabin for non-priority passengers

  

  Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc is locking the cabin door on traditional carry-on suitcases for its non-priority customers and forcing them to check the luggage for a fee — or go with a smaller bag — to save time loading passengers on and off flights. Starting on November 1, Europe’s biggest discount airline will only allow travellers who pay for priority …

  Read More »
• 26 August

  Nordea loses top sell-side bankers as cuts hit morale

  

  Bloomberg Nordea Bank AB has recently lost a number of its top sell-side bankers amid complaints that management’s focus on cutting 6,000 jobs is hurting morale in key parts of the business. Examples of recent departures include the head of fixed income at Nordea Markets, Torben Pedersen. He’s in the process of starting his own hedge fund with Erik Bo …

  Read More »
• 26 August

  Bank of Thailand’s hawkish tilt adds new tailwind for currency

  

  Bloomberg The Bank of Thailand is giving the baht — the most-loved emerging-market currency this month — one more reason to keep up its outperformance. Piggybacking on a strong current-account surplus, the baht has braved developing-market doldrums and topped returns among 24 currencies tracked by Bloomberg. It is also the sole gainer in Asia this quarter. As investors await the …

  Read More »
• 26 August

  People’s Bank of China joins forces with Fed’s Powell to hit brakes on dollar rally

  

  Bloomberg The People’s Bank of China and Federal Reserve delivered a one-two punch to the dollar, spurring the biggest selloff in a month and raising the specter of further weakness ahead. The PBOC announced that banks would resume using the “counter-cyclical” factor when calculating the yuan’s daily reference rate, restraining the influence of market forces that have been driving the …

  Read More »