September, 2020

• 8 September

  Johnson takes Brexit on a crazy path

  

  As the eighth round of trade talks with the European Union is about to start, UK government officials from the chief trade negotiator, David Frost, to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab have put out the word that Britain is ready to walk away. To underscore the point, Boris Johnson is setting a deal deadline of October 15. The PM  is also ...

  Read More »
• 8 September

  China’s chemicals deal may have come too late

  Better late than never? Three years of efforts to combine China’s giant state-owned chemicals companies Sinochem Group Co and China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, may finally be paying off. A merger between the two unlisted companies is at last “in progress,” Frank Ning, the chairman of both companies, said last week. Such a deal would create a behemoth with ...

  Read More »
• 8 September

  Biden plan to improve 401(k) does opposite

  The presidential campaign of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris has a proposal aimed to restore the value of 401(k) and other deferred tax retirement plans for young median-wage workers. It’s a step almost exactly in the wrong direction. Under current policy, standard deferred tax retirement plans, including 401(k)s, IRAs and other variants, are taxed at distribution time rather than contribution ...

  Read More »
• 8 September

  Brexit threatens to strip UK pilots of right to fly EU planes

  

  Bloomberg British pilots already fearing for their jobs as the coronavirus crisis hammers air travel face a new risk as a potential no-deal Brexit threatens to deprive them of the right to fly EU-registered planes. With the UK’s split from the EU set to be completed on December 31, there’s no agreement in place that would allow aviators holding UK ...

  Read More »
• 8 September

  PizzaExpress plans to shut 73 UK restaurants

  

  Bloomberg PizzaExpress’s creditors approved a company proposal to cut rents and shut 73 of its UK restaurants as part of the chain’s effort to fix its finances amid the economic slump. The plan will put 1,100 job at risk. Almost 90% of the firm creditors and a majority of landlords supported a so-called Company Voluntary Arrangement proposed by the company, ...

  Read More »
• 8 September

  Smartphones-in-trees scheme thwarted, say Amazon drivers

  

  Bloomberg Amazon.com contract drivers have noticed a sudden change in how the company assigns delivery routes, a sign that it has found a way to prevent rogue operators from gaming the system to snatch orders first. Bloomberg revealed that drivers were putting smartphones in trees outside Whole Foods and Amazon delivery stations in the Chicago area to get a jump ...

  Read More »
• 8 September

  Airplane cabins may look different next time you fly

  

  Bloomberg Headrest canopies and fabric barriers between seats could start appearing in airplane cabins as the embattled industry tries to ward off the coronavirus. Airlines desperate for governments to lift travel restrictions and passengers to return are looking at ways to reassure the public that their health won’t be compromised on a flight. New-look seats and fresh cabins could be ...

  Read More »
• 8 September

  Ryanair eyes euro bond in test of virus impact

  Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc is readying its first euro-bond sale since 2017, testing investor appetite for high-grade airline debt amid coronavirus travel upheavals. Europe’s biggest discount carrier will speak to investors on Monday about a potential five-year bond of at least 500 million euros ($592 million), according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named ...

  Read More »
• 8 September

  Kay Jewelers owner shares climb

  Bloomberg Signet Jewelers Ltd, the owner of jewellery chains Jared and Kay, gave another sign the US jewellery industry is past the worst of it, with preliminary comparable sales turning positive in August following a challenging start to the summer. Shares rose. After reporting a 31.3% decline in same-store sales in the second quarter ended on August 1, the company ...

  Read More »
• 8 September

  China, India trade charges of violating border firearm curbs

  

  Bloomberg India and China accused each other of firing warning shots in the air along their disputed Himalayan border for the first time in more than four decades in a new sign of friction days after top officials on both sides agreed to defuse tensions. Indian troops “illegally crossed the Line of Actual Control on the southern bank of Pangong ...

  Read More »