April, 2020

• 26 April

  UK’s democracy in the age of coronavirus crisis

  

  The UK’s House of Commons, often called the “mother of parliaments” (although that’s not the original meaning of the term), took a flying leap into the Zoom era this week with its first virtual Prime Minister’s Questions meeting. It was a different look from the usually raucous, crowded chamber of standing speeches, jeers, interruptions, eye-rolls and the suspense-filled votes that ...

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• 26 April

  Mass antibody virus tests have its limits

  

  As governments in Europe and elsewhere start to look at reopening their economies after the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, mass antibody testing has come to the fore as a potential way of making sure the outbreak doesn’t surge again. These serological tests — which are being rolled out in Italy, Germany and the UK, as well as New ...

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• 26 April

  Coronavirus exposes EU’s creeping irrelevance

  

  Covid-19 was only just arriving from Asia when the European Commission, with the technocratic equivalent of fanfare, announced a “Conference on the Future of Europe,” to be kicked off in May. Now, of course, the various seminars, committees and working groups are in lockdown limbo. And the conference title suddenly seems exceptionally ill-chosen. For it raises the question: Does the ...

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• 26 April

  Stocks are overvalued, virus may cause ‘downdrafts’: Icahn

  

  Bloomberg Carl Icahn isn’t buying stocks right now. He’s hoarding cash, shorting commercial real estate and preparing for the coronavirus to wreak more havoc. This is a time to be “extremely careful,” Icahn said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. From his home on Miami’s Biscayne Bay, the billionaire investor has surveyed the damage to stock prices — and to ...

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• 26 April

  E-commerce stocks soar with pandemic gains seen as long-lasting

  

  Bloomberg E-commerce companies have emerged as a favourite play on Wall Street during the coronavirus pandemic, amid a growing consensus that upcoming results will reveal a potentially permanent shift in consumer behaviour towards online shopping. While online sales have long been growing their market share as a percentage of overall retail spending, the trend has been accelerated as shutdowns force ...

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• 26 April

  Canadian stocks climb for fifth consecutive week

  

  Bloomberg Canadian stocks rose in Toronto, capping a fifth straight week of gains, the longest stretch in over a year. The S&P/TSX Composite index added 1.2%, with the health-care and technology sectors posting the biggest increases. Tech stocks have gained 25% this year, led by e-commerce company Shopify Inc.’s more than 75% surge. The e-commerce sector has been a favourite ...

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• 26 April

  Russia signals big rate cuts after easing to six-year low

  

  Bloomberg Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said another percentage point of interest rate cuts is possible as the economy heads into its worst economic slump in more than a decade. “Given the extraordinary development of events, adjusting monetary policy in small steps as we are used to may not be enough,” Nabiullina said after the central bank cut by ...

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• 26 April

  UBS appeal in $4.9bn French tax case delayed

  

  Bloomberg UBS Group AG appeal of a record 4.5 billion-euro ($4.9 billion) French fine for helping clients stash undeclared funds in offshore accounts was postponed over concerns related to coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the case. Judges at the Paris Court of Appeals postponed the case, originally scheduled for June, due to the lockdown caused by the coronavirus, ...

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• 26 April

  HSBC could revisit strategy in face of coronavirus crisis

  

  Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc may need to revise its restructuring plans after the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic settles. Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn told investors that HSBC faced a “very different” context compared to February, when he announced a plan to cut about 30,000 jobs over the next three years. “We will need to consider what additional actions we ...

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• 26 April

  AmEx promises $3bn in cost cuts amid virus

  

  Bloomberg American Express Co. (AmEx) said it’s seeking to cut $3 billion in costs after the coronavirus pandemic caused a plunge in spending on the firm’s cards. The slowdown the credit-card issuer began to see in March as a result of nationwide shelter-in-place orders has “dramatically” impacted spending on its cards in April as well, American Express warned. Provisions for ...

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