February, 2020

• 29 February

  China builds power line for Hubei

  

  Bloomberg State Grid Corp of China started construction of a $2.6 billion ultra-high voltage project that will deliver electricity to the virus-hit province of Hubei. The move by the country’s biggest power distributor is in response to the government’s call to accelerate construction of major energy projects as Chinese leader Xi Jinping seeks to stabilize economic growth, State Grid said ...

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• 29 February

  Virus overshadows Johnson’s post-vote UK economy bounce

  

  Bloomberg The economic bounce from Boris Johnson’s Brexit breakthrough could be cut short as the coronavirus casts a pall on the nascent recovery. While there have been signs of a rebound in investment, retail sales and even house prices, Britain is an open economy that’s particularly susceptible to global events. The virus is already having an impact on the UK, ...

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• 29 February

  France mocks UK threats on trade talks as ‘for birds’

  

  Bloomberg French Europe Minister Amelie de Montchalin fired a series of warnings at Boris Johnson over the next stage of Brexit talks, saying the UK’s threat to leave the European Union without a trade deal was “for the birds.” Speaking in London a day after Johnson published his proposals for a free trade deal with the EU, de Montchalin rejected ...

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• 29 February

  Apple’s Cook sees supply chain changes

  Bloomberg Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook suggested the iPhone maker wouldn’t make any quick moves out of China in light of interruptions due to the coronavirus and called the situation a “temporary condition.” “We’re talking about adjusting some knobs, not some sort of wholesale, fundamental change,” he said in an interview aired on Fox Business. Apple’s China-focused supply ...

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• 29 February

  Brazil may cut GDP forecast amid coronavirus weakness

  

  Bloomberg Brazil’s government is likely to cut its 2.4% growth forecast for the economy in 2020 to take into account the impact of the coronavirus in slowing global activity, a person familiar with the matter said. A lower-than-expected gross domestic product expansion would lead to reduced inflationary pressure, which may open some space for the central bank to cut the ...

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• 29 February

  Uber drivers, pizza delivery workers get lift from Vestager

  

  Bloomberg Uber Technologies Inc drivers and takeout delivery workers have a new champion in European Union’s (EU) antitrust chief, who wants to help them fight for better pay and conditions. In an interview with Bloomberg, Margrethe Vestager says she’s looking at ways to help “people who work in a weak negotiating position” amid concerns about the plight of workers in ...

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• 29 February

  Google calls off Las Vegas gathering amid outbreak

  

  Bloomberg Google cancelled a major internal gathering over concerns about the spread of coronavirus, the latest in a wave of events and conferences being called off around the world. The internet giant’s sales and marketing event was set to take place in Las Vegas in March, a Google spokesman said. “In light of the evolving coronavirus situation we made the ...

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• 29 February

  Trump and Modi bromance won’t do much for democracy

  

  For decades, the relationship between the world’s two largest democracies, the United States and India, has been held together by two things: hope, and shared values. Hope that India’s rise will not be too long delayed, and that the US will welcome it as an exemplary, responsible great power that helps maintain the global liberal order — because of the ...

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• 29 February

  Rejiggering won’t solve Boeing’s woes

  

  When Boeing Co. CEO David Calhoun was asked last month how he would fix the 737 Max crisis as a long-time insider, he bristled at the label, telling reporters, “I watched the same movie you did.” Calhoun, of course, was hardly just an observer, or shouldn’t have been: He has been a director at the company since 2009. A pair ...

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• 29 February

  Home Depot delivers but can’t get comfortable

  Who would have thought power tools and patio sets would be big holiday-season winners? After big-box retailers such as Walmart Inc. and even superstar Target Corp. came up short during the 2019 holiday shopping sprint, Home Depot Inc. rebounded with a better-than-expected fourth quarter. Same-store sales rose 5.2%, ahead of consensus expectations of a 4.7% gain. The gains indicate the ...

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