January, 2020

• 14 January

  Huawei helps China overtake Germany in getting US patents

  Bloomberg Huawei Technologies Co broke into the top 10 recipients of US patents last year, according to an analysis of filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office, the latest sign that Chinese companies are aggressive in pursuing the US lead in global technology. The telecom company’s 2,418 patents, along with 2,177 new patents issued to display-screen maker BOE Technology ...

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• 14 January

  The deregulation battle

  

  The fate of government regulation — or deregulation — hangs in the balance. President Trump and his allies have vowed to dismantle much of the government’s regulatory superstructure, arguing that the costs are burdening US business and slowing economic growth. Not so, respond Trump’s critics. They argue that he’s jettisoning crucial environmental and consumer safeguards, with the savings channelled into ...

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• 14 January

  Ryanair boss may get his $110m bonus

  

  When shareholders narrowly voted to approve a possible 99 million euros ($110 million) bonus for Ryanair Holdings Plc boss Michael O’Leary in September, it seemed unlikely they’d actually have to pay him the money. The terms of the reward plan require O’Leary to get the stock price back above 21 euros, and at the time of the annual meeting it ...

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• 14 January

  Facebook’s deepfake ban doesn’t go far enough

  Facebook says that it is banning “deepfakes,” those high-tech doctored videos and audios that are essentially indistinguishable from the real thing. That’s excellent news — an important step in the right direction. But the company didn’t go quite far enough, and important questions remain. Policing deepfakes isn’t simple. As Facebook pointed out in its announcement this week, media can be ...

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• 14 January

  China opens up to oil majors at wrong time

  Broad new horizons in key markets are opening for the world’s energy companies. Don’t expect to see a land rush any time soon. China will allow all large domestic and foreign companies to apply for oil and gas exploration licenses that were previously only open to state-owned enterprises, the country’s resources ministry said at a briefing. In India, regulators will ...

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• 14 January

  Why India must end Yes Bank’s theatre of absurd

  

  Before it results in a tragedy for all of India’s banking, regulators need to step in and end the farce called Yes Bank Ltd. The latest shenanigans make it very clear that the authorities need to stop being spectators — and act. The original cast has vanished. The co-founder who drove the country’s fifth largest private-sector bank into a ditch ...

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• 14 January

  Aston Martin is a binge too far for China’s Geely

  

  Timing is everything in investing, a refrain the ambitious Li Shufu might want to heed. The Geely Group has held preliminary talks about a possible investment in Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc, the high-end but encumbered British carmaker of James Bond fame. Billionaire Lawrence Stroll, owner of the Racing Point Formula One team, is also among the investors looking ...

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• 14 January

  What we don’t know about climate is killing us

  

  For more than 30 years, scientists have tried to inform governments and the public on the urgent threat of global warming, working hard — as scientific norms demand — to acknowledge honestly the limits to what they know. It hasn’t worked. As a recent report from the United Nations Environment Program shows, global carbon dioxide emissions have gone up, not ...

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• 14 January

  US futures, Europe stocks edge down; bonds climb

  

  Bloomberg American equity-index futures edged lower along with European stocks as investors awaited the start of US earnings season and officials prepared to sign the China trade deal in Washington. The yuan held close to its strongest level since July. Contracts on Wall Street’s main equity benchmarks traded modestly down, after January14’s jump in technology shares sent the S&P 500 ...

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• 14 January

  Yen falls past 110 to 8-month low as US-China ties thaw

  

  Bloomberg The yen weakened past 110 per dollar for the first time in almost eight months as the imminent signing of a US-China trade deal sapped demand for haven assets. Japan’s currency fell as much as 0.2% to 110.21 as the Trump administration removed its designation of China as a currency manipulator before Wednesday’s planned signing of a phase-one agreement. ...

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