January, 2020

• 13 January

  AstraZeneca drops fish oil pill for bad cholesterol

  

  Bloomberg AstraZeneca Plc will stop testing a fish-oil pill for one form of cholesterol in the most advanced and expensive stage of clinical tests. The medicine, called Epanova, didn’t stand a very high likelihood of showing a benefit when combined with a statin for patients at risk of heart disease due to high levels of LDL (or bad) cholesterol, Astra ...

  Read More »
• 13 January

  Zurich Insurance sees best chance to increase prices

  

  Bloomberg Zurich Insurance Group AG expects to have more power to increase commercial insurance rates than it has seen in almost two decades as a shortage of supply and high natural catastrophe payouts help reverse declining premiums. “The last time this kind of market really existed was in 2002,” James Shea, the company’s head of commercial insurance, said in an ...

  Read More »
• 13 January

  EU may ban plastic packaging

  Bloomberg The EU Commission is evaluating a ban on plastic packaging and setting new requirements for manufacturers, EU Commissioner-designate for environment and the oceans Virginijus Sinkevicius said in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt. “We definitely want to expand the rules for single-use plastics and are currently investigating in which direction it would be possible,” he was quoted as ...

  Read More »
• 13 January

  Aston Martin in last-ditch funding talks with Stroll, Geely

  

  Bloomberg Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc is making a last-ditch effort to bring in fresh funding, with billionaire Lawrence Stroll closest to committing to buying a stake in the struggling UK luxury-car maker, according to people familiar with the matter. The Canadian investor and owner of the Racing Point Formula One team is in advanced discussions to inject about ...

  Read More »
• 13 January

  There’s an Iran strategy in here somewhere

  

  President Ronald Reagan liked to tell a joke about a hopeful little boy pawing through a big pile of horse dung under his Christmas tree, saying cheerily: “With all this manure, there must be a pony in here somewhere.” Observers have a similar problem with President Trump’s Iran strategy. They keep looking for something solid, as Trump lurches back and ...

  Read More »
• 13 January

  There’s a $40b reason to avoid Italy

  

  It has been a cold, hard winter for Italian government debt. The country has been the euro zone’s worst performer; for the first time its bonds are yielding more than their Greek equivalents with maturities longer than three years. Italy’s is the only European bond market whose yield spread has widened compared to the struggling German benchmark over the past ...

  Read More »
• 13 January

  Not even Amazon or Olsen twins can save Kohl’s

  Kohl’s Corp.’s holiday season sales miss suggests even the most promising turnaround strategies won’t be enough to save department stores. Shares of Kohl’s fell as much as 9.4% in early trading last week after the company said same-store sales in the all-important November and December period declined. Kohl’s blamed the 0.2% sales drop on softness in women’s apparel, which CEO ...

  Read More »
• 13 January

  Don’t let Australia’s crisis go to waste

  Australia’s bushfires have given officials plenty of cover to do what they should be doing anyway: ramp up fiscal spending. A lot hinges on whether they can get comfortable with the idea. An area larger than Ireland has been destroyed, at least 25 people are dead, 2,000 homes have been razed, and 25 million acres of forest and bush have ...

  Read More »
• 13 January

  Economists have no idea what replaces free trade

  

  One of the most interesting sessions I attended at last week’s American Economic Association meeting was a panel titled “Making global markets work for American workers.” The discussion, featuring economists Dani Rodrik, Kimberly Clausing and Josh Bivens, laid out the problems with free trade, the shortcomings of US trade policy during the past few decades and some suggestions for improvement. ...

  Read More »
• 13 January

  Bond traders learn Taco Bell isn’t a bellwether

  

  Every once in a while, a single anecdotal data point captures the hearts and minds of bond traders. Often, it confirms their beliefs about the direction of the economy. It seems one such data point was a report this week that Taco Bell, the fast-food chain that sells double-stacked tacos for $1, would soon be offering a $100,000 salary for ...

  Read More »