December, 2019

• 30 December

  Rare Chinese bureaucratic rejig reveals future leaders

  Bloomberg China’s sprawling bureaucracy is undergoing a regional reshuffle of a rare scale, with new appointments and job swaps offering hints of potential future leaders being groomed by Beijing. At least 32 new mayoral-level officials have been appointed since December 21, with 29 of them being relocated to a new province for the first time, according to data compiled by ...

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• 30 December

  Investors signal big-premium deals over after bad year for energy M&A

  

  Bloomberg After a fairly abysmal 2019 for US energy mergers and acquisitions, investors are signalling to oil executives and investment bankers that the days of big-premium deals are over. Some of the year’s most notable mergers, including Occidental Petroleum Corp’s blockbuster takeover of Anadarko Petroleum Corp, were met with investor criticism and the sustained selling of the acquirer’s stock. Shareholders ...

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• 30 December

  Rio Tinto all set to restart its mine in South Africa

  

  Bloomberg Rio Tinto Group is resuming operations at its South African mine that was shuttered earlier this month because of escalating violence in surrounding communities. The Richards Bay Minerals unit should be back at full operations in early January, leading to regular production in early 2020, Rio said in a statement on Monday. The decision was taken after discussions led ...

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• 30 December

  US urged to honour One-China policy amid trade deal talks

  

  Bloomberg A senior Chinese diplomat said China will honour its phase-one trade commitments, and suggested that the US live up to theirs on issues such as Taiwan. In an interview with Chinese state television CGTN on December 28 night, Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the US, also said talk of a new cold war was “very irresponsible.” The comments came ...

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• 30 December

  ‘Johnson won’t ‘die in a ditch’ over Brexit timeline’

  

  Bloomberg The UK is likely to drop its opposition to extending the Brexit transition period beyond 2020, European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said. In an interview with the Irish Times, Hogan said that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had previously pledged to “die in a ditch” rather than extend an earlier deadline of October 31 to exit the bloc — ...

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• 30 December

  Behavioural scientist, data analyst top jobs next year

  

  Bloomberg The next decade could see growing demand for behavioural scientists, data analysts, upcycled clothing designers and even digital detox consultants. Brexit, climate change, an economic slowdown and technology are among the factors that could have the greatest impact on jobs in the 2020s, according to the UK’s Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. It looked ...

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• 30 December

  Netflix’s rally underlines shift to streaming

  

  Bloomberg Over the past 10 years, Netflix Inc has led a revolution in the way the world consumes entertainment, and in doing so, it ruled over Wall Street. The shares have soared nearly 4,100% since the end of 2009, a gain that at one point made Netflix a larger company than Walt Disney Co by market value. No other S&P ...

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• 30 December

  Commodities clinch best year since 2016 as trade fears wane

  Bloomberg Commodities are set for the best annual performance since 2016, with crude to copper posting annual gains. The Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index has hit the highest since November 2018 as trade tensions ebb, a risk-on mood sweeps markets, and the dollar eases. The gauge is now up 11% in 2019. Commodities are benefiting from an end-of-year surge as the ...

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• 30 December

  Bitcoin creator says fortune may remain locked

  

  Bloomberg The man who claims he invented the world’s largest cryptocurrency and was ordered by a judge to surrender about $3 billion of his Bitcoin holdings said he may not be able to do so anytime soon. In a statement to Bloomberg News, Craig Wright said that he “cannot be certain that information will in fact arrive” to help identify ...

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• 30 December

  US futures drift as dollar drops with Treasuries, euro climbs

  

  Bloomberg US equity futures drifted and stocks mostly slipped in Europe and Asia on the penultimate day of a blockbuster year for markets. The dollar weakened, and Treasuries extended their declines. Contracts on three main US stock indexes were steady, signalling the gauges may open near their record highs in the countdown to the New Year’s Day holiday on Wednesday. ...

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