October, 2019

• 16 October

  A test of Walmart’s momentum

  

  And now for a major test of the well-oiled retailing machine that is Walmart Inc. The big-box giant announced that Greg Foran, the CEO of its US division — which makes up the bulk of its sales and operating income — is leaving to become CEO at Air New Zealand Ltd. He will be replaced by John Furner, who has ...

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• 16 October

  UK’s Libor refuses to die

  The finance community in the UK has a conflicted relationship with Libor, the reference interest rates for everything from mortgages to car loans to corporate debt. This makes it likely that the benchmarks will survive beyond their planned termination date. The current plan is for Libor to wink out of existence by the end of 2021. Changes in the wholesale ...

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• 16 October

  Deutsche Bank is only part of Germany’s misery

  Attempts to accelerate the shakeup of German banking haven’t had much success in the past year. First, talks to combine two state-owned regional lenders fell apart; then Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG tried but (for good reason) were unable to find a way to make a merger work. Now a third combination is on the table. This time too, ...

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• 16 October

  Greece and Italy join party with successful bond sales

  

  If you want a snapshot of how far the euro zone has come, look no further than Greece and Italy. Until recently, the two Mediterranean countries have been considered the sick men of Europe, as investors demanded hefty premiums to hold their sovereign bonds. These extra charges were all the more striking given the steep fall in the yields of ...

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• 16 October

  Bed Bath & Beyond pinning its hopes to the magic of target

  

  Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.’s sales have withered in recent years for a variety of internal reasons, but it has also suffered because of punishing competition from Target Corp. Now the beleaguered home-goods chain will try to get some of that Target magic for itself. Bed Bath & Beyond announced its new CEO: Mark Tritton, chief merchandising officer at Target ...

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• 16 October

  Starbucks stores that only accept mobile orders

  

  How worried should we be about Starbucks’s recent announcement that it plans to begin testing a new type of store that only takes orders via mobile app — no cashiers? At first glance the image seems vaguely dystopian: person after person filing through, inevitably wearing AirPods, to pick up caffeine-and-sugar infusions they ordered by pressing a few buttons on their ...

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• 16 October

  Stocks drop amid Hong Kong unrest, Treasuries advance

  

  Bloomberg American equity-index futures slipped on Wednesday while European shares struggled for traction as tensions over Hong Kong mounted and earnings season rolled on. Treasuries gained and the dollar was steady. Contracts on all three major US gauges stayed lower even after Bank of America reported upbeat earnings. The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed after paring a decline as ...

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• 16 October

  India Sensex posts best run in 3 months

  

  Bloomberg India’s benchmark stock index posted its longest winning streak in more than three months after Wipro Ltd boosted investor optimism with earnings that beat all estimates. In a volatile trading session that saw it pare gains multiple times, the S&P BSE Sensex Index rose 0.2% to 38,598.99 in Mumbai. That marked a fourth day of gains and its longest ...

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• 16 October

  Bank of Korea warns of weaker growth after cutting rates again

  

  Bloomberg South Korea’s central bank warned that economic growth would be weaker than forecast after cutting its policy rate for the second time this year as a global downturn pummels exports and weighs on prices. The move comes amid a wave of rate cutting by central banks around the world to shore up growth and highlights the sense of urgency ...

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• 16 October

  BofA deal fees surge in sign of investment banking turnaround

  

  Bloomberg Bank of America (BofA) Corp posted the biggest jump in investment-banking fees on Wall Street, helping profit overcome headwinds from lower interest rates. Third-quarter debt underwriting fees unexpectedly surged 19% and the firm’s fixed-income traders eked out a slight increase, pushing profit above analysts’ estimates. Its gains in advisory fees also surpassed rivals in the best quarter for the ...

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