October, 2019

• 15 October

  UK carmakers hit by $628mn ‘Brexit preparation’ call for deal

  

  Bloomberg UK carmakers, already reeling from more than 500 million pounds ($628 million) in costs to prepare for Brexit, made an eleventh-hour call on the government to strike a deal with the European Union to safeguard the future of the industry. Crashing out of the EU would threaten jobs and the sector’s long-term survival, the Society for Motor Manufacturers and ...

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• 15 October

  Harley halts output of electric model pivotal to revival bid

  

  Bloomberg Harley-Davidson Inc has halted production of LiveWire, the debut electric bike it’s counting on to attract new riders. The motorcycle maker recently discovered an issue during final quality checks, according to an emailed statement that doesn’t provide details. Harley said it stopped production and deliveries as it conducts additional testing and analysis. Chief Executive Officer Matt Levatich, who’s presided ...

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• 15 October

  German investor sentiment weak amid trade war

  

  Bloomberg Investor confidence in Germany’s economic outlook remained weak in the latest sign of concern that the nation has slipped into a recession amid trade tensions. ZEW’s index of expectations for the next six months declined to minus 22.8, compared with minus 22.5 last month. Measures of current conditions in Germany and of expectations for the euro zone both worsened. ...

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• 15 October

  WeWork backs out of Seattle tower deal

  Bloomberg WeWork has backed out of an ambitious project to outfit a 36-story tower in Seattle with co-working space and its co-living offshoot, as the company looks to shore up its finances. WeWork won’t lease the building at 3rd Ave and Lenora St from Martin Selig Real Estate, according to a joint statement from the companies. The decision leaves one ...

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• 15 October

  Apple’s 5G iPhone delay stings as next-gen devices hit shelves

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc is planning to bring 5G to the iPhone next fall, more than a year behind some rivals. The company can ill afford to let the timing slip. Apple’s most recent iPhone launch focussed on camera improvements, and there was no mention of 5G, the latest, fastest wireless standard. Meanwhile, at least 20 5G smartphones are being rolled ...

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• 15 October

  What’s on the table in those Brexit talks

  

  No news can be good news sometimes. The logic of past Brexit negotiations suggests that the less we hear about what’s happening in intensive Brussels talks, the greater the chance that those talks are getting somewhere. Once the details start to leak and the anonymous briefings start, what’s left tends to be dead on arrival. Yet even with scant details ...

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• 15 October

  US shale oil boom is nearly over

  

  America’s second shale boom is running out of steam. But don’t panic just yet, a third one may be coming over the horizon. The US Energy Information Administration published its latest short-term energy outlook last week and has cut its forecast of oil production by the end of 2020 for the fourth straight month. It now expects American output to ...

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• 15 October

  Renault’s boardroom coups

  

  During the past 12 months Renault SA has looked more like a soap opera than a carmaker. The French company served up an ill-tempered denouement when it sacked Chief Executive Officer Thierry Bollore, who said he was the victim of a “coup.” Bollore only took the job in January after his predecessor Carlos Ghosn was arrested for alleged impropriety around ...

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• 15 October

  Xi upstages Trump with a Chinese welcome mat

  Donald Trump isn’t the only leader with a sense of drama. The timing of China’s announcement that it will remove foreign ownership caps on financial services firms next year is no accident. It arrives as the climactic day of trade talks is about to get under way in Washington, and presents a challenge to the US president’s efforts to limit ...

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• 15 October

  Three nations that prospered in 2010s are really in trouble

  

  Most developed countries grow at about the same rate, thanks to the broad march of technological progress and globalisation. But in each decade, there are a few stars that outperform the rest. Typically, other rich nations look to these winners for clues about how to raise their own growth rates. In the decade since the financial crisis, Germany, Singapore and ...

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