October, 2019

• 6 October

  Austria’s elections show future of Germany

  

  Austria just held an election that indicates a new direction for European politics: Increasingly, the center right might find itself working with the Greens. The 33-year-old Sebastian Kurz, the winner of last week’s election, is more than a successful small-country politician. He’s a weathervane for all of Europe. Two years ago, he scored a difficult victory for his Austrian People’s ...

  Read More »
• 6 October

  Macron wants to scan your face

  

  It’s an interesting twist of fate that the European governments whose job it is to enforce sweeping new data-protection laws, rolled out to curb intrusive tech firms like Facebook Inc. and Google Inc., are increasingly finding their own digital ambitions tripped up by them. Earlier this year, Ireland’s plan for a national “public services card” was deemed illegal by its ...

  Read More »
• 6 October

  Tesla breaks record, but did it break even?

  Tesla Inc.’s quarterly deliveries announcements are not what they were, mainly because they’re so brief these days. Wednesday evening’s still managed to spark a 4% sell-off in immediate after-hours trading. On one level, that barely counts given this stock’s volatility. On the other, there were a couple of nuggets in the release that warrant watching. Most obviously, Tesla didn’t quite ...

  Read More »
• 6 October

  How hedge funds are really playing Brexit

  Philip Hammond is officially “outside the tent,” to use Lyndon Johnson’s phrase. After losing his job as UK Chancellor of the Exchequer and then his badge as a Conservative MP by rebelling against Boris Johnson’s hardball Brexit strategy, Hammond has kicked up an almighty stink by accusing Johnson of being in thrall to wealthy financial “speculators” who would actively profit ...

  Read More »
• 6 October

  How to put India’s shadow banks on firmer ground

  

  When a well-capitalized shadow bank’s credit rating goes from A+ to D in 10 days, it shows how fragile lending to India’s builders has become. It also highlights the policy error of not addressing the root of the problem: land. In June, three months before the unexpected default by Altico Capital India Ltd., I proposed a land bank that would ...

  Read More »
• 6 October

  Boeing’s safety revamp is overdue but welcome

  

  Boeing Co. has a long way to go to rebuild its tarnished reputation on safety, but it’s moving in the right direction. The planemaker named Beth Pasztor — a 34-year Boeing veteran with a background in engineering and compliance — as the head of a new organisation focused on the safety of its products and services. The appointment is in ...

  Read More »
• 6 October

  Losing Apple battle might help win tech tax war

  

  Apple Inc. is squaring up with tech’s European bete noire, MargretheVestager, over its historical tax arrangements in Ireland at a court hearing this week. If the iPhone maker wins, Vestager may be able to use the defeat to her benefit. Back in 2016, EU Competition Commissioner Vestager imposed a 13 billion-euro ($14.4 billion) bill on Apple for unpaid taxes in ...

  Read More »
• 6 October

  Stock havens cost more just when investors need them

  

  Bloomberg Some of the highest valuations in years can’t keep exchange-traded fund investors from hunkering down in the safest pockets of the US equity market. As the S&P 500 Index began October with its third week of losses, utilities ETFs took in $726 million, the most of any industry, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Investors had already piled into defensive ...

  Read More »
• 6 October

  Swiss franc weakness short-lived as haven allure may return

  

  Bloomberg The franc is trading near a two-week low versus the euro on Swiss data weakness, with both positioning and charts signaling more short-term pain. Yet, losses may be limited as the currency’s haven appeal should eventually prevail amid the deepening global economic gloom. The franc has pared its year-to-date advance to about 3% on expectations the Swiss National Bank ...

  Read More »
• 6 October

  India to allow FX-settled rupee derivatives trading

  Bloomberg India plans to allow foreign-exchange settled rupee derivatives trading in specially designated centers as it tries to deepen the local market. The non-deliverable forwards will be traded on the International Financial Services Centres, the Reserve Bank of India said. GIFT City in Indian state of Gujarat is currently the only operational venue. Trading in the onshore market has been ...

  Read More »