August, 2019

• 24 August

  Oil short-sellers are making a wrong-way bet

  Bloomberg It’s getting tougher to bet on oil in the age of Trump trade tweets and Chinese retaliation, with hedge funds getting it wrong for a seventh time in nine weeks. This time around, short-sellers made their biggest retreat in a year in week ended August 20, slashing by 25% their wagers that West Texas Intermediate crude would decline, data ...

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• 24 August

  Nigeria court orders to renew Shell oil lease

  Bloomberg A Nigerian high court ordered the government to renew Shell Petroleum Development Co.’s operating license for the Oil Mineral Lease 11 field, which was withdrawn earlier this year, Lagos-based Punch newspaper reported. The Federal High Court in Abuja, ordered the license be renewed for maximum 20 years, and not 30 years the oil major was seeking, the newspaper reported. ...

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• 24 August

  North Korea launches more missiles in latest provocation

  

  Bloomberg North Korea launched more missiles on Saturday, the latest in the most prolific series of tests since US President Donald Trump took office. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said two ballistic missiles were launched from south Hamgyong, travelling about 380 kilometres and reaching a maximum altitude of 97 kilometres. They landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, Japan’s Coast Guard said ...

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• 24 August

  Washington sanctions on Venezuela undercut talks, says Maduro ally

  

  Bloomberg US sanctions against Venezuela are making successful talks with the opposition impossible, said a key ally of President Nicolas Maduro, demanding that President Donald Trump immediately act to drop them. “The stone in the way of any negotiation is sanctions,” Tarek William Saab, Venezuela’s public prosecutor, said in a rare interview at the Public Prosecutor headquarters office in downtown ...

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• 24 August

  Tunisia arrests media mogul, presidential candidate

  Bloomberg A Tunisian media mogul who’s running for the presidency in next month’s elections was detained, after authorities ordered his arrest for alleged tax evasion and money laundering. Nabil Karoui, the owner of Nessma TV, was stopped by security services while traveling outside the capital and is currently in prison in Tunis, the nterior Ministry said in a statement. The ...

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• 24 August

  HK’s Lam meets ex-officials, pleads for end to deadlock

  

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s beleaguered Chief Executive Carrie Lam called on protesters to break the deadlock gripping the city, after she held a meeting with former officials and other prominent people to find a way out of the impasse. About 30 people were invited to the gathering at Government House on Saturday, including ex-transport chief Anthony Cheung and Cardinal John Tong, ...

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• 24 August

  Italian laundry list grows amid political crisis

  

  Bloomberg Italy’s next government — whoever winds up leading it — will have a lengthy list of problems needing immediate attention. Thorny issues include getting a budget that complies with European Union deficit rules through parliament by the end of December, finding a solution to the environmental pollution charges threatening thousands of jobs at Europe’s largest steel plant and working ...

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• 24 August

  Scaramucci: Working to remove ex-boss Trump

  Bloomberg Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has set up a political action committee in a bid to prevent Donald Trump’s re-election, saying in a Financial Times editorial that he broke with the US president to “save the liberal world order.” Scaramucci expressed regret over his past support of Trump, explaining a reversal of his position earlier this year ...

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• 24 August

  India aims to woo foreign funds, revive growth from 5-year low

  

  Bloomberg India rolled back an additional levy on foreign funds and announced a raft of measures to boost economic growth from a five-year low. The enhanced surcharge on long and short-term capital gains has been withdrawn, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in New Delhi. She also announced an immediate infusion of 700 billion rupees ($9.8 billion) set aside in the ...

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• 24 August

  Taiwan factories reap rewards of ‘trade war’

  

  Bloomberg Taiwan registered stronger industrial production than even the most bullish economist’s forecast as companies benefited from increased US orders and burgeoning demand for 5G smartphones. Factory output rose 3% in July, compared with estimates for a 0.6% contraction, according to data released by Taiwan’s economics ministry. The ministry said output represented a record high for the month of July. ...

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