July, 2019

• 22 July

  India’s top court puts Essar sale to Arcelor on hold

  

  Bloomberg India’s top court temporarily put ArcelorMittal’s $6.1 billion purchase of Essar Steel India Ltd on hold, after the mill’s lenders sought to annul a lower court ruling that split sale proceeds proportionately among all creditors. The Supreme Court on Monday admitted financial lenders’ appeal against a bankruptcy court ruling that put secured creditors like banks at par with operational ...

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• 22 July

  India faces ‘silent fiscal crisis’ on tax gap, says PM Modi’s adviser

  

  Bloomberg India is facing a silent fiscal crisis owing to a shortfall in tax revenues, and the government’s budget suggests it may have grossly underestimated the problem. That’s the assessment of Rathin Roy, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, who said the budget presented this month won’t help fully reverse the problem in the current financial year ...

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• 22 July

  Volvo Cars recalls 507,000 vehicles amid fire risk probe

  Bloomberg Swedish auto-maker Volvo Cars is recalling 507,000 vehicles worldwide because of a faulty engine component that, in extreme cases, could result in a fire. The company, which is owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co, said its own “investigations have identified that in very rare cases the plastic engine intake manifold may melt and deform.” “In the very ...

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• 22 July

  Korean boycott of Japanese products may spread further as trade tension escalates

  

  Bloomberg Public backlash in South Korea against Japanese products has dented some sales of tour packages, and analysts say the boycott could spread to luxury cars and retailers as a trade spat between the two countries shows no sign of abating. While Fast Retailing Co doesn’t have a large exposure to Korea through its Uniqlo stores, the clothing chain may ...

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• 22 July

  President Elizabeth Warren would be great for banks

  

  Surprisingly for someone who made her name in part by criticising the practices of Wall Street, Senator Elizabeth Warren is slowly winning the respect of the industry. Tech billionaire Peter Thiel fears a Warren administration, and it would most likely take on certain players in finance – private equity and hedge funds, CEOs, and the very wealthiest Americans. She announced ...

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• 22 July

  India’s unicorns are more like workhorses

  

  China has birthed some pretty impressive billion-dollar startups. Bytedance Inc.’s TikTok is so hip it makes Snap Inc. look like it’s for your parents. Sensetime Group Ltd. and Beijing Megvii Co. are masters of creepily powerful AI used in facial recognition and surveillance. Even in boring old hardware, Bitmain Technologies Ltd. has a niche in bitcoin; SZ DJI Technology Co. ...

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• 22 July

  The stock market is not necessarily the economy

  It may be a cliche, but it’s true that the stock market isn’t the economy. Values fluctuate based on a seemingly infinite number of variables, from the real (earnings) to the intangible (sentiment). So even though US equities are near all-time highs, that isn’t necessarily a sign that all is well with corporate America. One sign that executives may not ...

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• 22 July

  Trump health plan win is loss for everyone else

  President Donald Trump’s efforts to rein in prescription drug prices aren’t going very well. His attempts to erode the Affordable Care Act are going just fine. A federal judge upheld an administration rule that expands the availability of short-term health-insurance plans that don’t have to abide by Obamacare regulations.The ruling is excellent news for companies that sell those plans; they’ll ...

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• 22 July

  America cannot shake the Baumol cost disease

  

  A disturbing graph is making the rounds. Labelled the “chart of the century” by some commentators, it shows the changes in prices for various goods and services in the US since 1997. Although food, clothing, cars and electronics have all become cheaper, health care, child care and education have soared in price relative to workers’ wages. Why is this happening? ...

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• 22 July

  Honeywell earnings do little to alleviate industrial unease

  

  Even investor darling Honeywell International Inc. isn’t immune to the slowdown taking place in manufacturing. The maker of jet engines and air-conditioner controls reported second-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, but sales in the period were weaker than expected, both including and excluding the impact of M&A and currency swings. The 5 percent organic revenue growth Honeywell notched in the ...

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