March, 2019

• 2 March

  Can Patrick Shanahan transform the Pentagon!

  

  In the days after he resigned as secretary of defense in December, Jim Mattis told people he hoped to be succeeded by Patrick Shanahan, his deputy. Shanahan has remained in limbo since then as acting secretary, perhaps trying to convince President Trump’s critics that he will be independent, the way Mattis was, while simultaneously reassuring the White House that he ...

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• 2 March

  Draghi has a vision for Europe

  

  Mario Draghi is rarely afraid to adopt difficult positions on the subject of Europe’s future. The president of the European Central Bank (ECB) has advocated that the euro zone should build a capital market union, complete the banking union and move towards a centralised budget – even though political leaders are reluctant to take those steps. Last week, Draghi took ...

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• 2 March

  If JPMorgan is hurting, what hope for Europe?

  It’s shaping up to be another tough quarter for securities firms, the world’s biggest trading house has warned. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s grim assessment of market conditions this year is more than a stark reminder that the wallet keeps shrinking. The US firm warned this week that it expects trading revenue to shrink by a low-teens percentage in the first ...

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• 2 March

  Avoiding a catastrophic conflict in South Asia

  The alarming new standoff between India and Pakistan could end in any number of ways, from talks and a quick truce, to a series of military escalations that risk ending in a nuclear exchange. At such a perilous moment, the need for calm and dialogue is plain – but more than this is required. The longtime South Asian rivals need ...

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• 2 March

  US should grab the talent China is driving away

  

  From the 1990s through the early 2010s, it looked as if China could do no wrong. Its economy grew at a breakneck pace as its companies hungrily gobbled up market share in a wide array of manufacturing industries. Its political system, although authoritarian, seemed increasingly stable, as power passed from Deng Xiaoping to Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao to Xi ...

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• 2 March

  Hyundai plan lacks that new car smell

  

  Hyundai Mobis Co.’s latest plan brings to mind one image: a damp squib. Again. The South Korean chaebol’s auto-parts unit released an outline to “maximize” shareholder value. It’ll do anything but that. The company also formally proposed family heir Euisun Chung as CEO of the unit, which has been under fire by Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. So Chung had ...

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• 2 March

  Central banks signal that it’s time to be selective

  

  In his testimony to Congress, Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed that the Federal Reserve has undertaken a dramatic policy pivot, opening the door even wider for other central banks to also adopt more dovish stances. The shift increases the risk that many on Wall Street could slip back into the comforting belief that renewed central bank support is sufficient to ensure ...

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• 2 March

  Bilibili billionaire!

  

  Bloomberg It’s hard to blame China’s biggest tech companies for being just a little envious of Bilibili Inc. The purveyor of animated videos, comics and mobile games like Sony Corp.’s Fate/Grand Order has an eye-watering 93 million monthly active users whose average age is 21. Bililbili’s American depositary receipts have surged 73 percent since its initial public offering in March ...

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• 2 March

  This Nokia phone has five cameras, but doesn’t bend

  

  Bloomberg Technology companies like Huawei Technologies Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. think the way to take on a stagnating smartphone market is to build devices that fold in half. Nokia has a different idea — make a phone with five cameras on the back. HMD Global Oy, which produces consumer products under the Nokia name, showed off the Nokia 9 ...

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• 2 March

  Scientists grow super crops that thrive in salty deserts

  

  Bloomberg Scientists in Dubai are developing crops like quinoa that can thrive in the salty soils intruding into the world’s croplands. Winning over enough people to eat them is proving a greater challenge. At an experimental farm within sight of the world’s tallest skyscraper, researchers at the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) are trying to help farmers in the ...

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