February, 2019

• 4 February

  Tesla’s shrinking growth machine

  

  The biggest thing underpinning Tesla Inc.’s valuation is the promise of growth. And the biggest head-scratcher to emerge over the course of January concerns how that growth is being funded. Bonus: On an earnings call, the company managed to not so much bury the lead as entomb it. Almost two weeks after the electric-vehicle maker announced it was laying off ...

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• 4 February

  Wirecard has a $17.5bn question to answer

  

  Wirecard AG has strongly denied fraud allegations reported by the Financial Times last week. But that hasn’t stopped about $5.7 billion being wiped from the German fintech darling’s market value in a matter of days. Even if the allegations are as unfounded as the company says, there are valid questions about whether the payments processing specialist justifies its generous valuation. ...

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• 4 February

  Spare a thought for Fed’s Jerome Powell

  Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is an experienced central banker and won’t be surprised at the rough reception he’s been getting lately from analysts and commentators. This kind of treatment is traditional, almost mandatory, for a recently appointed Fed chief. Nonetheless, it shows he’ll have his work cut out in nudging the Fed towards the approach to monetary policy he ...

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• 4 February

  Why cutting interest rates won’t help China economy?

  

  The Chinese economy is sputtering, deflation looms and businesses are downbeat. Trade tensions with the US portend an even scarier growth outlook. The Federal Reserve, too, has given China more room to ease. So where are the outright rate cuts? Beijing has pulled out many other weapons from its vast arsenal. Most recently it introduced a new tool that extends ...

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• 4 February

  Exxon speaks up as Chevron catches up

  

  Exxon Mobil Corp. wants you to know it is serious. On February 1, Darren Woods became the first CEO of the famously aloof oil major to grace an earnings call in 15 years. Fortunately for him, he had some decent results to talk about. After several quarters of decline, year over year, Exxon’s production finally ticked up in the last ...

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• 4 February

  Angel investors must be spared India’s tax hell

  

  About three years ago, Anup Kuruvilla left his corporate banking job in Hong Kong to return to Bangalore and assemble a group of wealthy individuals willing to place small, early-stage bets on fledgling founders. 1Crowd, the platform Kuruvilla and his partners helped set up, has 500 investors. Members co-invest with 1Crowd Fund, sharing the risks in mentoring young ventures: Some ...

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• 4 February

  NordLB gets $4 billion state rescue as Cerberus loses out

  

  Bloomberg Germany’s NordLB will be bailed out by public-sector savings banks and the state of Lower Saxony at a cost of as much as 3.7 billion euros ($4.2 billion), thwarting a bid by Cerberus Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners for a stake in the struggling lender. The restructuring package, which Lower Saxony Premier Stephan Weil called “the best of all ...

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• 4 February

  2020 might not be a year to think about recession: JPMorgan

  

  Bloomberg The Federal Reserve’s change in tone may mean investors should reconsider the timing of the investment cycle, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. That means investors shouldn’t be driven by fears of recession for now, JP Morgan analysts said. The Fed signalled last week that it’s done raising rates for at least a little while, and that it’ll be ...

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• 4 February

  Danske staff told not to fear bonus cuts amid Estonian scandal

  

  Bloomberg Danske Bank A/S may be facing billions of dollars in fines for its Estonian laundering scandal, but its employees don’t need to worry about having their bonuses cut. Jesper Nielsen, who’s been running the bank on an interim basis since Thomas Borgen was relieved of his duties as chief executive in October, says there might be some bonus adjustments ...

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• 4 February

  No rush to reverse last year’s rate hikes, says Philippine central banker

  

  Bloomberg Philippine central bank Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said a quick reversal of last year’s monetary tightening — either through a reduction in the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves or a cut in key interest rates — would be “bad economic or monetary policy.” While inflation in the last two months of 2018 cooled from a ...

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