February, 2019

• 9 February

  India’s RBI is right to cut interest rates

  

  Call it beginner’s luck. India’s interest-rate cut, a surprise to most economists, was justified: Inflation is well below target and growth is slowing across all major economies. In that regard, the South Asian country is firmly in the mainstream. Where India isn’t in the mainstream is in the inability of a nominally pro-business government to hang on to a central ...

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• 9 February

  Brexit and heatwaves are hell for holidays

  Europe’s tour operators are on a holiday from hell. TUI AG, which until now has defied the downturn in the region’s travel market, cautioned on earnings. Then Thomas Cook Group Plc, which delivered a nasty profit warning in November, said it was “reviewing” its airline business. These two mainstays for Europe’s holidaymakers have been hit by a triple-whammy. First, last ...

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• 9 February

  Dispelling myths of China’s EV market

  China is ‘half of everything,’ such as aluminum, steel and copper consumption. For the electric vehicle (EV) sector, China is at least half of everything, if not far more, in three key areas: It represents 76 percent of all commissioned lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity; logged 60 percent of global EV sales in fourth-quarter 2018; and held 50 percent of global public ...

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• 9 February

  Even the right American is wrong for World Bank

  

  In many ways, David Malpass, whom US President Donald Trump nominated to head the World Bank, is an unsurprising choice. He’s a senior Treasury official overseeing international affairs. Plus, his background absolutely screams “Trump nominee”: He isn’t a woman (Indra Nooyi, formerly of PepsiCo Inc., was being considered). He is an outspoken critic of the institution he is now to ...

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• 9 February

  Amazon’s targets are now Google, Facebook

  

  When people think about Amazon disrupting the economy, they tend to focus on physical retail — all those disappearing bookstores — but the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report makes it clear that its focus is increasingly moving onto the turf of other tech companies. Amazon.com Inc.’s fastest growth is in ads and Amazon Web Services. Amazon’s “other” line of business, which ...

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• 9 February

  EU leaders are ready for hard Brexit. EU firms aren’t

  

  As Prime Minister Theresa May continues to bang her head against a hard Brussels wall, the probability that the UK will leave the European Union (EU) without an orderly separation agreement increases with every wasted day. The biggest loser if that happens would be the UK, but the EU countries also have a stake. They haven’t neglected preparations for a ...

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• 9 February

  The flops are piling up for video-game titans

  

  Bloomberg In recent years, the video-game industry looked like it had found the antidote to the boom-bust cycles that had long plagued the business. Publishers focused on a few well-known titles and extended their lives through in-game purchases, expansion packs and online tournaments. Electronic Arts Inc., one of the largest players, doubled its market value to almost $45 billion last ...

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• 9 February

  Waymo nearing robocar deal with Renault-Nissan alliance

  

  Bloomberg Waymo is in advanced talks to develop autonomous cars with Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that would join a leading self-driving force with the world’s largest automotive alliance. A deal between the three carmakers and Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving unit could include making driverless taxis, said ...

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• 9 February

  Facebook acquires visual shopping startup GrokStyle

  

  Bloomberg Facebook Inc. said it acquired visual shopping and artificial intelligence startup GrokStyle Inc. in a move to bolster the social-media company’s own AI work. GrokStyle’s technology, which was integrated into Ikea’s mobile app, was simple in practice. A user takes a picture of a piece of furniture and the technology would match it to similar products that could be ...

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• 9 February

  Mike Lynch-backed legal AI startup valued at $100 million

  

  Bloomberg Luminance Technologies Ltd., a UK company that sells artificial intelligence (AI) software that helps lawyers review documents and conduct due diligence, has been valued at $100 million in its latest funding round. The company said it got $10 million from existing investors, including venture capital firms Invoke Capital and Talis Capital, as well as the law firm Slaughter and ...

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