December, 2018

• 26 December

  Hong Kong’s real image problem

  

  The slow death of the conglomerate has been a theme in the developed world, exemplified this year by the decline of General Electric Co. to a shadow of its former self. By contrast, Asia’s sprawling family-controlled groups have continued to thrive. That’s not to say they’re free of challenges. Victor Li, 54, sits atop a global empire spanning telecom, ports, ...

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• 26 December

  It’s official. Wall Street hurts financial health

  It’s almost 80 years since Fred Schwed’s book “Where are the Customers’ Yachts?” lifted the lid on Wall Street’s propensity to enrich itself at the expense of its clients. A new study suggests that the most lucrative investment a fund could make would be paying to relocate its operations as far away from the financiers as possible. In a paper ...

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• 26 December

  Emerging markets are fed up with FedEx, Fed

  FedEx Corp. failed to deliver, as did the Federal Reserve. The two broad factors that shape emerging-market investing – global growth and the path of US rates – aren’t playing out well. On December 19, FedEx shares plunged 12 percent, the most in a decade, as the company cut its earnings outlook just three months after raising it. CEO Fred ...

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• 26 December

  Keeping economy safe from Trump’s feelings

  

  President Donald Trump can’t say he wasn’t warned about General Motors. In June, GM said that the various tariffs that Trump had either already imposed or was considering could “lead to less investment, fewer jobs, and lower wages for our employees.” These tariffs, the company said, risked “undermining GM’s competitiveness against foreign auto producers.” Now GM has announced that it ...

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• 26 December

  Debt market’s $200bn gorilla finally wakes up

  

  Joerg Boche is arguably the most important person in Europe’s corporate debt market right now. As the group head of treasury at Volkswagen AG, his decisions on the company’s funding are critical not just to the German autos giant but to European corporate credit spreads as a whole. VW had to rein in its bond issues after the Dieselgate scandal, ...

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• 26 December

  High debt isn’t driving Indian farmers to suicide

  

  It’s election season in India and the money is flowing. Governments in many states have begun waiving tens of millions of dollars’ worth of loans to poor farmers in an effort to buy their loyalty. The argument – widely accepted by politicians and journalists, the demographic groups with the least fiscal instinct – is that India’s farmers are buckling under ...

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• 26 December

  US stocks rebound from bear brink; crude rallies

  

  Bloomberg US stocks rebounded from the worst-ever pre-Christmas session as investors hoped for an end to the turmoil in American markets. The S&P 500 halted a four-day rout of almost 8 percent, clawing back from the brink of a bear market on speculation the selling had gone too far given a relatively robust economy. Amazon surged after providing a reminder ...

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• 26 December

  Gold powers to six-month high

  

  Bloomberg Gold is rallying into the end of 2018 as turmoil in global equities, the partial US government shutdown and concerns about the outlook for next year stoke demand, lifting prices to the highest in six months. Bullion climbed as much as 0.5 percent on Wednesday, extending last week’s gain and on course for the biggest monthly advance since January ...

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• 26 December

  Trump voices confidence in Mnuchin, Fed and economy

  

  Bloomberg Donald Trump expressed confidence in the Treasury secretary, Federal Reserve and US economy, moving to calm financial markets further roiled after Bloomberg News reported that the president had discussed firing the central ba-nk’s chairman over raising interest rates. Trump, asked if he has confidence in Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, said, “Yes I do, very talented guy, very smart person.” ...

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• 26 December

  China weighs plans to boost bank capital

  

  Bloomberg Chinese authorities are studying plans to help banks replenish capital as they look to continue with their crackdown on financial risk without hurting credit growth. The move to promote sales of perpetual bonds as soon as possible comes as new regulations on asset management force banks to absorb off-balance-sheet debts. Swelling soured loans and a slump in share prices ...

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