July, 2018

• 17 July

  The game theory and Trump’s trade strategy

  

  Financial markets were of two minds last week about the impact of mounting trade tensions between China and the US. On the one hand, the escalating tit-for-tat tariffs still affect only a relatively small part of the two countries’ economies. The consensus baseline remains that the measures should not have a significant and lasting downward impact on the economy and ...

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• 17 July

  Big pharma’s metabolism is slowing down

  

  The biggest players in pharma and biotech firms are in a rut, and even a heroic earnings season might not be enough to lift it out. The broader environment is positive: The Trump administration’s drug-pricing push is for now more sound than fury, the economy is humming, and new treatments are being approved at a rapid clip. And of course ...

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• 17 July

  Amazon Prime Day could be even more prime

  Happy birthday to Amazon. com Inc That is, after all, the occasion it’s marking with the Prime Day hoopla, right? Once again, it appears to be getting a pretty nice gift: heaps of media coverage for a 36-hour sprint of deals and discounts. But birthdays can also be a time for reflection. Amazon has become the default starting point for ...

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• 17 July

  Banks would face a bust without tax-cut boom

  Here’s the latest sign of who’s benefiting in President Donald Trump’s economy: Without the tax cut, bank earnings growth in the second quarter would have been pretty close to zilch. Instead, the nation’s six biggest banks are set to report a 14 percent improvement in earnings in the April-to-June period. Nine of every 10 dollars of that increase is thanks ...

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• 17 July

  May’s nuclear option for EU divorce settlement

  

  The two sides in the great Brexit debate finally found something they can agree on: hatred of Prime Minister Theresa May’s European Union divorce-settlement plan. A growing number of the combatants even agree on the solution. That would be a second vote on whether leaving is a good idea. Leavers complain that the approach May laid out last week aligns ...

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• 17 July

  Harley, Trump and Thailand’s big trade gamble

  

  Democracies look to voters for validation of their economic policies. For Thailand’s military junta, the affirmation is coming from Beijing, bankers and the likes of Harley-Davidson Inc. Harley’s decision to build a new Thai factory to supply Southeast Asia should be reassuring to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha. The former army chief, who ousted a civilian government in a 2014 coup, ...

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• 17 July

  These investors aren’t spooked by trade wars

  

  Headlines like ”Trump tariff barrage pushes China feud to point of no return,” and “China vows retaliation against $200 billion trade threat” are just the latest portents of global investing in peril. Everyone from BlackRock, the largest public money manager, to Harvard University economist Carmen Reinhart seems to be issuing warnings about the perils of investing in emerging-market economies, which ...

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• 17 July

  Kuwait bank seeks talks to create $92bn Islamic lender

  

  Bloomberg Kuwait Finance House KSCP wants to hold renewed talks with Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank BSC about a takeover, a potential boost to the island kingdom as it seeks financial support from richer neighbours. Shares in Ahli United Bank, or AUB, rose 6.8 percent on Tuesday to the highest levels since April last year, valuing the Manama, Bahrain-based lender at ...

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• 17 July

  India’s PNB to receive $290 million capital infusion next week

  

  Bloomberg India is preparing to infuse about 20 billion rupees ($290 million) into Punjab National Bank (PNB) by next week to help it meet dues on its perpetual bonds, people familiar with the matter said. India’s third-largest state-run lender will issue preferential shares to the government, the people said, asking not to be named as the information isn’t public. This ...

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• 17 July

  BofA’s profit up on consumer loan growth

  

  Bloomberg US consumers are levering up again, and Bank of America Corp. (BofA) is using that, along with cost cuts, to boost profit. Bank of America’s consumer unit posted its highest earnings in more than eight years in the second quarter, helping the lender top analysts’ estimates. Loans in that business climbed 6.6 percent compared with a year earlier, according ...

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