June, 2018

• 24 June

  Bitcoin approaches year low as Japan cracks down on venues

  

  Bloomberg Bitcoin extended losses as it approached the lowest price for the year after Japanese regulators hit six of the country’s biggest cryptocurrency trading venues with business-improvement orders. The biggest virtual currency fell as much as 10 percent to $6,045.31, testing the low for the year of $5,922 that was set on February 6, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. ...

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• 24 June

  Trump’s trade war raises risk of slowdown in US economy

  

  Bloomberg The escalating trade battle between the US and the rest of the world is raising the risk of a meaningful slowing in an otherwise vibrant American economy. While the tariffs already in place and set to be implemented will barely dent US growth, economists say the panoply of additional measures being considered would take a perceptible bite out of ...

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• 24 June

  Euro-area economic growth gathers pace in June as risks persist

  

  Bloomberg Economic momentum in the euro area unexpectedly picked up in June, suggesting the 19-nation bloc is starting to recover from a temporary soft patch just as risks to the outlook increase. Private-sector growth also gathered pace in the region’s two largest economies, Germany and France, underpinning the European Central Bank’s prediction that a rebound — even if it arrives ...

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• 24 June

  Car tariffs: Europe ready to retaliate

  

  Bloomberg The European Union says it will continue a tit-for-tat escalation in its trade dispute with the US while countering President Donald Trump’s assertion that the US is being treated unfairly by the 28-nation bloc. Jyrki Katainen, the EU commissioner in charge of jobs and growth, told the French newspaper Le Monde in a story posted that if Trump applies ...

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• 24 June

  Apple challenges four Qualcomm patents

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. filed petitions challenging four Qualcomm Inc. patents, dragging the US Patent and Trademark Office into a long-running licensing dispute that already spans the globe. The two are locked in a bitter fight over the amount of royalties Apple’s suppliers should pay to use Qualcomm’s technology on telecommunications. Billions of dollars are at stake. A hearing in one ...

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• 24 June

  High-flying Toronto condo market may soon hit turbulence

  

  Bloomberg The chill that has crept over some segments of the Toronto housing market may soon extend to one of its persistent hot spots: condominiums. Evidence of a slowdown is emerging as new rules make it tougher to get a mortgage and borrowing costs rise for the first time in almost a decade. That’s reducing the appeal of Toronto condos, ...

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• 24 June

  Losing the trade war

  

  If we are to have a ‘trade war’ with China, it would be best to win it. We should be better off after the fighting. Unfortunately, the chances of this happening seem slim to none, because President Trump’s plan of attack suggests that everyone — us and them — will lose. Interestingly, there’s broad agreement over some of our war ...

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• 24 June

  A $90bn lesson for the Brexit gang

  

  Airbus has warned it will reconsider its British presence if the country crashes out of the EU without a deal. History is in danger of repeating itself here, with the UK once again failing to recognize where its best industrial interests lie. A British company once owned part of Airbus and sold out on the cheap. London is now threatening ...

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• 24 June

  World’s online retailers shouldn’t fear a sales tax

  Old-school retailers were doing the press-release version of a touchdown dance last week after the Supreme Court ruled that state governments can require internet retailers to collect sales taxes even if they don’t have a physical presence in that state. Matthew Shay, the CEO of the National Retail Federation, said in a statement that retailers “have been waiting for this ...

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• 24 June

  France’s Macron needs to dream a little harder

  Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron have finally laid out their joint vision for the future of the European monetary union. Unfortunately, their Meseberg Declaration looks like a missed opportunity: It is ambitious where it can afford to be vague and modest where it needs to be concrete. The Franco-German plan will be the foundation for next week’s crucial European Council. ...

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