June, 2018

• 6 June

  Brexit Conservative rebels back pact on single market

  

  Bloomberg Twelve Conservative lawmakers have signed an amendment calling on Theresa May to abandon her Brexit strategy and keep the UK in the single market after the divorce. The move — less than 24 hours after the opposition Labour Party shifted its position toward keeping closer ties with the bloc — has the potential to change May’s Brexit stance as ...

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• 6 June

  Kim should commit to disarmament timetable: US

  

  Bloomberg The White House wants North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to commit to a timetable to surrender his country’s nuclear arsenal when he meets President Donald Trump next week in Singapore, a high-stakes summit that could last as long as two days — or just minutes. Trump has been advised not to offer Kim any concessions, as the White House ...

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• 6 June

  Ex-cricketer Imran Khan woos Pakistan’s turncoat politicians

  

  Bloomberg Pakistan’s politicians are defecting in increasing numbers to the party of opposition leader and former cricket star Imran Khan, a shift that shows his rising influence and prompted allegations he enjoys the support of the country’s powerful military. The intensified jockeying comes ahead of a national election on July 25. So far this year 248 politicians, including dozens of ...

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• 6 June

  Macron’s grand European dream is out of reach

  

  European leaders will meet in Brussels at the end of June to discuss how much deeper to push the euro zone’s monetary union. While there’s been plenty of hype about the summit, it risks being a disappointment. Most of it will just confirm what’s already been agreed. And, in typical European fashion, many big questions will remain unresolved – until ...

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• 6 June

  Making the solar industry stronger

  

  Remember how there was a glut of computer chips in 2008, and then the world stopped using computer chips? Yeah, me neither. That’s a good reason to discount your worries about the effects on solar power from recent policy blows on panel manufacturers by the US and Chinese governments. The falls in the share prices of some major producers have ...

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• 6 June

  Brexit Britain has noxious new cloud on horizon

  

  The sun has finally brought Britain’s shoppers out of their post-Christmas gloom – a relief of sorts for those who worry about the damage that Brexit might inflict on the country’s economy. But while I’ve argued before that the despondency has been overdone, the recent spike in gasoline prices does leave cause for concern. Still, to stick with the sunshine ...

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• 6 June

  Alibaba incubates a health risk for global investors

  Jack Ma just sowed the seed of another decacorn – a startup worth more than $10 billion – on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Largely ignored by analysts, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s health unit suddenly woke from a long hibernation last month, soaring 58 percent in two weeks to reach a market value of $8.7 billion. Most of the rally ...

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• 6 June

  Volatility trading may be a crisis in the making

  

  Like postmodern literature that eschews conventional plot, narrative, and characters, financial markets have become increasingly abstract and remote. Volatility trading offers a good example of why this is so dangerous. In February, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reportedly made $200 million in profit on a single day from volatility trading. Anticipating increases, Goldman purchased volatility then sold it profitably to investors ...

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• 6 June

  Boeing is putting a $30bn deal to the test

  

  Heads, Boeing Co. wins. Tails, aerospace suppliers lose. The planemaker recently announced the latest step in its push to grab more of its suppliers’ rich profit margins for itself. Boeing will partner with Safran SA to develop and service auxiliary power units, which are used to start the main engine and provide power to aircraft while on the ground. If ...

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• 6 June

  Facebook never learns from its own mistakes

  

  The worst thing about the latest revelation involving Facebook Inc. and its questionable stewardship of people’s personal information is that the company has again shown that it never learns from its own mistakes. In an article published late on Sunday, the New York Times reported that dozens of hardware companies such as BlackBerry Ltd. and Apple Inc. had far more ...

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