April, 2018

• 24 April

  After weeks of chaos, US throws aluminum industry lifeline

  

  Bloomberg After two weeks of convulsions caused by US sanctions against United .Co. Rusal, the metals market was braced for more mayhem: many traders were betting the Russian aluminum giant was just days away from having to shut plants from Sweden to Jamaica. Then, the US Treasury threw a potential lifeline by making clear it’s not pushing for the company’s ...

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• 24 April

  Why Trump’s tariff plan would be a drag on growth

  

  The global economy is on the mend — but will the recovery be quashed by too much worldwide debt? Why are President Donald Trump’s tariffs such a bad deal for the US economy? It’s not just because they might start a trade war. It’s because of tax theory. Now, most tax theory is incredibly boring. (Hopefully my former economics professors ...

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• 24 April

  Tesla isn’t ready to thrive in China’s embrace

  

  The world’s biggest champion of clean-energy vehicles has opened its arms to embattled electric-car maker Tesla Inc. Or so it seems. Beijing is removing caps on foreign ownership of automaker ventures, widening access to its critically important, high-margin car market. The limits will be rescinded over five years, with restrictions on electric cars to go this year. At first blush, ...

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• 24 April

  Vietnam stocks might be getting too hot to handle

  

  For investors in Vietnam, discretion is increasingly the better part of valor. You won’t see any sign of caution in the current IPO frenzy, though. Far from slowing down, Southeast Asia’s busiest market for stock offerings over the past year seems to be revving up. GIC Pte, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, is spending about $850 million for a 7.1 percent ...

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• 24 April

  Governments should make education a lifelong endeavor

  The world’s rich countries face a looming challenge in education: Too many of their citizens lack the skills and credentials needed for the jobs of the future. To keep people productively engaged in work in the coming decades, and to ensure that economies maintain robust growth, governments, educators and employers will need to make lasting investments in a new class ...

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• 24 April

  A Google breakup would fit the European Union’s logic

  

  Last week, the European Parliament backed the idea of breaking up Google. It doesn’t have the power to do it, but the legislators’ decision is a notable part of a backlash against the remedial action Google took after the European Commission fined it $2.95 billion for abusing its dominant position in shopping search. That backlash can lead to dire consequences ...

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• 24 April

  Unilever’s got ingredients for a shareholder revolt

  

  Just when shoppers are putting more jars of coffee and bottles of shampoo into their baskets, there’s another worry for the big consumer goods groups: they don’t want to pay more for them. Last week both Nestle SA and Unilever NV announced a return to volume growth in the first quarter of their financial years — and pricing that was ...

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• 24 April

  The sooner economic policy is fixed the better

  

  Policymakers from some 180 countries wrapped up the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington on Sunday with a warning: Take steps now, while the global economy is still strengthening, to head off escalating risks of instability looming just over the horizon. The message was reminiscent of the “yes, but” theme that dominated the same ...

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• 24 April

  Banks’ push for Libor substitute gains pace on ‘Sonia’ new version

  

  Bloomberg Tarred by a fixing scandal that struck at the height of the financial crisis, bankers and investors for years have been grappling with finding a replacement for the Libor benchmark used to set borrowing rates on trillions of loans and derivatives. Now the Bank of England has finally unveiled a key part. On Tuesday, the BOE for the first ...

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• 24 April

  Euro bulls feel fatigue as signs of slowing economic growth cloud ECB path

  

  Bloomberg Some euro bulls are wondering if the party is over, for now. The outlook for the past year’s best-performing major currency is being clouded by skepticism the European Central Bank will be able to tighten policy as early as previously thought, given signs of slowing economic growth. OppenheimerFunds Inc.’s multi-asset money manager Alessio de Longis is moving toward a ...

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