November, 2017

• 13 November

  How Kohl’s can survive the retail apocalypse

  If soon-to-be CEO Michelle Gass needed any reminder of what a tough job she is stepping into at Kohl’s Corp., the department-store chain’s latest earnings report surely provided one. Kohl’s said its same-store sales rose a meager 0.1 percent compared to a year earlier. The company said its traffic trends continued to improve — but just because footfall is better ...

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• 13 November

  Don’t expect the BOE to work miracles

  Ever since the financial crisis we’ve become accustomed to the idea that whatever governments fail to do, central banks can always come to the rescue. If you need a reminder of why this statement is wrong, look no further than the Bank of England (BOE). Much like other monetary authorities in the rich world, the BOE has been the main ...

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• 13 November

  How India can make the best of its big cash bust

  

  Almost exactly one year ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on national television to announce that, in a few hours, existing Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes would no longer be legal tender. This came as a complete shock to most; the weeks and months that followed featured long queues at bank tellers as hapless Indians tried to exchange old notes for ...

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• 13 November

  China opening its banks is great

  So China would like a bit of foreign expertise after all. In a surprise move, and timed with US President Donald Trump’s state visit, China said it would scrap foreign ownership limits for banks and asset management firms. Asia’s biggest economy has been talking about opening its banking industry for a while now. Foreigners are already movers and shakers in ...

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• 13 November

  New technology should be neither feared nor trusted

  

  How should we think about new and future technologies? The two main stances seem to be extreme optimism and extreme pessimism. A better approach would be careful planning and management. Optimists like to point out that technology has been the greatest force for human welfare in the history of the species. They’re right. Before the Industrial Revolution, societies like the ...

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• 13 November

  US stocks decline as bonds gain; pound under pressure

  

  Bloomberg US stocks fluctuated as a global risk-off tone pushed Treasuries and the dollar higher. The pound weakened amid renewed political pressure on UK PM Theresa May. The S&P 500 Index was mixed as consumer shares pulled the measure up from its session lows. Sovereign bonds advanced, led by British gilts. The sterling slid against all G-10 peers after a ...

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• 13 November

  State funds support Saudi, GFH Financial boosts Dubai

  Reuters Saudi Arabia’s stock market rose on Monday, apparently boosted by purchases of shares by state-linked funds, while a surge in GFH Financial lifted Dubai’s bourse. Data released by the Saudi exchange showed local individual investors were net sellers of stocks by a margin of about 13 percent. That pattern appeared to continue on Monday, when the market fell as ...

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• 13 November

  IMF chief lauds China’s plan to open financial system

  

  Bloomberg China’s plan to ease foreign-ownership limits on financial firms drew praise from IMF chief Christine Lagarde, who described the move as a “very positive development.” The partial removal of barriers “is an indication of two things: openness and also better strength and confidence in their own system,” the International Monetary Fund managing-director said in an interview in Danang, Vietnam. ...

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• 13 November

  Mizuho’s profit falls on signs of job cut

  

  Bloomberg Mizuho Financial Group Inc.’s profit fell and the Japanese bank offered a bleak assessment of the long-term outlook, confirming it will eliminate thousands of jobs to cut costs. The nation’s third-biggest lender will shed 19,000 positions — about a quarter of its workforce — in the next 10 years, it said in a statement, confirming recent media reports. Lending ...

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• 13 November

  RBA sees slow inflation as cash rate stays on hold

  Bloomberg Australia’s central bank used its Statement on Monetary Policy to flesh out its consistent recent view of accelerating growth and sluggish inflation, suggesting interest rates will stay at a record-low 1.5 percent. Underlying inflation forecasts revised slightly lower for 2018 and cut by half percentage point for 2019, mainly to allow for upcoming reweighting of CPI. “The assessment of ...

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