August, 2017

• 2 August

  Gupta family say South African emails not real

  Bloomberg A raft of emails leaked to South African media about how the Gupta family have won billions of rands of contracts from state-owned companies and influenced government decisions through their closeness to President Jacob Zuma isn’t authentic, family member Atul Gupta said. “There’s no authenticity of Gupta Leaks at all,” Gupta told the British Broadcasting Corp. in an interview. ...

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• 2 August

  Venezuelan assembly to meet to defy constitutional rewrite

  

  Bloomberg In as little as 24 hours, a clash of powers is set to unfold in the Venezuelan capital’s gold-domed Federal Legislative Palace, where a newly elected legislative super body will attempt to convene alongside the National Assembly, the only arm of government not controlled by President Nicolas Maduro or his allies. Despite international condemnation and allegations of fraud, Maduro ...

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• 2 August

  Was Scaramucci’s firing a win for political norms?

  

  The short life of Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director will be remembered with joy by some, or at least by me. His unbridled self-expression, in the grandest traditions of the First Amendment and the New York street corner, was more like a tornado of fresh air than a mere breath. But the era of the Mooch was also ...

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• 2 August

  It’s perhaps too late to check North Korean missile program

  

  It may already be too late for sanctions to halt North Korea’s missile program. That’s the view of analysts who have watched Kim Jong Un accelerate progress on North Korea’s decades-long quest for a functioning intercontinental ballistic missile. Friday’s launch, the second in a matter of weeks, showed it’s just a matter of time before he has a full-fledged ICBM ...

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• 2 August

  Bank of England should take its time on tightening

  

  The Bank of England to decide whether to raise interest rates. The choice isn’t clear-cut, and the central bank’s policy makers appear to be divided—but with the economy showing signs of slowing and inflation under control, they’d be wise to wait a while longer before tightening. The Bank of England responded to the Brexit referendum by cutting its benchmark rate ...

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• 2 August

  Two half-finished nuclear reactors up for sale in US

  Looking to buy two half-finished nuclear reactors? It may be your lucky day. US utility owner Scana Corp. dropped a plan to build two reactors at the V.C. Summer power plant in South Carolina after the projected total costs exceeded $20 billion. The cancelation of the project is another blow to the much-hyped (and thus far non-existent) nuclear renaissance in ...

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• 2 August

  OPEC is confronting a game-theory dilemma

  

  Over the last few years, producers belonging to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have had mixed success at winning the price-setting “game” for oil. To stand a better chance of regaining durable control, they must do a much better job of working together, and, importantly, they need to do so in a much broader and more institutionalized manner. Otherwise, ...

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• 2 August

  The real reason car sales are falling in US

  

  It’s been a tough few months in Detroit. After seven years of gangbuster sales, the US auto market is skidding badly. The American car and truck segment is remarkably easy to get a handle on, but a look at some of its indicators may induce some head-scratching. For the past 20 years, the number of licensed drivers has ticked up ...

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• 2 August

  Why Apple keeps investors waiting and waiting…

  

  For more than a year, Apple investors have been looking ahead to what comes next. They’re still waiting, and the longer they wait the longer it takes to come to grips with Apple’s new, less-turbocharged reality. The company’s revenue rose a relatively pedestrian 7.2 percent in its third fiscal quarter compared with the awful quarter a year earlier, and Apple’s ...

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• 2 August

  Dow tops 22,000 as Apple rallies, euro strengthens

  

  Bloomberg The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose past 22,000 for the first time as Apple Inc. pushed to a record, while renewed strength in the euro dragged down European equities. Oil fluctuated after retreating from its brief rise above $50 a barrel. The Nasdaq 100 Index jumped as Apple’s market cap rose above $800 billion after its sales forecast revived ...

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