June, 2017

• 27 June

  Europe’s unserious plan for Greece

  The deal struck last week between Greece and its euro-zone creditors is business as usual — and that’s not a good thing. This protracted game of “extend and pretend” serves nobody’s long-term interests: not those of the Greek government, the International Monetary Fund or, most of all, the people of Greece. Euro-zone finance ministers have unlocked a payment of 8.5 ...

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• 27 June

  That bewildering laptop ban

  When the US government announced a ban on carry-on laptops and other gadgets for certain flight routes in March, the policy made little sense. In the months since, it has only grown more bewildering. At the moment, the ban applies to large electronic devices on flights originating at 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa. It may be ...

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• 27 June

  Let us plunge towards our fast-unfolding future

  

  In 1859, when Manhattan still had many farms, near the Battery on the island’s southern tip The Great American Tea Company was launched. It grew, and outgrew its name, becoming in 1870 The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, (A&P) which in 1912 begat the first A&P Economy Store, a semi-modern grocery store. By 1920, there were 4,500 such stores; ...

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• 27 June

  Jaguar will have to work hard for that second look

  

  Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is scouting for a new address with a little more space for valuations. It’s good to shop around, even though luxury carmakers don’t get the admiration on stock exchanges that their products attract on the streets. What’s questionable, though, is the timing. Being parked inside the Mumbai garage of Tata Motors Ltd, its owner for the ...

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• 27 June

  MSCI forgets its doubts about China

  

  In the culmination of a long-running saga, MSCI Inc. recently announced that it would include some Chinese stocks in its widely used benchmark indexes, starting next year. China has taken this as recognition of its growing economic and financial might. But the decision seemed to have almost nothing to do with the reality of China’s financial markets. For one thing, ...

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• 27 June

  Amazon robots may enter Whole Foods warehouses

  

  Bloomberg When Amazon.com Inc.’s $13.7 billion bid to buy Whole Foods was announced, John Mackey, the grocer’s chief executive officer, addressed employees, gushing about Amazon’s technological innovation. “We will be joining a company that’s visionary,” Mackey said, according to a transcript of meeting. “I think we’re gonna get a lot of those innovations in our stores. I think we’re gonna ...

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• 27 June

  Panasonic joins push to put photovoltaics on more car roofs

  

  Bloomberg Panasonic Corp. sees the future of solar on car rooftops. The Osaka-based electronics maker has started producing a 180-watt array of solar cells that can be fixed to the roof of an automobile. In February, Panasonic announced that its photovoltaic module would be used on the roof of Toyota Motor Corp.’s latest Prius plug-in hybrid. Cars represent a potentially ...

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• 27 June

  Toshiba chip-unit bidders push back final agreement

  

  Bloomberg Toshiba Corp.’s announcement of a final agreement to sell its memory chip business may be delayed beyond the electronics maker’s self-imposed deadline this week, as Bain Capital and Japanese investors work out the structure of the deal, people with knowledge of the matter said. When announcing the preferred bidders last week, Toshiba said it planned to reach an agreement ...

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• 27 June

  SoftBank’s Vision Fund eyes investment in quantum computing

  Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund is scouting for possible investments in quantum computing, an experimental science being researched by companies such as Google and IBM to succeed current computer processor technology. Shu Nyatta, who helps invest money for the fund, said the group wanted to find and back the company whose quantum computing hardware or software that runs atop ...

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• 27 June

  UK banks brace for £11.4bn capital demand from BOE

  

  Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) plans to increase capital requirements for UK lenders by 11.4 billion pounds ($14.5 billion) to tackle risks posed by consumer credit growth and prepare for the uncertain outcome of Brexit talks. The BOE set the countercyclical capital buffer at 0.5 percent of risk-weighted assets for UK loans effective in June 2018. “Absent a material ...

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