June, 2017

• 13 June

  For Alibaba, euphoria is having your head in the cloud

  

  How far can the euphoria over Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. go? Even by the standards of online retail, its rise has been extraordinary. Revenue has grown by an average 52 percent annually over the past five years. Its 158 billion yuan ($23 billion) of sales in the 12 months through March was more than 10 times the 2011 figure. Far ...

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• 13 June

  Trump actually has a point on air-traffic control

  

  The White House has called it a “revolution,” the “beginning of a new era,” and the “single most exciting thing we can do.” More modestly, you might just call it a pretty good idea. At an otherwise grim moment in Washington, that’s something to cheer. President Donald Trump announced a plan to turn the air-traffic control system over to a ...

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• 13 June

  What Europe should do about Britain

  Leaders of the European Union are allowed a moment of joy at the outcome of the UK election. Britain’s voters have just handed the Conservative Party, author of the country’s Brexit disaster, its head. But the EU shouldn’t let the cosmic justice of this outcome cloud their judgment about where their own interests lie. The Brexit decision is unlikely to ...

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• 13 June

  Authoritarian leaders flop as economic modernizers

  

  No country has more potential for the improvement of the human condition than India. Home to more than 1.3 billion people and soon to overtake China as the world’s most populous country, India is also still desperately poor — its gross domestic product per capita is less than $6,000 in purchasing power parity terms, less than half that of China ...

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• 13 June

  UK’s press barons are the other election loser

  

  It’s a bad day to be a UK press baron. Fleet Street’s finest had lined up to endorse Theresa May ahead of an election that backfired badly for her. Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid Sun, credited for swinging elections in the past, had called on Brits to keep Jeremy Corbyn’s “sinister Marxist gang” from power. Given the result could also jeopardize his ...

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• 13 June

  How to fix failed banks, and how not to

  

  Three recent bank rescues in Europe could form the backbone of a textbook on how to deal with large, failing banks — and how not to. These are the uncompromising bail-in of Banco Popular in Spain, the controversial rescue of Monte dei Paschi di Siena in Italy and the much-praised but in fact horribly botched nationalization of Ukraine’s largest bank, ...

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• 13 June

  European stocks gain as Technology rout fades

  

  Bloomberg Technology companies led a bounce in European stocks as a global selloff that started in the sector last week showed signs of abating. The pound managed to advance as Theresa May survived a showdown with rank-and-file lawmakers and sought to prop up her minority government. Almost every industry group in the Stoxx Europe 100 Index traded in the green, ...

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• 13 June

  Evergrande bond rally puts lingering leverage worry in focus

  

  Bloomberg A rally in bonds of China’s most-indebted developer has some analysts warning that steps to cut borrowings have yet to bring leverage down to healthy levels. China Evergrande Group said that it has agreed to sell its stake in China Vanke Co. for 29.2 billion yuan ($4.3 billion), freeing up cash as it cuts its debt load. That came ...

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• 13 June

  Central banks in Asia to rebuild $6trn defense as Fed hike looms

  

  Bloomberg Asia’s central banks are stacking the sandbags. Foreign-exchange reserves are being rebuilt as monetary authorities brace for the Federal Reserve’s third rate hike in six months. While the expected move has been well telegraphed, prolonged periods of Fed tightening can cause jitters for emerging markets. Asia was slammed in 2013 when then-Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s hint of an end ...

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• 13 June

  Credit Agricole plans part sale of Saudi Fransi stake

  

  Bloomberg Credit Agricole SA is considering selling part of its 31 percent stake in Saudi Arabian lender Banque Saudi Fransi, reversing earlier plans to completely exit the business, according to people familiar with the matter. France’s second-largest lender has discussed the partial sale of its Saudi operations with the country’s central bank, and has started talking to potential buyers, the ...

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