May, 2017

• 23 May

  Short interest in Great Wall Motor highest since Dec 2011

  

  Bloomberg Short-sellers crowding into Great Wall Motor Co. are being vindicated — and they’re lining up for more. Shares in China’s largest SUV maker have retreated 18 percent from a February peak in Hong Kong as sales of its aging Haval H6 model fell and the company reported a quarterly profit decline. Now bears are doubling down: short interest in ...

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• 23 May

  Singapore Exchange nears deal with regulator for IPOs

  Bloomberg Singapore Exchange Ltd. is nearing a deal with the city’s technology regulator to develop a system designed to encourage local startups to list on the bourse, according to people familiar with the matter. Under the agreement, the bourse operator would help pair technology companies with investors with the aim of securing their listing in the city-state, the people said. ...

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• 23 May

  Microsoft unveils new ‘Surface Pro’ to reverse sales drop

  

  Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. unveiled a new version of its Surface Pro tablet and laptop combination device with more powerful chips and better battery life, updating an aging product with declining sales that hurt financial results last quarter. The Redmond, Washington-based company introduced the fifth version of the Surface Pro at an event in Shanghai, the first time it’s held the ...

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• 23 May

  PPG seeks extension for Akzo bid while holding firm on price

  Bloomberg PPG Industries Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael McGarry is seeking to extend by two weeks a deadline to make a firm bid for Akzo Nobel NV and ruled out raising its latest $29.5 billion offer, the third to be rejected by the Dutch rival. The US paint maker will challenge a June 1 deadline imposed by the Dutch regulator ...

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• 23 May

  UK starts new fiscal year with surprise borrowing increase

  

  Bloomberg Britain recorded a larger-than-forecast budget deficit in the first month of the new fiscal year as accelerating inflation pushed up debt costs and depressed consumer spending. Net borrowing was 10.4 billion pounds ($13.5 billion) in April, the highest for the month since 2014 and up 1.2 billion pounds from a year earlier. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted an 8.7 ...

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• 23 May

  Booming German economy puts ECB in crossfire

  

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank is finding out just how hard it might be to avoid the heat in its home country this summer. In the past few days, Germans have been told that their government will push for the nation to get the next ECB presidency and that monetary policy is the cause of a “too weak” euro. Fresh ...

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• 23 May

  Why center-left parties choose to go radical

  

  Center-left parties throughout the Western world have been tempted to pick dogmatic, hard-left leaders. In Europe, one after another party has succumbed to the temptation, though it has hurt their electoral chances. It seems illogical, but it may eventually pay off. The Spanish Socialists, the party that has been in government most since the country democratized, has just returned Pedro ...

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• 23 May

  Net neutrality ideals already dead

  

  I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news: The internet is not a fair place. And the current fight over “net neutrality” is not going to change that. For those of us whose eyes glaze over at the mention of net neutrality, here’s the basic principle: Companies such as Comcast Corp. and AT&T Inc. that sell internet connections shouldn’t ...

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• 23 May

  It won’t pay to cheat on Jimmy Kimmel test

  The newest hurdle for the American Health Care Act, which has yet to win over doctors, nurses, hospitals, health insurers, older people, Democrats and some Republican senators, is something called the “Jimmy Kimmel test.” The bill fails that, too. The shorthand arises from comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s tearful monologue earlier this month about his newborn son’s heart defect. Kimmel told his ...

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• 23 May

  US has a big stake in Africa’s success

  Troops mutiny in Ivory Coast. Ebola resurfaces in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Zambia jails its most prominent opposition leader. Corruption deepens in South Africa. These recent headlines are a reminder that terrorism and violent extremism aren’t the only challenges facing sub-Saharan Africa. Yet the Trump administration shows little interest in the continent beyond this narrow concern. That’s a mistake. ...

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