May, 2017

• 16 May

  Samsung to explore next-gen biologics

  

  Bloomberg The Samsung brand is best known for its smartphones and wide-screen TVs. Yet behind the scenes, the conglomerate is also making a name as a contract manufacturer of complex medicines to treat diseases like cancer. On a piece of reclaimed land along the western coast of South Korea, Samsung BioLogics Co. is building a $740 million factory that will ...

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• 16 May

  Noble climbs even as Moody’s flags $900mn funding gap

  

  Bloomberg After a savage three-day sell-off, Noble Group Ltd. shares climbed on Tuesday even as Moody’s Investors Service joined S&P Global Ratings in highlighting the embattled commodity trader’s finances, saying that estimated liquidity isn’t sufficient to cover debt due by mid-2018. Moody’s said that while the liquidity headroom, including cash and unused committed facilities, was $2.4 billion at end of ...

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• 16 May

  Asian exports may be about to slow down

  Bloomberg The Great Asian Export Spurt may be about to end, replaced by a stretch of merely good exports. Demand from both Chinese consumers and manufacturers, a key driver for an unexpected jump in Asian exports so far this year, is likely to moderate as Beijing shifts focus toward economic re-balancing, and corporate China slows a massive inventory buildup, Credit ...

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• 16 May

  Microsoft faulted over cyber attack, shifts blame to NSA

  

  Bloomberg There’s a blame game brewing over who’s responsible for the massive cyberattack that infected hundreds of thousands of computers. Microsoft Corp. is pointing its finger at the US government, while some experts say the software giant is accountable too. The attack has affected computers in more than 150 countries, including severe disruptions at Britain’s National Health Service. The hack ...

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• 16 May

  Boom times for longer in EU’s east as GDP growth quickens

  

  Bloomberg The economies of the European Union’s eastern members probably got off to a quick start in 2017 as resumed flows of the bloc’s aid and reviving demand from the euro area, combined with household spending, gave them the edge over the rest of the EU. Preliminary gross domestic product data will show first-quarter expansion accelerated from the previous three ...

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• 16 May

  Waymo gains edge over Uber in driverless-car case

  

  Bloomberg Waymo won a ruling that may strengthen its trade-secrets suit against Uber Technologies Inc. even as the Alphabet Inc. unit fell short of its goal to bring its rival’s driverless-car program to a standstill. US District Judge William Alsup approved of Uber’s move last month to demote the engineer leading its self-driving unit to keep him away from related ...

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• 16 May

  Europe car sales suffer biggest drop since 2013

  Bloomberg European car sales fell the most in four years in April as the shift of Easter from March reduced buyers’ time for shopping, while registrations in the UK were further sapped by tax changes. With at least two fewer selling days compared with a year ago, industrywide registrations dropped 6.8 percent to 1.23 million vehicles last month, according to ...

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• 16 May

  Unusually low volatility can harm markets

  

  The smoother the road, the faster people are likely to drive. The faster they drive, the more excited they are about getting to their destination in good, if not record time; but, also, the greater the risk of an accident that could also harm other drivers, including those driving slower and more carefully. That is an appropriate analogy for the ...

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• 16 May

  UK’s supermarkets are having an identity crisis

  

  These days, nobody wants to be a British supermarket. Tesco Plc, the UK’s biggest grocer, is buying wholesaler Booker Plc, while J Sainsbury Plc last year snapped up catalog retailer Argos. As for Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc, it is building its own wholesale business using the manufacturing facilities that already make about half of its fresh foods. The only one ...

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• 16 May

  China’s hidden pollution oozes to the surface

  

  Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping directed his government to build a new city for the “millennium to come.” It would rise on rural land about 60 miles south of Beijing, guided by the principles of “ecological protection and green development.” And it would become a model for a new kind of urban expansion. It was an attractive vision. Over ...

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