Middle East is a seething cauldron. Although US President Donald Trump called the fight against IS his top priority and vowed to wipe IS from the face of earth, the young administration is wary of getting mired in the region. Trump criticized past presidents for getting deep in Iraq and other conflicts. Trump does not want to go solo ...
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March, 2017
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30 March
Shadow banking is getting bigger without getting better
Taxi companies that compete with Uber and media companies that are up against Facebook know it: In a rivalry between regulated and unregulated firms, the latter have an unfair advantage. It also applies to banks, which spent the past ten years losing market share to companies that regulators ignored. In a fresh working paper, Greg Buchak and Gregor Matvos ...
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30 March
Planes, Brexit pains and automobiles
Few industries have flourished in modern Britain like carmaking and aviation. Car production rose to a 17-year high last year and thanks to budget carriers such as EasyJet Plc, Brits can fly across the continent for a pittance. Today those achievements stand on shakier foundations, as Britain begins two years of negotiations over withdrawing from the EU. Theresa May’s ...
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30 March
How humans can manage their algorithmic overlords
Humans are gradually coming to recognize the vast influence that artificial intelligence will have on society. What we need to think about more, though, is how to hold it accountable to the people whose lives it will change. Google tells us what to believe. Facebook tells us what’s news. Countless other algorithms are standing in for human control and ...
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30 March
Australia’s most shorted stock has only one analyst saying sell
Bloomberg It’s Australia’s most-shorted stock, but only one of the 10 analysts covering it considers it a sell. Meet Aconex Ltd., a Melbourne-based company whose software helps architects and developers work together in the cloud. If you believe the sell-side, shares will rise 10 percent over the next year. Bears, however, have a completely different opinion: their bets against ...
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30 March
World stocks mixed, Asia drops on Chinese liquidity concerns
HONG KONG / AP World stocks were mixed on Thursday, with Asian indexes falling as Chinese authorities tightened liquidity in the financial system of the world’s second largest economy. Germany’s DAX edge up 0.1 percent to 12,212 and France’s CAC 40 was flat at 5,067. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.3 percent to 7,353. US shares were poised for a ...
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30 March
Kuwait rebounds in volatile session, Dubai firm
DUBAI / Reuters Most stock markets in the Gulf ended the week on a slightly positive footing on Thursday with Kuwait’s index managing to rebound from heavy losses earlier in the session. The Kuwaiti index swung 0.3 percent in a volatile session, after dropping as much as 2.0 percent earlier in the day as some shares which had pulled ...
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30 March
China’s carriers set for biggest profit since 2010 on expansion
Bloomberg Morton Shen, a manager at a Shanghai-based company, no longer needs to spend more than 17 hours to fly to Madrid after a layover in Amsterdam. A Chinese airline now can whisk him direct to Spain’s capital in about 13 hours for a cheaper fare. “Most travellers would prefer the direct flight as transfers waste too much time,†...
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30 March
Lululemon drops 18% after forecast misses mark
Bloomberg Lululemon Athletica Inc. plummeted as much as 18 percent in late trading after the yogawear company’s forecast missed estimates, renewing concern that demand for athletic gear is wavering. The company expects earnings of $2.26 to $2.36 a share this year, well below the $2.56 projected by analysts. Its revenue forecast also came in light of predictions. Lululemon’s woes ...
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30 March
Amazon closes Quidsi to narrow focus on groceries
Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. is closing Diapers.com, Soap.com and other sites it purchased for about $545 million in 2011 to eliminate a dogged competitor and gain e-commerce customers. The online retailer said it’s shutting Quidsi, the unit that ran the websites, because it couldn’t make a profit. But e-commerce analysts said Amazon probably intended to eliminate the sites as stand-alone ...
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