February, 2017

• 27 February

  China economy remains stable this month

    Bloomberg China’s economy remained generally steady during the Lunar New Year while sentiment readings show uncertainties over the outlook, according to the earliest private data for February. Sales managers perked up and satellite data showed activity hanging in near a five-year high. Meanwhile, the financial world’s outlook for next 12 months remained in negative territory and a gloomier mood ...

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• 27 February

  Twin records for Hong Kong property flout bid to tame market

  

    Bloomberg Hong Kong’s property market is setting new records, quashing attempts by the city’s leaders to tame surging home prices. Existing home prices reached an all-time high in the week ended February 19, according to the Centaline Property Centa-City Leading Index, which tracks sales of secondary homes. In another sign of buyer demand, two Chinese companies bid a record ...

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• 27 February

  Mexico warns US of cutting off Nafta talks if tariffs proposed

  

    Bloomberg Mexico’s top trade negotiator doubled down on threats to break off talks to rework Nafta, saying his country will walk away if the US insists on slapping duties or quotas on any products from south of the border. “The moment that they say, ‘We’re going to put a 20 percent tariff on cars,’ Iget up from the table,” ...

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• 27 February

  FCStone bets on tech transforming physical gold market

  

    Bloomberg INTL FCStone Inc. is betting the $170 billion physical gold market will follow the rest of the bullion world in catching up with technology. The brokerage has started a platform that brings everyone from refiners to jewelers together to trade metal around the world, said Barry Canham, who heads the company’s precious metals division. At the moment, the ...

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• 27 February

  Counterfeiters, hackers cost US up to $600 billion a year

  

    Bloomberg Counterfeit goods, software piracy and the theft of trade secrets cost the American economy as much as $600 billion a year, a private watchdog says. In a report out on Monday, the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property says the annual losses range from about $225 billion to $600 billion. The theft of trade secrets alone ...

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• 27 February

  Blackstone, Prudential to win in $16bn loan sale

  

    Bloomberg Blackstone Group LP and Prudential Plc were picked as preferred bidders for about 12.5 billion pounds ($16 billion) of UK mortgages made by failed lender Bradford & Bingley, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The New York private-equity giant and London-based insurer were among winners in a contest overseen by UK Asset Resolution Ltd., a ...

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• 27 February

  GM dials up discounts on pickups as rivals tread on truck turf

  

    Bloomberg General Motors Co. boosted incentives on its pickup models this month after its biggest foes gained ground, intensifying a price war within the US auto market’s most hotly contested segment. Discounts averaged about $6,996 for the Chevrolet Silverado and $5,315 for the GMC Sierra this month through February 12, according to J.D. Power dealer data obtained by Bloomberg ...

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• 27 February

  Russia’s global hacking efforts are far from a ‘ruse’

  

    One of the most startling allegations in a January report by US intelligence agencies about Russian hacking was this sentence: “Russia has sought to influence elections across Europe.” This warning of a campaign far broader than the US got little attention in America. We may be missing the forest for the trees in the Russia story: The Kremlin’s attempt ...

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• 27 February

  Winters’ coming turnaround is a long wait for StanChart

  

    Standard Chartered Plc’s shares soared over the past year on hopes that CEO Bill Winters was turning around the troubled emerging markets lender. From Friday’s disappointing earnings, it appears investors had run ahead of themselves. There’s still no sign of a return to dividends, and the growth outlook is far from strong. While StanChart swung to a pretax profit ...

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• 27 February

  Welcome, new cosmic neighbours!

  

    To adapt the Bard: “O, wonder! … O brave new world.” Or seven of them, as it happens. Researchers revealed on Wednesday that they’ve uncovered these intriguing planets swirling outside the solar system, all of them rocky and Earth-sized. Three seem temperate enough to support life. And all are orbiting a small, dim star just 40 light-years away. The ...

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