February, 2017

• 22 February

  First Solar boosts sales forecast after biggest loss

  

    Bloomberg First Solar Inc. reported its biggest-ever loss after overhauling its manufacturing strategy and firing more than a quarter of its workforce. The bulk of its pain may be in the past. The largest US solar manufacturer posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $719.9 million, largely due to a $729 million restructuring charge, Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar said in ...

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• 22 February

  Crude slips as focus returns to OPEC cuts

  

    Bloomberg Oil fell from the highest price in more than a week amid specul- ation about the effectiveness of OPEC’s supply curbs and forecasts for another expansion in US crude stockpiles. Futures dropped 0.6 percent in London, ending three days of gains. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is confident members will continue to cut production and reduce global ...

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• 22 February

  Gas pioneer Chesapeake embarks on oil quest to escape junk label

  

    Bloomberg Chesapeake Energy Corp., the No. 2 US natural gas producer, thinks it has a one-word answer to its debt issues: Oil. Chief Executive Officer Doug Lawler is focusing 60 percent of the Oklahoma City-based driller’s 2017 budget on crude oil projects, mostly in South Texas, Oklahoma and Wyoming shale fields. The company plans about 320 new crude wells ...

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• 22 February

  China’s $9trn moral hazard grows too big to ignore

  

    Bloomberg China may be about to embark on its most ambitious — and perilous — campaign to convince investors that they shouldn’t depend on a bailout when markets go south. In a rare show of cooperation, the nation’s main financial regulators are drafting new rules for asset-management products that aim to make clear the investments don’t have government guarantees, ...

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• 22 February

  Singapore property demand ‘resilient’

  

    Bloomberg Singapore’s property demand remains “very resilient,” supported by factors including low interest rates and a stable economy, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said. “Our economy is still growing, so I think demand is still healthy and our assessment is these factors will remain for some time,” Wong, who’s also the second finance minister, said in a Bloomberg Television ...

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• 22 February

  Ambani’s phone pricing helps Reliance regains No. 2 India ranking

    Bloomberg Reliance Industries Ltd. regained its position as India’s second most-valuable company after its shares posted their biggest advance in eight years. The stock surged 11 percent at the close, valuing the company at 3.92 trillion rupees ($59 billion), as investors cheered Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s decision to end free data plans at his phone venture from April. HDFC Bank ...

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• 22 February

  China housing gets dearer in a year amid property curbs

  

    Bloomberg China home prices increased last month in the fewest cities in a year, signaling property curbs to deflate a potential housing bubble are taking effect. New-home prices, excluding government-subsidized housing, gained last month in 45 of the 70 cities tracked by the government, down from 46 in December, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. Prices fell in ...

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• 22 February

  India imports wheat amid falling domestic production

  

    Bloomberg Wheat production in India will probably fall short of a government forecast, spurring the world’s second-biggest grower to import a large quantity amid declining domestic inventory. Prices in Mumbai dropped for a third day. Production is set to total 91 million tons in the 2016-17 crop year, according to the median estimate of eight traders and analysts surveyed ...

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• 22 February

  Toshiba soars on optimism for sale of memory chip division

  

    Bloomberg Toshiba Corp. jumped the most on record on optimism the company will be able sell its memory chip division and survive the crisis caused by a writedown at its nuclear business. Shares soared 22 percent, the most on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg going back to 1974. Volume on Wednesday was three times the 30-day average. ...

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• 22 February

  Trump eyes easing Obama rules for sprawling pipeline network

  

    Bloomberg The hints of a pipeline spill are subtle: the hiss of rushing fluid, a streak of rainbow sheen. Tucked far below ground, a ruptured line can escape notice for days or even weeks, especially in the backcountry, where inspectors rarely venture. Regulators in the waning hours of the Obama era wrote rules aimed at changing that, and the ...

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