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Forget that $24 billion writedown on investments that SoftBank Group Corp. It’s bad. But it’s only paper. The Japanese conglomerate faces a far more tangible problem as the value of portfolios plummet and credit ratings get slashed. The issue is cash. Specifically, at the $100 billion Vision Fund. Most venture capitalists operate by taking in money from limited partners and ...

Finance ministers and central-bank governors logging in for this week’s virtual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank will say the right thing, promising to work together to confront the economic fallout of the coronavirus. The question is whether they will do the right thing and take concrete steps to allow the necessary cooperation and coordination. Many ...

It is alarming, to say the least, that people are even asking this question: Does President Donald Trump have the legal authority to postpone or cancel the 2020 presidential election? The answer is entirely clear: He does not. Start with the Constitution itself: “The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall ...

A “great day for European solidarity” is how Germany’s finance minister described last week’s $590 billion euro-area virus rescue package, clinched even as Europe’s North and South haggle over the cost of cleaning up the economic wreckage left by Covid-19. The package would allow countries to borrow from the euro region’s rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism, for health-care spending ...

So in light of the coronavirus pandemic, what is the future of public protests? In the 1960s, the US seemed almost defined by the mass demonstrations against Jim Crow and the Vietnam War. In recent years, people have marched through the streets so often, and on behalf of so many different causes, that no one could possibly keep track. In ...

Bloomberg Stocks advanced on Tuesday along with US index futures at the outset of one of the most uncertain earnings seasons on record, after the coronavirus pandemic upended the global economy. Oil edged up, while gold slipped from a seven-year high. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index opened in the green, with the benchmark up 20% from its 2020 low. Futures ...

Bloomberg Malaysia’s best-performing stock surged more than 800% in the past year by helping people lower their electricity bills. Shares of Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd., or KAB, have gained 108% to 80 sen just this year, after it started offering energy-saving services to hotels and offices in 2019. That helped its order book to reach 355 million ringgit ($82 million), enough ...

Bloomberg The Kuwait Stock Exchange is delaying the listing of its shares due to restrictions on work triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. The listing, scheduled for April 19, has been postponed until further notice “due to exceptional circumstances that are imposed by the spread of the coronavirus pandemic,” the bourse said in a statement. The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted business ...

Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank is expected to lower borrowing costs for a third straight month as policy makers take unprecedented steps to bolster the economy amid the coronavirus. Bank Indonesia will cut its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 4.25%, according to 18 of 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. One economist predicted a 50 basis-point cut, while nine expect ...

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve will dial back its support for the market for repurchase agreements following signs that the recent upheaval in dollar funding has eased. The move to reduce the amount of funding it offers through both overnight and term facilities from May 4 comes “in light of more stable repo market conditions,” the Federal Reserve Bank of New ...