Schools in Hong Kong shut for first time as protests rage

Bloomberg Hong Kong officials and Chinese state media warned of consequences if violence continued, as a third-straight day of protests disrupted traffic across the city and the government announced for the first time that it would close public schools. The government remained confident in its ability to contain the chaos, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung — the city’s No. 2 official ...

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Germany won’t enlist in Macron’s European army

Now that German leaders have responded to French President Emmanuel Macron’s provocative remarks concerning the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), an unusually wide public rift has emerged between France and Germany. At its root, it’s about France’s leadership ambitions, to which Germany is opposed without itself wanting to lead. “We do want a strong and sovereign Europe,” ...

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2020 economy should feel a lot better

The economy has battled a lot of headwinds during the past year. Trade wars. The lagging impact of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hikes. A government shutdown. The good news is that with those hiccups mostly out of the way, the economy may be poised for better performance in 2020. The easiest way to show this might be the example of ...

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Buying the stocks at record highs works until it doesn’t

Those who bought stocks as they soared to new records last week amid rising optimism for a trade deal are probably suffering buyer’s remorse after President Donald Trump said the US hasn’t agreed to a rollback of tariffs on China. Are those regrets warranted? As the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index all set new ...

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Bushfires illuminate price of burning coal

You could smell the approach of Sydney’s bushfires two weeks away. Leaving my home for work last month at a time when California’s fires were at their most intense, the sandalwood odour of burning eucalyptus was heavy on air. Looking north from Bloomberg’s office to far side of Sydney Harbour, the normally sparkling blue water was a barely discernible smudge. ...

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Temple verdict is cue for Modi to pivot to economy

Over the weekend, India’s Supreme Court pronounced on a title dispute in Ayodhya, a small town in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Like many other property cases in India, this one had been working its way through the judicial system for decades. But it may be the most consequential such dispute in Indian history. Millions of Hindus believe Ayodhya ...

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Fund colossus Amundi leaves rivals in its dust

European fund management companies spent 2018 watching their share prices steadily decline, battered by increased regulatory scrutiny, customers withdrawing money and the relentless squeezing of fees. They’ve rallied this year, but the industry’s biggest beast in the region is outpacing its peers by an astonishing margin. Investors in Amundi SA have enjoyed a total return of more than 60% in ...

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One Tether trader didn’t cause bitcoin bubble

It’s tough being a cryptocurrency exchange. All you want to do is provide a valuable liquidity service to an emerging industry, while navigating a fine line between regulatory compliance and crypto anarchy. But maybe you step a little too far into the shady side and find yourself in trouble. That could be the situation an exchange called Bitfinex finds itself ...

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Boeing Max orders fall as Air Lease swaps 737 for 787 jets

Bloomberg Sales for Boeing Co’s grounded 737 Max slipped in October after a prominent customer converted some of its orders for the narrow-body jet to twin-aisle 787 Dreamliners. Boeing’s unfilled 737 order backlog, adjusted for accounting considerations, shrank by 19 aircraft during the month to 4,387 jets, the Chicago-based planemaker revealed on its website. The planemaker garnered negative 93 orders ...

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Ferragamo: HK protests slashed local retail sales

Bloomberg Salvatore Ferragamo SpA’s sales in Hong Kong fell 45% during the third quarter as months of anti-Beijing protests held back spending by tourists and locals alike. The decline at the Italian maker of leather pumps and silk scarves exceeded the impact estimated by some rival luxury companies. LVMH, the owner of Louis Vuitton and Givenchy, previously said sales in ...

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