Bloomberg Stamps.com Inc shares rallied on Tuesday ahead of the opening bell after United Parcel Service Inc announced a pact to offer discounted shipping rates to the company’s customer base of more than 740,000. “We long mentioned a new partnership was needed to help lift shares and believe the UPS collaboration is a step in the right direction,†wrote Darren ...
Read More »Novartis boosts forecast again as new gene therapy shines
Bloomberg Novartis AG raised its earnings forecast for the third time this year as new drugs including gene therapy Zolgensma got off to a strong start. Sales of the world’s most expensive drug beat analysts’ estimates with more than 100 children treated since Zolgensma’s May approval. Novartis said plans are in place covering about 90% of commercial patients and about ...
Read More »Trump’s betrayal of Kurds is sickening to US soldiers
At a gathering of military and intelligence veterans, one topic shrouded the room: President Trump’s decision to abandon Kurdish fighters in Syria who had fought and died to help America destroy the IS. “It’s a dagger to the heart to walk away from people who shed blood for us,” one former top CIA official who attended the black-tie dinner told ...
Read More »How to survive an iPhone disaster
Apple Inc.’s suppliers have walked a tightrope for a long time. They try very hard to get their products into the iPhone because it can mean a massive increase in sales. But they must proceed with care, as doing so risks yoking their business to the whims of the Silicon Valley giant’s famously capricious supply chain operations. When iPhone sales ...
Read More »Extinction Rebellion is right to target London
London’s Extinction Rebellion, the undeniably effective local offshoot of the global environmental protest group, has been out in force again this week, shutting down streets in the financial district and disrupting flights from City Airport. Its so-called Autumn Uprising has led to more than 1,600 arrests, and provoked some very angry commuters. People from Greta Thunberg to Stanley Johnson, the ...
Read More »Can shoppers hold up the global growth?
Relying too much on shoppers to tide over growth can be a risky business. China and the US have been leaning heavily on consumers to sustain their economic expansions. With the threat of hundreds of billions in tariffs looming over goods from bicycles to roof tiles, it seems only a matter of time before these noble buyers start to falter. ...
Read More »The upside to Facebook’s cryptocurrency disaster
It’s just as well that big companies that process and facilitate payments have quit Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project, fearing a regulatory backlash. If Facebook really wants to bring financial services to the “unbanked,†it should try doing it on a smaller scale than these companies’ presence promised. And even then, the probability of failure will be high. It’s clear why ...
Read More »$16bn Wirecard has byzantine accounting
Wirecard AG is treating its investors shabbily. The German fintech group has failed to respond convincingly to this week’s allegations that some of its recent financial reporting may be incorrect. Instead, it has aggravated the situation with communication that doesn’t befit a 14 billion euro ($16 billion) member of the blue-chip DAX Index. Revenue and profit for 2016 in particular ...
Read More »To tackle climate change, the ‘industrial’ heat is on
Climate change has become big news recently — and rightly so. Scientists have delivered important reports about its urgent dangers, political leaders have made pledges to fight it, and youth climate activists have marched in the streets and marked our consciences. This is all for the good. New ideas about electric vehicles, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and adaptation will enrich ...
Read More »US equity futures fluctuate as earnings roll in; bonds climb
Bloomberg US equity-index futures fluctuated along with European stocks on Tuesday as investors weighed a flurry of company results and the odds of the world’s biggest economies agreeing a trade deal in November. Treasuries rose and the pound drifted. S&P 500 futures were little changed after the underlying gauge closed above 3,000 on October 21, less than 1% from a ...
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