Kraft Heinz faces existential crisis after $16bn rout

Bloomberg Kraft Heinz Co. might need a new recipe. The packaged food giant reported a troika of bad news — profit that missed estimates, a $15.4 billion writedown on assets and an SEC subpoena — that sent its shares plummeting 27 percent to a record low, a plunge that wiped out more than $16 billion in market value. It seems ...

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Maersk forecast misses estimates as trade tensions roil shipping

Bloomberg A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, the world’s biggest shipping line, forecast 2019 profit below analysts’ estimates and said trade disputes are dimming the outlook for world economic growth. Shares plunged. Maersk said that Ebitda, a measure of operating profit, will be around $4 billion for the year, compared with an average estimate of $4.77 billion in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. ...

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How US might stay in Syria, and leave at the same time

Is there a way for the United States and its allies to remain in northeastern Syria, even after President Trump’s pledged withdrawal of US military forces there? Officials are struggling to devise such a “workaround” strategy, but it could carry more risks than keeping the existing advisory force. The loudest public call for an alternative to withdrawal from Syria is ...

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Bad banks do hurt your economy

Since taking over as the main supervisor of the euro zone’s largest lenders, the European Central Bank (ECB) has waged a war against sickly lenders. The regulator has forced banks to be more open about value of exposures sitting on their books, and urged them to write down bad loans faster. All this should not only bolster financial stability, it ...

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What is driving iron ore’s latest price spike?

There’s nothing worse than things going crazy at the office while you’re away on holiday. That’s what happened to Chinese iron ore traders over the past fortnight, after Vale SA’s Brumadinho dam disaster prompted fears that as much as 40 million metric tons of metal could be taken off the market while the Brazilian miner closed similar facilities. As mainland ...

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UK’s moderate mutiny offers a hint of progress

All too late, the British political system seems to be awakening to the insoluble crises posed by Brexit. With negotiations stalled and no obvious solution at hand, both main parties are on the verge of historic break-ups. Squint and you just might see some reasons for optimism. This week, 11 legislators — three from the Tories and eight from Labour ...

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In Germany, the Green New Deal actually works

Opponents of the US congressional Democrats’ Green New Deal point to Germany as an example of a country where similar policies have backfired. They should take a closer look; the US could do well to imitate Europe’s largest economy. Here’s how the case against Germany goes: Despite a sustained effort to boost sustainable sources of energy, carbon emissions haven’t fallen ...

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Trump’s tariff threat leaves EU looking for plan B

The European Union (EU) should “stop grumbling about Trump and start doing business with him,” according to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. That will be easier said than done. For why, look no further than the US President’s threatened auto tariffs. The US is looking at unilaterally imposing a 25 percent tariff on cars imported from abroad on the flimsy ...

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China’s recession-proof economy to get a stress test

China bears have had a bad decade. Repeated predictions that China’s large and growing pile of debt would lead to an economic crash have been wrong so far. The country sailed through the global financial crisis. It has weathered the slowing global demand for its exports, the drying up of its excess rural labour supply, slowing coal production, and the ...

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A phone that turns into a tablet!

Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled a $1,980 smartphone with a foldable screen, a dramatic shift in the mass market for phones. The device has a 4.6-inch screen when used as a phone and can unfold into a tablet with a 7.3-inch screen, Samsung said during a demonstration kicking off its Unpacked event in San Francisco. The company said the new ...

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