Bloomberg Verizon Communications Inc is cutting 7 percent of its media staff, part of a bid to overhaul a struggling operation that includes the former online icons AOL and Yahoo. The cuts would represent about 800 jobs at the division, which previously went by Oath. Verizon dropped that short-lived name, which was ridiculed on social media, earlier this month. Some ...
Read More »US jobless claims fall to 49-year low
Bloomberg Filings for US unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level since 1969, signalling the labour market remains tight. Jobless claims declined 13,000 to 199,000 in the week ended January 19, bucking economist forecasts for an increase, Labor Department figures showed. The four-week average, a less-volatile measure, decreased to 215,000, the lowest since early November. The surprise drop ...
Read More »Johnson & Johnson plans to buy Auris Health
Bloomberg Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest maker of health-care products, is pursuing an acquisition of Auris Health Inc in a deal that would bring it cutting-edge surgical robotics technology, people with knowledge of the matter said. J&J is seeking to purchase Auris at a premium to the valuation from its latest funding round, according to the people, who asked ...
Read More »California utilities risk junk-debt status as PG&E unravels
Bloomberg California’s utilities could get closer to junk-bond status as PG&E Corp’s collapse highlights the hazards of wildfire liability in the state. Edison International’s Southern California Edison Co as well as Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas & Electric Co were downgraded by S&P Global Ratings. The credit grader cited the continued risk of climate change crises and the absence of ...
Read More »How the US could lose tech Cold War with China
In 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the US sought to rally its allies to block construction of a Soviet oil pipeline that would supply Red Army forces in Eastern Europe. It was an exercise in futility. West Germany grudgingly agreed not to supply high-technology pipes for the project. But Britain, Italy and Japan all rebuffed Washington’s appeals. ...
Read More »Citigroup’s Brexit warning for London
If you weren’t listening extremely carefully, you’d be forgiven for missing it. But slipped into a broader conversation about Brexit’s impact on banking, a global finance chief has signaled that one of most dreaded, longer-term effects on the City of London is a real possibility. Asked about Citigroup Inc.’s Brexit plans, Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat confirmed what is, by ...
Read More »UBS’s crown jewels are losing their sparkle
Overseeing money for the rich is supposed to be one of the best businesses in banking, but even the world’s biggest wealth manager is finding that it doesn’t always work out like that. In what were undoubtedly difficult market conditions, clients pulled funds from UBS Group AG in the fourth quarter, leaving the firm short on one of its key ...
Read More »China Inc. is battling a crisis of confidence
China’s industrial sector is facing a crisis of confidence. So far, Beijing’s solutions haven’t been enough to shore it up. In response to streams of gloomy data — from retail sales and industrial profits to layoffs — officials have vowed billions of yuan in support for railway infrastructure investment, employment incentives, tax cuts and loan disbursements. China watchers are now ...
Read More »India’s next budget may rely on some bogus numbers
In a few weeks, India’s finance minister will present what’s called an “interim budget†— the accounts of the year gone by, as well as his plans for the year to come. It isn’t supposed to be a regular budget because the government faces reelection in a few months; the convention is that the next finance minister gets to make ...
Read More »Grab can’t afford to fail the finance test
After sending rival Uber Technologies Inc. packing from Singapore and other Southeast Asian markets, homegrown ride-hailing firm Grab Pte. set itself a stiffer target. It wants to be a regional super-app. Think of it as a digital conglomerate that hooks customers for one thing, only to promise them value for several others, sort of like a Netflix Inc. subscription that ...
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