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BlackRock Inc. proved last year that it can beat the market. What the world’s largest asset manager still needs to prove is that it won’t get tripped up by its own success. Fourth-quarter earnings were down and missed expectations, BlackRock announced last week, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone. BlackRock oversees about $6 trillion in assets, about half of which are ...

The ‘gig economy’ has become the cause celebre for people who think labor needs help from government in its struggle with capital. Politicians from the radical left and anti-establishment parties say the rise of casual work is a sign that work relationships are sliding back in time and that the state must step in to address this decline in standards. ...

Bloomberg Lately, it seems, Infiniti can’t catch a break. Sales slumped last year to 149,280 vehicles in the US, down 2.7 percent from 2017. The automaker’s QX30—a small crossover that should be capitalising on the unfettered thirst Americans have for compact SUVs—hit just 8,101 units in the US, down nearly 43 percent from 2017. The larger QX50 was one the ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc released re-chargeable battery cases for the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR that add several hours of battery life to the smartphones. The Cupertino, California-based technology giant previously offered a similar case for its older iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 models. The new cases increase talk time from 20 hours to 33 hours on the iPhone XS, ...

Bloomberg Nike Inc has found a new way to capture more information about its customers: through their sneakers. At an event called the “Future of Footwear,” Nike unveiled a new shoe concept, called Nike Adapt, that tracks performance in real time, allowing the company to give weekend warriors athletic tips and also sell them more products. “It’s the start of ...

Bloomberg Societe Generale SA is considering closing its proprietary-trading unit, people familiar with the matter said, a week after French rival BNP Paribas SA decided to shut its operation. SocGen executives are reviewing the future of the Descartes Trading division, which makes risky bets with its shareholders’ funds, said the people, who requested anonymity as the details are private. The ...

Bloomberg Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles expressed optimism about the state of the US economy, calling strong hiring and low inflation a “good environment” even as investors focus on mounting threats to growth. “Clearly markets are more attuned currently to the downside risks, but the core base case remains very strong,” Quarles, the central bank’s vice chairman for supervision, said ...

Bloomberg Mario Draghi is running out of time to say whether he’ll shake up the responsibilities of his top officials to ensure smooth leadership in the supervision of the region’s banks. The European Central Bank president faces a deadline of February 11, when Executive Board member Sabine Laut- enschlaeger’s non-renewable five-year term as vice chair of bank supervision expires. He ...

Bloomberg Morgan Stanley, the world’s second-largest wealth manager, is beefing up its services for rich clients in Singapore with a focus on Chinese entrepreneurs looking to set up family offices in the city state. “The city is a key business hub for China entrepreneurs, as well as a family office nexus,” Vincent Chui, who heads the bank’s Asia wealth operations, ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Italy cut its growth forecast for this year and next while signalling that the euro region’s third-biggest economy might have slipped into a new recession at the end of 2018. The economy is seen expanding 0.6 percent this year and 0.9 percent next, down from prior projections of 1 percent and 1.1 percent respectively, the central ...