China’s foreign debt has been rising rapidly, and that’s becoming an increasingly big problem — for the country and, potentially, the world. Officially, China lists its outstanding external debt at $1.9 trillion. For a $13 trillion economy, that’s not a major amount. But focusing on the headline number significantly understates the underlying risks. Short-term debt accounted for 62 percent of ...
Read More »Yen-inspired ‘flash-crash’ is an ugly omen for Japan
The sharp appreciation of the yen in the twilight zone between US and Asia trading days isn’t just an overreaction to poor results from Apple Inc. in thin trading (Japan doesn’t return from its New Year holiday until January 4.) It is a portent of the struggles ahead for the country’s central bank in 2019. It’s going to be harder ...
Read More »Taste or Tat? Britain’s holiday shopping divide
High low dressing – mixing designer pieces with bargain finds – has become a fashion staple. The trend is also playing out across the British high street. On Monday, luxury department store Selfridges, and value retailers Aldi UK and Dunelm Group Plc all posted strong Christmas performances. Aldi said it generated sales of almost 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) for ...
Read More »UBS’s woes run deeper than just one leader
A year ago, all was set fair for Switzerland’s largest bank. The wealthy were getting richer and assets were appreciating, while many of UBS Group AG’s European competitors were still figuring out what they wanted to be. The firm’s decision after the financial crisis to pivot away from the rapidly shrinking securities-trading business to focus on managing money for the ...
Read More »Tesla’s numbers come with ‘reservations’
Only in Tesla-land could a figure provoke a 10 percent slump in the stock at the open: Tesla Inc. kicked off 2019 with a sales report boasting it had delivered almost as many vehicles in 2018 — 245,240 — than in all prior years combined. Roughly 91,000 found a home in the fourth quarter, triple what was sold in the ...
Read More »Apple’s iPhone warning comes years too late
The optimistic narrative about Apple Inc.’s iPhone business is falling apart in front of our eyes. The company has stunningly slashed its own revenue forecast for its first fiscal quarter that ended in December. Apple led by blaming a slowing economy in China and the trade skirmish with the US for worse-than-expected consumer transactions in the region that includes China, ...
Read More »Stocks gain as technology strength helps to lift shares
Bloomberg US stocks rose slightly as investors weighed their risk tolerance amid the resumption of trade talks with China. The dollar fell to its lowest level since October as traders assessed seemingly dovish remarks from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell on Friday. The S&P 500 Index gained led by consumer discretionary stocks and energy as oil surged higher. The Nasdaq ...
Read More »Japan’s FSA considers allowing crypto ETFs
Bloomberg Japan’s financial watchdog has abandoned plans to allow listed derivatives based on cryptocurrencies but may yet approve exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the asset class, according to a person familiar with the matter. The decision to bar instruments like Bitcoin futures or Ethereum options in one of the largest markets for cryptocurrencies marks another setback for investors betting on ...
Read More »Morgan Stanley’s bankers tap cash spigot for IPO dominance
Bloomberg Morgan Stanley just beat JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc for a second straight year in one of Wall Street’s most competitive businesses — and it’s poised to win again in 2019. Its secret: Quirky dealmakers wielding a spigot of private money. The bank is the world’s top stock underwriter, a title that in recent years ...
Read More »UBS at an early stage of CEO succession planning: Chairman
Bloomberg UBS Group AG is in the early stages of planning the succession of Sergio Ermotti, one of European banking’s longest-serving chief executive officers, according to Chairman Axel Weber. Ermotti, almost eight years on the job, and Weber himself are at “a point in time where you need to start thinking about what is it that you’re going to do ...
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