Bloomberg Euro-area inflation accelerated in October and underlying price pressures increased, complicating policy makers’ choices after the economy grew at its weakest pace since 2014. Consumer prices jumped 2.2 percent from a year earlier while a measure that strips out volatile components rose to 1.1 percent. Inflation has been stronger than the European Central Bank’s goal of just below 2 ...
Read More »T-Mobile rallies as subscriber gains beat estimates in Q3
Bloomberg T-Mobile US Inc. rallied after adding more subscribers than Wall Street expected in the third quarter, giving fresh momentum to a company awaiting federal approval for its $26.5 billion acquisition of Sprint Corp. The carrier added 1.08 million monthly subscribers in the third quarter, beating the 844,000 projected. It was the fourth straight quarter to exceed more than 1 ...
Read More »â€˜US recovery to be longest in history’
Bloomberg The US economic expansion will stretch into the 2020s and a flattening yield curve is normal and unlikely to invert soon, according to US investment manager Payden & Rygel. The global economy looks on firm footing across the board, with unemployment rates trending lower and inflation rates remaining well behaved, said Brad Boyd, senior vice president at the Los ...
Read More »Can China-US relations step back from the edge?
China-US relations have deteriorated faster than almost anyone could have expected. The question looms: Are the two countries leaping with their eyes closed into a so-called Thucydides Trap, with war possible between the rising and the established power? The US is driving this process and should reflect carefully whether it’s in Americans’ best interests to continue down this path. China ...
Read More »Facebook is suddenly vulnerable
It wasn’t a dream or an exaggeration by cautious Facebook Inc. executives. The company’s financial results are weakening, just as executives warned they would a few months ago. Everyone knew that at some point Facebook wouldn’t be able to continue posting eye-popping revenue growth and profit margins. What was surprising was how quickly the brakes came on. Early in 2018, ...
Read More »Italian government’s next big test in the bond market
Italy may have dodged one blow, but its fight is far from over. After escaping a ratings downgrade from S&P Global Ratings last week, the government bond auction was the next test of investor appetite. October 30 saw 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) of five-year and 2.5 billion euros of 10-year bonds offered. With the country enmeshed in a budget ...
Read More »Europe’s budget rules need smart enforcement
As it does each year, the European Commission is digging into the budgets of euro-zone member states to see if they comply with the bloc’s fiscal rules. The recent slowing of the European economy complicates this work — or ought to. It suggests that Brussels should not be overly strict. The commission needs to sanction serious violations, but it can ...
Read More »Why did Hammond omit B-word in Britain’s budget?
Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond barely uttered the B-word in the more than 70 minutes it took him to unveil the latest UK budget on Monday. Inevitably, though, Brexit was the elephant stomping around the room — or, rather, one of them. Exit negotiations with the European Union (EU) are stalled over a disagreement about how to keep ...
Read More »The H in HSBC looks a bit more vulnerable
Watch out HSBC Holdings Plc. The digital banking revolution is coming for all the easy money the UK-based bank has long taken for granted. Hong Kong was HSBC’s birthplace as the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., and the former British colony remains its single biggest market, a source of sticky deposits and ready borrowers. For now, that’s still boosting the ...
Read More »Google suffers a salutary setback in Berlin
As 20 finalist cities in the US compete for the right to host Amazon’s second headquarters, Google has had to drop plans for a campus in Berlin after the project was rejected by residents and the leftist city government proved unenthusiastic. There are two ways of looking at this: It confirms a lasting US advantage over Europe when it comes ...
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