Bloomberg Carbon Holdings hopes to finalise financing for its $10.9 billion petrochemical plant by the end of the year, and expects to begin construction of what would be the Middle East’s largest such facility in the third quarter of 2019. The Tahrir Petrochemical Complex, which will be built in Suez Canal Economic Zone, will be finan-ced by equity and a ...
Read More »US hits back at allies, China on metal tariffs in WTO move
Bloomberg The Trump administration is hitting back at what it considers unjustified retaliatory tariffs that were imposed in response to US steel and aluminum duties. The US Trade Representative said it launched formal challenges at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico and Turkey for retaliating against steel and aluminum tariffs. The Trump administration earlier ...
Read More »Amazon founder is richest man in modern history
Bloomberg Jeff Bezos is the richest person in modern history. The Amazon.com Inc. founder’s net worth cracked $150 billion in New York, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s about $55 billion more than Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, the world’s second-richest person. Bezos, 54, also has topped Gates in inflation-adjusted terms. The $100 billion mark that Gates hit briefly ...
Read More »US companies still upbeat despite trade war, tax cuts
Bloomberg Donald Trump’s economic policies have been a wash of sorts for US business investment. Ten percent of respondents surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics said they have accelerated spending as a result of the 2017 tax cuts. Meanwhile, 10 percent said they have delayed investment because of new tariffs and other trade policies, NABE’s survey of 98 ...
Read More »UK employment reaches record high
Bloomberg UK employment rose to a record high in the three months through May after the economy created jobs at a stronger-than-expected pace. The number of people in work rose by 137,000, taking the employment rate to 75.7 percent, the highest since records began in 1971, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. Unemployment held at a 43-year low ...
Read More »Disney: Fox might not raise its bid for Sky
Bloomberg For the first time, Walt Disney Co. spelled out for investors that 21st Century Fox Inc. may choose not to increase its takeover offer for British broadcaster Sky Plc. The revelation boosted speculation that Disney and Comcast Corp. may carve up Rupert Murdoch’s media empire rather than fighting to the end for the whole lot. Sky, the UK pay-TV ...
Read More »Europe’s blistering heatwave is ruining this year’s harvest
Bloomberg Looking out over his parched fields south of Berlin, dairy and grains farmer Thomas Gaebert is wishing for rains to save his crops after relentless hot weather. He is one of many farmers battling for survival after a heatwave and drought swept across northern parts of the continent, damaging crops from wheat to barley. Many German growers could go ...
Read More »The game theory and Trump’s trade strategy
Financial markets were of two minds last week about the impact of mounting trade tensions between China and the US. On the one hand, the escalating tit-for-tat tariffs still affect only a relatively small part of the two countries’ economies. The consensus baseline remains that the measures should not have a significant and lasting downward impact on the economy and ...
Read More »Big pharma’s metabolism is slowing down
The biggest players in pharma and biotech firms are in a rut, and even a heroic earnings season might not be enough to lift it out. The broader environment is positive: The Trump administration’s drug-pricing push is for now more sound than fury, the economy is humming, and new treatments are being approved at a rapid clip. And of course ...
Read More »Amazon Prime Day could be even more prime
Happy birthday to Amazon. com Inc That is, after all, the occasion it’s marking with the Prime Day hoopla, right? Once again, it appears to be getting a pretty nice gift: heaps of media coverage for a 36-hour sprint of deals and discounts. But birthdays can also be a time for reflection. Amazon has become the default starting point for ...
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