Bloomberg American International Group Inc. posted its fourth loss in six quarters, burned again by higher-than-expected claims costs as Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock struggles to sustain profitability. The net loss widened to $3.04 billion, or $2.96 a share, from a $1.84 billion, or $1.50, a year earlier, the New York-based insurer said in a statement. The fourth quarter’s ...
Read More »As GDP soars 10%, Icelanders plan survival in ‘next collapse’
Bloomberg Iceland’s history is of booms and busts. So as the inhabitants of a volcanic rock in the middle of the North Atlantic ocean roar back from their 2008 economic meltdown (this latest boom was fed by tourism and construction), the talk in the streets is of what shape the next crisis will take and when exactly it will ...
Read More »What did Michael Flynn tell the Russians?
Michael Flynn’s real problem isn’t the Logan Act, an obscure and probably unenforceable 1799 statute that bars private meddling in foreign policy disputes. It’s whether President Trump’s national security adviser sought to hide from his colleagues and the nation a pre-inauguration discussion with the Russian government about sanctions that the Obama administration was imposing. “It’s far less significant if ...
Read More »Asia’s junk heart is at risk of a China cardiac arrest
High-yield bonds have become the world’s hottest commodity as investors try to ride the global rally in stock markets. In Asia, however, that could mean dangerous times ahead. On Monday, Road King Infrastructure Ltd. raised $300 million selling dollar bonds to yield 7.95 percent. Preliminary price talk centered around the 8.625 percent mark but demand was so strong that ...
Read More »Trump and the dangers of radical tax reform
President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress have big plans for tax reform, and there’s something to be said for ambition. But the way they’re promoting their ideas suggests they don’t quite understand their consequences — and that raises larger questions about whether the plan could work at all. House Republicans have long proposed cutting the corporate tax ...
Read More »Michael Flynn Trump’s new nemesis
The proverb ‘morning shows the day’ seems to be apt for Trump administration. It’s just little over three weeks and Team Trump is in disarray. The White House has become a jumble of lies, retractions and denials. First, Trump executive order barring travellers from seven Muslim majority countries and halting refugee program opened the Pandora box of confusion and ...
Read More »Greece’s euro membership looks vulnerable again
Greece is caught in a spat between its major creditors. On one side is the International Monetary Fund, which says “significant debt relief†is needed. On the other are the euro zone institutions, insisting on a primary budget surplus of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product and no further relief. Something’s got to give — and it could be ...
Read More »Boeing analysts pumping the brakes have a point
As Boeing Co.’s shares soar higher, the ranks of analysts who have a more earthbound outlook on the stock is growing. On Monday, Richard Safran of Buckingham Research became at least the third analyst covering the jumbo-jet maker to say the stock is more likely to fall than continue its climb. A trio doesn’t sound all that notable, but ...
Read More »Will Amazon revolutionize shipping?
For consumers, Amazon’s made shipping easy: Just choose the desired delivery date for your goodies and click. For the manufacturers who have to get those products to you, however, shipping remains a troublesome, inefficient, stubbornly analog business. Your “one-click†often translates into multiple phone calls, emails, faxes and reams of paperwork — all coordinated by a knowledgeable and well-connected ...
Read More »Apple mulls China supplier for next-gen iPhone screen
Bloomberg Apple Inc. is in discussions with China’s BOE Technology Group Co. to supply next-generation displays for future iPhones, a key component that’s being provided by a Samsung Electronics Co. unit, people familiar with the matter said. Apple’s been testing BOE’s active-matrix organic light-emitting diode screens for months but hasn’t decided if it’ll add the Chinese company to its ...
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