Bloomberg SolarCity Corp. board members approved a $2.6 billion buyout from Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors Inc. in the solar industry’s biggest deal to date. Tesla agreed to pay $25.37 a share in stock for the largest U.S. rooftop solar company, according to a statement. Analysts have said the price is too low and investors have questioned the wisdom of ...
Read More »Nissan chases US sales gains as discounts lift it beyond Honda
Bloomberg Nissan Motor Co. is growing faster in the U.S. than any mass-market carmaker and edged past rival Honda Motor Co. in this year’s first half. That might not be a good thing for Nissan’s bottom line. Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn wants Nissan to pass Honda and get 10 percent of the North American market. Yet Nissan’s growth ...
Read More »Verizon to buy fleetmatics
Bloomberg Verizon Communications Inc. agreed to buy GPS vehicle-tracking company Fleetmatics Group Plc in an all-cash deal valued at $2.4 billion, vaulting the telephone giant deeper into the automotive-technology market. Verizon will pay $60 a share for the Dublin, Ireland-based company, a 40 percent premium to Fleetmatics’ closing price last week, according to a statement. With its wireless business ...
Read More »Carney nears rate cut after BOE detour on ‘stimulus road’
Bloomberg The Bank of England is mere days away from its first interest-rate cut in more than seven years. It wasn’t easy getting here. After shocking traders by leaving the key rate on hold last month, Governor Mark Carney and the Monetary Policy Committee signaled that loosening would probably come this month. But with five sets of public comments ...
Read More »ECB accused of favouritism over Brussels appointment
Bloomberg The European Central Bank Executive Board received a complaint from the institution’s staff council last month, alleging that the appointment of its new Brussels representative looks like an act of favoritism. Employee representatives penned their letter after Stephane Rottier was chosen to lead the ECB’s office in the city that hosts most European Union institutions. The position was ...
Read More »Nedbank heads for 8-month high on profit increase
Bloomberg Nedbank Group Ltd., the South African lender controlled by Old Mutual Plc, headed for the highest level in eight months after first-half profit rose, beating analyst estimates that had predicted a decline. The shares jumped as much as 7.5 percent on Monday before paring gains, leading returns on the seven-member FTSE/JSE Africa Banks Index. First-half earnings per share ...
Read More »US GDP flop is a sign of secular stagnation, says Deutsche Bank
Bloomberg You can now add the rates strategy team at Deutsche Bank AG to the growing list of Wall Street analysts who reckon the U.S. economy is probably ensnared in secular stagnation. In a research note published on Friday, Deutsche Bank strategists, led by Dominic Konstam, say the Federal Reserve risks a “big policy error” if it hikes interest ...
Read More »Spain 10-year yield shows Central Bank supremacy
Bloomberg For Europe’s higher-yielding bonds, a political stalemate in Spain and lingering concerns about Italian banks are proving to be no impediment as investors count on support from an acceleration in buying by the European Central Bank and loose monetary policy globally. Spain’s 10-year bond yields fell to a record low and approached 1 percent even with the country ...
Read More »Balloon in Texas crash likely touched power line
Washington / AFP A hot air balloon that went down in a fiery crash in a Texas pasture, killing all 16 people on board, likely struck a power line, an investigator said on Sunday. “There’s physical evidence to indicate the balloon or some component of the balloon hit the wires themselves,” US National Transportation Safety Board official Robert Sumwalt ...
Read More »â€˜Spring Air has enough planes on order to meet demand’
Bloomberg As many airlines across Asia join a rush to expand their fleets by ordering hundreds of jets, China’s top budget carrier is putting a pause to its new plane orders and said it will instead focus on operations. After signing an agreement in December with Airbus Group SE for 60 A320 aircraft, Spring Airlines Co. said it has ...
Read More »