Tesla-BYD rivalry is mostly manufactured, for now 3 Jan 2024 Elon Musk’s outfit ceded its title of world’s biggest EV maker to the Chinese company. In a growing industry, that’s irrelevant, plus BYD has a home advantage. The longer-term danger to Tesla, assuming geopolitics doesn't upend its supply chain, is if its peer advances in tech.
Dead power deal shows limits of M&A futurology 2 Jan 2024 Avangrid and PNM have given up on a $8 bln merger after three years of waiting for regulatory approval. Yet investors repeatedly priced the target as if the tie-up were in the bag. Political twists can easily wrong-foot arbitrageurs. Trouble is, such twists may get more common.
Convertibles will be 2024’s hot financial model 2 Jan 2024 Hybrid bonds, which fueled hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin’s rise, sputtered after a $370 bln Covid-era boom. Refinancing needs are revving them back up as interest-cost savings lure new issuers like Duke Energy. New features should tempt investors to ride off with them again.
The world’s paradigm shift will create a busy 2024 2 Jan 2024 Surprise IPOs, a wave of M&A activity and changing recruitment patterns are just a flavour of predictions from Breakingviews. In this Viewsroom podcast, columnists explain how a better understanding of the rates environment and inflation will make it easier to get things done.
Rival narratives will battle for supremacy in 2024 2 Jan 2024 As inflation peaks, war rages and trade conflicts harden, new ways of thinking about how and why the world has changed are emerging. The lessons drawn by voters, central banks, tech titans and bureaucrats will shape economies, companies and markets for years to come.
Aussie tycoon will blaze new green activist trail 2 Jan 2024 Atlassian co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes has already used some of his billions to tackle climate change, like battling the country’s top carbon emitter. Quitting the software firm would make him more effective. Other wealthy moguls may then join him in the activist trenches.
Jay Powell could land on the ballot in 2024 2 Jan 2024 Central banks’ fight against inflation may produce slower growth, joblessness and recession in the US, Europe and the UK, just as elections loom. The Fed chief and peers argue their mandate is to slay high prices, not to appease voters. They shouldn’t assume it will always be so.