Americas

Amazon steers towards self-driving leverage

28 May 2020

Jeff Bezos’s $1.2 trln behemoth is one of the obvious big buyers of autonomous vehicles. Acquiring startup Zoox would give it an even bigger say in how the technology gets rolled out. That would also help deepen its customers’ dependence on Amazon’s fast and cheap shipping.

Twitter can’t please everyone but still has to try

28 May 2020

Fact-checking a President Trump tweet has put founder Jack Dorsey in a political spotlight he had previously avoided. A spring clean of tweets is good for business in the long term. But unlike peers, Dorsey needs to please shorter-term investors too, like activist fund Elliott.

Exxon climate activists can call in reinforcements

28 May 2020

Environment-linked resolutions won less backing at the $193 bln energy firm’s annual meeting on Wednesday than at rivals’. Replacing directors is the next logical step. It’s a task traditional activists are more used to – and Exxon’s poor financial record could pull them in.

Activist curve will get flattened by the pandemic

28 May 2020

Dozy boards are crying out for prodding as Covid-19 ravages businesses. But balance sheets will need to be more, not less, robust. And pushy investors can hardly point to great returns. After years of barging down doors, they should prepare to have more slammed in their faces.

TikTok’s best move is a clean break from ByteDance

28 May 2020

The video app’s Chinese parent is shifting power away from the People’s Republic. That’s unlikely to win over American lawmakers suspicious TikTok will collect consumer data and send it back to Beijing. ByteDance’s most realistic political option is to sell its rising star.

Vacant arenas fortify TV’s financial grip on sport

28 May 2020

When games restart, distancing rules will mean emptier soccer and baseball stadiums. Sports which rely less on live crowds, like golf or Formula 1, may benefit. More home viewers should further boost the value of media rights, already worth $51 bln, and offset lost ticket sales.

Big Tech faces a post-virus global tax onslaught

28 May 2020

The OECD’s efforts to fashion a fairer global tax system are at risk of stalling. France and Britain already levy charges on the revenue of Facebook, Amazon and others. With public debt soaring and the pandemic boosting Big Tech’s sales, a messy patchwork of levies could ensue.

Viewsroom: Hong Kong crunch

28 May 2020

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared the Asian financial hub no longer autonomous from China, days after Beijing unveiled plans to ban sedition and subversion there. Breakingviews columnists in the city untangle what it means amid the trade war, pandemic and protests.

Corona Capital: GE cash burn, Macy’s lifeline

28 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: General Electric’s cash flow will be more negative than expected as Covid-19 damages its aviation and power businesses; and U.S. department-store chain Macy’s borrows more, buying time but not much else.

Hong Kong financiers face Man Group’s terror

28 May 2020

During China’s 2015 crash, police detained the China chief of the British hedge fund and others; some state media blamed foreigners for sabotaging markets. Beijing’s proposed new security law will extend this attitude to Hong Kong. Bankers should worry as much as protesters.

Equity markets hatch a chicken-and-egg scenario

27 May 2020

The month of May logged the most equity offerings in history – beating the record from December 2009. Issuing equity to fortify coffers beats raising more debt for most companies. But raising cash will be easiest for those that already have it, or have other ways to get it.

Hong Kong gets thrown under “make China pay” bus

27 May 2020

America’s top diplomat Mike Pompeo says the city is no longer autonomous. That decision initially hurts the financial hub more than it does Beijing. But an escalation in unrest would set the scene for worse economic pain for China, with a U.S. election raising the stakes.

Economic distancing is sad sequel to social kind

27 May 2020

Coronavirus has struck disproportionately as a disease of the poor. The human tragedy has been especially stark in dense, unequal places like New York. As economic distancing sets in, the gap is going to widen further between black and white, urban and suburban, north and south.

Burst Michigan dams send pollution risk to surface

27 May 2020

Flooding after heavy rain almost reached a Dow chemical-storage site. That’s one crisis averted, but in general, companies pay too little attention to water contamination. Its effects are vast and are part of recent high-profile legal fights. But cleaning up won’t break the bank.

Stock-pickers will join endangered species list

27 May 2020

Active fund managers failed to outperform as the pandemic struck. A Covid-19 legacy of corporate disruption and central bank support will make gaining an edge even harder. As the shift towards passive investments accelerates, fees will be compressed and mergers may be necessary.

Hadas: Covid gives monetary extremists false hope

27 May 2020

Those who fear rising prices think anti-pandemic stimulus will surely unleash uncontrolled inflation. Deflation-worriers are just as certain that the global demand shock means their old enemy is lurking. Both disasters are possible, but policy and habit point to price stability.

Corona Capital: Hockey, HBO, Minority businesses

27 May 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: A plan to get pucks back on the ice offers a sporting template. Meanwhile, HBO’s streaming service may have missed its moment, and a survey shows minority-owned businesses have mixed feelings about life after Covid.

U.S. Senate could shift China risk into overdrive

26 May 2020

A bipartisan bill would impose sanctions on Beijing officials and local banks for new Hong Kong curbs. Tensions between the two superpowers are already high. The legislation would bump that up several notches. And the economic fallout would be worse than that of the trade war.

Warner Music IPO is priced to sing

26 May 2020

Lizzo’s record label is returning to the stock market at a lower valuation than Vivendi scored selling 10% of Universal Music. But Warner is smaller and not growing as fast. Still, at $13 bln the discount looks big enough to strike a chord with buyers itching for a new hit.

Latin America puts new spin on airline distress

26 May 2020

The region’s largest carrier, Latam Airlines, has filed for bankruptcy protection weeks after rival Avianca did. It can’t bank on government bailouts and has hefty dollar liabilities, amplifying the shock of having to ground planes. The future looks a lot smaller.