Who’s driving global growth in 2018? 21 Dec 2017 Here’s how forecast global GDP expansion breaks down for the coming year, based on World Bank estimates. Flex the individual country numbers to change their relative shares, and the overall result.
Italy’s web tax is wrong solution to real problem 21 Dec 2017 Parliament is backing a 3 pct levy on web transactions to grab more from global U.S. tech titans. The digital economy requires new tax thinking. But an EU-wide approach would carry more force. And low projected revenue doesn’t justify the added burden on domestic internet firms.
Activists are at the back door of fortress luxury 21 Dec 2017 Big family stakes allow purveyors of high-end brands to hoard cash and tolerate second-rate governance. But Elliott’s Samsung campaign shows that entrenched owners are not immune. And minority shareholder rights make names like Prada more vulnerable than they look.
Dealmakers find a fickle friend in hybrid bonds 21 Dec 2017 Companies are increasingly funding deals with hybrid bonds. Rating agencies' willingness to treat the debt as equity flatters their credit scores. And with interest rates low, investors are hungry for funky, higher-yielding securities. It’s a fertile but unstable combination.
The Exchange: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka 20 Dec 2017 Will Amazon choose New Jersey's largest city as the location for its second headquarters? That's what hometown native Baraka is hoping - and he's lobbying hard to make it happen, even trying to cajole neighboring New York City to play a role in swaying the e-commerce juggernaut's decision.
Cox: Is Wall Street more democratic than America? 20 Dec 2017 Taxpayers in the most productive U.S. states would be forgiven for asking the question after the way Congress treated them with a slapdash tax bill skewed to corporations, not people. The big risk is that while capitalism becomes more representative, America goes the other way.
Wall Street’s next challenge: graceful retirement 20 Dec 2017 Investment banks face a triple bonus of tax cuts, rules rollbacks and rising rates. They’re on the most solid footing in a decade. That makes this the perfect time for some long-serving bosses to step back. JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon is the logical first choice.
How to know if America’s big tax bet pays off 20 Dec 2017 Republican lawmakers have passed revised tax cuts that give even more breaks to companies and the wealthy. They are banking on those benefits trickling down to average workers. It could come back to haunt them. Breakingviews notes a few ways to measure the policy’s success.
Bitcoin insider trading lends veneer of normality 20 Dec 2017 Coinbase is investigating possible insider trading after the price of bitcoin cash surged just hours before the digital-wallet provider added the crypto-currency to its platform. Wealth always attracts fraudsters. And that, in turn, strengthens the case for regulation.
Five possible triggers of the next market shock 20 Dec 2017 It takes a catalyst to set off a downturn and other reagents to sustain it. Breakingviews runs through a few more and less obvious elements: central-bank shocks, wayward exchange-traded funds, doubts about “crisis alpha,” unforeseen hedge-fund trouble and, yes, crypto-currencies.
Canada will be biggest loser in U.S. trade spats 20 Dec 2017 Trump threatened China and Mexico with tariffs, but the real levies hit Canadian lumber and Bombardier jets. While Ottawa is pushing other trade deals, America is its biggest export market. Souring NAFTA talks and fights over dairy, wine and paper make it the chief target.
Best thing Trump and Xi can do in 2018 is nothing 20 Dec 2017 The two leaders command half of the planet’s expected GDP growth. The biggest risks are more trade barriers, a Chinese housing market collapse, and armed conflict. All can be avoided if the U.S. president fails to use his powers and his Chinese counterpart opts not to use his.
India’s e-commerce war to surface on U.S. shores 20 Dec 2017 Amazon's arch-enemy Flipkart has good reason to snub Mumbai and head to New York for an IPO in 2018. Its biggest global peers are listed stateside. With SoftBank and Alibaba as backers, the $12 bln retailer is primed to take its local fight against Jeff Bezos to global investors.
U.S. banks get the hang of dying in living wills 19 Dec 2017 Watchdogs cleared the resolution plans of the eight biggest firms though four, including Wells Fargo, need improvements. It’s a far cry from 2016, when five failed outright. It’s progress not just because banks are safer, but because they finally understand what regulators want.
Jefferies bumper pay leaves shareholders wanting 19 Dec 2017 The Wall Street firm’s average comp of $530,000, or 57 percent of revenue, is far more generous than even Goldman Sachs. Reducing it to be more in line with rivals would still leave plenty for workers – and would almost double publicly traded owner Leucadia’s subpar returns.
Ex-Im revives just as it’s least useful 19 Dec 2017 A Senate committee rejected the nomination of Scott Garrett, a vocal critic, to lead the bank. It’s a sign that Ex-Im is bouncing back from its nadir in 2015. But with the economy roaring and tax cuts coming, the result may be mostly a small stimulus for big firms like Boeing.
Apple provides hedge against global tech backlash 19 Dec 2017 Authorities worldwide are stepping up action against technology giants over the way they erode privacy, use data to push rivals out of business and influence elections. As a security-minded purveyor of hardware, Apple stands apart. It’s likely to avoid the worst of the blowback.
Home-healthcare company pulls plug on itself 19 Dec 2017 Kindred Healthcare has gone out with a whimper, selling itself for a 5 pct premium to insurer Humana and two private-equity firms. Management may have been a bit too eager to put an end to the company’s uncomfortable public existence with the $4.1 bln deal.
C-suite is corporate America’s big sex scandal 19 Dec 2017 Females hold fewer than a quarter of senior executive titles, new research finds. And it’s getting worse. The tsunami of harassment exposés makes the paucity of women in leading positions even more egregious. Without change at the top, it’ll be hard to fix the broader situation.
U.S. political doomsday will hurt economic growth 19 Dec 2017 Republican and Democratic parties will splinter ahead of the 2018 election, marginalizing moderates. More firebrand politicians increases the chances of trade wars, a U.S. debt default and government shutdowns that harm the economy. Compromisers won’t be there to stop them.