Toyota tantrum may mark peak Twitter-Trump 5 Jan 2017 The president-elect got his facts wrong tweet-threatening tariffs if the carmaker sells Mexican-made Corollas in the US. Hence the stock's limited reaction. A contrasting crash in Constellation Brands shares shows investors starting to focus on more concrete cross-border issues.
Amazon may hold Trump card in retail mess 5 Jan 2017 The e-commerce giant is mulling a bid for bankrupt American Apparel as Macy's and others lose sales and staff. CEO Jeff Bezos would bag a clothing brand to help his fashion ambitions and show a president-elect suspicious of Silicon Valley that he's saving thousands of U.S. jobs.
Viewsroom Predictions 2017: Part 2 5 Jan 2017 Breakingviews columnists offer their take on the year ahead: magic mushrooms could be an economic and investment hit, big business will take drones to the skies and Uber's IPO faces an uphill struggle. Plus: Harry Potter's 20th anniversary is a lesson in preparing for surprises.
$18 bln U.S. tool rollup crafts another smart deal 5 Jan 2017 Stanley Black & Decker is paying flailing retailer Sears $900 mln for the Craftsman brand. The serial acquirer is protecting itself by paying in stages and partly basing the price on new sales. Unlike, say, the discredited Valeant, it's building prudent additions to its platform.
Gartner enters Magic Quadrant of merger jargon 5 Jan 2017 The $8 bln IT consultancy is paying $2.6 bln for CEB, a fellow purveyor of advice. Gartner says the combination will cover "all major functions in the enterprise" and help "capture an expanded addressable market." Investors aren't convinced the words add up to any real value.
Volkswagen’s legal risk is rising in two ways 5 Jan 2017 U.S. investors can sue the German carmaker for Dieselgate damages on their home soil, a domestic judge has ruled. The first problem: VW’s 8 bln euros of unprovisioned legal liabilities will go up. The second: American litigation may have a lower bar to success than in Germany.
Bank fine-fighting begins to have some logic 5 Jan 2017 Barclays is battling U.S. authorities over charges it mis-sold mortgage bonds. UBS has contested accusations it aided tax evasion in France. With fewer outstanding legal bills and regulators habitually levying huge penalties, lenders have more to gain from pushing back.
Blackstone’s new investment tune hits right notes 4 Jan 2017 For its first foray into buying and holding for longer, the private-equity firm is taking over a group that manages song rights for the likes of Bob Dylan. The growth of streaming provides a steady outlook. With some financial improvisation, it's easy to compose a healthy return.
Brazil, Mexico to ramp up pro-market oil makeovers 4 Jan 2017 State-controlled energy behemoths Petrobras and Pemex, which owe more than $220 bln between them and face falling crude output, need help doing their jobs. Mexico's auctions of exploration rights show a business-friendly way forward. Brazil will try to catch up in 2017.
Goldman scores inside straight with SEC chair pick 4 Jan 2017 Avowed swamp-drainer and President-elect Donald Trump named Jay Clayton, the ultimate Wall Street legal insider, to run the financial watchdog. At Sullivan & Cromwell, Clayton worked on bank rescues and bailouts, including Goldman's. Hope and change cede to plus ca change.
Privatizing Medicare would be bad elective surgery 4 Jan 2017 The federal program is a relatively solid part of the U.S. healthcare system. Republicans nevertheless want to revise it so the elderly buy subsidized insurance privately. That'd satisfy a smaller-government ideology, but at a price of greater inefficiency and worse coverage.
Climate change will unclog water’s pipes 4 Jan 2017 The $1 trln H2O sector is growing slower than hoped despite rising threats to cities and companies from drought, flooding and population growth. But efforts to cut greenhouse gases could boost demand in 2017. General Electric is quitting the business at the wrong time.
Breakingviews predicts a shaken-up world in 2017 3 Jan 2017 After the upheavals of 2016, governments, companies and investors face unfamiliar terrain. Once-unthinkable scenarios, good or bad, now seem possible. From the U.S. economy to European elections, from M&A to magic mushrooms, our financial insights offer a guide to the year ahead.
Gene therapy is ready to become hereditary 3 Jan 2017 The prospect of treating diseases like hemophilia and cancer by tinkering with DNA has a long history of both promise and frustration. Steady progress means 2017 should be the year the technology finally hits the U.S. market. The problem may be figuring out how to pay for cures.
Trump stimulus will only delay next U.S. recession 3 Jan 2017 The president-elect inherits an economy that's in fairly good shape. His planned tax cuts and infrastructure spending will give growth an added short-term boost. Though that may postpone an overdue downturn, Trump is still likely to face a crunch before the next election.
Trump adds attack-dog bite to global-trade bark 3 Jan 2017 GM is the latest target of the president-elect's ire for outsourcing to Mexico. His pick for U.S. trade rep knows how to impose import restraints and tariffs. Robert Lighthizer's nomination heralds a more comprehensive assault on free trade than Trump's Twitter tirades.
Thruppence: Ten buzzwords to expect in 2017 3 Jan 2017 The dawn of a new populist era will bring even more corporate jargon and political euphemisms to the global lexicon. Think "import substitution" after trade barriers go up, or "fiscal space" as doublespeak for blowing through budgets. Breakingviews columnists place some bets.
Jain’s low-key Cantor role pins hopes on upside 3 Jan 2017 Ex-Deutsche Bank boss Anshu Jain is joining scrappy capital markets firm Cantor Fitzgerald. Though not the high-profile job he might have coveted, the German lender's travails during his stint in charge suggest why. Privately-held Cantor can grow outside the limelight.
Exec pay is crying out for a race to the bottom 3 Jan 2017 Battles against corporate excesses are worthy but come unstuck all too quickly. Bosses keep getting paid more than their predecessors. To save capitalism, some could tender their services more cheaply. The tradition of the $1 CEO serves as a template. Even better: work for free.
Breakingviews predicts a shaken-up world in 2017 3 Jan 2017 After the upheavals of 2016, governments, companies and investors face unfamiliar terrain. Once-unthinkable scenarios, good or bad, now seem possible. From the U.S. economy to European elections, from M&A to magic mushrooms, our financial insights offer a guide to the year ahead.