Could Taylor Swift be a strategic American asset? 25 Jun 2019 The answer is obvious to her devoted fans. But they don’t get to decide. If Vivendi’s sale of a stake in $30 bln-plus Universal Music attracts China’s Tencent, the deal may need CFIUS approval. And President Trump could easily muster a reason, however thin, to shake it off.
African swine fever nudges China towards peak pork 25 Jun 2019 The outbreak has sent prices of the meat up 18% in May from a year earlier. The surge is likely to get worse, even if overall inflation remains stable. It is already encouraging a lasting shift among the world’s top buyers - one that might even complicate a trade war compromise.
Guest view: Time for Trump to give Seoul its due 25 Jun 2019 Struggling South Korea has been importing more U.S. goods while Lotte Chemical invests in Louisiana. In return, the White House should exempt the country from threatened auto tariffs and take it off a currency manipulators watchlist, says Korea Society President Thomas Byrne.
Trump will be first to blink in China stare-down 24 Jun 2019 The U.S. president and counterpart Xi Jinping will try to restart trade talks at this week’s G20 summit. Trump may be hoping Beijing will back down, but he needs a deal more – and Xi is feeling combative. That could lead to an agreement with only a superficial U.S. victory.
Carrefour beats a dignified retreat from China 24 Jun 2019 The French retailer is selling its China operations to Suning after over two decades in the market. Valued at 1.4 bln euros including debt, the price looks decent given Carrefour’s slowing sales. For Suning and partner Alibaba, it opens a new front against Tencent and JD.
Delta is uncertain wingman for Korean Air Lines 24 Jun 2019 The $37 bln U.S. carrier bought a 4% stake in the parent of its Asian peer and plans to lift it to 10%. Delta is being regarded by investors as protection for the controlling family’s messy succession plan. Funds aligning against KAL, however, suggest the fight will persist.
Review: Counting the poor can miss the point 21 Jun 2019 A posthumous book by poverty expert Anthony Atkinson recounts the many complications of measuring deprivation. The efforts have been valiant and valuable. Still, numerous assumptions and estimates often hide the scandal of hardship, and the gains in the fight for human dignity.
Exchange-traded funds will keep gold glittering 21 Jun 2019 The yellow metal’s price has broken $1,400 an ounce and touched highs last seen in 2013, thanks to scope for lower U.S. interest rates and Gulf tensions. Yet holdings in the largest gold-backed ETFs are only just joining the rally. That should mean bullion keeps its shine.
Evergrande can ill-afford an electric-car fantasy 21 Jun 2019 The property giant has already put over $4 bln into green vehicle brands and dealers. Now it plans to plough ten times that into research and factories; for the same money boss Hui Ka Yan could buy Tesla. But he’s no Elon Musk, and this could derail a debt clean-up.
China’s bank turmoil locks in moral hazard 21 Jun 2019 Beijing’s takeover of troubled lender Baoshang has revealed surprising bank fragility. Short-term lending rates climbed in reaction, prompting regulators to inject liquidity and walk back threats of a haircut. The episode undermines hopes for ending government guarantees.
Viewsroom: UBS gets lost in translation 20 Jun 2019 A star economist at the Swiss bank sparked outrage on Chinese social media after his remarks about the country’s pigs were misconstrued. UBS’s decision to put him on leave seems overdone. And: Those weighing the benefit of a Facebook cryptocurrency must ask if “In Zuck we trust.”
CEO protest vote would create a new Nomura problem 20 Jun 2019 Adviser ISS wants shareholders to punish Koji Nagai at an upcoming annual meeting. He has presided over the bank’s first full-year loss in a decade and an embarrassing leak, and has not fixed bigger strategic issues. The trouble will be finding a replacement better able to do so.
CLSA exodus leaves owner Citic with an empty shell 20 Jun 2019 The brokerage's star analysts are being poached by rivals like Credit Suisse and Jefferies. They take with them much of the brand value China's Citic Securities paid $1.3 bln for in 2013. Such mergers are always tough. But the state-owned group missed opportunities to do better.
Potash makes better sense for BHP than shale 20 Jun 2019 The miner is weighing whether to press ahead with a $20 bln Canadian project, its most significant investment in years. BHP shareholders, scarred from past blunders, are understandably wary. There may be a case, though, that potash will be more like iron ore than fracked oil.
Apple’s march from China is long and inevitable 19 Jun 2019 The idea of the iPhone maker shifting 30% of production elsewhere may concentrate minds as the U.S. and China square up in trade talks. Such a move would take years. Detroit and London show economic clusters rarely implode. But they can erode, and the process is hard to stop.
Vision Fund may be Hotel California for investors 19 Jun 2019 SoftBank’s $100 bln vehicle is almost spent, and CEO Masayoshi Son’s Gulf sponsors are mulling whether to back a sequel. High returns help; toppy valuations don’t. The problem is that tightening Saudi and Emirati purse strings may dent confidence in current cash-burning startups.
Hadas: Hong Kong teaches lessons on taming China 19 Jun 2019 The Asian financial hub is a special case, but its mass protests make clear that single-minded resolve can push back against an increasingly prosperous and autocratic People’s Republic. Similar focus would help foreign businesses and governments. Donald Trump is mostly failing.
Gloating over Hong Kong distracts Taipei 19 Jun 2019 President Tsai Ing-wen made an unlikely political comeback largely thanks to unrest in the financial centre that rallied anti-Beijing sentiment. But the island’s citizens are unlikely to glean any economic benefit from Hong Kong’s pain. Tsai’s reform to-do list remains too long.
Central banks can only nudge towards greener world 18 Jun 2019 The Bank of France boss says climate change may end up being a stagflationary shock. That’s a good reason for rate-setters convening in Portugal to care about global warming. But meddling too much may imperil their independence. It’s up to governments to make a real difference.
China infrastructure bump comes at steeper cost 18 Jun 2019 Beijing is tweaking rules to allow local authorities to step up spending on public projects, which might add 4 percentage points to infrastructure growth this year. Rule changes should let officials borrow more, but they will face a harder time generating returns.