Corona Capital: Binge-watching, Gaming 27 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Streaming viewers like to binge-watch, but they are being stingy; a fresh surge of Covid-19 cases could be a boon for gaming developers.
Bayer’s M&A comeback is reassuringly expensive 26 Oct 2020 The drugs-to-seeds company is buying gene therapy specialist Asklepios BioPharmaceutical for $4 bln. It’s a rich price, but the German group needs to offset patent expiries and shake off the disastrous Monsanto deal. Expanding in a rapidly growing sector offers some protection.
Corona Capital: Mixed market messages, Chile votes 26 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Global stocks slumped on Monday as Covid-19 cases rose – yet some prognosticators are readying for major stimulus; and Chile has shown that pandemics don’t have to squash voter turnout.
Corona Capital: Gilead Sciences, Virtual Santa 23 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Remdesivir gets formal approval; Santa goes missing from Macy’s.
Corona Capital: Quibi 22 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Video streaming company Quibi’s failure is in spite of – not because of – the Covid-19 pandemic.
Corona Capital: U.S. tests, UK loans, Man U groans 21 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Abbott Laboratories has a bumper third quarter; UK banks look at a workaround for their Covid-19 loan problem; and Manchester United reveals a predictably ropey set of annual results.
Corona Capital: U.S. state budget woes 20 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Some conservative U.S. states are hurting as much as liberal New York.
Corona Capital: Vaccine yields, Halliburton, Glovo 19 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Corporate bond investors are nearly as worried about a vaccine crimping the market as they are about inflation; oil services firms get three times unlucky; Delivery Hero acts like one despite investor skepticism.
Budding UK cannabis listings will end up stunted 16 Oct 2020 Britain’s watchdog has opened the door for medicinal marijuana companies to be listed in London. Success stories may, however, end up following GW Pharmaceuticals, which in 2016 opted to list solely in New York after more than a decade of seeing its share price stagnate.
Guest view: Latin America has a Covid-19 cash gap 16 Oct 2020 Economic weakness has helped make the region’s health crisis one of the world’s worst, write former Citibank Chairman William Rhodes and epidemiologist Cristina Valencia. Even if a vaccine arrives, the recovery will demand more direct funding from the international community.
Corona Capital: Black Friday, JPMorgan’s new tower 14 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Walmart’s Black Friday rejig makes for a curious experiment; JPMorgan goes all-in on New York real estate.
Corona Capital: Oil, Delta, Hunger 13 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: OPEC and the International Energy Agency issue forecasts that bode ill for crude demand; the U.S. airline steers through turbulence; and a food crisis is exacerbating problems facing the most vulnerable in society.
The madness of crowds is bad for the economy 9 Oct 2020 Tight home-working quarters and monotonous days are adding to job and other worries as Covid-19 drags on. Mental illness isn’t just a problem for therapists. Mental health disorders cost the global economy up to $8.5 trln a year. It's worth employers' while to address the risks.
Corona Capital: Tech upgrades, Ruby Tuesday 7 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Indian IT giant TCS is betting the work-from-home boost to its earnings marks the beginning of a years-long boom; U.S. restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday’s bankruptcy offers a lesson in creative culinary destruction.
Clover Health takes knife to two sick systems 6 Oct 2020 The insurer reckons if doctors had better data, Americans’ medical bills would be lower. So its job of cutting the fat in a market stuffed with middlemen has promise. It’s apt, too, that Clover is listing via a so-called SPAC, a structure that takes the same approach to finance.
Corona Capital: Donald Trump, Kenzo Takada 5 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: U.S. President Donald Trump’s fight with the coronavirus could lead to a less fiercely contested election result; the death of Japanese designer Kenzo Takada comes at a bad time for the global fashion industry.
Face mask boom has unhealthy side effects 5 Oct 2020 Companies from Chinese carmaker BYD to retailer Gap have cashed in on demand for masks. Entrepreneurs and crooks have also piled in, leading to quality problems and fraud. As panic-buying winds down, dealing with excess capacity and used-mask trash could be a headache.
JD’s hyped-up spinoffs leave its basket light 29 Sep 2020 The Chinese web retailer is rallying on expectations it will list health, fintech and logistics units which might account for almost half JD’s $117 bln market cap. But it implies a so-so valuation for the core business. Richard Liu’s next challenge will be to set that right.
Obamacare still has some of its nine lives left 28 Sep 2020 A more conservative Supreme Court may pose a challenge to the law that expanded healthcare coverage to over 16 mln uninsured Americans. Yet for all its enemies, the act has benefited insurers, won over voters, and stopped short of capping prices. That may make it harder to kill.
Corona Capital: Financial centers, Costco 25 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: New York, London and other financial centers still have their luster even if workers will trudge in less to the office; Costco’s coronavirus costs add up.