One odd U.S. healthcare habit to get a viral cure 13 May 2020 About half of Americans are insured through their employers. Many like it that way, which has hindered reform of an irrational system. With millions out of work, firms and workers will be more willing to consider alternatives. The window for improvement is about to crack open.
Bain’s latest Japan deal gets too cosy for comfort 13 May 2020 Nichii Gakkan is backing a $1.2 bln sale to the Boston buyout shop, whose board seat at the family-owned medical staffing company gave it an inside track. The governance lapses evoke TPG’s shoddy J Crew takeover. If shareholders let it slide, other MBOs in waiting will take note.
Sino-Australian DNA sequenced by virus-test deal 11 May 2020 Fortescue’s chairman helped broker a controversial Canberra purchase of 10 mln Covid-19 kits from Chinese genomics giant BGI. It adds to diplomatic tensions over Huawei and the pandemic’s origins. And yet over $150 bln of bilateral trade probably will endure, and maybe even grow.
Deal sabotage offers Trump potent trade weapon 10 May 2020 The U.S. president is weighing tariffs to punish Beijing for Covid-19. Thwarting regional trade deals China hopes to sign this year would sting harder, as would buttressing the TPP pact. But that would require buttering up alienated allies, which is not Trump’s forte.
Hong Kong’s jobless rate understates harsh reality 6 May 2020 The 4.2% figure is implausibly low given the protests and the pandemic. With U.S. unemployment expected to reach 20%, the Asian financial hub’s distorting omissions of many classes of workers are left exposed. Restaurant receipts and retail sales hint at the true economic damage.
Virus offers Pakistan grim bargaining opportunity 5 May 2020 Debt payments suck up the largest chunk of its budget. Islamabad’s $8 bln crisis support package is measly, yet will push the fiscal deficit to 10% of GDP. Pakistan needs more than repayment deferral from creditors, especially China. And it’s better positioned to ask than most.
Review: A grim look at bad American exceptionalism 1 May 2020 “Deaths of Despair” analyses the sharp rise in U.S. mortality from suicide, alcohol and drugs, especially among poor whites. As Covid-19 further widens social divisions, the lament of economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton looks prescient. America fails its weakest residents.
HSBC’s dividend policy is ripe for reform 28 Apr 2020 The UK mega-bank is well-capitalised despite a 48% slump in pre-tax profit and five-fold rise in bad-debt provisions. That’s partly because regulators told CEO Noel Quinn to halt payouts. It’s an opportune moment to link them to earnings and provide flexibility in future crises.
Australia Inc reruns its crisis capital playbook 27 Apr 2020 Lender NAB will raise $2.2 bln in the biggest local equity issuance since the pandemic began. Just as in 2008, the country is weathering the disruption better than most. Companies Down Under are shrewdly restocking coffers, but often at the expense of retail investors.
Crisis paves way for South Korea’s New Deal 23 Apr 2020 President Moon Jae-in has long wanted to redirect the emphasis from exports to jobs and wages. As the pandemic’s economic toll mounts, his government has unveiled nearly $200 bln of relief measures. Fresh political support could help make the “income-led” growth plan a reality.
Corona Capital: HCA Healthcare, Kering 21 Apr 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The virus helps one part of the U.S. healthcare industry, but harms another; and luxury group Kering's Chinese fortunes may depend on an end to Italy's lockdown.
Corona Capital: Pemex, Bond liquidity 20 Apr 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Pemex becomes world’s chunkiest fallen angel, and bond liquidity gets a needed boost.
Market’s remedy rally more rational than it sounds 17 Apr 2020 Drugmaker Gilead’s anecdotal success treating Covid-19 sent its stock and the broader market up. It’s not total fantasy – even small changes in the odds of society reopening ought to boost asset prices. The gain in Gilead’s own stock is harder to explain.
Chinese GDP is refreshingly, depressingly honest 17 Apr 2020 The economy shrank 6.8% last quarter, its first year-on-year contraction on record. The politicised indicator is usually one of the country’s least informative, but this one speaks volumes. It suggests Beijing is seriously rethinking its approach to economic guidance.
China’s 2003 auto recovery will be instructive 16 Apr 2020 Sales got a bump at the height of SARS, as consumers avoided public transit and purchased cars for the first time. That psychology could soon play out in India and other markets where ownership is low. But the drag of congestion and spending power may be bigger this time.
Guest view: Venezuela is least equipped for virus 15 Apr 2020 The country’s health, water, electrical and economic systems were under immense pressure before Covid-19. With 5 mln refugees from the Maduro regime displaced in the region, the U.N., IMF and others need to brace for a wider humanitarian crisis, warns a WHO epidemiologist.
Trump’s WHO slight opens door to U.S. philanthropy 15 Apr 2020 The U.S. president is halting funding to the health body, accusing it of pro-China bias over coronavirus. Playing politics in a global crisis is irresponsible and trashes Washington’s image. Time for the uber-rich likes of Michael Bloomberg to fill the moral and financial void.
Corona Capital: Airbnb 15 Apr 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Airbnb’s new $1 bln loan doesn’t come cheap, especially when compared to Booking Holdings. But the home-renting unicorn has troubles, from few assets to offer as security to how to ensure properties are virus-free.
Virus sets off China Inc’s biggest clash 14 Apr 2020 Alibaba, Tencent and Ping An dominate e-commerce, video games, and insurance, respectively. Now the trio, worth a combined $1 trln, is converging on the healthcare system, which is due an urgent upgrade. Financial and regulatory risks abound, but patients will be better off.
Guest view: Can we achieve gender equality? 8 Apr 2020 In an unequal world, the coronavirus pandemic hurts women disproportionately. They are on the frontlines of the fight caring for the sick but are more exposed to hardships. Women might end up suffering the most while saving the world. Leaders can respond now to fix the equation.