Capital Calls: Amazon and consumers 29 Apr 2022 Concise views on global finance: People are spending more amid price hikes, while the e-commerce giant struggles with them.
Elon Musk’s Twitter funds, Netflix with ads 28 Apr 2022 Tesla’s boss is close to clinching control of the social network, having secured financing from Wall Street. Breakingviews columnists discuss why the bet makes sense for banks in this Viewsroom podcast. Also, the streaming service’s subscriber pain may lead to bountiful change.
Capital Calls: GM electrifies executives’ pay 27 Apr 2022 Concise views on global finance: The Detroit automaker’s move to tie boss Mary Barra’s pay to electric vehicles goals is a new spin on pledges to shift away from combustion-engine cars.
Elon Musk’s Twitter deal sullies his climate cred 27 Apr 2022 The Tesla CEO’s master plan is to combat global warming, which he calls the “biggest threat” to humanity. Committing most of his available wealth to buying a social media company doesn’t much help the cause. It’s a $33 bln missed opportunity to reduce even more carbon emissions.
Elon Musk buys Tesla a pounding Chinese headache 26 Apr 2022 The world’s wealthiest man is buying Twitter for $44 bln in the name of free speech. Beijing will lean on him to un-ban its troll army, then push him to comply with its extra-territorial sedition law. The profitable carmaker’s key Shanghai outfit risks being a pawn in the fight.
Fallen casino kings have lessons for Blackstone 25 Apr 2022 If the buyout shop’s $6.5 bln bid for Crown Resorts succeeds, its executives will study founder James Packer and his former Macau partner. Lawrence Ho’s Melco group is struggling while Packer is exiting Crown after bad China bets. Even so, their examples point the way to success.
Twitter’s scarce suitors, Didi’s New York exit 21 Apr 2022 As Elon Musk dangles a $41 billion offer, Breakingviews columnists discuss whether anybody will end up buying the social network in this Viewsroom podcast. Plus, the Chinese ride-hailing firm cancels its U.S. listing less than a year after arriving, leaving shareholders stranded.
Shanghai deflates the Chinese Dream 19 Apr 2022 Brutal lockdowns in the financial centre are testing the elites' confidence in the Communist Party. The tacit contract in which citizens traded political rights for rising living standards is fraying. Revolt is unlikely, but China can ill-afford a sulking intelligentsia.
China’s “bulletproof” coffee IPO is full of holes 12 Apr 2022 Star Plus Legend banks on the founder's pop-star son, Jay Chou, hawking butter-infused, or bulletproof, java and other diet fads. Beijing's crackdown on celebrity influence, however, threatens $57 mln of revenue. Using consumers as a sales force raises another red flag.
Flighty Musk exposes Twitter’s flaky governance 11 Apr 2022 The world’s richest man bailed on joining the social media firm’s board, days after agreeing to become a director. His run-ins with regulators and inflammatory tweets were well known. Appointing Musk the day he unveiled a 9% stake reflects how poorly the $37 bln company is run.
Capital Calls: GoTo debuts in smart fashion 11 Apr 2022 Concise views on global finance: The Indonesian e-commerce, ride-hailing and financial technology firm, valued at $28 bln, jumped more than 20% in opening trade on its first day in Jakarta.
Capital Calls: Credit Agricole’s Italian job 8 Apr 2022 Concise views on global finance: The French lender buys a 9% stake in Italy’s Banco BPM, making it harder for local rivals to launch a bid.
Next Hong Kong chief gives China chance to reset 8 Apr 2022 Carrie Lam’s handling of protests and Covid-19 weakened the city’s stature and deepened economic imbalances. John Lee, the frontrunner to succeed her, looks thinly qualified to fix such issues. A more pragmatic approach from Beijing, though, might shore up investor confidence.
Capital Calls: Buffett’s HP bet, Gambling M&A 7 Apr 2022 Concise views on global finance: Berkshire Hathaway takes a hefty stake in the computer and printer maker; Betting group 888 negotiates a better price for buying UK bookie William Hill.
Shanghai crisis lays frost over economic spring 4 Apr 2022 The city’s 26 mln residents have been thrown into a strict lockdown. It suggests politicians pushing hardline Covid measures have the upper hand and more anti-Omicron shock-and-awe may follow. With big stimulus looking unlikely, the economy’s green shoots would quickly wilt.
Review: Pandering to Beijing has shrinking payback 1 Apr 2022 One difference between the Cold War and current Sino-U.S. tensions is the crowd of capitalists rooting for the communists. In “America Second,” Isaac Stone Fish lambasts the CEOs and lobbyists who take China’s side. Yet the return on sucking up, never high, is falling sharply.
Singapore’s rebalancing is delicate act 30 Mar 2022 The pandemic burnished its safe-haven role for rich Asians, but it is flourishing as a centre for Chinese wealth creation too. Even as changing flows of people, business, and money sharpen social challenges, the pivot is restoring the Lion City’s animal spirits.
Sea’s ‘Free Fire’ churns up Singapore-India ties 25 Mar 2022 New Delhi’s ban on the mobile game persists despite diplomatic intervention. The clash, tangled in Chinese tensions, casts a shadow over India’s relations with one of its biggest foreign investors. Rising nationalist sentiment on both sides will make rifts harder to heal.
Fed board flame-out still leaves banks on thin ice 16 Mar 2022 Sarah Bloom Raskin’s failure to clinch the supervisory lead role at the central bank proves what was already clear: only a centrist who avoids divisive issues like climate can get approval from a divided Senate. But while Big Oil may be off the hook, Wall Street probably isn’t.
China’s pandemic playbook runs low on pages 14 Mar 2022 Financial hubs Shanghai and Shenzhen are locking down as infections surge. Recycling tough policies from 2020 will put the “around 5.5%” annual growth target even further out of reach. Living with the virus would be economically stimulating, but politically embarrassing.