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October 15, 2019
French energy giant Total is spending big: on Monday, it announced a $600 million deal to tap into India’s growing gas market. Total, the world’s sixth-largest oil company, is buying a 37% stake in India’s Adani Gas, which distributes to homes, offices, and factories across the country. Total’s already the world’s second-biggest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), but as part of the deal, it’ll supply Adani with three megatons of the stuff.
October 11, 2019
Global car sales are falling – but on Monday, Daimler-owned Mercedes-Benz reported that Chinese enthusiasm drove its third-quarter sales to their highest ever. Mercedes sold 12% more cars last quarter than it did a year earlier, making up for a stuttering start to the year. Records were set in China, where 13% more Mercedes vehicles were sold in the quarter. And September was particularly good, especially in Daimler’s home country: German sales were up 25% from last year.
October 8, 2019
HSBC’s iconic towers will soon be emptier: according to reports on Monday, Europe’s biggest bank will shortly trim 10,000 jobs. HS’s-Big-Costs have weighed on the bank for a while, particularly in Europe: a quarter of its employees are there, despite HSBC making a loss in Europe in each of the past two years.
October 7, 2019
According to reports on Friday, Apple recently told its suppliers to increase their iPhone 11 production – suggesting that the company’s anticipating higher customer demand than previously for its $700-plus handset.
October 3, 2019
Tesco’s update on Wednesday was a two-for-one special: the UK’s largest grocery chain announced strong half-yearly results and the departure of its much-lauded CEO. Tesco’s CEO took the job five years ago, back when the grocery giant was under pressure to reduce product prices in the face of rival discount chains.
October 2, 2019
Brokerage fees have been falling for decades, and new entrants like Robinhood have eliminated them altogether in recent years. That’s put more pressure on old-school brokers to follow suit – and Schwab’s finally caved, ditching some commissions on US stocks, exchange-traded funds, and options.
September 30, 2019
Luxury exercise equipment-maker Peloton – whose workout bikes cost over $2,000 – wiped out when it hit the stock market late last week: investors sold its shares in droves, and they fell 15%. Peloton’s main product is its indoor exercise bike, which made up most of last year’s near $1 billion of revenue.
September 27, 2019
A trade war between the US and Europe may escalate shortly, with the former likely to introduce import taxes (a.k.a. tariffs) on $8 billion of products – and the latter likely to fight back. The US has tabled retaliatory tariffs – targeting planes as well as luxury goods, champagne, and spirits – and according to reports on Thursday, the World Trade Organization will this month give the US permission to do just that.
September 26, 2019
Despite the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) interest rate cut this month, the eurozone economy remains weak – and that’s pushing more investors into bonds’ unrewarding embrace. Bonds are a safer investment than stocks during economic slowdowns. Companies pay bondholders before shareholders, and large governments almost never default on their bonds – making them effectively risk-free investments.
September 25, 2019
According to reports on Tuesday, Facebook has agreed to acquire CTRL-Labs – an American neural interface startup – for between $500 million and $1 billion. Where do they get their ideas? CTRL-Labs has created a wristband that senses signals from the wearer’s brain and turns them into actions on a device. CTRL-Labs has created a wristband that senses signals from the wearer’s brain and turns them into actions on a device.
September 23, 2019
If you don’t know Stripe – the tech company that handles Facebook and Amazon’s online payments – you will now: late last week, it became the third most valuable startup in the US. Go get ‘em, tiger. Stripe raised $100 million back in January, but it’s already hungry for more: it raised another $250 million from venture capital investors last week, giving it a valuation of $35 billion – a 55% increase on its last one.
September 19, 2019
The Federal Reserve (the Fed) cut US interest rates on Wednesday, as 84% of investors expected – but that might not be enough to keep them satisfied. The Fed lowered its “fed funds rate” target by 0.25% on Wednesday. That target helps determine the interest rate used for super short-term borrowing – a few hours, overnight – when banks move money among themselves in order to keep enough cash on hand and meet regulators’ standards.
September 18, 2019
The company behind coworking office space giant WeWork delayed its long-awaited and hotly debated initial public offering (IPO) – but it’s StillWorking to make its stock market debut later this year. Privately owned WeWork initially aimed to raise over $3 billion from public investors, having valued the company at $47 billion.
September 16, 2019
US retail sales grew by more than expected in August, even as consumer prices saw their highest annual rise in a year. Strong online sales and decent demand for autos helped American retail sales overall increase by 0.4% last month, twice as much as economists had predicted.
September 13, 2019
The US government announced plans to ban all sales of flavored e-cigarettes late on Wednesday, while big developments also emerged for companies dealing in opioids and alcohol. Following six deaths and 450 reported cases of vaping-related lung illnesses, the federal government now plans to follow Michigan’s lead in outlawing non-tobacco flavored smokes.
September 12, 2019
The operator of the Hong Kong stock exchange, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEX), launched a surprise $37 billion takeover bid for London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) on Wednesday – jeopardizing the latter’s plan to buy data provider Refinitiv.
September 11, 2019
Apple unveiled its shiny new iPhone at its annual launch event on Tuesday – and investors weren’t sure what to make of it…This year’s iPhones are largely seen as a stop-gap until next year’s, when tech-loving texters expect to see performance-boosting 5G compatibility. But Apple still needs customers to cough up $1,000 in the meantime: iPhones are the company’s biggest earner, making up nearly half its total revenue.
September 10, 2019
UK airline British Airways (BA) was mired in the worst industrial action of its 95-year history on Monday – while European rival Air France-KLM saw its share price fall 9% after it warned flyers had been less frequent than hoped.
September 9, 2019
Data out Friday showed the US economy added fewer jobs than expected last month – but left the ball in the Federal Reserve’s (the Fed’s) court when it comes to future interest rate movements…
September 5, 2019
Figures out on Wednesday showed activity in the crucial services sector remained subdued in the eurozone last month. In the UK, it’s having its weakest year since 2008…The services sector of the economy includes everyone from barristers to baristas. In Britain, activity fell more than expected in August, echoing grisly manufacturing data earlier this week.
September 3, 2019
On Monday, Swedish private equity firm EQT Partners announced it was planning an initial public offering (IPO) that would see it sell $880 million worth of shares – representing around a fifth of the company – to public equity investors.
August 26, 2019
Big US tech is under fire home and abroad, but Salesforce’s midichlorian count was high late last week – and its stock rose 6% after its better-than-expected quarterly report. The Silicon Valley darling’s software is focused on helping companies manage their customer relationships via the cloud, and its two biggest products continued to grow last quarter.
August 22, 2019
On Wednesday, better-than-expected earnings updates from established US retailers Target and Lowe’s made for a curious comparison with retail startups Global Fashion Group (GFG) and Jumia.
August 19, 2019
On Friday, agricultural equipment-maker Deere lowered its annual earnings outlook for the second time this year, while reporting quarterly results that stumbled short of investors’ expectations.
August 16, 2019
Global stocks have taken a bath in recent days, but there’s at least one investor “buying the dip”. News broke late on Wednesday that billionaire Bill Ackman’s investment firm had taken a large stake in that of another billionaire – Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
August 14, 2019
Television moguls Viacom and CBS – home of NCIS, The Late Show, and Murder, She Wrote – had a satisfying conclusion to their lengthy run on Tuesday: a merger. If you thought Leonard and Penny had a long road, that’s nothing compared to these two: CBS and Viacom actually parted ways 13 years ago, but after years of failed negotiations, they finally got back together.
August 12, 2019
Broadcom confirmed one of 2019’s biggest tech tie-ups late last week: the American chipmaker’s buying the non-consumer business of security software firm Symantec for $11 billion.
August 7, 2019
IWG, the world’s largest shared office firm and rival to WeWork, announced a big payout to shareholders on Tuesday – a move that might just keep its investors onside…IWG slogged to an 8% increase in profit for the first half of 2019, compared to the same period last year.
August 1, 2019
007’s favorite car brand Aston Martin saw its share price live to Die Another Day on Wednesday, Skyfalling 25% after it announced it’d miss this year’s profit target. Over the last six months, Aston Martin’s sales in Europe and the UK (where overall car sales dropped 9%) were almost 20% lower than a year ago.
July 31, 2019
Apple’s quarterly results didn’t fall far from the American tech stock tree late on Tuesday: it reported higher profit than expected and its shares rose 5%. Sales of iPhones – still Apple’s flagship product – rose slightly less than investors expected last quarter, with Chinese revenue shrinking from a year ago.
